Land-locked stripers

I fished the Arkansas River here in Tulsa for a couple of hours this afternoon. Besides the stripers and drum in the photos, I caught 3 largemouth bass and 1 small hybrid, or wiper to you folks to the north of here.
http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a248/stevec53/Arkansas%20River/
Steve

Jeeze BM, looks like you had a grand time of it. Way to go! Nice to see the pictures, thanks. :slight_smile:

Steve,

I think a lot of Kansas fishermen who would be shocked to learn that fishing is so good in the Ark, particularly where it runs through a major metro area like Tulsa. In Kansas the Arkansas is a virtually destroyed fishery. Please write a Warm Water story about your activities there, anytime you feel like it. I for one am very curious.

Great trip you had, and nice photos. Thanks for sharing.

BTW, here’s hoping you NEVER have another ice storm as terrible as the one that hit Tulsa last year. I visited Tulsa shortly after that storm, and from Coffeyville, KS all the way south to Tulsa that whole area looked like it had been the target of a B-52 raid.

Joe
“Better small than not at all.”

Hey Steve!

Good to see you back in the act! I take it flows have finally come down…??

A few of us got down to Sooner and Kaw back in Feb. No stripers caught, and with the precip as high as it was this year, we never made another trip back down.

Pics look good!

Joe,
The Arkansas River here can be very good at times. I will talk to Deanna about doing an article.

Ror-Eye,
Yes, we are finally seeing some low flows here. Keystone lake is down close to normal at last, so we should see fishable conditions more often. I plan to hit the river every weekend possible for some time. Some of the best days that i have had there were in the Winter.
Steve

Steve -

Those are some pretty healthy looking stripers. Just curious what kind of flies you serve up to them ??

John

John,
It depends on conditions. Lately the water has been off-colored, so chartreuse has worked best. I was using a 3/0 Zonker type fly with a rattle encased in mylar tubing. When the water clears, I use EP Baitfish flies, Deceivers, Clouser Minnows, and Mighty Minnows in gray/white, olive/white, chartreuse/white or blue/white, usually 2/0-4/0.
Steve

I went back to the Arkansas River this afternoon. I caught this hybrid on the 3rd cast, then fished for 11/2 hours without another strike. Oh well, at least I didn’t get skunked!

Steve

What can I say, you caught the only one that was there. I just wonder why he didn’t take the two other casts. :slight_smile:

Nice fish! I need to get a hook up this winter and get a couple strippers on the line. I guess a few a of the lakes around here have them.

Cold winter weather like we’re having right now, hooking up with a couple of strippers sounds like a sensible plan indeed.

Joe
“Better small than not at all.”

Those line siders have been on my list for 2 years. But when the weather get cold(and water levels come down to fishable levels on the Arkansas) my fly fishing buds get trout fever and covince me to spend every available minute chasing trout

okflyfisher,
I fish for trout quite a bit, but when the conditions are right for striper fishing, that’s where I’ll be. I can drive for 10 minutes and be striper fihing, or drive for 1 to 5 hours to get into trout.

Steve

Fly fishing for stripers and sand (white) bass is fantastic, especially below tailraces. Now is the time of year to zap them. I use anything that resembles a shad, or bluegill.

I’m jealous! I wish that were true here in Iowa…but although wipers are occasionally caught in winter months, the white bass (sand bass) generally shut down once the water drops below 50 degrees F. :frowning: