Dam Fishing

[CATFISHPAT]

Is there anyone fishing behind the dams?? And are you catching anything???

[brian89]

I hear right now is a pretty good time to be fishing below texoma for blues, i sure wish it wasnt such a drive with gas being 3.50

[FourWinds]

I haven't been but there's usually pretty good fishing behind the dam at Ellworth when just a few gates are open. I think there are 3 open at Ellsworth about 6"... not sure tho.

[xringer3]

Been fishing below Ft. Gibson dam since early March. The blues have slowed down and the Spoonbill run came and went. Just got back from there and the sand bass are having a feeding frenzie! Caught them up to 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. Just throw about any color jig out there and you're in!

[FourWinds]

One of the guys at work was saying a couple of his friends have been goin below the Ellsworth dam and tearing em up. I might have to check it out myself. 3 floodgates are still open, its raining now and is supposed to all day so they'll probably keep em open for a while yet.

Dave

[channelkatman]

nope...i dont have any luck in frond or behind of the dam i fish...maybe its this fisherman though...hummmmm

[polecatter]

Excellent fishing below the dam at Ft. Supply, mostly eater size channels in the basin on punch bait, but a few really nice flathead in the 20# to 60# range as well.

[polecatter]

Excellent fishing below the dam at Ft. Supply, mostly eater size channels in the basin on punch bait, but a few really nice flathead in the 20# to 60# range as well.


Above post is just a report, I've not been fishing in a while myself! :0a22:

[WOOD18]

I HAVE ONLY BEEN FISHING BELOW THE DAM A LAKE LUGERT, BUT TIMES WERE SLOW THERE, YOU REALLY HAD TO WORK FOR A FISH.

[South Grand Laker]

pensacola dam has been good to excellent below grand all year long

[tkishkape]

for the moment. The Corps is releasing over 130,000 cubic feet per second and it's pretty rough. Hopefully it'll stop raining up north and give the rivers a chance to go down.

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Albert,It has been rough here to,I fished the North Cand River 2 days ago A could not get 8oz to stick,It is GOING....Me and a buddy from work are thinking about Keystone Dam tomarow for some Striper action:ooooh:..All this water might pay off for us ???At this point I dont care I got to get to some WATER!Iv got it bad my Brother.If any one has a better spot Please let me know cuz we gone at 4-5 am,,,It is 9:15pm right now ................

[catfishcentral]

for the moment. The Corps is releasing over 130,000 cubic feet per second and it's pretty rough. Hopefully it'll stop raining up north and give the rivers a chance to go down.

I know there predicting that it will take till the end of Aug to get all the lakes up North here back to normal pool levels. I think you'll be waiting for a while unfortunately.

[Stoneman187]

They were biting slow, we managed to catch a couple before we had to leave. It was so hot we had to get out of the sun. We are looking for a spot we can fish without being in the broiling sun. The wife and I bank fish at least twice a week mostly below a dam when they are not running all the spillways wide open. We did real good at Eufala till they opened all the gates, and it looks like they could be open for some time yet.

[Phil Washburn]

i am going to eufala saturday to fish the tailwaters.
water is high and fast. what is the best rig to use under those conditions?
this will be a first for me..i've never bank fished there before. i will take my cast net and hope for shad, but take some minnows just in case the shad aren't running.

[Stoneman187]

Eufala is running all the tainer gates open and if you let your sinker hit bottom you most likely won't get it back in. You have to just cast and reel right in or your hung up. There always seems to be shad you can catch there. I have fished there a lot but when they are having all the spillways open it is not good for bottom fishing. Since it is 102% full they must let lots of water out before they shut the spillway gates like I would guess over a month, it's taken a week to get from 106 % down to 102 % full that is like 10 feet above lake full the exrta storage is over 100% full still.

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Yall,I went to Eufala Dam yesterday,I got there around 6:00pm and Caught Sandbass and stripers tell 10:00pm I caught 80ish Sandies and 4 stipers.The sandies are biteing anything that moves I was useing Red head with white body jigs.I got the stripers with Storm pearl shad 6" Fished the Generator side.I stoped because My arms felt like they were going to FALL-OFF .Today Im so sore let me tell yall that dont Dam fish it is HARDCORE FISHING.Iv fished some of the crazyest plases on earth.You just go fish behind the Dam and do some Damfishing and yall will see what Im talking about,Good luck and be safe.They have 3 gates open about 3' when the water came out and hit the river bed it was Boiling up about 10-15 FEET What a site to see.As you can tell I had a blast it was awesome!!!!:0a26:

[TDawgNOk]

Pat,

I'm thinking about fishing below a spillway from a lake that the creek flows into the Arkansas between Keystone and Kaw. Hopin that the Blues have made it up that far, and then went back up into the creek to get out of the stronger current of the ARK.

