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Hey, i'm in the Tulsa area for business for a while and would like to find a river to fish. I have heard about the Lower Mountain Fork river, and Illinois river. Any suggestions/comments. Also, i'm from canada, so what are the licence options/requirements.
Thanks,
Scott.
Scott,
The Lower Illinois is the closest to Tulsa. The problem with fishing it right now is generation from Tenkiller Dam. Here is a site that shows the flow rate for the river http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=07198000
Normal flow is around 100 CFS and it is close to 4000 CFS right now. Here is a link to the Dept. of Wildlife Conservation http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/ It has information about licenses. Another option would be Pawhuska Lake northwest of Tulsa. It is a winter only trout fishery and will have trout at least until April.
Steve
Thanks Steve, yes by those charts the levels are way to high. Have you heard much about the Lower Mountain Fork?
Scott,
I have never fished the Lower Mt. Fork but I have heard good things about it. Here is a link to a fly shop down there. http://www.threeriversflyshop.com/
You should be able to get some info about it there.
Another option would be the Beaver Lake tailwater in NW Arkansas. It is closer to Tulsa than the LMF is.
Steve
Fellas,
I just got in from Tanycomo in MO and stopped by the White river below Beaver lake. It too is blown out as they are running full bore. Although I have never been to the lower mountain fork I understand that there is a section that is fishable even when they release water. It may be your best bet over the next few days. After the local lake get below the flood pool they should resume more normal operations so keep an eye on the releases, you may get lucky and can fish the Lower Illinois.
Dan
I have fished the Lower Mountain Fork two or three times a year for the past 15-16 years. Beavers Bend Park is laid out around the old river bend area. At the Broken Bow Lake dam, there is a constant release into what is known as Spillway Creek, which runs down a fairly steep gradient for over a mile, with innumberable rapids and many small pools. The wildlife department has done quite a bit of work along Spillway Creek over the past few years, putting rock breakwaters and log cofferdams to slow down the flow in some areas and create some holding water. This creek flows over rugged terrain, but can be very good fishing. In Zone I within the park, most of the water is fairly flat but the fishing isn't bad. However, this is also the area where all the bait fishers congregate. Zone II is below the park and is limited to flies and artificial lures only (barbless), and you are allowed to keep one fish over 20" per day. Zone III is about four miles down river, and is very rugged in the first mile or so, but does have some very good fishing for rainbows and browns. The current state record (a 17 lb. brown) was caught at the upper end of Zone III. In addition to the Three Rivers Fly Shop website mentioned above, you can also check out www.beaversbendflyshop.com where much information is available. I plan to go there in about three weeks. In Oklahoma, the LMF is the place to go for trout. Because of the layout of the dam and generating station, Spillway Creek and most of Zone I are unaffected by releases from the lake. So, although Zones II and III can be blown out by releases from the lake, you still have about three to four miles of fishable water within the park.
Larry Compton
While the Illinois and Mountain Fork are the two most popular, don't overlook the many clear creeks in southeastern Oklahoma for excellent smallmouth fishing. Also the Blue River is an excellent seasonal trout fishery but provides excellent year round smallmouth fishing as well.
Steve Ford is an FAOLer over in Tahlequah OK. There is some fine smallie fishing over that way - he is also the FFF local rep. so can point you to t-fish as well.
His email is smford-at-onenet.net (replace -at- with @ posted this way to avoid the [url]Steve Ford is an FAOLer over in Tahlequah OK. There is some fine smallie fishing over that way - he is also the FFF local rep. so can point you to t-fish as well.
His email is smford-at-onenet.net (replace -at- with @ posted this way to avoid the spambots)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot