O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is not known for being a trout-fishers heaven. Which is why November 18 found Barb and me traveling toward Southeastern Oklahoma and the town of Broken Bow. The Mountain Fork River was our destination, a river similar to the Delaware. We would be staying at a housekeeping cabin in Beaver’s Bend State Park. Barb was a bit dubious, not knowing what to expect of the cabin. It was perfect. It had a refrigerator as large as the one at home, a four-burner electric stove, electric heat to keep us toasty warm, plus a queen-sized bed with a Beauty rest mattress. We would be snug as a bug in a rug.

Wednesday morning dawned bright and clear, with temperatures reaching the 70s. The stream flow was good with a temperature of 61 degrees. The only cloud on the horizon was the possibility of a cold front blowing in later in the week.

We planned to share a rod, so I put together Barb’s favorite, a seven-foot, two-inch bamboo stick made by our Japanese friend Kuma. Ninety percent of the trout in the Mountain Fork are stocked fish from a Missouri State Hatchery. The pool where Barb began to fish is towered over by a 200-foot vertical cliff know as “The Devil’s Backbone.” She was fishing a tango of two nymphs. A bead-head Halo Emerger was the tail fly and tungsten bead-head Hares Ear was the dropper. I had never tied or used the Halo Emerger nymph before. The Beattys, Al and Gretchen, recommend it highly. In the morning, the Halo Emerger was responsible for all of the strikes, including two that took the fly right off of the tippet. We both managed to miss a number of strikes, while I took two dinky rainbows and Barb took several fat rainbows between 12 and 13 inches.

In the afternoon, Barb continued to have the best luck. As I was sitting on the bank watching, another fly fisher came by who had been observing Barb in action.

“She’s putting you in the shade,” he said with a grin. As I nodded in agreement, another fat rainbow ate the Halo Emerger, putting a tight arc in Barb’s little rod. It had been a fun day.

Thursday morning was bright and mild, but by two o’clock the cold front arrived, along with gale-force winds and falling temperatures. Before its arrival, we fished dry flies. I had been rereading Gary LaFontaine’s, “The Dry Fly, New Angles.” In it, he suggests a Lime Trude as an attractor pattern. I had tied some and suggested to Barb we try them. This was also a new fly to us. The Lime Trude in sizes 12 and 18 regularly brought trout up that had not previously been rising. Barb likes this fly because it is highly visible in both sun and shadow.

Friday morning the temperature was 35 degrees. After trying for an hour, we decided to head for home.

When I showed the Halo Emerger fly to my Texas fishing buddy, Willy Landem, he could not believe “that thing” was a fish-catching fly. He suggested I give one away as a quiz question fly. Good idea. In the book Gary describes the dressing for a fly named after his daughter. The name of that fly, please. The first correct answer received at 817/430-4139 will receive a poorly tied Halo Emerger.

This weekend I will make Willy eat his words as we fish the Elm Fork of the Trinity below Lake Lewisville.