[xringer3]

Got a bunch of nice blues at Ft. Gibson dam this morning but action shut off about noon. Ya better have a big rig that will cast a long way to reach were they're at though!

[xringer3]

Oh yea, forgot to mention, you can walk all the way across the river on the shad!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TDawgNOk]

sounds good to me. I'm not real effective with a cast net yet so the thicker they are, the easier for me to get bait.

[Phil Washburn]

well, me and brother went to Eufala this morning. left at 4am, and were fishing at 6:30. i didn't catch anything for the first hour. the old guy next to me was catching eating size blues every other cast. johnny (my brother) went to a jig and started catching sandies. i took my cast net and caught shad...the shad are incredible below the dam. i have never seen that many in my life. i started watching my neighbor and took mental notes on his rig and technique. i cut the gut pocket out of the shad and used it, then cast to the end of the concrete wall. there is a sweet spot there, and if you hit it the cats take your bait immediately.

we left at 10:30. i kept 40lbs of blues(11 fish), the smallest being 1.5lb, and the largest 7.5. i tossed back twice that many, plus a small striper, a drum, a few sandies, and even some shad. i am tired. that is the most productive fishing i have ever had. lots of people there by the time we left. it was elbow to elbow. i am thinking if a guy goes there on a weekday it will be much less crowded.

everybody was catching fish. most were sandies. except for the old gent that was there when we got there, i did the best with the cats. i wore my BOC cap, and i didn't have to hang my head in shame when we left:smile2:

it looks like they are going to be running water for maybe the next month...you folks try to make it down there...i assure you, the fish population isn't being hurt - i have never seen so much fish in my life:ooooh:

[TDawgNOk]

great report Phil. May have to try Eufala in the next week or 2

[catfishcentral]

Now that sounds like a lot of fun. :big_smile: Congrats on very productive and fun day. That's is the good type of tired.....too tired of catching too many dang fish. :tounge_out:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Brothers Im going back on Tuesday.The fishing is the best Iv ever seen this is an awesome time for a fisherman.Nothing like it.Hey Phil glad to see you got to go word's cant hardley touch it you know..Maybe I will see some of yall there just look for the B.O.C. hat on top of the Moose.:006:

[Stoneman187]

We like it better when the tainer gates are closed, but we are going to give it a try on the side you were on Phill. Marilyn my wife knows you she remembers you comming her bar years ago. We like the other side bettter when the water is not all running but we got the itch and so we will go ware out our arms casting, hopefully we will do well. Earlier this year we did extra well there. Perhaps we may see some of you up there. I will let you all know how we did when we get home.

[Phil Washburn]

.................we are going to give it a try on the side you were on Phill. Marilyn my wife knows you she remembers you comming her bar years ago. .....................


it sure was years ago, Bill....i don't go to bars anymore:big_smile:
what bar was it?

and good luck fishing - i'll be looking forward to a good report

[Stoneman187]

and she bough her house off Shirley Washburn if you know her. At that time she was married to Lee but he passes a while back. Anyway she is my fishing buddy and wife now. She sold her home in Shawnee.

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Phil,What side were you on the Generater side or the side with the Big gates??What kind of rig were you useing?? Me and a buddy from work are going Tuesday morning like 4:00am...

[Phil Washburn]

Pat, we were on the south side. My bro is going in the morning again, but i doubt i will be able to make it.

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Phil,What kind of rig were you useing????

[Phil Washburn]

i put a 3/0 snelled baitholder on a my line with a couple of split shot weights about a foot above it to aid with casting. you don't want anymore weight than that. you want the bait to swirl with the water...trust me, those fish are gonna find it.

if you go to the south side, you want to place your bait at the very end of that concrete wall. let it drift for a bit.

the sweet spot is within 3 or 4 feet of the end...that's where i caught all mine.

GOOD LUCK, PAT!

