Stocker Trout Fishing News

Made it to the Blue River in Oklahoma Saturday. Had a great time. Water was clear and fish were active and once we figured out the pattern… able to get them on our stringer! Started with a Tandem Rigged Near Deere and John Deere; same setup that did well last Sunday. Unfortunately, was not the pattern this trip. Switched to a Streamer and Midge Tandem Rig with the John Deere and a trailing Rainbow Warrior. That was the ticket! Trout were taking the Rainbow Warrior. Did lose the rig, retied a Near Deere and Rainbow Warrior. Managed to catch one trout on the Neare Deere, else it was the Rainbow Warrior, again. Limited out with one nice trout (not on video) that we lost while landing it. Overall, nice day on the Blue… Tandem Rigged fishing flies were the key again!

Trip 2 of 3 fishing Turner Falls Park in Oklahoma for Rainbow Trout. This round was tougher; started the day fishing downriver, then moved upriver later. Able to limit out, even did a “Hank Patterson” move when the fly reel fell off the fly rod while fishing… LOL! Goto 28:00 in the video to see that moment! OPST Commando Head was key again today. No wet wading though, brought the wading pants this time. PS: Echo Ion Fly Reels rock… a quick rinse in the river after dropping it, and was back in business fishing! Echo Ion Fly Reel 4/5 wt Redington Classic Trout Fly Rod (9′-4pc-5wt) OPST Commando Head (200 grain) OPST Lazarline Running Line

Quick Tie demo of the Rainbow Warrior Midge that we used as the trailing fishing fly for a Tandem Rig last Saturday on the Blue River. Trailed behind an Olive Near Deere, the little midge had one trout take but for some reason, when we fished the Olive Near Deere without it trailing, we were not getting bit. Go figure!   Recipe: Red Dacron Tying Thread Size 16 Caddis Hook 2.3mm Silver Tungsten Bead Pheasant Tail Fibers Pearl Mylar or Tinsel White and Pink UV Dubbing Other Items: Peak Tying Vise: https://amzn.to/2NWQjUe 5-Second UV Glue: https://amzn.to/2C79STw   PS: Was the same fishing fly that took a nice 20″ Rainbow Trout at Beavers Bend State Park several years ago on the Lower Mountain Fork River!

Order cam in from the The Fly Shack. Been having a tough finding the UV Glue locally. Decided to put an order in Monday; arrived today. In short order, tied a variant of the Rainbow Warrior Midge and used th UV Glue to coat the midge. Looks good! Hope the trout like them!   #flytying this evening. #rainbowwarrior midge variant. order from #theflyshack came in uv glue and light. worked well on the midges! A post shared by COAF Field Team (@coaf.field.team) on Nov 8, 2017 at 5:49pm PST

Was a tough round on the Blue River today. Saw others catching trout; yours truly struggled, but did finally land one – a small stocker. That said, had a great time on the river, even put a song together inspired while on the road to the Blue… Blue River not Blue Bayou that is. Morning was chilly but things warmed up later… maybe too hot for trout fishing? Also, the wind kicked up as well. Luckily, was able to gain even more distance with the OPST Commando Head on the 9′ 5wt. Still need more practice and did switch to a floating tip in lieu of the sinking tip so as to fish a tandem rig under a strike indicator. Next round, hope to get more than one trout, but till then we hope the “road trip inspired” song / video “inspires others to fish Lady Blue!

Been tying the Rainbow Midge using a traditional pattern. This one from Turning Stones Fly Fishing is much simpler. Going to try this version next time I tie Rainbow Midges! PS: Made a couple; very simple pattern and easy tie! #flytying #rainbowmidge pattern found online. Much simpler pattern than the #rainbowwarrior fly. A photo posted by COAF Field Team (@coaf.field.team) on Feb 3, 2017 at 3:36pm PST

Below is the video of the afternoon’s action fishing the Lower Mountain Fork River’s Blue Zone this past Saturday. We were able to limit out with six Rainbow Trout. Had lots of fun fishing this one spot; we could see the fish lurking in the pool below the waterfall. In the video, we used an indicator to keep the fishing fly in the “money” zone where the fish were lurking. We also removed it when the fish started lurking deeper in the pool. And, in both instances the “twitching rod tip” seemed to get strikes more often than not. There was one point where we would let the line drift into the white water, and then we let the line continue downriver before beginning the twitching action. These seemed to work for several casts followed by flipping our line over causing us to fish with our rod underhanded. Shortly, after doing so, we would get a strike!

