Flint Creek Adventure

Flint Creek

You really never know what the outcome will be when you start an adventure – will it be an enjoyable outing or a giant bust? When fishing a new stream the results could go either direction!

Susie and I decided to take on a new creek this past weekend, near the Oklahoma border - Flint Creek. We have seen the creek many times as we motored toward Silom Springs Arkansas but had not taken the time to scout it out; Saturday was our opportunity.

After doing some quick research on the internet, I was not able to find a lot of information available. That could  bad or good. Little or no information was available on what kinds of fish was available, where to go, access points, etc., so we were just going to have to go and do some exploration on our own.

Saturday in Tulsa (and parts east) had real promise of rain. A front was moving in from the NW promising cooler temps and rain. The predicted events were to start after lunch so we had a short window open to us. Distance from Skiatook is about 93 miles using Hwy 412. We took the scenic route going over.

Looking at the maps, we could see that the river runs pretty much North and South eventually feeding into the Illinois. There is a small low water dam right at the crossover of 412. We decided to take a northerly route just to see what might be available. We ventured up about 5-8 miles and observed what we thought – most of the access to the river going North is through private land. In talking with a couple of locals there might be more accessibility heading South but that is to be determined at a later date.

We did find access (withheld to protect the owner). The section we picked had low water access, sand/gravel bottom, with fast flowing water and several deep water pools. The water conditions were clear, cold and swift.

We started fishing with nymphs of 18/20 size variety with strike indicators. Both Susie and I were using 4/5 weight forward line. Not having much luck Susie moved to a smaller midge (size 26), and began to get strike activity. She was able to capture two fish – both were of the Darter species – (Etheostaoma Flabellare) with an average size of about 3-4 inches.  The Darters were hitting the top on a regular basis and she caught both of hers in the ripple of the shallow water – 1-1.5 ft of depth.

I was not as studious in observation as she and did not make the change to the smaller hook size until we were both overcome with lunch pains, and I was skunked!  As you can imagine my lunch was spiced up with good ole fisherman bravado from the other side and well deserved I might add.  This was Susie’s first try at fast water and moving to a smaller hook size, she caught on quite well…quite frankly she really did well in hooking these smaller fish.

Doing some additional research afterwards the Darters she caught are native to the Flint. We did not see any additional species showing up so we are not sure if this is a viable river for other items of interest – small mouth, perch etc.  More research and possible trip(s) can help verify this assumption.

One of the best sides to the trip was of course the location and beauty surrounding the creek. Since most of time was spent on the North side, I can only imagine the South would offer equal beauty. It is a great place to just sit and watch the river, animals, and flow, and have a nice peaceful day in the area – all of course within a reasonable time frame from the Tulsa area.  In locations such as this you can really discover the sights and sounds of the day in solitude and reflection. It was a very pleasant surprise for Susie and I, and despite the lack of large quality fish, we will be going back soon. I can only envision how different it will look in full bloom.

Sowbug 2010

Hi All

Susie and I went over to Mountain Home Arkansas last weekend to attend the Sowbug 2010 Festival. If you have never been it is a wonderful event with over 80+ tiers and just good folks from the fly fishing community.

Our plan including fishing the Norfolk River and seeing a couple of the fly shops in and around the area. Having not been to that area for many years, we were banking on recommendations from several members of the Green Country Fly Fishing group to guide to the right spot. Bobby Donnell (teacher extraordinary) gave us some good advice and he was right on!

Choosing the right spot to stay was our 1st goal; we wanted a place where we could access the river quickly without much fuss, wadable water, good deep hole location with structure, a reasonable price, and not too far from the Sowbug festival location. We found all of the above at Gene’s Trout Resort in Salesvilles. Gene’s place is located right on the river about 1/2 mile from the dam.  We were able to secure a cabin looking up and down the river. Gene has put well over $ 1M dollars in this location with a wide variety of room sizes and price ranges. He also extended to us a 20% discount for the SB festival. Gene indicated that the location normally starts booking up in March through the fall and then drops off the week after Thanksgiving and starts again in late Feb. One key item this year was that there was no generation the 4 days we attended, so we had good wadable water at all times even into the late afternoon hours.

