Upper Illinois River Smallmouth

[MObassin95]

Hey all! I hope your summer has been filled with big smallmouth. 

 

My brother in law and I are wanting to explore the upper Illinois River in Oklahoma because we've heard there are some big smallmouth in there. But, specific information on it is tough to come by. So I thought I would turn here. 

 

I'm not looking for any honey holes or secret lures, but any guidance for the upper Illinois would be greatly appreciated! 

 

Thanks in advance! 

[rps]

The Illinois does contain smallmouth. Not many are large, but somewhere in there a large one or two wait.

The bad news: Most of the river is covered up with tourists, boaters, and drunks. This will be true until October. They come out again around Spring break. Your sane options are 5 to 7 AM and October through mid March. Just a suggestion. Look into 14 mile creek.

[tjm]

I thought that the upper Illinois had Neosho bass rather than Smallmouths? Did the guy on the other forum get that wrong?

[MObassin95]

9 hours ago, rps said:

The Illinois does contain smallmouth. Not many are large, but somewhere in there a large one or two wait.

The bad news: Most of the river is covered up with tourists, boaters, and drunks. This will be true until October. They come out again around Spring break. Your sane options are 5 to 7 AM and October through mid March. Just a suggestion. Look into 14 mile creek.

Thank you! Where is 14 mile creek? Any public accesses?

[MObassin95]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

I thought that the upper Illinois had Neosho bass rather than Smallmouths? Did the guy on the other forum get that wrong?

Neosho is a strain of smallmouth. But I also read somewhere that they introduced Tennessee strain smallmouth into Tenkiller Lake, so is inevitable that some of them made it up to the Illinois and crossbred with the Neosho.

[tjm]

3 hours ago, MObassin95 said:

Neosho is a strain of smallmouth.

I read some place that the science says it's distinct species, some nonsense about DNA differences. 

International Game Fish Association considers it a species, https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fsh.11051?bbejrid=-1279406016&bbemailid=54284408&bblinkid=279008937

Still it's just a strain of sunfish  I guess. But unless we distinguish them and protest the stocking of invasives like the small mouth that can hybridize with them it won't remain a species. Fish stocking agencies don't care about such things they just want to sell licenses.

[rps]

https://www.topozone.com/oklahoma/cherokee-ok/reservoir/fourteen-mile-creek-site-1-reservoir/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2675937972680678/posts/3807885856152545/?paipv=0&eav=AfZYLQYuE8RQjK40ftbKwldJ-BF5WwhjsIS7enS_hz-T7fRgZyuM2WXq6M-44KFI4Ds&_rdr

Also check out the Barron Fork.

[MObassin95]

20 hours ago, rps said:

https://www.topozone.com/oklahoma/cherokee-ok/reservoir/fourteen-mile-creek-site-1-reservoir/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2675937972680678/posts/3807885856152545/?paipv=0&eav=AfZYLQYuE8RQjK40ftbKwldJ-BF5WwhjsIS7enS_hz-T7fRgZyuM2WXq6M-44KFI4Ds&_rdr

Also check out the Barron Fork.

Thanks! 

[basska]

Let me know how it went if you did end up going down there. Me and a couple buddies are planning on going down to Tulsa for Billy Strings early December. While we are there, I'm campaigning pretty hard for a Cookson Hills float trip, of course, targeting Smallmouth. I have heard a lot of good things about those rivers. However, it wouldn't be too far out of my way to just go to the Elk or Kings River on my way back as well.