Bro and Sis Fishing Trip

[jveselka]

New here so here's a little history.



From Waco, Texas Go Bears!

48 years old, been hunting and fishing with my dad since I was old enough to walk.

Software Developer for Large Insurance Company

Raise Texas Longhorn Cattle with my dad and sister

Blacksmith on the side to keep my mind sharp! www.hanyakmetalworks.com



So.....

The family took a trip last Spring Break to Broken Bow and booked a fly trip with Chris from Beavers Bend Fly Fishing. These guys were great and even though we didn't catch anything I still fell in love with the sport. Nothing link standing in a river fishing when it's 32 degrees, snowing and sleeting on you. lol What a time it was.This year I'm taking my sister for her first fly fishing trip and had a few questions.



Are there any places on the river we can't fish?

What are the best flies to use in late March?
What's the best time of day to fish? 
Any other tips welcome.



Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks

JV

[kayl]

Book with the flyshop next time and you will catch fish. I see those guys all the time, they sit on the same spot all day and walk up and fish right next to other anglers.

[breeden3]

Thanks for the recommendation Kayl!

Give us a shout at 580-494-6071. Chris is not a part of the Fly Shop. It can be confusing because his name is close to ours. The Fly Shop has been in business since 1998! Owned by the same owners now since 2012!

You can fish anywhere on the river with the exception being from the Powerhouse to old park dam. Wade fishing and boating or off limits in this stretch. Fishing will be great throughout the day during that time.

For flies, think March browns, caddis, stone flies, BWOs, and midges. There are a ton of imitations of these that will work.

Subsurface could be bh pheasant tails or bh hares ears. RS2s, Barr emergers, WD 40s are good emergers.
For dries, look at March brown dries, elk hair caddis, or chubby Chernobyl hoppers.

Tight Lines,
Peter
Head Guide- Beavers Bend Fly Shop

[jveselka]

We're going to give it a go on our own the first day but may book a morning trip if need be. I was hoping to get questions answered so we don't outstep our boundaries.

Thanks
JV

[breeden3]

I answered your questions in my comment in the lower paragraphs.

Also, as soon as you know what you want to do the better. Our guides are always very busy in March so a lot of time last minute trips are unavailable.

Good luck on your trip!

[jveselka]

That's strange, I didn't see that until just now. Thanks and funny thing, my sister just text and said her husband would pay for a guide. LOL, I will call you soon. LOL

This is all I saw

"Thanks for the recommendation Kayl!

Give us a shout at 580-494-6071. Chris is not a part of the Fly Shop. It can be confusing because his name is close to ours. The Fly Shop has been in business since 1998! Owned by the same owners now since 2012!"

[turfdawg]

I know everyone’s situations are different but if y’all are able to get a guide from the fly shop I would try to do it on the first day to fish. If you can then y’all will have a much better chance at catching fish afterwards. It REALLY helps shorten the learning curve.
I’m in no way an expert but even with the “right flies”, that place is so pressured, it can be hard to catch if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Hope y’all have a fun and safe trip.

[jonbo]

I'll be going in March, probably, at some point. My guess ahead of time what's likely to work are march brown emergers and caddis emergers. I tend to swing emergers in the current. You try those whenever you see activity near the surface. If fish are active near the surface, keep changing flies until you find the one they want. Any variety of mayfly nymph such as pheasant tail or hare's ear, fished near the bottom is effective most any time of day or year. But yeah, I second TD, hire a guide from the shop. You definitely won't go wrong. It will send you up the learning curve for fishing the LMF far and fast. Another thing, for whatever that guy above said, whenever the guides show up with their clients, I just get out of their way. Those guys are working, man. And their clients have spent a lot of $$. There's plenty of fish in the stream.

If I were you, at this time I'd fish anywhere either above the Evening Hole Bridge for about 500 yards, half mile, or something like that, or just below it for about 100 yards. This winter I was finding a good bite on emergers in the early afternoons. That can change anytime. It all depends on whenever bugs decide to hatch. As I was saying, you can catch fish on nymphs below an indicator at any time. Use the flies Peter suggested and you won't go wrong. Caddis or mayfly imitations, especially in emergers or dries, buy them in several sizes, from like, 14 to 18 or 20. You really need to match the size they're feeding on more than any other single thing.

[jveselka]

Thanks for the info JonBo.

[jveselka]

We don't have a fly shop here in Waco, any suggestions for online shops to use to buy barbless flies? I'm sure we can get what we need at BBF shop but want to look around.

Thanks
JV

[dannys]

Unless rules have changed, you don't need to buy barbless flies. I have always just worked with barbed hooks but mash the barb down before I start tying. You can buy barbed flies and use needle nose (fine tip) or medical hemostats to smash down the barb.

I mentioned "Unless rules have changed" because some waters might, I guess, not even allow the smooth tiny bump left after smashing the barb down. I doubt that is the case at the LMF.

If you want to look around for flies before getting to the river, try Blue Quill Angler out of Colorado. But as mentioned by others, cant beat the Beavers Bend Fly Shop.

[jveselka]

Just going off what it says in fishing regulations and what I remember about last year.


Lower Mountain Fork River
Trout Regulations
• Barbless hooks only
• Use of bait is permitted

[turfdawg]

Just smash the barbs. As long as they will go in and out of your shirt without catching they are fine

[jonbo]

Yeah, everywhere I've fly fished, as far as I know, "barbless" has been interpreted by the authorities to include hooks that were originally barbed but the barb has been mashed with pliers. The test they use is what turfdawg described above. They don't expect you to go track down and buy some expensive, maybe hard to find, flies, but to modify the ones you have with pliers.

[jveselka]

Ok, thanks for the info.

[jveselka]

Where are parking passes needed, just for trail parking or anywhere parking in park?

[ranger1965]

Anywhere in the park, including the lake. Wouldn’t be surprised if you got ticketed at a stop sign.

[jveselka]

Ok, thanks Drifter, lol @ ticketed at stop sign. We will just get the 3 day pass and we should be good...I hope.

[turfdawg]

Mar 15, 2023 12:30:27 GMT -6 ranger1965 said:

Anywhere in the park, including the lake. Wouldn’t be surprised if you got ticketed at a stop sign.

That’s funny right thar

[jveselka]

It says daily bag limit (Lower mountain fork) is 3 and only one over 25 for rainbow and 30 for brown, does that mean they have to be at least 25/30 inches to keep?

[golferjeff]

3 rainbows any size. Put all the Browns back regardless of size. You have a .0000001% chance to catch a rainbow over 25 and even less to catch a brown over 30.

[jveselka]

Thanks Golferjeff! We went out this morning with Matt from BBFshop and he was awesome! I am so glad we did it, I caught my first brown in about 10 minutes and several rainbow. My sister out-did me with 2 nice rainbows 17 plus inches, she also caught several smalls. Missed more than we caught, lol but we had a blast. Thanks to Matt at BBFshop and all the folks there. My sister also got to meet Mo which made her day.