Oklahoma Wildlife Department Becomes More Proactive

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife is now offering an additional chance for the outdoor community to address issues, concerns, and hopes.

The wildlife department has always held public hearings partially as a requirement and to gain input on specific topics that affect the department and the sportsman. But now, the wildlife department is taking it a step further by announcing Town Hall meetings where the format won't be so structured.

This is the perfect chance for the sportsman or woman to get involved in the development of new programs and policy changes within the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife.

Here is the wildlife departments news release.

Sportsmen will have a new opportunity this year to voice their thoughts on wildlife, hunting and fishing related issues at one of several town hall meetings held across the state by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
“These town hall meetings are a chance for sportsmen to have open discussions with Wildlife Department officials about matters that affect them directly,” said Micah Holmes, information and education supervisor for the Wildlife Department. “In the past, the Wildlife Department has held public hearings where discussions are usually limited to a posted meeting agenda, and while the Department will still collect formal comments on proposals, these town hall meetings provide a better opportunity for sportsmen to discuss other matters on their mind.”
At each town hall meeting, visitors will have the chance to speak with Wildlife Department officials about a range of topics of their choice. Law enforcement and wildlife and fisheries biologists from the Wildlife Department will be on hand to answer questions and facilitate discussion.
Meetings are scheduled for Dec. 7, 8, 9 and 11 at locations statewide. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. The following is listing of dates and locations:

December 7, 2009, 7 p.m.
Enid – Central Fire Station, 410 W. Garriott

December 8, 2009, 7 p.m.
Ada – Ponotoc Technology Center, 601 West 33rd
Jenks – Tulsa Technology Center, Riverside Campus, 801 E. 91st Street
McAlester – Kiamichi Technology Center, 301 Kiamichi Drive: SW corner of Hwy 69 and Hwy 270
Lawton – Great Plains Technology Center, 4500 W. Lee Blvd

December 9, 2009, 7 p.m.
Muskogee – Muskogee Public Library, 801 W. Okmulgee
Clinton – Senior Citizen Center, 323 S. 8th Street

December 11, 2009, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City – Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Auditorium, 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd.

In addition to the new town hall meetings, the Wildlife Department also will be hosting three public hearings Jan. 11-12. One of the three hearings — to be held in Oklahoma City — will have an agenda that includes a slate of proposed rule changes to Oklahoma's hunting and fishing laws, while two others held in Miami and Pryor will have agendas limited to fisheries topics.
Unlike town hall meetings, public hearings discussion is limited to a pre-established meeting agenda that includes a slate of proposed hunting or fishing rule changes. Examples include increasing opportunities for hunters and anglers and adding new laws to better conserve wildlife. The meeting agendas will be posted online at wildlifedepartment.com Dec. 1, and the public can comment at the meetings or online.
“If you are not able to make one of the public hearings, we encourage you to provide your comments through wildlifedepartment.com anytime before 4:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 2010,” Holmes said.
Additionally, those interested can submit written comments by mail to our main office in Oklahoma City (P.O. Box 53465, OKC, OK 73152).
Meetings will be held at 7 p.m. at the following locations:

January 11, 2010, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City – Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Auditorium, 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Miami – Miami Civic Center, 129 5th Ave NW, Banquet Room (Fisheries topics only)

January 12, 2010, 7 p.m.
Pryor – OSU Extension Office, 2200 NE 1st Street (Mayes County Fairgrounds) (Fisheries topics only)

Fly Of The Week

The Brassie

They say dynamite comes in small packages and this saying is particularly true when it comes to this simple pattern the Brassie.

The Brassie is simple in design and quite easy to tie. Consisting of only two materials - fine copper wire and dubbing, this fly will cause an explosion of activity in the trout community.

Having a body of copper wire adds weight to the fly and gets it down into the column. The Brassie can be nymphed alone or used as a dropper or trailer.

Originally the Brassie was tied as a copper body fly but now with the introduction of colored wires it can be tied to produce a varied scheme of colors and possibilities.

