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Old 10-10-2011, 03:10 PM   #1
MikeWaters
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Default First Fly Fishing trip in Oklahoma (Lower Mountain Fork River)

A report on my trip to the Lower Mountain Fork River with guide.

I was introduced to two new, but related concepts on this outing--drift speed and mending. You know how animals are born with certain instincts and abilities right from birth? It turns out that mending is not one of those instincts I possess. But nonetheless, it was a great time on a beautiful river, and the guide was great. True professional. If he can be patient with me (which he was), he can be patient with anyone.

We started out at the bluffs above the evening hole. I was learning how to drift downstream, and came up with two of three rainbows. This was the second one.



Here is a picture of the bluffs, taken in the afternoon when we came back to try stimulators.



Up higher in zone one, I caught my very first brown trout ever, in a little eddy pool. In fact, this was my first time to see a brown trout in person.



This is my buddy and our guide. Our guide commands this river, along with all the fish in it. Fitting posture here. I generally don't post pictures of people without their permission, but I don't think these two guys will mind this one.



After my last P&S camera got trashed by the Lewis River in WA, I decided to get a waterproof one. Experimenting a bit with the water-level shots.




Here's a shot of zone 1. Pretty river. You would think temps of 105 would make fishing unpleasant, but it wasn't so at all.



My afternoon was not particularly successful. I accidentally ordered this huge lunch with 40 pieces of catfish, and while it was delicious, it sapped my mind of all capacity to fish smarter than the rocks I was standing on. My usual wind knots become messes of bobber, split shot, and nymphs. I was putting guide’s beautiful hand-tied flies in trees along the river. It was kind of embarrassing actually. It was like disappointing the ol' ball coach. Not that guide let on any kind of frustration or disappointment. Just that I wanted to do a little better.

I did hook up with one pretty big fish, but it broke me off. Had a little run where I hooked up with 5 fish in short order, and brought 3 to net. That was a lot of fun.

It turns out that the technical thing that I am best at is regular casting. Guide gave me some pointers, and watching his casting was truly spectacular. But the funny thing is that all that "River Runs Through It" casting didn't help me at all on this river, because it's not the effective technique in these conditions. Lots of high-sticking and mending. Short roll casts. So I know there are all kinds of techniques that I need to get better at. Particularly setting the hook. "Was I late setting the hook that time?" "When I can say 'there's a fish' before you set the hook, it's a little late."

All in all, it was a great experience. I will be back many times to the LMFR.
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