Already Missing the River.... #lowerillinoisriver

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Been a brutal work week so far, making us miss the Lower Illinois River and the trout fishing to be had even more. That said, here is a quick video snippet of some things to note for Readers interested in fishing the Lower Illinois River in Oklahoma!

 

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Question: How Do We Attach a Line to a Tenkara Lillian?

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Question from one of our Readers asking how we attach our line to a Tenkara rod’s lillian. We use a loop to loop connection to attach our line. One loop is formed by the lillian; the other loop is from the braided line that we use when fishing with a Tenkara rod. When we use a level line, we attach a 10″-12″ piece of monofilament line to the level line with a nail knot, and then form a loop on the other end of the monofilament using a perfection loop knot. To better illustrate the loop to loop connection, we have posted a video below. Do check it out!    
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How Do We Clean and Cook Trout?

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Question from one of our Readers asking, “How do we clean and cook trout?” In answer to the question, we provide a summary of the different ways we clean and cook trout! Depending on the size of the trout, we clean and cook them as follows: Stocker size trout (9″-13″ in size) : We cut their heads or remove the gills (“gilling”), and then we remove the guts. Not sure why we opt to cut the head off versus “gilling” them; just seems to go one way or the other from trip to trip. When cooking the Stockers, we season them with salt and pepper (sometimes add Season Salt), and then pan fry them in oil for about 5-8 minutes each side. For larger trout in the 14″ – 18″ range: We clean them like the Stockers but will split the fish (butterfly). We then cook them on a cedar plank (see Grilled Plank Trout Recipe ). For trout going 19″+ in size: We gill them and remove the guts, leaving the head in place. Then, we stuff with lemon slices, onions, butter, and sprinkle Rosemary in the body cavity. Nex...
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Over-Lining Our Fly Rods

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Made it back to Lake Lewisville Ecological Learning Area. Used the 6wt Switch Rod and fished downriver from the tailrace. Caught a Bass and several Longear (we think they were Longear). A Bass and one Longear went for a Clouser Minnow. Other Longear went for the Near Deere and GRHEN Tandem Rig that we used in the Red Zone on the Lower Mountain Fork several weeks ago. Lost a number of fish while reeling them in. They were able to throw the hook as soon as any slack in the line happened. Forgot the rig we were using was barbless per the Red Zone requirement. Overall, had a great time… at times had a section of the river to myself. Also, met another fly fisherman and a some good fishing things to talk about as well as a Bald Eagle flew by us! Cool stuff especially in the middle of the DFW Metroplex!  
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