After lunch and a few hours whiling away the time and the heat, we headed back to Lee Creek to push upstream further than the previous day.
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As you can see from some of these images, the water is not very deep so wading is not an issue. Certain sections had a lot of rock that had to be traversed carefully but it was still a fun section to fish.
Think that’s the smallest fish I’ve ever caught.Certain sections opened up but the pools were never more than a few feet deep.
We both love exploring and covering new waters. The end result on this foray was 37 fish caught (6 Velox and 31 perch).
On a side note, I had started this section with my Shimano Calcutta Conquest BFS reel and my Majorcraft Finetail Area Stage FAX-B6242UL rod. First cast and the rod broke into 3 pieces! Apparently it had been stepped on in the tent the night before and I didn’t notice. Needless to say, I raced back to camp and grabbed another rod to continue fishing. I was bummed out but in my head was making plans to find something of a replacement since it was the only baitcast rod I brought with me. After the days fishing was over, we headed back to camp for dinner…
Stepping into Ellis Creek early in the morning looked promising. The previous evening, we had noticed that our lures of choice (Gamakatsu Round 211 1/8th ounce jig and a Bobby Garland 2.5 inch Stroll’r in Tadpole) seemed to spook a lot of the fish. We decided to downsize to the Owner Cultiva JH-85 2.2 gram jighead and the EuroTackle B-Vibe grub in Green Pumpkin and that was the ticket! We managed to catch and release 15 more fish (12 perch and 3 Velox) before coming to the junction of Ellis Creek with Lee Creek.
We had a great time on this short section before heading back to camp for lunch.
We had seen Lee Creek in previous visits to this park but had never fished it. We were wondering if the Velox could be found here. Velox=Neosho Strain Smallmouth Bass. In previous posts I covered some of the habitat and trials and tribulations this species of fish endures.
Armed with our Majorcraft Finetail Trekking and Travel Switch Style 5-pc rods and 1000 size spinning reels, we stepped off into the creek to find out.
After catching numerous perch, we each were able to hook our first Arkansas Velox!
Our first evening foray was productive! In spite of full sun and 90+F heat, we managed to land 21 fish. Although none of them were big, it was a lot of fun.
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As you can see, this creek is small and narrow in sections but it does have a few pools.
This will be a brief overview, followed by more in-depth blog posts…
We had planned a two week trip for the latter part of June, but neither one of us could get away for a full two weeks. So we made it happen in one week instead.
I did a blog post awhile back on “The Thin Blue Line”, and that came to fruition for the most part. Our initial plan was to camp for a few days at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas and explore/fish Lee Creek. Next up was to head south and check out the Cossatot River, then head over to Pine Creek Lake Campground in southeastern Oklahoma to use as a base camp to explore the Glover River.
We stayed three nights at Devil’s Den but it was way too crowded for our taste so we left. We fished Lee Creek and Ennis Creek but just couldn’t find anything of decent size.
We got up early and headed to the Cossatot River to fish and look around. We had heard of this place from a fellow traveler and were curious to go there. The fishing was good to say the least. The Cossatot River State Park Campground had decent tent sites, but there was no running water and only pit toilets.
Up early the next morning we headed to Pine Creek Lake Campground across the border in Oklahoma. When we arrived, we were met by locked gates and CLOSED signs due to flooding. Once we backtracked and drove across the dam we could make out the tops of power poles with the power lines being underwater. The other campsite we picked was closed too. We drove across the Glover River and it was bank to bank! Usually, this time of year, its low and you could wade fish it. Needless to say we hit the road again.
We managed to find a campsite at Queen Wilhelmina State Park and stayed one night there before deciding to head back to the Cossatot River for further exploration. We spent our last night at the Cossatot River State Park Sand Bar Campground and headed home the next morning.
All in all, we had a great trip even though we had some “bummer” moments. We fished new waters and explored a lot of new roads.
Our 2019 Subaru Forester vehicle. Why did we choose this vehicle? It gets great gas mileage yet still has some capability to it. Yes, I know it’s not 4-wheel drive, I own a Toyota FJ that we use for trips that require that! However, the Forester has decent cargo capacity and within its limits, can handle a lot of what we do.
First major upgrade was a set of Falken Wildpeak A/T tires. Everyone said to go with the BF Goodrich KO2’s but they were way too heavy for my taste. I would’ve added about 90 pounds to the vehicles unsprung weight capability and since the engine only produces 182hp I looked for a lighter tire that was still functional and wouldn’t put as much strain on the drive train. With these tires, handling was improved yet road resistance was minimally affected.
Next up was a decent set of rims. Sorry Subaru…you make ugly rims!!! We opted for the Method MR502’s since they checked all of the boxes on our wish list. These rims are rock solid and I must say, they make the Subaru look A LOT better.
Since our Subaru Forester was a base model, I had to add a 12VDC outlet and USB 3.0 ports on the rear of the center console to provide charging capabilities while we are on the road. I repurposed a Lenovo Tablet for navigation duty and paid for the GaiaGPS app. The Lenovo M10 FHD tablet stays plugged into the USB 3.0 port on the rear of the center console all the time and allows us to charge our phones from the front two USB ports on the dash.
Fully loaded for our recent trip, you can see a little bit of saggy butt which is common for Subaru’s. We will address that at a future date. I installed a rear tow hitch and receiver in case we add a swing out tire carrier in the future. The roof rack looks cool but we don’t really use it other than to haul a spare tire or something. It decreases gas mileage by an estimated 3mpg so we may take it off.
The final modification was to add a 20 inch LED lightbar to the front for additional lighting. Since we were leaving our campsites really early, the lighting helped tremendously on the forest roads in the early morning.