We fished primarily in the waters below the dam, just pass the rift water coming out of Dog Creek. We were able to locate a nice area where the rock structure formed across the way and dropped off into a good deep pool extending to the gravel bar just to the South. From this vantage point we were able to catch about 15 good rainbows fishing Friday AM and Saturday AM. Friday afternoon we fished just off the boat dock in front of Gene’s with similar structure but reverse in order; structure underneath us dropping off to a sizeable pool. From this location we did have to share space with a couple of boats in and out, but there was plenty to share. On Saturday evening I was able to strike 4 good brownies and rainbows of a larger size.

Did I tell you how cold the water was? Well Friday morning (9:30 ish) I was just about in position when my foot went one way and I went the other. Both that was an “eye-opener”! Not being a quitter for just a little cold water, I continued on until my legs no longer functioned and began to feel the effects in my private areas. Do you recall what happens when you have spent too much time in the bathtub or pool to your hands and feet – a shriveling effect? We let me warn you that effect occurs in other body parts as well. I have a similar effect when riding the Harley in the winter and having to stop to relieve the last coffee stop – sometimes it is difficult to coax your member to come out and do the deed – sometimes you have to poke yourself on the backend to get him to come out! With the help of my partners’ hair dryer I was able to recover to fight another day – which occurred later that evening when once again I took a stumble only face first this time about 6″ from shore. Damn those untied shoes!

Our main source of attack were Zebra Midges and dirty nymphs in a couple of colors (mostly dark with red heads and or silver or gold beads). Attacks would come in spurts and then die off for a while and then hit another pocket.

There was of course the nice variety of birds, and hunter gatherers (Herons) in and out of the area, so it made a great time to fish and see how the river area worked.

Outside the SB festival the other key stop for us was the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop located just North of the Hwy 62 By-Pass and Hwy 5. Bob Cooper was there and showed us wonderful time. It is a first class shop with all the “goodies” needed to enhance your fishing experience. Bob convinced Susie to pick a nice new “Fishing Girl” hat to bring her luck on the streams and it worked! On Saturday as we were in the festival, Bob came up and asked for the results. Quite nice for someone who sees a lot folks in the shop. While there be sure to stop in the Anglers Cafe run by his daughter – good food and great exhibits to share with all.

The weather played an important role in our adventure and it was wonderful; high 60′s in the day to low 30′s at night. Water clarity was clear, temp around low 40′s. Rain came and went late Saturday and then back again Saturday night as the storm front from Tulsa moved in. Sunday in Salesville was wet.

The ride home provided a drastic change as wet turned to snow just North/West of Yellville. We got caught in a major slow down as the road became almost impassible. Having a lower center of gravity some of the folks just could not make it through the passes. We were on our way, however, when the snow plows arrived. We got out of the rain just this side of Springdale.

The distance to Mountain Home from Skiatook is about 260 miles give or take. At a normal pace we made the trip in about 4.5 hours. There are many other smaller streams along the way that say to us “come fish” and we made a few notes to go by. We will be visiting the area again. To fish Arkansas for a weekend you will have to have a non-resident 3 day pass along with a trout stamp, total cost is about $23 dollars.

We had a great time and will be back for the 2011 festival for sure – and maybe a winter trip on the Norfolk as well!

Until the next adventure – see you on the “Quiet Stream”

Fishing Partners!

Wow – a new fishing partner!

After years of trying I was finally able to coax my darling wife of 32 years to give fly fishing a try. Of course I had to do some creative encouragement with the purchase of her own fly rod and kayak this past Christmas! To say we were excitied and stressed is an understatement.

We started thinking about the trip mid week and decided to go down to Tenkiller Dam at the Trout stream and give it a try. Weather was suppose to cooperate and it was a good “starter” stream. We began to build up our supplies and needed accessories, like waders, and boots, and completed most of that Friday night. We had to wait till Saturday for the boots, but all good choices. We ended up at the river around 12:15 in the afternoon, sun shining and a little south wind.

Susie had never used a fly rod, so we took a short course in casting. The river section here is smaller so short cast are the norm. We did have to contend with some south wind, but nothing super difficult. After about a 20 minute session we suited up and got into the water. We finally settled into a little deep water hole and began to fish in earnest. We both started with top water poppers, to get some stability in her casting and then shifted to some nymphs and dry flys to finish out. We encountered the usual casting problems (too fast, too slow, wind, weed control, and catching ourselves) but they were not insurmountable. We were lucky to have a small school of trout about 10-15′ in front of us, so we could see with anticipation what we hoped would happen.

As fate would have it, she was successful in catching two nice trout, while I was only fortunate to catch one. Once she caught the first one the race was on!

