It's a work of art (and a fine piece of machined fly tying goodness)

…but I was almost starting to feel bad for myself — sitting around with a pile of newly tied flies, but not so much as a fish to show for it in 2010. Who am I kidding, I could sit in front of that vise for hours upon hours and never get bored, but I really was itchin’ to get the new year’s skunk off my back.

I worked hard last week convincing my buddy Josh that he needed a trip to the river about as badly as I did, and after some successful sweet talking with his wife and my fiance, we both got the green light. Game time… things finally falling into place for a prime winter weekend on the Lower Mountain Fork river.

We got down to Broken Bow a little later than expected (I was a slacker and didn’t gather my gear the night before and we had to battle fog for the majority of the drive).  By the time we got there it was raining pretty steadily, but we weren’t ready to set up camp just yet… It’s never too late to hit the water.

So we pulled into the parking area just after midnight and geared up…

Had a few four legged friends watching us as we made our way to the spot, their glowing eyes were everywhere.

Thinking about bolting...

curious why we were out in the rain...

We didn’t have much (read: any) luck swinging any of the black or olive wooly buggers I had tied up. I was pretty hesitant to fish something I hadn’t tied up myself (I really wanted to catch my first fish on a fly I tied), but I finally gave in and tied on a store bought zonker. Good choice.

Scored a small bow pretty quick and then hooked into something heavy a little while later. Ended up with a frustrating LDR, but the blood was pumping again. A few casts later I hooked into another heavy one, and thankfully this time it was hooked well. I thought it was a nice one, but then again… when a fish hammers a swinging streamer they all feel nice. Then the acrobatics started, the doubt was gone…just hoped I could get it in.

what a chunk

Had a lull in the action for a while and the numb toes/soaking rain combo sent us back in the direction of the car and camp.

We got up and started fishing after 8 on Sat… put Josh on some water he hadn’t fished yet and he got into ‘em quick. Think he had one to hand before I had a fly tied on.

Nice start to the day

It was a great area with a lot of fun water to work… I decided to get in on the action and pulled in my first fish on a fly I tied myself.

victory

There was a lot of fun water and I just enjoy fishing with the bluffs as a backdrop… nice place.

Josh workin' a run

Josh on another nice run

We caught a nice mix, a few small ones and a few nice ones… but one really stood out from the rest. Hard to be sure, but I’d bet he was born in the river. Rather catch one of the ‘wild’ ones than an above average stocker any day.

okie'bow

Got pretty hungry and decided to head back to town for some food and fish z3 while were were down there. Spent our time at the Rereg dam. Took us a little bit to find ‘em, but the action was pretty quick for a while.

Josh puttin it on a nice one

well done (click to see larger image, shows up pretty small)

I even managed to fool a few nice ones on the unproductive buggers from the night before.

rewarding

After catching enough to satisfy we headed back to the park to fish the spillway Creek from about 430 to dark. Didn’t have great success and only brough a few to hand. They were small and pretty unnoteworthy, but fun nonethless. The rain finally stopped and seemed to slow the fish down too. Or maybe we were just getting tired?? Who knows.

After fishing hard all day we didn’t really have it in us to get back out that night. The rain picked up again and the whiskey made it hard to get out of the ol’ sleeping bag.

We fished a little more on Sunday morning… but a few responsibilites at home made us call the trip a little short. Missed out on a perfect partly cloudy day with mild winter temps (mid 50s!?!), but at least the ladies were happy, ha. Gone are the days of fishing without responsibilties hanging over our heads…

getting into the groove

Sure wish we had more time out there… kinda felt like we had to rush to get all the fishing in. Had to make up for all the missed weekends the past few weeks. Need a long weekend or a midweek vacation to slow things down!

Had a hard time coming up with a title for this one… but definitely (and thankfully) a change of pace from the last post

We’ve had a rough winter so far in OK… making it hard to find conditions worth fishing in. Between the constant cold, iced over ponds, snow storms (still have over a foot in a few places in the yard), and a new job with longer hours (QuiBids.com, check it out if you’re looking for crazy deals on just about anything), it has been hard to get in quality time on the water.

