Broken Bow, OK -The Lower Mountain Fork River

[Guide Carey Thorn]

Welcome to Broken Bow @ The Lower Mt Fork River.

I got to the river early Tuesday morning about 2 am and shot over to the Evening Hole and did “ok” at the bottom half with 3 fish to 15 inches. Half way up the river, I walked up on a couple deer within 6 ft of them. Scared the crap out of me cause I was watching where I was walking with my head down.... I never knew they were there and they were not happy I was there either. They hauled butt and ran across to the other side of the river with huge splashes and ran up the side of the small cliff knocking down branches and boulders in the water. So I figured that stretch of the river was blown and moved on. I got up to the top half and pulled 2 19 inchers out on the first two casts. Then nothing for an hour, so I went to take a nap before day light to meet my client. My digital cams zoom lens is jammed so I had to use the iphone. Sorry for blurs.

Tuesday's Report:

Met my client ( Mike) at 6 am at the Meat Hole/Cold Hole spot. Went down to the end of the MH/CH pool and had him throwing 3 inch black Bead Head Woolly Buggers. Landed one nice brown about 17-18 inches and 2 15-18 inch Rainbows and one 2 lb Large Mouth Bass. Started to get day light, so I switched him over to the Beavers Bend Special Fly and and moved down just above first bend. About on the 4th to 5th cast he jumps a nice Rainbow about 15-17 inches and throws the fly. A couple casts later he lands a 4 inch Rainbow. Stay about 15 more mins there and had some hits and some 2 second hoop-ups and moved on to the 1st bend. Within a couple mins Mike hooked up again and it was a monster. He fought this one for about 15 mins and we never got a glimpse till the hook pulled free. -He cussed a lot on that one. He said he need to smoke his cigar and calm down and asked me to fish and he would watch for a bit. Landed a nice Rainbow and I found a school of about 15 Large Mouth Bass in the slack muddy water above the bend while I was looking for a brown. I still had a Hot Dog Jig I tie for Sand Bass, so I tied that on due to they didnt want a Woolly. Lost it on the next cast to the Tree God. Also caught a nice Rainbow way up the back of the cove.





Headed downstream and Mike hit the rapids with no bites and then headed to the bluffs. Drifted at diff depths for about 30 mins and got nothing. Went to the end of the pool and I spotted a group of 7 nice Rainbows at the top of the rapids. Drifted several diff flies at them to no avail. The bite just shut down all over the river on small flies.



I ran into a buddy on the trails while were walking down near the moth of Lost Creek, and he said he had been there for 2 days and said the EH was void of fish for the most part. Traded some chit chat and moved just 30 yards down from the mouth of Lost Creek and drifted over the fish there and they never looked. So, I changes to an Olive Creature Fly I tie and he threw it at the first fish he saw, hooked up immediately. Landed that fish, which was 16 inches and fat, within 20 seconds. It hit the fly and basically rolled one time and came right to my hands, no a head shake, run, jump, or anything, -weird. Mike Held it up for a pic and it wiggled free and dropped into the drink and took off. Ended up landing quite a few Rainbows at the upper half of the EH and one little baby Large Mouth Bass. The fish in the pic below also wiggled free but he got control of the situation and took the pose finally. After the picture I saw the red mark on its jaw, nothing on the outside, but on the inside was a diff story. There was a size 8 ish treble hook with power bait on it. Removed it and handed her back to Mike to release. The hooks had all the barbs still out. The line connected to it was about 20 lb braided line. -Terrible.



As he was walking over to deeper water with current to do some CPR, that one also wiggled free out of his hands and took off and jumped out of the water about 2 feet! Wish she jumped when she was on his line. He said hes not one with pictures anyways , so I just took a pic of some of the fish if I was not near water, I didnt want to drop the phone in the drink.







I walked down to the road from halfway in the EH and saw only 3 widely spaced trout, all 15's and under. After I walked back, we headed to Lost Creek and landed about 6-7 fish, from 7 inches to nice 22 inch Rainbow. Decided to go back to the bluffs with the Creature ready, and hit the group of trout we saw earlier. He had some follow it and nip at it but they would not fully take the fly. Moved upstream and hit the bluffs again and got the Creature to the bottom and caught probably 7-8 fish with an average of 17 inches. Called it a day and went to eat lunch. Got back and only saw 4-5 anglers as we drove by the Eh and LC. Hit the well named Cardiac Hill and landed only 2 fish. The other guys down there all said the same thing, -”No Fish”. So we tried for another 30 mins and got some short strikes on the BB Special and started our walk back. Hit the last pool before going up to the truck and he landed a 16 inch Rainbow and creek chub. Went back to the Evening Hole and Mike grabbed a fold out chair. I asked him if he was going to sit and fish with a crazy look, and he said, “No, Im going to follow you around and watch you fish, act like I am not even here.” I asked him 2 times and he said hes my shadow. There was not one other angler on the river at 4 pm so I just power fished each pool with the Creature fly fan casting each spot no longer than 5 mins and moving. Ended up with (11) 16 inch plus Rainbows. If they would go to look at the Creature but would not bite, I would tie on a small flashy Woolly Bugger and they would usually nail that as soon as it got wind of it.



For an all day expedition, Mike landed 25+ fish and lost 6 that were on the line but shook or jumped off. -Never saw another Brown.





Wednesday's Report:

On Wednesday, I got up and hit the river at sun-up on my own. Fished LC and the EH area and only landed 7 with only 2 under 15 inches and one that was 19 inches. The river was being very difficult and the wind picked up. Most people were only catching 2-3 all day. Shared some of my hand tied Woolly Buggers for some of the guys not catching any and that did not have any W. Buggers.... One guy from New Mexico, caught a nice Rainbow on his 3rd cast w/ one of my flies. It was his 1st trout ever..... Pretty neat to see playing it. Hes hooked now. Later I went to check out Zone ll and see what was up there. Stayed 20 mins and saw on fish. Walked the banks and never saw another one...... Left the river at 3:45 and I was back at the house in Plano 6:10 PM. If you like to fish for trout, a 2 ½ hours drive from basically Dallas, to catch some nice trout, is not not that bad at all.....



If you are wanting to book a trout fishing trip, please go through my website listed below and not in PM's, Thanks.

Till next week,

Tight Lines.

TexasOklahomaFishingGuide.com

[CapeMayRay]

Great report and pictures makes you want to be there.

Most all my fishing is in the salt. I went on my first trout fly trip this fall in North Carolina and really enjoyed the trout fishing as it is so different than saltwater. I can now appreciate why you guys enjoy the stream fishing so much an will be doing more trout fishing in the future.

[Jer]

Thank you for posting the pictures and report! I featured it on the front page www.sportfishermen.com

[Agitated88]

Thank you for posting the pictures and report! I featured it on the front page www.sportfishermen.com

Thanks for giving the "Sooner" state some love Jer...!!!

[Capt Josh]

Just saw this report, awesome! Nothing like fly fishing and some bruiser trout. Keep these reports coming!

[Guide Carey Thorn]

Report: Saturday 12/3/2010 (Pictures are out of sync)



[IMG]http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u201


/tarponfly/BrokenBowandRowlettCreek017.jpg[/IMG]
Well, I decided to hit the river before I had to meet my client in the morning. So I left Plano @ 9 PM sharp and hit the road for the river. Stopped at Walmart for a few things and we were at The Lost Creek area at 12:15 AM. I thought about going to the re-reg dam @ Zone lll, but went against it, due to all the rocks and holes there (one of my buddies was out there a week ago and was killing the trout and waited to long to come back. It got dark on him faster than he thought it would and one of the deep holes swallowed him up to his neck). Got to the waters edge @ Lost Creek/ Cold Hole, and started to cast into the darkness, pretty much blind. I used a red light to get me there and when I turned it off, over 30 mins later I still had no clue where I was casting. There was no moon but the freakin stars are amazing there. While we were fishing, in pitch black, there was a LONG meteor shower going on so I watched it for a few mins and got fish fever. (It was still going when I woke up at 5:45 AM.) Anyways, I moved to a few areas that I knew held big fish a week ago and got nothing. So I went to a hole I always catch one in, and on the 22th cast, WHAM!!! No bites....



