re: The Fly Fishing Thread: Questions, pics, discussion all here

What are the closest trout streams to New Orleans? I realize I'll have a good drive ahead of me. Just looking for a place to do a little hiking and fly fishing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

The Lower Mountain Fork below Beavers Bend in South Oklahoma would be closest I think. It is about 3 hours out of Dallas. It holds fish year round due to cold water released from dam. It got flooded pretty bad so you definitely need to research it before making a trip.

You may also look at White River and Norfolk in northern Arkansas.

The White is huge and often best fished by boat/guide.

What would be your reel of choice in that price range?

Definitely the Little Red. The Little Missouri below Ouachita is fun water, but it's not the Little Red (which held the World Record brown trout for quite a while). You're looking at about 8 hours. The good thing is that once you get in the area, you have the White and Norfork in pretty easy driving distance from there if you're going to make a long trip of it.



LMF is about 30 minutes closer, but it also has striper that you can target on the fly at certain times of year.

The main problem you're going to run into with the LRR, Norfork, and any tailwater is generation schedule. That's why the the LRR is nice, though. If they're gunning water there but not at the White, you can shoot up there in about a couple of hours.

Hey Shark

I have not. Me and a buddy have fished it a couple of times without a guide and caught fish each time we were on the water, and I am really a novice. They are mostly stockers 8 to 10 inches long but still a lot of fun.

I did watch a guy release a big rainbow around 20 inches so it had to be a hold over from previous season.

Not too bad considering about 3 hours from Dallas!!

The area got trashed with floods so definitely give a local fly shop a call before considering a trip.

Can y'all give me some recommendations on new polarized sunglasses? I lost my damn costas in Lake Bisteneau a few weeks back and I am going to replace them. I am leaning toward Costa Fantails because I liked my old costas, but I heard the fantails are pretty legit for fishing. I have also heard good thigns about Smith, but I don't particularly care for the way they look.

The thing is that I have absolutely no idea and I am still skeptical of whether I actually lost them in the lake rather than misplaced them. I am usually very conscious about not getting in the water with my sunglasses on.

Naw been out there tons of times. In fact, its not the first time I have lost sunglasses in there. When is the water gonna be back to regular levels after draining?

Lost many myself. They will close the gates mid Jan and it will take some time to fill back up. I would estimate it will be ready early spring. Ready to get in the yak and fish while its down.