The snow’s been keeping the golfers away, but the ice has forced me to find alternatives to the ponds… time to explore the creek that feeds the ponds.

No success, but it was fun to explore.

Fishy

In a different location it would be a sweet little trout stream.

Surprisingly deep

After a more than a few unsuccesful drifts I checked the depth with a stick and It was 6-7ft in the middle.

wasn't alone

Even the coons gave up on fishing. All the tracks were headed away from the water.

winter color

Or maybe they were only interested in the berrys??

so fishy

Confident this hole will produce for me sooner or later. It’s got to.

I like this place

Excited to see what I’ll pull out of these holes.

We got in after midnight yesterday and missed the views on the way in, then woke up around 8 when it was still dark out and couldn’t make out our surroundings. The wait was worth it though, and the view from our corner hotel room (Reese’s parents hooked us up) certainly did not disappoint.

Cook Inlet on one side...

Chugach Range on the other side...

We spent the day taking it easy and exploring Anchorage. We stopped in a couple shops downtown, and I thought the coolest shop was probably the Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers Co-op. I’m not much of a “shopper,” but I have to admit the fiber from the musk ox was a remarkably soft and warm. Hope things cool off some, otherwise I think the hat Reese picked up is going to be a bit warm!

Reese sporting her new Qiviut hat

We drove around a bit and tracked down a couple of fly shops.  We stopped in McAfee’s Fly Shop first and didn’t hear any promising news  (although he was helpful and forthcoming with info).

Reese snuck this pic in... getting the bad news

I wasn’t quite ready to give up so we checked out the World Wide Angler shop. It was a sweet shop and was HUGE, but unfortunately the news there wasn’t any better than at McAfee’s. Fly fishing Alaska in late November just wasn’t meant to be for me. Guess I’ll just have to come back in season!! Ended up talking skiing for a bit with the WWA crew and I’m hoping we can work in some skiing time at Alyeska before we head home. Looks like they’re going to open up in the next day or two.

I know it’s going to be all kinds of cold and dark, but I figured (well, maybe hoped it a better word) there would be some sort of fly fishing option while I’m out there… Well, I’ve almost given up hope at this point.

After trying the folks at Deneki Outdoors (fan of the blog for sure), Alaska Troutfitters, Mystic Waters Fly Fishing, and X-tream Alaska, I’m still coming up empty. Deneki Outdoors gets the award (hands down, they’re the only ones I was actually able to make contact with) for being the most helpful, but I’m striking out nonetheless.

Don’t have much time left to do any sort of planning, but I thought I would give it one last effort… Any suggestions of who I should talk to about doing some Alaska fly fishing in late November (and by late November, I mean next week)? Is it even possible?

My buddy Chris (fished with him last week), suggested I ditch the fishing idea and opt for skiing instead. Not looking like a terrible idea…

Don’t even know what to say… Disturbing to say the least.

Had a great time fishing with Brent and Chris. Started out down in the “red zone” and saw some success, although it was hit or miss.

Chris on the Bluffs, Brent tying on the next fly

Chris and Brent pulled in the big’uns, while I played with the dinks (got totally ignored by the big riser that I worked for at least 30min).

Nice Bow caught by Chris, Landed by Brent

The dinks were fun though, no complaining from me… tan ehc, black ehc, organge stimulator, parachute adams, olive foam caddis… didn’t seem to matter, they just wanted one look.

Found a nice one chilling in the protection of a boulder and some downed limbs.

a little shy...

Had a nice surprise when I worked my way into a couple of these too…

unexpected

Took a break for lunch and stopped by Sid’s shop to pick up a few flies, chat for a while, and borrow a picnic table. Had a great time over there, gotta stop by if you’re out that way…

Moved on to the Spillway Creek after lunch and worked our way into a little better fishing. We all managed to hook into some great browns and nice rainbows.

the curse breaker

Brent's Brown

Standard Bow for the day

Sure seems like they dropped in some big bows recently. Nice to see, hope they manage to stick around.

Need more daylight hours… but definitely a great day. Now we just need a more direct route from OKC, all this driving out of the way stuff stinks.

barbel-less carp = carpsucker, grass carp, or something else?

Let me know what you think, cause whatever it is… it’s going on the species lifelist.

torpedo

Had a big guy straighten out the hook on my sjw. Too bad I didn’t realize it until I botched the hookset on 3 fish in a row after LDR’ing the big’un.

And… Reese would get mad if I didn’t include the costume she made me.

Don't joke about being a fish for halloween when you have a fiance determined to make a costume, haaa

Feeders

One botched cast later… no feeders to be found. Hate spooking ‘em straight off the bat. Damn.

Found bait moving elsewhere… only found these underneath the surface action though.

Doing his part to fatten up

Was hoping for a monster bass of some sort. Gotta fatten up sometime, eh?

Thought the fish might continue to cooperate and help me finish out the Fall strong… but that was not the case yesterday. Had to settle for a nice Okie sunset instead. Not so bad afterall…

Think the fish were too busy enjoying the glassy water and nice sunset to eat

Not a bad way to end a day

Maybe they’ll be back on the fall feed today…

Heavy on the entertainment side.

worked/pwned/dominated/destroyed... Take your pick

(click picture to see video)

I love golf course ponds. I love them even more when they are closed for play. I love them EVEN MORE when it’s FALL FEED time!

While I’m still straightening out a fresh leader Austen get’s things started off…

Quick start, seems promising

Hungry cat

Patrick was next to connect… and put his brand new  TCR to work on a nice bass. Not a bad way to get the new rod funk off.

Bendo

Hungry, Healthy, and Heavy, nice combo

Don’t think we saw anything under 2.5# the whole evening

Seemed picture worthy

Nothing wrong with pausing between bruisers to take in a nice Oklahoma sunset.

Gotta love fall evenings

Sure it getting dark fast these days. I DREAD the time change. DREAD.

Night cap

It had been a long day at work getting things squared away for Friday and road trips, even in the ~4hr range, are always tiring. The last thing I wanted to hear was “we don’t have a room for you,” but it turned out to be a good deal. They put us up in a different hotel for the night and then put us up in a “villa” when they brought us back the next day. Saved some $ and got a sick upgrade, not bad.

Woke up Friday to a beautiful day. Low 60’s, sunny, no wind… The ladies were going to spend the day doing some shopping, and considering that malls are probably my least favorite place on the planet, I figured it was a good opportunity to try and get in some time on the water.

I had scouted out some spots (God bless google maps), but after consulting with the King of rough fishing in the Lone Star State, I discovered the spots I had been thinking about were posted no-fishing. Whoops.

Would have probably ended up arrested (or at least heavily fined) if it wasn’t for Dave, but instead, he put me on a killer spot. It was silly how good this spot was, not kidding, silly.

Within the first half hour I missed two definite takes. Was borderline frustrated and mad that I had spooked a couple spots holding nice pods of fish, when I noticed a gulping mouth come out of the vegetation a few feet directly in front of me. It wasn’t even fair… a little dap dap dap, and the skunk was off my back.

No chance

I had developed a small gallery of on-lookers on their smoke break and not wanting to give anyone any ideas for after work activities, I moved downstream for a bit to check things out. Promptly botched a hookset and spooked another group of fish and hunted around unsuccessfully for a bit before heading back upstream.

Ran into a spotted gar parked in the middle of the creek and gave it a good effort, but couldn’t manage to get its attention. Literally dragged the fly across his nose at one point, and the only response was a little flick of the tail and a slight change of direction.

Look in the middle...

Tired of getting “the finger” from the gar I moved upstream some more and hit the jackpot. Carp were feeding everywhere I looked, and close. They were burying themselves in the junk and were going to town on whatever was inside. Stripping the fly in/around all the junk what impossible (at least for me), so I resorted to casting the fly on top of the junk, and then just vibrating the line to give the fly a bit of life. Did the trick. Saw a nose move up around the area I thought my fly was and set the hook…

Had a great time “trying” to steer him away from all the trouble around and managed to get him in pretty close. Tried to scoop him in the net when he gave the standard “you think I’m tired, but I’m not… I’m gonna go on another run” to me… and snapped my rod before I even knew what was going on.