(Dan w/ a nice Brown Trout)


So, we went to the Spillway Dam where I knew there was sufficient light to cast in. I threw every color streamer and Woolly Bugger I had,- Nothing was was in the mood to hit.


　
I know being fly fisherman, you have had the opportunity to meet beavers, or actually I mean their tails, slapping the water 5 ft from you, usually from behind (because they just like to do that to us). Well I had my revenge! While casting bored, I looked around and saw that a beaver cut down a tree and was eating it at the waters edge right at the spillway. About 20 mins later, it swam up to the waters edge about 10 feet from me. His back was turned away from me, so I quietly walked up to to it about 3 ft away and yelled at it . It jumped straight up in the and I never saw it again after it hit the water. -Pay Back.
So off to the truck to take a nap.
Woke up at 6 and decided we stay warm till some light showed up to see what the heck is actually going on this time.














　
6:30 AM came and my client was ready to fish so I rigged some midges on one rod and my Woolly Bugger on another rod. Now my client for the day was a newbie to fly fishing and never casted one before and said his buddies caught 5 at most for top dog Friday. Started at the top pool in Lost Creek and I showed him the "Roll Cast" which is imperative at the LMF River. On his second cast he landed a 11 incher. Pulled a couple more out of that hole and moved to the next picking fish up here and there. Switched him to my Woolly Bugger and he immediately hooked up on a 18+ incher. Jumped her and he pulled to hard and snapped the line. The fish got himself free as I grabbed the indicator as it went by. Retied it on and went to the end of Lost Creek and he missed about 6 really big fish. All over 20 inches. Hooked into one for about 15 seconds but he gave it to much slack and threw the hook. We proceeded to the Evening Hole and hooked into 2 fish and moved to the bluffs. Still, there were not a lot of fish in there like there used to be. Got a few bumps but just a bit to fast for him. Moved back to the Cold Hole and caught about 10 more with one nice 16 inch male. Saw some really big trout in the hole as well. Pushing 5 lbs definitely. Saw about 10 anglers till 10 am and then there was about 4 total at LC/EH.
　










Continued--------------------------

[Guide Carey Thorn]

　
-------------------------------------Continued
Moved to the re-reg dam @ Zone lll about 2 PM and did some rock jumping. We had a Blue Heron watching us 20 yards away till we left for the night, drooling over what we were doing. I gave it my business card and we moved on down the pools. We were catching fish everywhere we went down there. I saw a 7+lb Trout swim by and a 5-8 lb Sucker within 4 ft of me. Biggest sucker fish I have ever seen up close. Dan ended up landing a nice Brown Trout at the near end of the day. Walked around the Canoe Launching Pad and saw lots of 2-3 lb Bass in the shallows. Lots of weeds there for them to hide. Very Very spooky. I never had a chance to target one. Caught a few more trout downstream and headed back to the truck right before dark and headed into town for dinner.


　

(Dan w/ a Nice Brown)




















　
In total, we caught well over 120+ Rainbows, 1 Brown Trout, 1 Large Mouth Bass, and lots of bites.....
　

[Guide Carey Thorn]

Report: 12/11/2010

Got into town at 5am and headed to Walmart to get a trout stamp for the GF. Met up with my clients at 6 and headed to the 1st hole for the day. Rigged them up with the fly of the day and blew up one of the Fish Cat Pontoon Boats, very first time I have ever brought them and I wish I would have sooner.. Pushed the GF out the drink to fish solo on one of the pontoons and headed to a pocket.



