Baron Fork Creek Saturday with Hankinsfly

[dainw]

Got up Saturday at and made the long haul from okc to tahlequah with hankinsfly and my dad. Left around 4:00 am. On the water at 7:30. Fishing started off good early. Hankins was having pretty good success early with a white popper, dad and I were getting pretty consistent action on clousers. Hankins caught a nice spotted bass on the popper and briefly hooked up with a big gar. The 10-12 inch smallmouth were active early in the morning. Worked our way upstream about a mile or so until it got too hot to bear and then decided to fish our way back. I worked my way slowly downstream trying to methodically hit every little pocket of shade and depth I could find with a woolly bugger. Came up on an overhanging tree with depression of deeper water on the bank, threw right above that area, let it swing down, and bam, fish on. Knew that it was a better fish immediately upon setting the hook. Ended up being a 15-16 inch smallmouth when it was finally brought to hand. Had a good trip with Hankins and pops. Looking forward to the next one. 

[jonbo]

I really want to go target smallmouths in AR/OK, but I just can't find the time in the summer to fish much. Darnit! Anyway, Dain and "Hank!", I'm glad you guys got to do some good fishin'.

[hankinsfly]

Nice write-up, Dain. It was awesome fishing with you and your dad. Y’all are good people. Look forward to more trips with y’all soon. It was definitely hot that day and my one bottle of water wasn’t near enough. We caught plenty of little fish. Your big one was a dandy, had to be 8-10 years old of Neosho bronze. I sure wish I got a hand on that gar! He took a popper, jumped clear out of the water. I want to hit BFC again. Was fun prospecting those shady banks and depressions. I had a ton of chasers that didn’t commit (going into Smallfry’s topic). That water is surprisingly cool. Looking forward to the next trip somewhere with y’all. Will post a few more pics I took.

[dainw]

Hankins that was a good time man. Have to do it again real soon.

[hankinsfly]

 A typical specimen from the creek and Ozark foothill beauty. If you look closely you can see Dain’s dad walking the bank, scanning for shaded water. Not a powerline in sight, no parking lots, no walls. Hopefully this will remain intact and humans won’t ruin it.