Fishing Report - Arcadia Lake

Ok I have been fishing.
I know it's hard to believe but somebody's got to do it.

I got up early one morning and yesterday I got to fish most of the day as Tracy went with her Aunt Linda to see her grandmother in Madill. They had a nice visit but got caught up in a traffic jam on the return trip due to a fire in the Arbuckle Mountain area.


Smoke billows Thursday from a wildfire that forced authorities to close Interstate 35 near Davis. The interstate remained closed Thursday evening.
Photo by Don Alquist, The Daily Ardmoreite

Wildfires that consumed about 1,200 acres Thursday are largely under control today. Firefighters struggled overnight to keep lines of fire from overtaking structures in the Arbuckle Mountains and are now monitoring hot spots to ensure the flames don’t flare up again.

The fire is a reminder of the severe drought in southern Oklahoma and the extremely hot and dry conditions make it possible for more fires to continue if there is no relief.

The hot and dry condiutions also makes the fishing challenging for the fish and the fishermen.

I started out using a small crawfish on the ultralight.
There were some willing bass along the rocky shoreline.

This guy had a fat belly.



These bass were all small but very scrappy.



Next I switched to the flyrod and caught several bluegill along the ledge.
They liked the hand-tied nymph from Needville.



Later when it got almost too hot to fish (not)
I worked some magic off a boat dock on the other side of the bay.
I had purchased some bait shrimp and thought I might find a catfish or two.




More small bass



This nice bluegill had some pretty coloration



I also found some big green sunfish like this chunk.



The bluegill liked the shrimp too!



I found a "nest" of these small catfish.
They came to the bait shrimp like an Atkins dieter to a honey bun.



In the evening as the wind died down,
I switched back to the flyrod and the nymph.
This bass took a #14 hare's ear with a partridge style wet hackle. Yum!




Bluegill on the flyrod. It doesn't get much better!

There are some nice carp along the shoreline and in the flats.

They are my next target.


I want to catch a carp on the fly!

The boys at Bass Pro told me to bait them with floating dog food and then through a fly that looks similar to dog food......

Maybe - but first I want to try something else.
Stay tuned.