My clients Father used to guide in Alaska for salmon, trout, and whatever else swam around the area and he had some great pictures of 10 lb + Bows and huge salmon and stories to add to all of them. Thumbs up man. Those were great! So with that said I gave Britton 80% of my time on the trip due to Dennis just needed the fly to catch them.




Hit the first pool at 630 AM, and the sun still was trying to come up with a thick layer of clouds to try to poke through. At 640 AM, Britton was getting a bit discouraged due to only one bite. He asked me to show him how its done, and I told him give it 10 mins or less and it will be nonstop action. At 650 am, it was on. First two hits were back to back and slammed the indicator but not the fly. Next cast finally produced a rainbow.




And the next cast also produced a rainbow.



And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

And the next cast also produced a rainbow.

ect........(maybe a snag or two in the 2 hours we were there)

I asked Britton at one point, how many fish have you landed in the last 5 minutes? He said "4". While he was having fun with those, I went to check on Dennis to see what he was getting into. Saw he was tying a new fly on and he said he broke off a monster. Other than that he had landed about ten. He said every cast got hit or landed a fish. Chatted a bit more and moved back to Britton still hooking up fish.







About 9 AM, I told them enough of these fish and lets go show you the park. So I got my GF out of the water and we loaded the boat and off to the main park. I showed them all the holes that were good right now and others that soon will be good fishing. So we were now after the big girls. Hit Lost Creek to start the other half of the trip out. Spotted a group of about 20-25 fish from 10 inches to 20+ inches in a small deep pool. Had both guys drifting the pool trying to hook up on one of the monsters at the bottom, but mostly ended up with Log-Bass snagged on the bottom. Had about two hook ups with thrown hooks and then Dennis Hooks a nice one, not the one we were after but decent.



Pulled another two or three from there and moved on down. Within 15 mins or so Dennis hooks up on another nice Lost Creek Rainbow but pulls free.

[
Went to a pool I saw an albino trout in a couple days ago, and she was gone.... 2 more pools down and there she was. Had her rise to the fly 2 times and one possible bite, but she was to fast and never looked at the fly again after that. So we hit a few more pools picking one here and two here...etc.

So, I had told Dennis a few days ago I had a nice fish for him but he would only get one chance at her/him (the fish is to deep to tell what gender). Waited till no one was around and walked around the area I saw it a few days ago. And there she was, 20 ft down river from the last time I saw it. This thing is massive, 25+ inch-er and bulky. Dennis looked at it and loved what he saw. So I asked him if he wanted to stay put for a bit due to there were 10 or so other fish near the big one that were 15-18 inches., and he agreed 100%, lol. He snuck in the hole like a ninja, and I think he was on his knees fishing crouched over, and hiding behind a tree, trying for the big one..... So, Britton and I went on a tour of the EH and found another small albino in the rapids that chased the fly to the bank and lost interest very quickly in what we had to offer it for lunch.At about that time I hear Dennis whistle and I looked over and I though he had the big one! I jogged over to take a pic and he said the big one went for the fly a couple times but moved to cover and out of reach for the time being. But, he got this one below while trying for the monster....



Looked downstream at the EH and noticed about 10 people spread out all in the middle of the EH. One guy said they caught on in the middle of the EH and that was it. The upper 25% of the EH is the only place holding fish right now, and it has been like that for about a month now. Showed Britton a couple holes with other big fish in it and ended up at the bluffs for a bit.





Dennis caught up to us as we made it back to the Cold Hole and I flipped some rocks and showed them how void the bug life is now. 2 Years ago, every rock had bugs, now every 5th-10th rock has life on it. As I pulled one rock up, a small sculptin swam out. It was super pretty with blood red fins and yellow, white, green, and silver colors. had it on my hand for a sec or two to take a picture but it flipped out of my hand and back into the drink. Chatted with Dennis for a minute and he hooked up again on a nice Cold Hole Rainbow.




Continued----------------

[Guide Carey Thorn]

----------------Continued.

Gave them a bunch of the special fies, and I ran out before the day was over, but Im sure they had some fun. They said they are fishing Sunday as well with the front rolling through, so we will see what they come up with after the day is out tomorrow.

The guys went to do lunch and break for a bit before coming back to hit the fish up again. -So then it was my turn. I immediatly went to the deep hole and crept up to it and sat down so only my head would be seen if anything, by the fish. Second cast landed a 6 incher that almost flew out of the water on my back cast, never felt it bite. About 10 casts later I land a decent Bow from the" medium monster pool".



About 5 mins later I hooked one but never saw it due to it went in the riffles and I couldnt see it. Fought it for about 5 mins and it stayed put smack on the bottom. A couple head shakes later and it was off to better things I guess. Got a text that the GF was ready to eat so we got some food and headed to re reg to float around in the pontoons. Every drift landed a fish or got a bite till 4pm and things slowed way down with a fish every 10 mins. No big ones on that end, but steady action and areials were fun to watch! I was outfishing the minnow chunkers for about an hour and then like I said at 4 things slowed down and they started to catch at the same rate of every 10 mins or so. Wind was terrible today with gusts to 25 at the end of the day. When the sun went over the mountain, the temp dropped 10 degrees if felt like and I started to catch a fish on the last cast. The last cast lasted about 10 casts and ten or so fish in the last 30 mins. And then I had to give up. If anyone wanted to know, I graphed the whole pool at the re-reg and at its deepest it was 8.7 feet deep which stretched about 25 yards down till it started to shallow out again. Got scared after the last picture on the toon and it just was not worth dropping in the drink for a couple more pics.

[Guide Carey Thorn]

Report: 12-13-2010



Decided to wait a bit till we headed to the river due to it was 20 degrees at 6 am. So, we hit the river at 8am, still cold with ice freezing on the eyes of the rod. I asked my client this morning, before we left to hit the river, what he wanted out of the trip, quantitiy or quality? He said both, but quality would be a bit better. So we hit the first hole with a couple missed hook-ups and landed a couple of dinks here and there.



It was not what I was looking for though. So we moved again, and Dan found a nice Bow on the other side of where we were at.



Goofed around with a palomino trout for 10 mins or so and she just looked at our fly a couple time but no hit. Moved again and found where some big ones were laying in a deep pool. Super colorful.



After we landed that one, I saw a nice Cut Bow cruising the shore line. I pointed it out to my client and he immediately shot his fly at it. It came up to take the fly and all of the sudden he gets a hit and hooks up! But, it was a 3-4 inch Black Bass. As he was bringing it in the Cut Bow, started to chase the bass around all over the place and a couple time it had it in its mouth. Got the C-Bow a foot from the shoreline with the bass still in its mouth but she let go and swam away. Released the bass and went to where I saw a 25 inch + Bow a few days ago. Finally found her 10 yards from where I saw her last and started to target it. Dan walked up and casted a few yards downstream from where we were and hooked up on another nice Bow.



Spent about 15 mins trying to get the Big Rainbow to hit, but she just slapped at it a couple times and would not eat it. We moved again to a spot I knew had 5-6 really good fish and started drifting the hole. Finally, what I was looking for, smashed the fly and took my client for a spin!





Monster Rainbow! 21 incher.

After a couple good quality fish, I asked him if he want to go get quantity, he said sure, so we were off to the next hole. Hopped in the fish cats and got out to the sand bar and started hooking fish on every cast (AGAIN).......



He was in heaven after that saying it was amazing!

At 330 pm I started to gear up, due to the half day trip was over and Todd was killing the fish on his own, and hopped in the fish cat and drift fished for about an hour and a half and landed 23 rainbows. Pretty much every cast or second cast I landed a fish ( I tried to do my best and take pics in the toon, so for all you people that don't think its a fish a minute or two, check the time stamps out. YOU CANT ARGUE THAT!