Tie this pattern in sizes 12 to 20 for best results. I use a curved caddis hook for the Brassie.

Good fishing!

Weekend Fishing

Trout Fishing 2009/2010 Day 9

Saturday

It seemed like Saturday was a near repeat of Friday and I was greeted with the same grey soupy sky while riding down the prairie ocean trail.

Actually I got a little earlier start Saturday leaving the bunkhouse about ten o'clock. John Mellencamp rode down with me and I always enjoy what he has to say. About half way to Blue, on the side of the road was a dead doe that had given her life not for the thrill of the hunt but rather at the grill of a damn vehicle. Eyes wide open, glaring like black mirrors...what a terrible waste on the prairie ocean and a sad sight to see.

Today, I decided to fish the island even though it was heavy with anglers. Unlike yesterday I decided not to use the soft hackle but stick with the olive/yellow split-tail bugger and with the very first cast I met the first bow of the day.

Again, the bows were frolicking but I paid them no attention and kept presenting the bugger. The action wasn't fast and furious but rather steady. The frolickers were certainly a distraction but for the life of me I could not see what was causing their explosions on the surface. It had to be small...very small.

Fishing for an hour and a half I would leave the river coming to know nine more of the bow community.


Trout Fishing 2009/2010 Day Ten Fishing

Sunday

Today I got an even earlier start leaving the bunkhouse at nine-thirty but having to ride into Tishomingo to make a delivery would end up putting me at the river about the same time as Saturday.

This morning there is no soupy sky and the sun is trying to burn off the wide spread haze. The fog is heavy-breathed on the trail down which causes me to pull up on the reins a couple of times along the trail.

I decide to stay around the crossing both above and below. Lots of fishers on the river today but the fishing is slow to say the least. After an hour I have only three bows to my credit - one taken below the crossing, the other two above on the bugger.

I keep wanting to go to the island but it is covered with people. Continuing to wait, a chance to fish the island finally comes open... and to these sweet waters I go. The fishing is even slower at the island and the risers are going nuts. I try Ole Grey and get two takers but no hook-sets. Then I dress Ole Grey and start getting lots of refusals. Evidently my dressing screwed Ole Grey up. There are thousands of grey colored mayflies up above in the wide water so I'm convinced this is what the bows want but it's just not working. I have another look and see some black bugs mixed in so I go to a Griffiths Gnat (way too large) and it produces absolutely nothing.

Starting to think emergers I try a hare's ear and get one take but that's it. Then comes the red midge larvae and I catch two.

It's about this time the big bows show up and they are a threesome. They travel together and even have a tag-along in the form of a small trout. These poor creatures have been tossed and flung at since derby weekend and they are as nervous and guarded as a community of Meerkats.

Kids are having a great time splashing in the middle of the Island pool which doesn't help the fishing any. I give up...and decide to go downstream.

Downstream with the bugger back on I quickly catch four more bows which brings me to nine just like the day before. I am done...it's time to go.

The river is as clear as I've ever seen her and the level is still good but diminishing every so slightly.

Fishing A Wet As A True Wet

Across the prairie ocean this morning there was a grey slate colored envelope engulfing the whole. As it is with an overcast sky I have this belief that the fly-fishing will be good. With an overcast sky there's no glare or casting of shadows. Therefore to the river Blue I traveled.

I arrived at Scotty's shortly before noon and he was cooking Scotty burgers so of course I had to have me one to go. You can't go wrong with a Scotty Burger.

At Seventeen as I was killing the burger I noticed the riser's popping up in the pool below. Yes...the noses were coming up...not abundantly but enough to make a fly angler want to toss a dry. In the Prairie Schooner I had already convinced myself that the noses coming up were after midges but once I got to the river's edge I realized how wrong I was.