####… Really??? Again?? Another broken rod? I feel like I JUST had it repaired. I ended up pulling him in by hand… just had to get a shot of the fish responsible for the breakage.

Sage, get ready for another warranty claim... sorry, really I am.

Had to call it a day… really wish I would have packed a spare rod, it was a crazy good spot. Definitely motivated to find something similar in my own backyard. If you’re trying to get into some rough fish in the DFW area, you’ve gotta book a trip with Dave Speer. Stand up guy… knows how to find ‘em and catch ‘em.

Closed out the Dallas trip with the game on Sat. I’m a lot more comfortable on the banks of a creek than in the chaos of the TX state fair on game day, but it was still a hell of a time.

Ocean of orange and red

The game was obviously disappointing, but it was definitely fun and exciting… I think I could make a strong argument for having the best seat in the house.

Literally on the 50, high enough where you can still see everything, but not too high that you miss out.

 Yeah, I may have been sitting next to TX fans, but they weren’t d-bags so it was all good. Woulda been nice to walk away with a W though.

Got home just in time on Sunday to make the drive to Norman… time to close out the weekend with some straight up entertainment!

Opened with the Black Eyed Peas

And closed with the one of the biggest of all time….

U2!

Broken rod, lost game… still don’t think the weekend could be beat. Hell of a time.

Makes Monday awfully rough though. Ward needs a nap. Bad.

My apologies for the absence… lost a bit of blogging motivation, but thought I’d make a comeback with a piece on a weekend trip to Broken Bow, Oklahoma to fish the Lower Mountain Fork River in Beavers Bend State Park.

Well, it was another great weekend on the LMF to say the least! Temps were perfect, the trees were starting to turn, the rain stopped (minus some drizzle), and it was generally overcast… Could have done without the crowds, but with zone 2 and zone 3 out of the equation due to generation, that’s to be expected (tough when everyone’s packed into the one remaining zone). To make it even better, Reese wanted to get away and do some camping/relaxing (didn’t feel like doing any fishing) so it was a great chance for us to get away from the grind.

We got in after midnight Friday and after setting up camp and organizing my gear (putting flies in boxes, cleaning lines, etc) I was too tired to get out and do any night fishing like I had planned on. Woke up in the morning, got the signal from Reese that she wanted to sleep in,  and decided to start the day on the Evening Hole (meaningless to some of you, but more on it here).

Fished the Evening Hole for a little bit (unsuccessfully), but I’m a fan of hopping around and the EH was PACKED (sort of like it was this day) so I took off to cook some breakfast for Reese and make the move to the Spillway Creek.

Lots of people were around, but I love the Spillway because there’s always unfished productive pocketwater. There’s ALWAYS a way to escape out there. I didn’t catch a ton of fish that morning, but the ones I did catch were all quality size. Most were just about the length of the opening of my net.

Fiesty Little Pellet-head

Nice colors on them though..

A bit shy

But a couple fish that were truly big worked their way into the mix, and MAN were those fun. Managed to keep one from coming unbuttoned (a fun challenge on a 2wt in strong, quick water!). Definitely a PB on the 2wt.

Tough glare, beautiful fish

Big fish on small flies (#20 red zebra midge) and a small rod, sort of thing that makes it hard to leave! Who says Oklahoma doesn’t have nice fish anyway?

We spent a little time relaxing after lunch out at the Old Park Dam (start of zone 2).

Lots of water. Lots and lots of water

Ended up fishing a different area of the Spillway Creek that afternoon… Not much success. Couldn’t make it work… fished a lot of FISHY spots, but couldn’t get ‘em figured out. Had one chomp on my strike indicator, so I tied on a stimulator and he smashed it pretty good. Wasn’t big, but it’s always nice to mix it up and bring one in on a dry. Happened to be the only fish I caught the entire afternoon too. Almost walked face first into this monster when I was trying to scramble off the trail down to the river… Obviously he parked himself head high right in the middle of the opening to the most convenient way down.