[Stoneman187]

We fished the south side of the dam. started early like 6 am. one throw of the net was enough got enough shad to 1/2 fill a 5 gallon pail. we fished till 2 pm and went home with 10 nice blues. 3 were just over 5 pounds the rest smaller. half a cooler of sandies with some crappy mixed in. We used a lot of 4 ounce sinkers. We had a fun day it stayed fairly cool which sure helped. WE both had several cats on that somehow managed to get our lines snagged on something and get away, but thats fishing, it was great. Both Marilyn and I had lots of fun and all the exercise we needed. You guys have fun in the morning. Oh yeah take plenty of hooks and sinkers. :big_smile:

[Phil Washburn]

good news, Bill
i hope you get the chance to back out before they shut the water off:big_smile:

[CATFISHPAT]

Thank's Phil,Im going by my self in the morning,My buddy from work cant go.Thanks for all the info Im going to have an AWESOME time.Thank Bro........:big_smile:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Bill,Sounds like yall had a great time,Allways glad to here of people having a good time fishing.Enjoy the the Fry..:wink:

[Phil Washburn]

.........................Enjoy the the Fry..:wink:

what the heck is a "the the Fry", Pat? :smile2:

[tkishkape]

Hey Pat: Which side of the dam are you gonna be on?

[Phil Washburn]

ok, i haven't heard a fishing report from Albert or Pat...what's up guys? did you do any good?

my bro came back with 30 2 to 3 lb sandies....his buddy gave up after an hour and a half.

johnny(my bro) told me a gal caught a flathead over 3 feet long...he thought maybe 25 or 30 lbs

he said they weren't biting for the first 1.5hrs he was there

we are going sat morn...Pat, i expect to see you and Albert there too:smile:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Yall,I just got done cleaning Fish.My Brother went with me and we tore them up,They said the Flathead she caught was 60lbs HHmm???We caught Blues all day long,Phil like you said on the south side of the dam right next to the end of the wing wall and let it drift with a light weight and BAM it was on.I caught 22 Blues 4-10lbs range and 11that went over 15lbs All the big ones still had Eggs so I through them back.I was tossing 1-3lbs'ers back.The shad are thick,Bait is so easy but dont let your net sink to far!!!!!My brother hung my bait net up on the bottom(I need a new one now:sad2:)It's all good small price to pay for one of the Best fishing trip's in YEARS...Me and my Older Brother had an AWESOME day.Thank's for all the tip's.I allmost forgot to tell ya I only lost 4 rigs no bad......

[Phil Washburn]

you posted at 1:38 am, Pat???
how long did you fish?
so you saw the flathead that she caught? how big did you think it was?

[tkishkape]

Congratulations on your trip, Pat!

I'm sorry I didn't meet you fellows... didn't feel good enough for the drive.

Fordman and I will be fishing this weekend. Maybe we'll have a good trip to report.

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Phil,We fished tell about 9:00pm.I had to post my report before I went to bed I had to tell yall about it,Im still Giggleing and ready to go again next tuesday But (I do have a gang of leave saved up)HHHmmm.... I did not see the Flathead but some of the guy's there said it was a Biggen??? Albert we are going to meet up sooner or later:wink:Cant wait.Yall be good........

[Stoneman187]

I did not leave home till after 12:30 got up there about three. Some guys were just leaving that had been there all day. They told me that they had stopped bitting, that did not slow me down. I used all that I had gleaned from you guys about where and how and with what. Well I fell as I was throwing my net no biggy, but I got scraped up on those rocks. Well the guys that were leaving gave me thier spot the best one to fish where I needed. I rigged up and laid the bait right in that sweet spot and they tried to take my pole away cought several about 10 pounds and one over, I threw all the under 4 pound ones back to grow up left in time to get back to Talihina before dark with my limit and about 60 pounds of fish. I just finished cleaning them was a great trip. there were not so manny catfishermen perhaps 5 or 6 till I was leaving they were piling in as I left. perhaps had to work. Thank you guys for the help. I have fished there a lot this year and taken manny home but never quite like that. :big_smile:

[Phil Washburn]

a little change of plans..brother and i will go tomorrow morning instead of waiting til saturday...hope to catch big ones this time:big_smile:

[jlingle]

Darn. Too bad Eufaula is such a hike from here. I'd love to try my new katbobbers on them blues at the end of the wall. It sounds like the perfect scenario to be trying them. Lob it out, let it swirl around a bit, reel in a fish.