The bows were after a mayfly with the color grey, or Adams, and to me they seemed a rather large size. My best judgement told me size 14 but I usually don't carry a dry that large to the river Blue. However, I remembered Ralph James Ole Grey pattern and I just happened to have one about size 18. It went on the tippet.

The first five minutes of casting resulted in absolutely nothing but eventually I would get two takers...just couldn't get a hook in them. Then...the noses went down appearing not to return for sometime.

Standing there in the river I kept thinking about how the riser's were acting with their fast and hurried almost panicked like rises and this led me to believe that a wet in the surface film would capture bows. Even though there were Mayflies on the surface... sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a surface rise and emerging rise.

I tied on a soft hackle and decided to fish it as a true wet...no indicator, no weight, just fly. It worked like a charm.

Cast and drift, cast and high-stick, plus the cast and swing all produced, and the most rewarding part of my hour at Seventeen was that trout were captured in all parts of the pool. I ended up with seven to hand and each came from a different area of the pool. I will say the favorite presentation of this wet for the trout was definitely "on the swing".

Leaving Seventeen the next stop was Chris's Pool and here the riser's were frolicking also but I completely ignored that fact. Unlike Seventeen, the bugs at Chris's Pool were black as midnight. I stuck with the soft hackle and cast it across the wide spans of the lower end.

I must have missed twenty fish at Chris's Pool. Casting across the spans leaving the slack in the line made it rather difficult to get a hook-set. I would end up bringing another three bows to hand. After bow number three the poor soft hackle looked as ragged as I, and it didn't look like it would fish anymore.

However before leaving I looked at the extreme lower end of Chris's Pool where the channels are, and it was there a flurry of frolickers was taking place so I waded down. At the channels there is a rock I call "Diamond Point" and you can stand behind it and cast downstream in the channel. It's a tight cast but with care you can pull it off. Today, I should have pulled bows out of that channel but that soft hackle was definitely done. I left the pool, and the soft hackle fished as a true wet today will go to the retirement village for flies in the ole fly-tying room.

His life was short...but well spent.

Great Stay For The Fly-Fisher

At Blue River, one of the most frequent questions we get is about lodging for a weekend that's near the Blue.

Unfortunately, the availability of lodging near Blue has been a fleeting thing in years past. There was one local lodging facility but in the last year that business has opened only to close, re-open but then close again.

So I would like to suggest a special lodging facility that will put you in close proximity to Blue and serve as one of those charming, unforgettable stays.

The Sulphur Springs Inn in Sulphur is within thirty-five or forty minutes of Blue River and also serves as a launching point to explore the other natural outdoor wonders of this area that are so richly woven together.

Sulphur Springs Inn does have that certain charm to it and I won't go as far as describing it as "old world", but it is certainly from an earlier and actual historic time in this area. I can't describe the allure the Sulphur Springs Inn projects...it would take a poet to do that, however, I will say I know you'll enjoy your stay.



You see...if you are a fly-fisher then you're going to be talking fly-fishing at the Sulphur Springs Inn because co-owner Charlie just happens to be a fly-fisher too. And Charlie... knows Blue quite well, along with being a devoted fan.

Find out more at Sulphur Springs Inn.

Map Of Blue River Public Fishing And Hunting Area

As a future quick reference I am publishing this map of the Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area. I will post a link to this post in the sidebar of the blog and that way it will be a handy reference for all who are new to Blue.

Map is courtesy of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife.

For a closer look simply click on the image.

Fly Of The Week

Over the years at Lady Blue, the Partridge and Orange soft hackle has brought me a tremendous amount of fun in battling the bows.

I usually fish the Partridge and Orange as a trailer off of a weighted nymph or even a streamer and usually it is the fly of the two that captures the fish.

This soft hackle pattern does quite well drifted by itself under an indicator with a little split added to get it slowly down in the column or you can fish it like it is a drowned adult insect.

When tying the Partridge and Orange one key is to keep the hackle quite sparse so one...maybe two turns of the feather is enough.

It's a fun and productive fly and one you do not want to be without when on the river Blue.