So it looks like 2019 rolled right into 2020 without me really noticing much of a change in my fishing lifestyle. Most of my recent adventures have been with-in 5 hours of my home, which has been great.
LMFR bow
Streamer eater from Norfork
My camping trips have been during the week to the Little Red, White, Norfork and Lower Mountain Fork River in OK. The fishing has been great and the crowds have been cooperating but that's probably because I go during the week when responsible people are doing responsible things, like working.
But not me, I prefer to be irresponsible and spend my time on the water during the week and at home on the weekends. I feel good about it!
LMFR bow
dry fly
With all the rains we've gotten in Arkansas lately, it has been nearly impossible to fish in the state. I'm fortunate to have a lesser known, at least nationally anyway, tailwater in Oklahoma to visit. The Lower Mountain Fork is pretty well know around the Texas, SW Arkansas parts but not many from outside that area will travel to fish it. The great thing is they release from the spillway so even on high water months when the COE is generating there is wadeable water for about 5 miles.
You can also camp right next to the river so that's a real bonus also. But the best part is the small catch and release area that has some large, beautiful holdover bows. The river is also known for it's bug diversity and occasional dry fly fishing. Basically, you can get into something that's pretty exciting on the LMFR If you don't mind sharing the water with a few strangers.
In fact, last week after fishing bwo dries to several rising bows, I was able to sight fish a exceptional rainbow during the last hour of day light. It was truly, a cool experience and great day by any standard.
Next month, I have a trip planned to the San Juan, followed up by the White and hopefully a backpacking trip into the Great Smoky Mountains. Those are just a few to get the season kicking. Super excited about 2020 and hope you guys are also!
Latest YouTube Video from my first trip in 2020. More to follow...
It would be a 15 hour day and I'd be driving it solo this year. While the thought of driving that long hurt my brain, it meant I would be able to hit the forest service roads before the sun rose and potentially have camp set-up early mornig. This would give me enough time to hike out for a few hours and get some fishing in before the thunderstorms started at noon.
You would think after driving that distance falling to sleep would be easy. However the excitement of camping in the mountains and browns eating attractor dry flies kept me up way too late. My thoughts centered around my supplies, gear, and everything else I needed before I checked off the grid for the next few days.
Three hours later I was looking across the valley. This would be my home for the next several days. Not a sole in sight. The only sounds were from the river making its way down the mountain and the wind whispering to the trees.
The first afternoon was nearly exceptional. Fish were holding in all the expected spots and rose eagerly to my offerings. I didn't venture very far the first afternoon. Thunderstorms were forecast to begin at 1pm. If you weren't headed back when they started, it meant walking out with lightening crashing all around. I learned that lesson last year and would not repeat it again this year.
As expected, the clouds started to build around lunch signaling my departure. I made it back to camp just as the wind picked up and the rain crashed down. I made lunch and enjoyed a beer under the cover of the rain fly. Being surrounded on all sides by mountains there wasn't any real way to know how long it would last. The cell phone was only good for capturing pictures out here. A few hours passed before the rain stopped. Another 30 minutes before the sun came out. The temperature dropped 30 degrees putting a much appreciated chill in the air. The excitement of ending the day throwing dry flies to rising trout was brief. No worries, it had been a great morning and I could use some rest.
Realizing that each afternoon would be shortened by several hours, I set my alarm for 5 am each morning. The time it takes to make breakfast, coffee and pack for the afternoon is considerably shortened when you're solo adventuring. The next few days were filled with browns in the morning and rain in the afternoon. Four days went by quickly but it was time to relocate to another area, which would take the better part of the morning. Again, leaving me with just a few hours to fish.
From my new camp I had access to several streams and lakes. But the weather would dictate which day I would visit each. I stayed close on the days with a greater chance of storms but luck was on my side for a few. Later in the week, the percentages and timing allowed me to hike out a little further.
This was the only day I actually ran into another person. We stopped and talked for a minute. Not wanting to jump ahead of him or fish behind him, I stopped and had lunch. Giving him 30 minutes to get up a little further.
It was my last afternoon in Colorado and I was hopeful the weather would hold off. But like every day before, it started to build in the afternoon. I could hear the thunder in the distance rolling through the valley. I stepped on to the trail and started to hike out when I saw the guy from earlier. The storms had been really brutal and knowing he had just gotten here I made my way over to relay the information before hitting the trail hard. My truck was in sight when the weather went south quick. The winds gust to 30 mph, the rain was blinding and lightning was coming down all over. After 30 minutes, I knew I had to start driving back to Arkansas and hoped that dude made it out ok.
This was one of those trips that was literally planned two weeks ago. My family and I were driving to Russellville, AR for our daughters 8U softball tournament when we realized, it's almost the middle of summer and we haven't planned a family vacation. The last few weeks have been really hectic with practices and camps. I didn't think my wife would actually find my idea attractive but I presented her the possibility of road tripping to Wisconsin, where her and the girls would fly home. Leaving me to explore the "Driftless" area in Wisconsin. It doesn't happened very often but she actually liked one of my ideas and the plane tickets were purchased in the next 30 minutes. The plan was to start driving on June 30th and make our way to Minneapolis, MN for their flight on July 3rd.
There were no more plans from that point. We decided on our route each morning and just went where it felt right. The first stop was at Mammoth Springs State Park in Northeast Arkansas. I couldn't remember if I had ever seen Arkansas' largest spring but I knew my girls had not. We arrived just in time for lunch out of the minivan and then walked around the park for an hour.
My wife asked our oldest daughter if she liked the waterfall, to which she replied, "it was a mill, waterfalls are natural." In spite of her informative Webster 's awareness we could tell she was having a good time. We loaded up and started driving, destination unknown, only that we would be taking the scenic route. We made a quick stop in Jefferson City, MO but decided to push on the Columbia, MO for the night. We ended the evening letting the kids swim for an hour or more.
We made it to Dubuque, IA and spent the afternoon touring the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. After some ice cream in the historic area we loaded up and continued to Madison, WI. We ended the 2nd day of our road trip eating dinner near the Capital and more swimming at the hotel.
Tuesday we kept to our "no plan" is our plan and left Madison in a general direction of Minneapolis, MN. My wife insists on navigating with an old Rand McNally road atlas we purchased in 1998 on our very first road trip from Little Rock, AR to San Diego, CA. It's only slightly embarrassing because it's the size of a pizza box and her windows aren't tinted. However, no kidding it's still more accurate than our Garmin "recalculating" GPS unit.
Full disclosure, I had no idea what route we were taking but as we drove in to Viroqua, WI around lunch I knew where we'd stop next, the Driftless Angler. I had every intention of visiting the fly shop after they flew home but couldn't drive past without stopping. I picked up a sticker and some flies in exchange for fishing intel. We were in and out of the shop in under 15 minutes! Not far from the shop was a shaded park that was perfect for lunch. After an hour we continued on our way to Minneapolis, MN, where we ended our family road trip. Their flights left at 10:30 am the following morning. I get to stay behind and fish the "Driftless".
This would be my first trip to the Wisconsin Driftless. I have made three trips to the Iowa side, Click here for Iowa Trip, and find it stunning. After three days I can tell you the Wisconsin side doesn't disappoint. I brought camping gear and planned to camp but with severe weather in the forecast the next day I opted for the cheap accommodations suggested while I was at the fly shop. I figured I'd camp after the storm but was almost killed by black flies (watch the video and you'll see) and decided to keep the room.
After securing my room, I ventured out to my first spring feed stream in Wisconsin. I drove past it twice before I located the small public parking area. If it weren't for the bridge that crossed the water, I would have never believed it existed. The fun begins...
In truth, the more I explored the easier it became to locate the public areas. Some of the water, like the Coon and West Fork of the Kickapoo were not difficult and they fished well. A dry-dropper rig took many fish. The browns would readily rise to the dry when the clouds were out and eat the dropper when the sun was high.
However, my favorite creek was a no-name that I stumbled across while looking for another access. I'm not 100% certain I wasn't trespassing but there was a sign and boot cleaning station beside the bridge which leads be to believe I wasn't. This stream was tiny and the only way to fish it was to stand in the cold water. The browns were everywhere and I saw several that might have been over 20". It would be a real treat to visit it again with a better approach and more options. The dry flies I had were just slightly too large. Those mature browns spooked so easily. It was super cool seeing those large predators in such a tiny creek. You know they are the real property owners and impose their will on all that trespass. They were just too intelligent for me on this trip.
And here is the video from the trip. Now time to prep for Colorado...
One of the questions I get asked most often is what fly did that grassie eat? So here's a short video of one that has always produced. It's tied on a traditional nymph hook because dry fly hooks straighten too easily or you have to really tire out the fish first, which is just hard on them. The tail will sink but the foam wings keep it on the surface. Decided to make a YouTube video so you can see it tied. It's best viewed from the YT channel and not blogger. Hope it helps put a few carp in your hands. Got several more that I'll be adding to my channel.
This was a fun project. I wanted to do something more cinematic with the latest video. There's still some gopro footage included but most of the camera work was done with my DSLR. Still learning but I like the way it came out. Take a look and if you feel like commenting please do...always open to feedback.
For best viewing open the link in YouTube and watch in 1080/60.
After disposing of the evidence we did the democratic thing and voted on which river to fish. We arrived at the lower Elk just after 9 am. No one knew exactly where to park and the first stop was a parking area full of vehicles unloading. You could see the hesitancy on everyone's face, there's 20 cars here, and only a mile of river there. Who voted for this crowded, over-fished stretch of river? Turns out it wasn't the spot. Here is where the insane people who like to ride bicycles up mountains park.
Less than a mile later we found the spot where crazy people who like to fly fish park. The shoulder of the highway, with just enough room for a smart car. We folded in the side mirrors and squeezed the suburban in no problem! From the street, the river looked great and not another person in view. The trail down to the river was an adventure but we all somehow made it in one piece.
The first words I heard were, "there's two guys that way, I'm going this way." Well, that really limited the river. I walked up and talked to the guys to my north. Rumor was the fish were biting but none landed. I continued on and explored the river. It was a mix of shallow riffle with a few deep pools. The fishing wasn't great that morning but a few were caught. Including my first white fish.
The plan was to meet back at the truck around 1 pm for lunch and cast new votes. As it turned out the river wasn't fishing all that great, the two guys from earlier were actually catching white fish. The decision was made to move to the north section of the Elk and explore a more remote area.
The upper Elk was stunning in all ways. The eyes would regularly wander from the river to the scenery. But the best part for me was catching trout on dry flies and hoppers all day. I dropped some random nymphs off the back but only caught a few rainbows and several white fish. After the 4th white I decided to drop the dropper and just go double dry or hopper dry.
The day ended far to quickly. The sun and temperature were dropping fast leaving no choice but to call it a day. I climbed up a small ridge to the road that bordered the river which allowed for an easy hike out. Four friends walking along an empty stretch of highway with never ending mountain views, the soul of a beautiful river running below and recent memories of wild trout are a powerful thing. My first full day of fly fishing in Colorado was going to be hard to beat but it gets better.
