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outdoors
ADVENTURES
ON THE FLY words and images Scott Faldon
Most people think of the White River and Cotter, Arkansas when you mention trout fishing in our area. And while that area is certainly ripe with trout, this means other great trout water often gets overlooked. There’s the White River below Beaver Dam outside of Eureka Springs, the Lower Illinois below Tenkiller Dam near Gore, Oklahoma, Roaring River State Park in Missouri and the Lower Mountain Fork River near Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Most recently, we explored the Lower Mountain Fork River (LMF) and were impressed with the area. Lower Mountain Fork River flows through Beavers Bend State Park. Two dams release water from Broken Bow Lake into the LMF. The first creates the river, while the second generates hydroelectricity. The hydroelectric dam is located about eleven miles downstream from the cold-water release. This means as long as you’re upstream from the hydroelectric dam, your fishing won’t be affected if they begin generating water. This isn’t much of a consideration in the winter, but it is in the hot summer months. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife stocks the LMF with rainbow trout all year and this year added 12,000 brown trout. Thanks to the stocking efforts, there are now reproducing populations of browns and rainbows in the river. That eleven-mile stretch inside the state park is divided in Blue and Red Zones with different regulations for each. Check with the park and pick up a map so you’ll know the different regs as you move from spot to spot. Being just three hours from Dallas-Fort Worth means Beavers Bend’s parking lots fill with vehicles with Texas license plates on the weekends. But if you can sneak down there during the week, you’ll usually have large sections of the river to yourself.
DOSOUTHMAGAZINE.COM