Sounds like you guys are really on the fish. I've had a good time just reading the reports. Keep up the good work & somebody take some pictures!!!!!:wink:

[CATFISHPAT]

I sat on a big flat rock there at the Dam with my feet in the water all day now I am so sick Im not even going to work today,This will be the firs day this year I called in they better not even gripe about it.(So what time are we meeting up there Ha-Ha just kiding)Good fishing Phil,And bill glad to here ya hooked up right now is an awesome time for us this will be talked about for a long time.....

[TDawgNOk]

Pat, sorry to hear that you are sick. Get better quick.

I am going to have to find a way to slip down to the dam and give it a try.

[tkishkape]

Tony:

If you wait until the weekend, better get there early. By sunrise, there will be standing room only, shoulder to shoulder. The word is out on this place!

[CATFISHPAT]

I told my Brother that I was not going to work today and he tryed to get me to go to the dam but Im out of it for today.Tomarow is a diferant storie.Im not even going to try on the weekend it is crazy and I allways run into the one drunk who THINK'S he needs to whip the Big guy.:roll_eyes: Wrong!!!

[CATFISHPAT]

It was a sad thing that I saw at the dam .There was a big plie of Gar about 6' each Big ones.I know we dont eat them but to kill for no good reason just rub's me rong?? I aint no tree hugging hippy but God made them for something right???Why do folks kill the Gar??

[Phil Washburn]

I told my Brother that I was not going to work today and he tryed to get me to go to the dam but Im out of it for today.Tomarow is a diferant storie.Im not even going to try on the weekend it is crazy and I allways run into the one drunk who THINK'S he needs to whip the Big guy.:roll_eyes: Wrong!!!

well come in the morning Pat....strength in numbers..me and fordman and tkishkape and my brother will be there and a couple of us are pretty heavy:smile2:

my weapons will be 2 ugly sticks armed with a shimano and a shakespeare open faced spinner...we will catch more and bigger fish, and, if necessary, will put those fish where the sun don't shine:smile2:

oh yeah, and i know i have the strength to hurt someone 'cause i do it to myself several times a week:smile2:

[Stoneman187]

I have to go to Tulsa to take a friend up to Hillcrest for sugery. He broke his leg and I have already made 2 trips up there. I should be comming by there between 10:30 and noon. I put my gear in the truck already, hopefully I can squeze in and get a few more on my way home. So as of now I plan to come by on my way home he has to be there by 8am and he is staying overnight. I trust we can bag a few. Perhaps you may have your limit of big ones by then. I just fixed my net, like pat I hung it on a rock just broke one brail line so easy to fix. I will be looking for you to have a stringer full when I get there. :wink:

[Stoneman187]

you guys are going to be there before me, I just read all the new posts, I been in a crowd before. If I can't squeze in when I get there I will try another day. Unlike youall I can go almost any time I want since I am retired now and the garden is dead from drownding. Have fun I will at least stop by.

[CATFISHPAT]

Iv got some Boold bait that is made from Beef blood-skipjack-shad-gluegills-chicken liver-and 2 old jugs of shad gizards.It has been sitting for 2 years now.I opened it about a month ago and it was the worst thing Iv ever smelled.I might bring it,Not for fishing but to get a fishing spot.We will see who is a dryhard fisherman and who aint:bad_smelly::bad_smelly:

[Phil Washburn]

you guys are going to be there before me, I just read all the new posts, I been in a crowd before. If I can't squeze in when I get there I will try another day. Unlike youall I can go almost any time I want since I am retired now and the garden is dead from drownding. Have fun I will at least stop by.

hey, bill, here is my cell# 761-1276..if i don't answer it's because i am deaf...i assure you, we'll do our best to squeeze you in..i'll be wearing white t-shirt, khaki shorts, and my BOC yellow hat

GONNA BE SOME BIG CATS CAUGHT BY THE BOC BOYS IN THE MORN:big_smile:

[Phil Washburn]

Iv got some Boold bait that is made from Beef blood-skipjack-shad-gluegills-chicken liver-and 2 old jugs of shad gizards.It has been sitting for 2 years now.I opened it about a month ago and it was the worst thing Iv ever smelled.I might bring it,Not for fishing but to get a fishing spot.We will see who is a dryhard fisherman and who aint:bad_smelly::bad_smelly:

ROFL...bring it Pat, and spill it where we want to fish:big_smile:
i can live with it...let's hope that there are a bunch of junior fishers that want to go home when you open it:smile2:

[TDawgNOk]

to all you going in the morning, GOOD LUCK!!!

Hope you guys catch a new record!!!!!

[tkishkape]

We went, We fished, We saw... and now you can too.

It was fun, and we got a few eating sized blues for the freezer. I don't know what Fordman was doing with that scaly white thing...:embarassed:

[Fordman]

In my own defense, I can only say that I was merely trying to thin out those bait stealing scaly creatures so you guys could concentrate on the Blues. LOL I have a bridge for sale too!!

I did have a great time even though I did not land any catfish myself. Thank you to Phil and his brother for the fish fry material. Those blues are going to be very tasty.

I noticed that many still had eggs that had not been laid or absorbed. Any ideas on how the spawn went off this year?

[Phil Washburn]

We went, We fished, We saw... and now you can too.

It was fun, and we got a few eating sized blues for the freezer. I don't know what Fordman was doing with that scaly white thing...:embarassed:

i notice you neglected to tell us all of your gar-catching prowess, Albert! LOL

[Phil Washburn]

In my own defense, I can only say that I was merely trying to thin out those bait stealing scaly creatures so you guys could concentrate on the Blues. LOL I have a bridge for sale too!!

I did have a great time even though I did not land any catfish myself. Thank you to Phil and his brother for the fish fry material. Those blues are going to be very tasty.

I noticed that many still had eggs that had not been laid or absorbed. Any ideas on how the spawn went off this year?

johnny and i left at 1:30 pm. bill was still there, have to wait to see how he did. i caught one more pretty decent blue, but i gave it to bill. the sandies were starting to turn back on when we left. johnny brought a nice mess home with him.

we enjoyed it. glad to see albert and mike there, and enjoyed meeting bill. i'll be going back before they shut off the water.

looks like you guys ended up with a decent little mess there, mike:big_smile:

[Stoneman187]

I can imagine what it will be in the morning, and I have no plans to go see for my self. I will say I have fished most of my life and I do not recall being tangled up with that many other mens fishing line in my life. perhaps it has something to do with a dozen men all casting lines from every direction into the same 3' circle. No use talking about that big one I almost landed. All in all it was fun. Thanks for the fish Phill I had a mess more than we can eat in one day. Just the 4 I cought including the nice channel cat Albert helped land. I was tired and getting hot so I left at about 2pm. Marilyn is off Tuesday & Wensday so as of now we plan to atleast go one of those days. The lake is still 67.36 % over full so they will still let a lot more out before they close the gates,I expect. So we can get several more chances. I noticed even the sandy fishermen all wanted to fish that same spot, sandies are thick everywhere out there. Good Fishing was had by all it appeared.

[FourWinds]

Some pretty nice eaters there Albert!

[tkishkape]

Albert didn't catch all those nice blues... Albert only caught 3 of them... the rest were donated to the cause by Phil and his brother.

Albert was in the pickup with the A/C running while Fordman helped land the nice 8 pound channel for Bill. I've become a wimp in my last few years, unable to cope with the heat.:smile2:

Albert did, however, manage to catch a few nice sand bass and three of those long waisted skinny critters with a powerful tail on one end and a long strong set of jaws full of little razor-sharp teeth on the other. All were released with minor wounds from being snagged in the dorsal fin with a 1/4oz jig. It was a heckuva screaming run each time... What a rush!

Well, Fordman and I weren't quite worn out, so, after I took a short nap, we loaded up the boat and launched onto the Arkansas River for an evening of catfishing.

The Shad were easy to find, so our bait tank was stocked and we were off to the catfish ground. The Blues were biting very sporadically, and hard to find. We finally found a few in a backwater area of 5-7 feet deep. The first one was a nice 11+ pounder followed by a 7 and a 5. Then the breeze died off and the squeelers moved in. We decided that we had just enjoyed a great fishing trip, and packed it in.

