[Piscator]

Hi, I'm Terry Will. I'm new to the art of Fly Fishing so I set out to try my hand at the Lower Mountain Fork River in Beaver Bend State Park just outside of Broken Bow, OK about 2+ hours from Longview, TX. I'm a member of East Texas Fly Fishers Club and wanted to share with everyone what a great time I had on Sunday Aug. 14, 2005.

I had much better luck this time around for a beginner. I start at the Spillway at dawn (6:30ish) using my trusted
Elk Hair Caddis fly and caught one after about 6 casts. You could see fish everywhere at the spillway and I have learned that presentation is everything. Especially, when you see fish and fish see you. I'm still working on the presentation thing and I'm getting a little better as time goes by. I found a pool of still water at the spillway with a load of brownies. So, I decided to use something small that sits in still water and came up with the Griffith's Gnat. I caught about four fish with it in that pool. As it warmed up I switched to the Elk Hair Caddis again and caught about 3 more browns and my last one was a beautiful rainbow.

At Eleven I visited Three Rivers Fly Shop and had a chance to talk to Jesse & Linda King. Jesse suggested that I go down to Zone 2 on the Old Park dam and fish a while. I only had about a half hour fishing there before generation with no luck.

I ask Jesse about the Evening Hole Project and what the ODWC plan was for it (see link http://www.threeriversflyshop.com/thread/index.html ). So I visited the Evening Hole (Zone I) to see what a pretty place it is (see previous link). Jesse mentioned that a Mayfly hatch occurs there in the evening there goes the name Evening Hole. I still didn't have any luck here as well but I had a great time none the less.

I traveled back to the spillway one last time and caught one more brown on the Caddis. All in all I had a great time and was blessed with a beautiful day of trout fishing. I learned a lot and learned that there is a lot to learn. I look forward to it.

[BigCliff]

Good Job! I have rarely caught fish on dries up there. If you really want to pick up numbers of fish, try a size 16 Copper John under an indicator.

Also, next time go down spillway creek to a wooden footbridge. There should be tons of fish under and near it.

[Gordon Bryson]

Terry, we've got two of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife guys that are stationed at LMF that will present the program at our fly club meeting in Tyler Tuesday night, August 16. Check out our website at
http://www.lsff.com, and you can get the details. We'd love to have you come over and visit and you could probably pick up some good info from these guys.

[Fish Bones]

Great Job Terry!!!

As BigCliff said... try Spillway Creek next time. This is my favorite section of the LMF. Not many big fish here but this small stream is a joy to fish. It looks like many Colorado streams that I've fished. Try it.

Steve

[Piscator]

I appreciate the info guys.

Gordon, the LSFF club meeting has been on my calendar for a month now. I was at the last meeting and really enjoyed Steve's Fish Bowl game. I'll see you at Rick's tonight and I'll be sure to look you up.

Steve, I was thinking the same thing next time I get back there approx. Sept 9,10,11th. I may have to purchase that Ehco that we talked about before then. Hope to see you at the meeting as well. Drop me a line when you had a chance to read my last email.

I appreciate any and all advice from anyone here. Thanks so much.

Terry

[MikeLove]

Terry, Jesse was right when he sent you to zone 2. We have been been doing well in that part of the river lately. You do have to be careful with the generation schedule as a couple of guys were a little slow this past weekend and got washed off the lower ledge of the old park dam. Thankfully they got out ok. Buggers, elk hair caddis with droppers have been working well. You can often get away from the crowds in zone 2 as well. It is a great fishery and I am able to fish it very often. mike

[DonBr]

Terry: I'm also a member of ETFF. I am going to Beaver's Bend this Monday (after the crowds) and maybe stay thru next weekend. Don't know exactly where we'll be camped, but, if you're familiar with the area around the Heritage Center, look for a Jayco Pop-up pulled by a maroon Dodge Ram (I have an ETFF logo on the back window). Maybe we can hook up for some fishing. Contact me thru e-mail if interested.




Don

[Piscator]

Just an FYI for you folks in and around East Texas. The East Texas Fly Fishers club will be having their monthly meeting Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005 @ 6:30PM at Johnny Cace's in Longview, TX. Our Program will be presented by Harry Boyd – Fly Fishing the Lower Mountain Fork. For more details please visit our web site ETFF Web Site

Thank,
Terry