We moved quickly from thinking about casting to thinking about what are they biting, from thinking about having me tie on the proper fly to “give me the fly box and I will try something different”. I lost my secret fly box to her, I had to borrow flys now.
The anticpation of the next catch was in full swing.

When we first entered the water we were concerned about how long could she stay in the cold water, some 2-1/2 hours later she was still there. When finally decided to get out and get a little to eat, the normal stiffness was apparant, but manageable. We had passed our initiation with catches to our name – we were not skunked!

The weather decided to turn a little cooler when we got out so we decided to pack it in, but the day ended with satisfied looks and great accomplishment on our 1st trip. We are looking forward now to new locations and taking in the sites arond the waters. Look out Sowbug, we are coming over!

In a busy world where we all are going our seperate ways, it is really cool to have your soulmate join in the fun and enjoyment of fishing a stream together. All the enjoyment of spending that quiet time on the water is multiplied when you have your best friend there as well. There is of course that jubilation of getting her 1st catch on a fly rod, and the smile of accomplishment of having done the impossible- maybe even a picture or two, then the conversation of where to go the next time, what flys are you going to tie for her, and what new equipment she needs – maybe you started a snow ball?

Until the next adventure – see you on the quiet stream.

Sand Creek – Osage Hills

HI All

Saturday started cool (high 40′s) and moved to cold after noon. My grandson (Josh) and I decided to explore Osage Hills State Park located off Hwy 60 heading West from Bartlesville. OSH is a great little state park deep within the Osage Hills. It comes with cabins to rent, conference room, swimming pool, lake, and Sand Creek which flows on the back side.

Of course with a 8 year old explorer there was plenty of suspense as to what we were going to see and OSH did not disappoint. We came into the creek area around the south bend where a cave was located in the high bluffs and a couple of sets of small water ripples. We did not get to explore the cave as I did not have my waders on, and did not let me little explorer make the trip alone!

We did however work our way around the bend heading more to the rock slabs where several pools of water, and water falls are. Walking through the rocks was treat enough. We did (or I should say I did) some fishing but no hits were noted. There was 1 additonal fisherman (Fly) who was working the area before we arrived and he indicated after 2 hours he had no hits as well. We both tried traditional top water poppers, and nymphs with indicators but not much reaction. Water temp was in the 40′s.

Park ranger did indicate that the water level was up, and we should see some action for crappie/catfish, but we were not serving what they wanted that day.

For those who want to kiddos fishing this is a real good spot, water is very accessable and there are good exploring points up and down for those who look forward to that. Creek is accessable via a short walk from the swimming pool parking lot.
I would think it would be a great place in the Spring and Summer as well – we will be giving it a try for sure!

Fly Fishing in NE Oklahoma

Hello All – My name is Charlie and I am starting this blog to organize my thoughts and travels in NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas as I start to fly fish once again. I have always loved to fly fish, it offers me so many things, but put it aside for many years as I traveled and participated in other activities. I have now decided that the time is right for me to come back to Quiet Streams.

When I choose the Theme for this WP Blog I really liked the work by Sadish Balasubramanian (http://simpleinside.com/). The Theme is called ”MistyLook”. How many times when you approach the stream early in the morning and the fog is just lifting? What a great time of anticipation as we are the first to “break the water” and lay that 1st fly on the water!

My plan is to add to the blog in various ways;  adding various trip reports, pics, etc., from streams that I plan to visit over 2010, local club activities that are planned either from GreenCountry Fly Fishers or Tulsa Fly Fishers, general information that might be of value to local fly fishers who are new to the area or just getting into the sport for the 1st time, and lastly through musing of my own based on the sights and sounds that come with each trip.

One of the areas I found lacking when I began to search the web for information about various places to fish, was good general substance such as distance, directions, any fees associated with fishing the area, pics, support services, what type of flys to use, just good ole common information about the area and of course what type of water, terrain etc., I might encounter. I certainly don’t intend to become the “end-all” to these questions, but I will put in what I can to help new comers get out there and fish.

One thing about fly fishing – it is an individual sport, and there is always a different way to do it. There is no magic or common fly for every application or tool to have, that is up to each fisher to compile what works for them. I will share my trips and give you what worked for me on that day and hopefully will give you some  head start upon arriving.

Well that should be enough for starters, more to come later, but check by regularly. I can be reached via email at wwtravlr1@sbcglobal.net for any additional information that might be shared.

Until the next time we met on the stream!