Marbled Orb Weaver?

Closed out the day by picking up a couple of ribeyes from the frontier general store. We got the last two, and they were tasty, but really fatty. Might have been more fat than meat… but I chalk that up to only having the last two to choose from! We brought some wine back with us from Napa (that was the tail end of the Yosemite trip I posted about a while ago) and paired with the steak it was solid.

Don’t know if it was the wine (or the post-wine bourbon), but I set my alarm for 12:30am to see if I could track down some browns below the spillway dam and somehow didn’t manage to wake up… whoops. Was disappointed when I woke up Sun morning that I hadn’t done any night fishing, but got over it pretty quickly when I realized the spillway wasn’t too crowded that morning…

Wont be long and the trees will be in full swing

Didn’t catch a ton of fish again, but that made it more enjoyable and each fish more rewarding. I really was hoping to get into some of the browns… but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

Reese was not feeling too good on Sunday… Not sure if it was allergies or if she’s getting sick, but she had a really sore throat and a lot of sinus drainage that wasn’t making her very comfortable (being sick to your stomach in a place that’s out of your comfort zone is the pits…). We packed up camp pretty early and we made one more stop at the Evening Hole (crowds had thinned out some by Sunday) on our way out. Fished under the bluffs for about and hour and had a blast.

Great water

The fishies thought so too. Tied on an EHC/Emerger combo and started to had some success. The little guys were just destroying the EHC.

I vote this one’s an okie’ native (”native” term obviously used loosely)… (and apologies for the foul hook, got tangled with the dropper)

Can't wait for the day that the stream/river is full of these

It was definitely a great time. Good to be back knee deep in cold water and nice to be back on theokieangler.com

NO idea what this post message the page up, but for some reason it does…

If you want to continue to older posts, click here

After a few setbacks (my fault, bad at getting places on time) we met at spot #1 to try and tangle up with some longnose gar. Patrick’s had a ton of experience with gar and I was hoping I could finally bring one to hand with him around to give me a pointer or two. Sure enough, we found plenty of surfacing gar and spent a couple of hours giving them a good effort. I managed to checked off my #1 goal for summer, but couldn’t snap a pic in time for proof.

You’re just gonna have to trust me. He came in on what looked like a single thread of the rope fly and slipped out of my hand while I was pulling out the camera. Didn’t miss much with the picture, it couldn’t have been much more than 12″ long, but it still would have been nice to have a shot of the product of quite a few hours of pursuit.

We all had a few strikes, but didn’t have the greatest luck with the tangles. Hope to go back out this afternoon after work to give ‘em another shot now that I have a bit of confidence.

We had two main goals for the day… put me on a gar and put Patrick on a catfish. On to spot #2…

Didn’t take too long and we had accomplished both goals, not sure how many cats he ended up bringing to hand, but it was more than a few.

Bendo

Checkin' one off the list

We caught plenty of bass and cats for a while and when I tried to take a picture of a slab of a crappie…. my great day on the water suddenly became a frustrating one… My Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 WASN’T working.

The lens cover was open, but the camera was off… not a good sign. I could hear the motor trying to work when I pressed the power button, but I wasn’t getting anything but the power on screen. Sure, it’s endured a couple of waist high falls. Yeah, I’ve taken some underwater shots with it. But this issue seemed to come up out of NOWHERE. No junk in the lens to jam the cover, no recent drops, no nothing. Confusing. I bought the camera on April 30 and it’s already broken?? Ouch. Such a big investment. Majorly disappointing. Especially considering I had just bragged on the performance and durability on a few different fishing forums. Should have knocked on wood I guess.

I’m a bit of a pessimist, but I really hope Olympus decides to honor the warranty and take care of the problem quickly. We will see.

I’ll keep you posted on that one… And, let me apologize in advance for the poor quality (1.3mp camera phone) images to come in the meantime.

Thanks to Brent snagging this beauty, I wonder no more.

Wonder how it got the name silverside?