Lower Mountain Fork, Broken Bow Oklahoma Dec 2014
I was able to leave town early Friday and enjoyed some rare solitude on the river while catching a number of rainbows on a #18 black midge suspended below a large dry caddis pattern. The trout took the midge most of the time but a few could not resist the caddis. The afternoon and early evening on the river were made more interesting by the fog that developed which enhanced the feeling of escaping the city for a couple of days.
Friday evening I met up with the rest of the gang at the Mark Cabin, some went to Grateful Head Pizza while some of us chose to stay at the cabin and avoid the heavy rain. Saturday morning I met Harold and two new members of the club, Jess and Bill, below the Evening Hole. Jess and Bill are both new to fly fishing and were grateful for the help Harold and I provided them. We made sure they were rigged properly with indictors and small patterns. I left Harold with Bill and Jess and went to fish an area downstream. I met Dave, a member of the LMF Foundation, while fishing an area near the railroad. Dave and I enjoyed some fast action for awhile on the same midge pattern as Friday.
I went back to find Harold, Bill and Jess in the same area below the Evening Hole. According to Harold both Bill and Jess were “baptized” soon after entering the water. However, neither stopped fishing and both were focused on learning the techniques required to catch some trout. I worked with Bill on his casting and line management. After some coaching Bill hooked his first trout on a fly. I enjoyed him hooking that fish as much or more than if I would have hooked it.
Bill spent the rest of the day fishing with me while Jess went with Harold. Bill and I explored two other areas of the river. Even though Bill had trouble hooking another fish he certainly enjoyed the day and learned some valuable skills. I did have a rather unique experience while fishing with Bill. I hooked two fish at the same time, one on the dropper midge and one on the caddis dry fly. We clearly saw both fish struggling while hooked. I only landed the one on the dry fly since the other broke the 5X tippet I was using for the dropper.
It was a great weekend on the river, the weather was more pleasant than normal for December and it only rained Friday night. It was also very satisfying to help a new member and a new fly fisher hook and land his first trout.
Photos and story by Greg Kohn
