Baron Fork Creek - 6/6/2015

[dainw]

Went up to the Baron Fork Creek in NE Oklahoma over the weekend to do some smallmouth fishing. I took my 6 weight, sink tip line, and about $60 worth of newly purchased flies (which is like 6 smallmouth flies, they're freakin expensive) with me. I got to the water about 9 o'clock Saturday morning and it was already 90 degrees out it seemed like. The water was running about 650 cfs from all the recent rain. Normal for that river is around 100 cfs, so the water was movin, but still fishable. Anyway, with all the high water and hot weather, fishing was tough. I caught a decent smallmouth right across from the parking lot and then worked my way up about a mile and a half  upriver only to be rewarded with two fish for efforts, both small. I decided to work my way back to the car as I didn't bring enough water with me and it was getting hot. Finally made it to the first hole I started at and caught 5 more fish, one of which was my personal best smallmouth. It ended up making a tough day into a pretty good day. Of course this fish didn't eat any of the fancy new smallmouth flies I bought like near nuff sculpin or skulldaddy crawdad. No instead this fish ate a fly that I probably have 15 of in my box, a size 12 olive woolly bugger. Anyways, I'll definitely be back once the water settles down a little bit. Got to do something to get the monkey off my back while the LMF is closed. 

 

[brandon]

NICE! I've never caught a smallmouth

[dannys]

Very nice fish Dain! Also hoping you jest somewhat about the fly cost. That would be a great reason to start tying some flies. If you are interested, I can pass you a simple fly recipe that I have caught: Salmon, LM Bass, Guadalupe Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Channel and Blue cats, and just about every species of sunfish in south Texas. This fly is also known to catch trout (I just have never personally used it for bows or browns).

[dainw]

Thanks guys. Yes I am exaggerating the fly cost a little bit, but some of those flies are 6 or 7 bucks. I was tempted to go swimming after a couple of them but the water was moving pretty fast. I've done a little tying before Danny so if you've got an easy tie that you'd like to pass along I'd love to try it.

[dannys]

Below is a link for a great all-around fly. It's called a Cat's Whisker. The one in on the linked site is actually tied by one of our local anglers (and a friend of mine). For Salmon, I switched out the bead eyes for just a bead head--and this is likely OK to do for all other species also. For trout, it is recommended to reverse the bead eyes to the bottom of the shank so the fly will ride point down. Allegedly (and I have no reason to doubt this) this reduces the chances of hooking a trout in the upper mouth where there is a main blood vessel.

Arctic Fox can be substituted with Marabou, but I much prefer the action of the fox. You can change up colors using black and olive, all olive, tans and browns, etc. You might even go to the bright color combinations. I also like tying and fishing some with purple tail and wing (gray bodied). Here is the link.

www.flyfishohio.com/The_Cat's_Meow

For some reason, I could not get the link to work properly.  If you have the same problem, just type in the url or search for "Cats Whisker Fly" and open the result that has a link to flyfhishohio.  Should be the second or third result.

[dainw]

Thanks for the info Danny. I couldn't get the link to work either, but I found the fly pretty easy. Looks like an easy tie. Every video I've seen shows the fly tied with a white tail and chartreuse body. What colors do you find most effective for bass?

[dannys]

It is a quite easy tie and is productive for such a wide variety of fish. Number one color scheme: Gray body with olive tail and wing. The second would be tan body with brown wing and tail. Then I think I would go with gray and black or black and black. All those provided, I would still try to keep a couple in gray and purple.

Fish the fly in a cast-retrieve mode toward a river bank or under over-hanging bushes/trees. Vary the retrieve speeds. If fishing in the center areas of a river flow, make sure it drifts near submerged rocks or other structure. This fly is many times taken as soon as it hits the water. Good luck!