[awmiller]

Calling all fishermen who hit the Lower Mountain Fork River....

In October I'll be hosting a men's fishing retreat for the guys in our church and we'll be staying in a cabin located south of the Hwy 70 bridge. I'm not sure as to how far south of the bridge we'll be (all I know is that I head south down Craig Plant Road, past Craig Road, and wrap around to the east just off of River Road)...

With that said, some guys are heading up solely for trotlining, while some are going to try and catch as many bluegill and smallmouth as they can.... but a couple of us are bringing our fly fishing gear...

The information that I'm looking for is some fly fishing history.... what has historically worked well in that region of the LMFR? I'd like to put together a listing of flies and sizes so that we can bring along something that is tried and true while we also try out some new flies and such.

Thanks!!
Alan

[Fish Bones]

Hello Alan:

A good place to start would be the Beaver's Bend Fly Shop Message Board... Click Here

[awmiller]

Thanks Fish Bones! I've been a member of that forum for a few months. I'm just trying to spread out my opportunities to gather inputs from many sources. According to my Umpqua Eastern Hatch Calculator... my options are Caddis (size 12-18), BWO (size 14-24), and Trico (size 22-26).

That's good from its perspective but I'm curious to glean information from those that have been on the waters during that time period.

~Alan

[Piscator]

Hey Alan,
Try this hatch chart for starters:

Trout fishing

You may see some big Light Cahill hatches in late Oct. Early Nov. I always have a number of various colors and sizes of the following: soft hackles, thread midges, EHC, BWO, PT, GRHE, LC, MB, Griffith's Gnat, Sparkle Caddis Pupae & Emergers. Throw in a olive woolly bugger and your set.

Not familiar with the water south of 70. I would guess you would have some walleye and smallmouth bass action in that part of the river. The Dallas Orvis Shop has Smallmouth trips to Zone III so you might contact someone there for their ideals on what patterns to use.

Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Terry

[awmiller]

Terry:

Thanks so much for that hatch chart!! They recently opened up an Orvis shop here in Arlington so I'll see if they are offering the same trips of if it's dependent upon the store itself. In looking at that list from Oklahoma's wildlife site, have you ever tried that Disco Caddis? They have some at the Arlington Orvis store so I'll nab a few and give them a whirl.

I'll need to find the tying recipe for the Spillway Creek Caddis so that I can hopefully tie a few before heading up. So if anyone knows of or has a tying recipe please post it up!!

~Alan

[Piscator]

Not sure what a disco caddis is. As far as, the Spillway Creek Caddis you could contact Rob Woodruff. He may know what both of these patterns look like. Rob is a Orvis guide for the LMF and is the one who created the above hatch chart. He has an entomology class twice a year at the LMF that I have taken and learned a good bit. I'll check my notes and see if I can find anything over the patterns. If he gives you the recipes for the patterns please post them.

Rob will have a presentation over the LMF at the Lone Star Fly Fishers Meeting Tues. July 17, 2007 if you are interested in learning more about the LMF.

I hope this helps in some way.
Thanks,
Terry

[BigCliff]

Please keep the trotliners away from the trout.

Thanks

[awmiller]

Most assuredly!!! I specifically chose a section of the river well south of the regulated zones. It this area, game wardens have informed me that few trout are found (for what reason I am not sure of...). This section carries plentiful catfish, walleye, small mouth bass, and pan fish.

Your concerns are well-noted!!

[BigCliff]

Few Trout will be found down that way because the water gets too hot for them to survive. Trout don't do well at all in water over 70 degrees.

[awmiller]

I had a feeling someone was going to mention that.... bummer.... then it looks like regular fishing in that part of the river but for the trout we'll need to venture up into the regulated zones....

thanks for the heads-up!