An idea for winter trout fishing on the Oklahoma River
Could anglers catch a stringer of trout from the Oklahoma River someday?
My column on Sunday raising the possibility of winter trout fishing on the Oklahoma River brought this interesting response from Rick Parker of Oklahoma City.
Parker said he has been dissapointed in the lack of anything going on at the Oklahoma River.
“The locals are just not using the place,” Parker wrote in an e-mail. “I think you hit on something with the trout fishing though. Do just like the rowing has. Start simple.
“You have Bass Pro that would love to cater to the trout fisherman. You have white water at Eastern Avenue. You have fairly good access at that spot. You could have this location for your trout fishing purists.”
“Have this a fly only trout fishing spot. Build a fence a few hundred yards downstream to help hold the trout in. The fly fishermen,and want to be fly fishermen, would go crazy over this.
“You could keep everyone else happy by artificial lures only. I’m no engineer, but a 4-feet chain link fence across the river at that point should work fine.
“Bait fishermen could always go to Dolese. But this would bring out a whole different crowd. The city could hold off during the winter to clean the river until the middle of March. A $10 trout permit could pay for this.”
Parker e-mailed his idea to David Holt, chief of staff for Mayor Mick Cornett, who was going to forward it to the parks department.
“I’m not going bug you or them anymore,” Parker wrote in a subsequent e-mail. “But I do think that trout fishing on the back side of the Eastern bridge could be a lot of fun. And be another positive image of our city.”
Thank you for joining our conversation on Outdoors. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.
Comments
I may be, and probably am, way out of touch …… but just how many people fly fish for trout that live in OKC ? This to me, seems very elitist , almost as elitist as rowing.
Are there enough fly fishermen to fund this project at $10 per head ??? Wow, that’s a tough question. So if they get hip deep in this project and the funds fall short, will the general population get to help pay for it ?
Parker says the locals are not using the river, well heck, why would anyone with half a brain bother to fish a river that gets drained very six months , or so it seems. All it takes is driving over the river one time and see it empty to kill any hope that fish might live there.
Twenty years ago, I spent time fishing Overholser. But I was more intrigued by the River next to Overholser, for crappie and bass fishing the River held more structure and cover, all the way from the Overholser dam to up into the Stinchcomb wildlife refuge. But the City drained the thing on a regular basis, why they did that, I could never find out.
Hey, if you conducted a poll of OKC residents who’ve spent time fishing the City lakes, a majority would tell you that in their opinion, the City does more to discourage fishing than encouraging the activity. Its insulting that they charge for a permit.
Most are like me and gave up a long long time ago. Little wonder we don’t use the River.
I love the idea and would use it regularly. I think there are a ton more fly fishermen in OKC than you imagine. The Blue river, the Lower Illinois and the Mountain Fork get a ton of action from Central Oklahoma fisherman. All of them are minimum 2 hour drive and Broken Bow is almost 5. If they do a winter-time flies only or lures only section of the okie river with decent size trout, it would get slammed. I guarantee it.
Well, I think you’d gain far more traction at City Hall with something snooty like fly fishing for trout. They would appreciate the image of that activity far more than the picture of a bait fishermen who has left his styrofoam worm container, an empty Eagle Claw hook package, and a few empty Bud cans on the bank.
But I gotta question this ” fence ” a few hundred yards downstream. That would have to be a heckuva fence. All it would take is one flood and the entire project ends up in Lake Eufaula. It makes me wonder what size trout you envision being stocked that could not swim through a chain link fence. Getting trout that size would be super expensive. And then you would have to pay a city crew to clean all the trash off the fence at frequent intervals. Not to mention the possible risk of stretching anything across the river that might impede flow.
And I were working at City Hall, I would want a more reliable estimate of the possible number of users rather than relying upon personal anecdote.
I love to fly fish, and not just for Trout. I have fly fished in Oklahoma for panfish, bass, and even for cats. So, there are those of us here who keep up our skills on the other species.
But, I have to agree, I usually don’t go to the river downtown to fish because they keep draining the thing, anybody know why? I have gone up there and chased cats, but I could not get enough action to make me want to drive up there from Norman and go again.
I would also agree about OKC making it harder to fish. It is the reason I relocated further south, I have access to more waters that are fishing friendly.
There are several fly fishing clubs in the OKC area, perhaps one of these clubs would be able to provide details on the number of fly fisherman in the OKC and Tulsa areas. Even putting catfish in the river would keep more people fishing the area then going out of town to fish. Trash left by some fisherman and enforcement of permits could be covered by the cost of the permits themselves, and create a few new job’s, each new job is more money put back into our local economy. Fishing Derby’s for youth could also be a new added venue for the OKC area.
I love this picture! It makes me want to go fishing! It’s almost Spring Break, so families should catch the fishing fever and take their kids out to wet some hooks.