I wish I had a legitimate E-brake rather than this push button crap but the Crosstrek was too small for our needs. The only other negative is the EyeSight Car Safety System.. it’s annoying! It feels like R2-D2 is riding along with us…beeping, chiming, chirping. Maybe we’ll get used to it. Some of the features you can turn off, others you really can’t.
Other than that, it performed really well (better than I expected) on the trip and handled some rugged, rocky forest roads with ease. We made it from the Cossatot River all the way home via the scenic route and still had a little less than half a tank of gas left.
As a parting picture…this is what the back-end looked like inside…
Just thought I’d share a few pics of this vintage fly reel. Very impressed with the shape of this reel considering its age. I especially like that it is simple, has a full cage and even has line guides. Very well thought out and build quality is great. Sometimes simple is better!
Full cage with line guidesSimple design with minimal partsPairs well with the Hardy Palakona “Halford Knockabout”
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the pictures…
Introducing the latest acquisition to my collection. I have been looking for a vintage bamboo fly rod for quite awhile. I hadn’t been able to find one that was in great shape at an affordable price until now.
For its age…it is in great shape!
My hat is off to the fisherman/woman who cast this rod. It is heavy, but with the slower action I’m sure you could get used to it.
I was absolutely stunned when I removed it from its protective shipping tube…this rod is gorgeous! I’m guessing this fly rod was built somewhere around the late 1960’s-early 1970’s. Hope you enjoyed the rod pics…
After a lot of trial and error, I decided to go back to a fly fishing vest for the times when I am fly fishing. I know it probably “isn’t cool” in 2021 but I don’t care. It works better for me than anything else I have tried.
Speaking of trial and error…I tried a hip pack but got tired of dealing with the zipper. I tried a sling pack and the result was about the same. I also tried a chest pack and it was too awkward for me. Besides, I couldn’t see well enough when I needed to watch my foot placement when crossing a stream. So, I decided a fly vest was my best option.
I chose the Patagonia Convertible Fly Fishing Vest because A) it was minimalist (I don’t need 50 pockets) and B) was mesh fabric based. And since it hits the 100’s F every summer, I opted for something a little cooler than the other options I found.
In all honesty, I haven’t fished with it enough to give my thoughts or opinions on it yet. But so far I think it will fit the bill. Stayed tuned for an update on it…
I was really looking forward to getting out this weekend but that didn’t happen. I had quite a few chores I needed to get done instead.
Besides, the weather crushed any plans I made. Saturday was partly sunny and in the 80’s F but it was the wind that killed it. It was blowing out of the south between 20 and 30mph. This morning, 55F with winds gusting from the northwest at 15-25mph.
It’s no fun staring out the window watching the trees rock back and forth. In fact, a friend of mine just bought a brand spanking new bass boat and he’s suffering the same problem. Wouldn’t be much fun getting blown all around a lake while trying to fish.
Oh well, it is Mother’s Day after all so we will just hang out and enjoy a rare leisurely day together. We have a trip that needs to be planned so we might as well get started.
Looking through my fishing journal for 2021, it shows we have made 13 outings so far. The picture is of all the discarded fishing line we have recovered so far in 2021.
Discarded/Lost Lures
The image above is all of the lures we have recovered so far.
According to my records, as of May 2nd, 2021, we have picked up 31 bags of trash so far and have no intention of stopping! BE A GOOD STEWARD…
The wife and I went to a local lake in-between rain showers this morning. I really wanted to try out the Loop Evotec Cast 9ft 3wt rod. The gusts of wind made it difficult at times so patience was the order of the day.
This rod has great action…
My casting stroke needs a lot of work, but it was fun using this rod. The Evotec casts far better than I do and I definitely have room to “grow” with it.
I enjoy grabbing a fly rod and reel and a small selection of flies and hitting some local water. It’s a bonus when we have the entire lake to ourselves.
We each caught 2 fish and then the wind kicked up and the rain started moving in. We decided to pick up some trash before heading home. We do this every time we go out. I know it sounds like a broken record, but if word gets out and everyone leaves the waters cleaner than they found them…we’d have stellar fishing areas.
4 bags of trash!
I made it a point to pick up as much broken glass as I could. We fished bottles out of the water and beer cans out of the weeds. It really ticks me off since there is a trash can RIGHT THERE!
Melodramatic to be sure…but I’d like to introduce the Hardy Ultraclick 4000 reel and the Loop Evotec Cast 9ft 3wt Medium Fast fly rod.
But with any new addition…it deserves a fine cigar and a decent Whisky to welcome them into the family! And yes…that’s the first whisky bottle I’ve ever bought! And I couldn’t think of anything better than one made as a tribute to one of my heros… Ernest Shackleton.
My Dad and I have a thing for good cigars. We used to own a cigar shop together and had a blast with it. Every time I light one up, I think of him. The first COVID shot damn near killed him but he’s back to his normal self now. I can guarantee he’s probably smoking a cigar at this very moment!
Now back to the rod and reel. I enjoy using 3wt rods for contact fishing and opted for the Hardy Ultraclick reel because it’s one of the lightest reels made today. Standing in a stream with your arm outstretched as you’re nymphing through a run all day can take a toll on your arm. Lighter is better. Long leaders (16-22ft) are the norm as is 6X tippet. This reel fits my needs to a “T”. I don’t really need a high-tech disc drag so a simple click check reel works just fine. I’m using RIO Trout WF3F fly line and I can add a RIO Shorty and a long leader, I can connect a regular 9-12ft leader for dry flies, or I can run a Mono Rig if I so choose. Pretty versatile in my book.
Did I mention that this reel is LIGHT? On my scale it weighs 63 grams empty! Anyway, thank you for reading. I must get back to my Scotch and good cigar, and make plans for using this combo…Stay Safe Out There!
Velox Seeker 