Had a great time Saturday fishing the Lower Mountain Fork River at Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma! Been a while since we last fished it. Luckily, found a break in the schedule and made the run north across the border! Fished the Red Zone in the morning in hopes of a Bruiser, and then the Blue Zone in the afternoon to try for a limit. Of interest this round were: The morning round resulted in no Bruisers but did see several nice ones lurking in places. None were interested in a fishing fly unfortunately including an Albino that looked about 18″ in length. Had lots of fun catching, missing, and seeing trout in a couple of places in the Cold Hole. Water was clear and could easily see the fish with polarized glasses. Trout seemed to like the Tandem Rigged Near Deere and trailing fly setup. More important, they tended to strike when the fly was moving fast either by a quick twitch of the rod or by swing the rod fast. The rapid, short pulls of the fly line did not get any strikes. Used ...

Another Vlog filmed in the field. This round we decided on a quick trip to Celebration Park to try some Micro Fishing with the two-piece Micro Flyrod. Started out using small fishing flies – Rainbow Warrior and an Olive Midge, but later switched to a Guadalupana . While catching the little Bluegill, we noticed larger fish chasing baitfish in the shallows. Hoping for a chance at hooking one, tied on a Guadalupana. Caught a Bluegill soon after and then had a surprise when a Bruiser Catfish took the fishing fly and ran the reel to the backing. The Micro Flyrod did well and we were able to land the Catfish – estimated about 18″ in length. Fun stuff on ultralight gear! PS: Posted the Catfish on the Fishing Bulletin Board !

Stopped by Bethany Lakes yesterday to check out things. Water level is up from the recent rains. Looked like the trout bite was slow; did see some folks fishing but no hook ups while we were there. Tried different spots to see if anything would take our fishing fly. Been liking the Two Weight Fly Rod we picked up from Cabelas the other day but only been able to fish with it once since getting it. As it turned out, this round the fly rod worked out well on the little Bluegill lurking near a culvert. Water was crystal clear! Ended up catching 10 or so Bluegill and one little Bass this round. Fun stuff!

Made it to the Blue River Tuesday afternoon! Had a great time; limited out with six Rainbow Trout. Caught and released a lot more! Used a Five Weight Fly Rod and fished a Tandem Rigged Near Deere and trailed either a GRHEN or a Rainbow Warrior. Started fishing the area by the Island. Caught four fish there – three fish went for a Brown Near Deere and one went for the GRHEN. Bite slowed by the Island, so headed downstream and fished the pockets and runs. Lost count of how many we caught and released. Did notice that roughly half the trout went for an Olive Near Deere and the other half went for a Rainbow Warrior. Did see a number of trout including a Bruiser lurking in the pockets but most were not interested in our fishing fly. Did manage to get one to take a Pink Near Deere as well as one that went for a Black Jig Fly that we picked up at Scotty’s. Ended the day at Hughes Crossing, catching a number of Trout on an Olive Near Deere and a Pink Near Deere. Fun time… even...

Made it to the Blue River Saturday for a chance at Rainbow Trout Fishing. Forgot to bring the chest strap for the GoPro. After some mods, was able to get some action shots. Fun day…. limited out, too! Used a Tandem Rig Near Deere and Rainbow Warrior like the one we used at Beavers Bend. It was 50/50 with the Trout going for one fishing fly over the other. After limiting out, did some catch and release fishing. Had fun working the pools that held Trout. Did use an Eight Weight and the new Echo Ion Fly Reel. Plan was to use it for Stripers when we decided to stop a Denison Dam while coming back from the Blue River. It worked really well especially when the wind picked up, but ended up breaking the rod while on the way back home. Stopped at McDonalds for some coffee, one of the sections fell out while getting out of the car, sure enough closed the door without realizing the section fell out. Oh well, good excuse to get another fly rod!