[CATFISHPAT]

Well Im allmost over the Hunga-Hunga in bed for the past 3 days,We are hitting the Dam on Tuesday.We are having a Fish Fry on Thursday here at the Prison,Me and my Partner said We would bring the fish we are feeding about 20 Prison Gaurds(Chow-Hound's) I bet I don't sit on that big flat rock with my feet in the water this time...Can't wait to go we will be there at sunup.I hope yall can make it Mike H. from Tulsa said he is going to try to make it:big_smile:..It is going to be FUN!!!!!!!!!:big_smile:

[tkishkape]

Pat, I'd really enjoy a chance to fish with you in the mudhole below Eufaula, but my missus and I are going to the Big City to visit with kids and grandkids while you're working so hard to fill a cooler. "Tough job, but someone's gotta do it"

Maybe we can get together later on.:baffle:

[Stoneman187]

I went to Sardis dam yesterday no action there. They have been letting water out a month and I was thinking it might be good. Well after throwing the net seven times and not catching and bait or any thing else I decided there was not much use to try fishing. Besides there was not even one person fishing. I at this time intend to go to Eufala and see what I can catch. They took Marilyn's day off away so I will come alone see you guys there most likely.:wink:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Albert,I truley look forward to fishing with you,The night I met you on the boat ramp I knew we'd be fish buddys one day.Can't wait to see ya again.Hey Bill I hope we tear em up Im biteing the bit right now see there...

[jholl949]

Pat,
If you see this, I'll be there before 10AM today.:big_smile:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Yall it is 5:30am had 4 hrs sleep and heading off to the Dam .Come on Coffee kick in...See yall there.Albert Have a great time withe the kids and Grandbabys............:wink::big_smile:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Yall,We had an awesome time!!I got to fish with Bill and what a nice guy he is,Everybody was snaging his line and NOT one time did he blow his lid,That one little kid was about to drive me nut's:ooooh:Mike to bad the catfish ever found ya lol Maybe you could start up a club called (GUT SNAGED SANDBASS):smile: Man It was shur nice to see ya again.Me and my Partner from took home 27 Nice blues we caught fish all day long,I caught a Big Gar FUN FUN FUN!!! He is still alive.....

[Stoneman187]

Well I got my limit, they were nice size ones. Was glad for the fellow that helped me cary my stringer to the truck. I managed to snag a striper in the vent, guess he did not like that he really fought. Mike caught a catfish I saw him throw it back. All in all it was great and the fish were biting all day. I weighed all mine together before I cleaned them they weighed 78 pounds. A great day of fishing. It was good meeting you guys, most likely I will see you again someplace. :big_smile:

[TDawgNOk]

Ok, I officially don't like looking at this thread any more!!!

Great job guys, congrats on a great day of fishing. Too bad I'm excluded from it right now. Maybe if the job I interviewed for Friday goes through, I'll be able to make it down there on a Monday. Wish me luck cause your success when I can't even get out and fish is almost making me ill with envy!

[Phil Washburn]

me and my brother will be going thursday morning.....looking for a new personal best:big_smile:

[jholl949]

I caught a small catfish and a small sandie, less than a pound each.
The weird part is, I was casting within 6" of where Bill was casting.
How is that possible??
My son, Dustin, didn't catch a thing, even though he was fishing the exact same area. I guess some of us are just destined to fish......not catch.

[Phil Washburn]

it must be the name, Mike:wink:
just scroll up and see how mike ford did when me, johnny, albert and he went:smile2:

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Mike,To bad yall did not do good today.It is crazy how that works,Iv been there same rig same bait same spot and zilch Bumber deal Brother????Who knows?We ended up with 5 1gal freezer bags stuffed full of fillets,Mike did yall go to the Lake?Did ya do any good?:wink:

[jholl949]

Pat,
We tried three different campgrounds that we found and all were closed.
Looks like the high water is still high.
Then it started raining so we just gave up and went home.
Glad y'all did good but my poor freezer is still hungry, :embarassed:

[Phil Washburn]

it must be the name, Mike:wink:
just scroll up and see how mike ford did when me, johnny, albert and he went:smile2:

i meant mike strawn, aka fordman:embarassed:

[Stoneman187]

On the Army corp of engineers site they cut the release down from 39,000 feet per second to 21,492 at 10 am this morning. Then at 1 pm again cut it down to 16,073 cubic feet per second. way less than 1/2 what it was weather that will affect the fishing negatively or not, I am not sure. I keep a eye on all the dams I use manny times a day so I can decide where to go. The gates were at 2.5 feet then to 2 feet and now 1.5 feet. I just wanted to let everyone know. I see you are planning to go in the morning. You might want to check the flow before you go
http://www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/EFUA.lakepage.html
Hope this helps someone good luck catching some nice ones

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Bill,Thanks for the link that is a good one.When they stop running the water the Stirper bite will be better than the Catfish run down there.Can't wait.If any of yall have not been there you need to hall Butt down there before it is to late.Me and my Partner are tieing up a mess of jiggs for the Striper bite:wink:.......

