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