Okie pond fishing

Sunday was my last day in Oklahoma before returning to Seattle. Scott Hood, the president of Trout Unlimited's Tulsa chapter and my new Okie fishing buddy, called me up Saturday night to ask if I wanted to try some pond fishing.

"Of course, I just need to be home for our family lunch."

We drove early Sunday morning from my old hometown of Broken Arrow to nearby Coweta to a pond that looked like a miniature bass lake. It had all the grass, tree stumps and beaver dams you'd see on a good Oklahoma or Texas bass lake. Instead of a Ranger bass boat, though, we could just mosey along at whatever pace we wanted. We covered about half of the pond by morning's end.

The wind was whipping up pretty good. We both brought our 6 wt. rods and cast part of the morning directly into 15-20 mph winds. With local knowledge, Scott got into the fish quickly. He landed a huge bluegill and then some nice bass. He also found time to give me a pointer or two on casting and popper retrieval, which helped.

Scott has fashioned a lot of creative bass flies out of things like broom handles, packing material and cork. Below is an almost comical frog pattern that seemed to excite the bass and bluegill.

I stuck with my Orvis freshwater popper, which produced 4-5 bass as well as this nice bluegill. Directly behind me in this photo is the man-made dam, where we switched to white wooly buggers (Scott had his own variation).

Most of the bass I caught were in the 1-1.5 pound range. Good little fighters who attack the surface stuff with some vigor.

I learned a lot on this trip. The most enjoyable lesson was that it's possible to expect to catch a nice fish -- rather than hoping to get lucky -- when you in put in the time, do the preparation and invite someone with real knowledge about the waters you're fishing.

Home waters

Sometimes fishing is a little more than just fishing. Last fall my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. This spring he is cancer free after surgery and round after round of chemo therapy.

He looks pretty damn good standing there on the Lower Illinois River in Gore, Oklahoma. His brand new Simms waders and White River flyrod got their first test today.

After a long winter of surgery, chemo, recovery, talking and reading about flyfishing, we were on the river. Finally. It was good to spend my first day on the river trout fishing with my dad.

After a casting session Friday night at the pond behind our home in Tulsa, he fished well on Saturday and managed to induce a few good strikes from a finicky bunch of trout. Yesterday saw temperatures in the mid-80s and then the temperature dropped today.  The water level goes up and down throughout the day according to Tenkiller Dam's generation schedule.  After today he's now got the background he needs to make the full conversion from bass pro to trout triumphant.

We were very fortunate to connect with Scott Hood, Oklahoma's Trout Unlimited leader. Scott is a talented fisherman and a very thoughtful, passionate advocate for trout fisheries. Tulsa TU is promoting the sport, supporting members and working urgently to preserve and conserve Oklahoma's precious trout fisheries. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, where we almost take for granted that there is political and community support for the sport, I was inspired by Tulsa TU's efforts.  They recently worked to enter the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most flyfisherman at the same time flycasting.  Tornados got in the way but they managed to create awareness. They did this from a little trout pond the chapter supports as a means of getting kids, parents and grantparents to fish together. The Tulsa community should get behind this merry band of fishermen who are working to teach outdoor ethics and conservation in inner city schools while also keeping a watchful eye on the trout fisheries.

In the photo below I am unhooking a 14-in rainbow as my dad casts into a nice pool on the Lower Illinois. I used a rising hare's ear emerger with no indicator to catch a very healthy and aggressive hatchery rainbow.

The water was cold and clear today. This is not the fish I caught (at least I don't think), but with polarized sunglasses you could see big carp, trout, bass and shad in the river. The guy fishing to my left was catching some nice sand (or white) bass.

In the pond behind our house I fished Friday and Saturday night. I used a surface popper to land this magnificent bluegill which fought as hard as any of the trout or bass. I was impressed.

I landed 4-5 black bass on the same fly -- twitchy retrieve creating a moderate little ripple in the water as it advanced.

Back to the Lower Illinois for a moment. I grew up in Oklahoma and never understood that trout fishing was an important part of the allure and economy for a region of Oklahoma so close to Tulsa and to Tahlequah where I went to college and worked for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Gore and Webbers Falls depend on the trout trade. When cold water flows from Lake Tenkiller are low, the economy suffers. As these signs indicate, trout fishing has been a tradition in these parts for over 50 years.

Good Mojo

It took some pretty good mojo to break my two-month fishing slump. But today I finally landed a nice little cutthroat on the North Fork of the Snoqualmie near North Bend.

In no particular order, here is the good mojo that was needed. I wore the underwear Ella bought me recently with dry fly designs on it. I used my brand new Winston Home Waters 8'10" 5wt. rod, which arrived by mail yesterday. And I have been reading Ernest Hemingway's trout fishing short stories, namely Big Two-Hearted River and Now I Lay Me.

Adding to the mojo, I ended up in an area of the river I have not visited since my very first foray at fly fishing. (That's Mount Si looming above the river)

Spring finally sprung today. Hardly a cloud and temperatures pushed 60 even in the upper elevations. I headed for the hills after my son's baseball game and got in a couple of hours. I mainly just wanted to try the new rod, but then of course I had to catch a fish. One more cast. One more cast. Wait, how about I try that area. It looks good.

I fished a couple of pools near the road and then hiked about 15 minutes through a dense forest to an upper part of the river. I fished a promising area for nearly an hour switching from a stone fly to a nymph.

The wind was whipping through the valley right in my face,  I was about to leave when I figured I'd try a run just below a curve and rapid. The water looked pretty still.

I cast into the current and let it carry my Copper John down river. Nothing. Finally I looked downstream and noticed calm water. I made a long cast close to the bank, which sloped down gently and then quickly. I also decided to stip the line in with a little more purpose.

Along that shelf I finally felt the happy tap of a trout. I set the hook and brought him into shore. I didn't bother taking a photo because I felt they might be feeding and I didn't want to miss the action. There was not further action so I should have taken the photo.

What a nice day.

A word about my new rod. Trout Unlimited offered the rod (and a full set-up) as part of a package to attract life time membership. Winston created a limited edition -- TU Life Time Member -- rod that I hope stays in our family for generations today. It's a "fast" rod with great action. I was able to cast with great accuracy today and a good long way. What a great investment. I opened the box just last night. The rod is batting 1.000!