[Phil Washburn]

ok, i'm back:roll_eyes:
we started fishing at 7:30 this morn, and it was deja vu all over again:smile2:
there was an old guy on my right and he was hauling them in about every third cast, and it was almost an hour before i caught my first:embarassed:

but, from then til 11:30 i caught a few nice ones. only tossed 4 back. kept 9. total weight of kept was 31lbs. my brother kept around 50lbs of sandies:crazy:

lots of room, and not many people....however, the ones that were there made up for it with poor casting skills and bad manners:angry:

i have some pics of my cleaning station and will post them when i get them transferred from throwaway camera film to digital:big_smile:

the sandies are going after it - i caught maybe 10 on my cat rig...gave 6 to my bro...he is still cleaning fish:smile2:

it was much slower tho, no doubt due to decreased water release....thanks for that heads up, Bill

[tkishkape]

I took my stepson OKCMichael to the dam this morning... there were about 30 people fishing in the first hundred feet of the shore. Most of them were casting for sandbass, but some small crappie came to net too. I was stubborn, fishing for cats. Caught 3 eaters before I got too hot. We left about 10:30AM.

You were right about the rude people... some would crowd right into you after you caught a fish... It might have been more tolerable if the rude folks could cast accurately... or just close to the general direction of the water. I guess that poor manners is to be expected when the temperature goes up and there are more baits in the water at any one time than the targeted species.

[CATFISHPAT]

Hey Yall,I shur know what you meen,Some guy was useing a slip bober out there at the, next to the wing wall and letting it drift:confused2:Good Idea But not when you have 14 fisherman trying to hit a spot the size of a coffee can most of them could not hit a BUS,We are going to keep an eye on the Dam Flow wont to jump on the Stripers,Me and my Partner are going on Tuesday Ft.G-Key Stone-Eufala???Who Knows:crazy:

[Phil Washburn]

Pat, johnny went yesterday and caught another chest full of sandies...he also had several nice stripers in there too. he said there was only one guy fishing for cats. everybody was after the sandies. he saw a lot of stripers being caught. could be that the water is warming up in that tailrace and the stripers are moving in...you might give it another try:big_smile:

[TDawgNOk]

Pat, if you go to keystone be careful. The south side parking lot is closed due to a washout by the parking lot. If you DO get into the stripers good at Keystone, please let me know. I might be able to swing a quick trip over there for some fish.

[xringer3]

Hey Yall,I shur know what you meen,Some guy was useing a slip bober out there at the, next to the wing wall and letting it drift:confused2:Good Idea But not when you have 14 fisherman trying to hit a spot the size of a coffee can most of them could not hit a BUS,We are going to keep an eye on the Dam Flow wont to jump on the Stripers,Me and my Partner are going on Tuesday Ft.G-Key Stone-Eufala???Who Knows:crazy:
Don't know if I'd go to Ft. Gibson dam or not, it was great until this week. Then the shad AND the fish just dissapeared! Last week, you could walk across the river on the shad, now there aren't any to be found! Stripers should be running up there soon, but aren't there yet.

[xringer3]

As close to Eufaula dam as I've lived all my life, I've never been there. I'm gonna try to get down there Tuesday morning for some sandbass action. Can anyone give me directions to the dam? I'll be coming down hwy 69 from Muskogee.

Figure I'll make a day of it and hit the trout at Tenkiller dam in the afternoon.

Thanks

[Stoneman187]

Since you said hwy 69 go south get off at the first Eufala exit, go through town and turn left on hwy 9 keep east on 9 to Enterprise where you come to hwy 71 go north or left 5 miles to the dam. Have fun we are still deciding if we are going tuesday or not. Catch lots of fish and have fun.

[xringer3]

Since you said hwy 69 go south get off at the first Eufala exit, go through town and turn left on hwy 9 keep east on 9 to Enterprise where you come to hwy 71 go north or left 5 miles to the dam. Have fun we are still deciding if we are going tuesday or not. Catch lots of fish and have fun.
Thanks a bunch. If everything goes even close to as planned, I should be there tomorrow morning kinda early. I'll be in a blue dodge quadcab. If you're there, give me a holler.

[xringer3]

Thanks again Stoneman! I had a great time this morning. They weren't hitting as hard as the people there said they have been the last week or two, but I filled the basket with alot of nice ones anyway. It sure was nice fishing in a new spot too. Think I'll start fishing there now and then. It was nice.

There were still some rude people there though. The guys are right about having someone get right on top of you and get all tangled up in your line.

Thanks for your help again.....Vince

[Phil Washburn]

you say you filled the basket, Vince, what did you keep, sandies?

[xringer3]

Yea Phil, all I kept were sandies. I didn't keep the two 5lb carp, or the 15lb gar I caught on an 8'6" medium action rod. Hell, just fighting that one was enough! I fished a total of about 2 1/2 hours. Had a great time. If they're still running next week, I'll get up there earlier than I did today.

[Phil Washburn]

Vince, my last trip i snagged a gar in the tail that must have been about 20lbs...that sucker like to have wore me out..i would reel him in 15 or 20 feet and he would start stripping line off my reel:crazy:

i was hoping for a 40lb blue or flattie:wink:

when i got him close enough, i just cut the line - no way did i want that booger on shore with me:confused2:

here are pics of how i clean fish. notice the fan on the ground:big_smile:

and look at my fillet knife...i used the electric for a bit, but i guess my brother dulled that dude doing 50lbs of sandies:confused2:

i really like the manual one - it is from cabelas and it is excellent!

my table is simply a roll-around cart. i found a great piece of wood at an auction a couple of years ago, bolted it on, treated it with vegetable oil several times and voila! an excellent cleaning table that is semi-portable. a clamp on meat grinder that lets me make chum with left-overs.

i keep a hose handy, clean the fish out in front of my shop and just wash the blood and left overs down to the creek.:big_smile:

[Phil Washburn]

a couple of more pics....the last is the fishing hole. the concrete steps end right at the length of the wall. there is about a 6 or 8 foot area at the end of the wall that the blues hold in.

[xringer3]

Thanks Phill, that's a real nice cleaning table. I've started cleaning my fish were I catch them now though, less hastle throwing the scaps away. I just use a large cutting board I got at wal mart and it works great. I'm like you on the knives though. I never mastered the electric knife. I grew up using rapala knives, and they hold an edge better than any filet knife I've used! They sharpen up really easy too.

Thanks too for the tip on the blues. I saw alot of people fishing that hole this morning, but not alot of catfish coming out. In fact, I didn't see alot of anyting coming out of the water until me and my buddy started throwing our kastmaster spoons. We racked up quite a few. I was wondering about that sandy area just downstream of the cable. Is it anygood anytime of the year? It looks like a real comfortable spot to fish.

I fish mainly Ft. Gibson dam, but the fish seem to have died off there for the year. They actually stayed later this year I think because of all he water turning out. I really enjoyed my trip to Eufaula dam though and would like to start coming down there more. Is it a good spot throughout the year? does the water have to be running for it to be any good?

Thanks again Phil, you've been a big help.

[Phil Washburn]

i sure would like to go back, but it sure is hot!:crazy: one of you guys go and let me know if they're still biting, willya?:0a10:

[Phil Washburn]

.................................... I was wondering about that sandy area just downstream of the cable. Is it anygood anytime of the year? .................................. I really enjoyed my trip to Eufaula dam though and would like to start coming down there more. Is it a good spot throughout the year? does the water have to be running for it to be any good?

Thanks again Phil, you've been a big help.


Vince, i am just a wannabe fisherman.:embarassed:
i can't answer those questions, but i agree, that looks like a comfortable area if a guy can get it. and i am sure the water running brings shad and other fish thru the dam and, as a result, those cats and sandies move upstream to chow down. give me a buzz sometime and maybe i can meet you there for some fishing. if the water is still running i want to go back next week. bad thing is i need tires for my pickup....hopefully business will pick up and let me go again.

[catfishcentral]

I'm getting jealous seeing all these fish being caught and I'm working too much to get out. Hopefully I'll be fishing again soon.....gotta use the Wife's minivan for right now. :angry: My truck was totaled two weeks ago, got a compression fracture in my back.....had a lady pull right out in front of me going down the highway to Ponca City. That's my sad story for now at least. I got good drugs at least to keep the back pain in check. :tounge_out: Great to see so many productive fishing reports from below the dams. I expect pretty much all of them should be doing pretty good.