Woodruff Guide Service

The Kiamichi Mountains are located in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma, within 200 miles of Dallas, Tulsa, Little Rock and Shreveport. Called the "Little Smokies" for good reason, the region offers mountain vistas, year-round trout fishing, white water rafting and spectacular fall foliage reminiscent of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Enjoy guided fly fishing for trophy brown trout, rainbow trout and smallmouth bass in the heart of the Kiamichis on the beautiful Mountain Fork River with Woodruff Guide Service.

TROUT
Since its inception in 1989, the Lower Mountain Fork River trout fishery has rapidly improved to become one of the top year-round trout destinations in the South. The river supports trout for the first 12 miles below Broken Bow Dam and has produced Brown trout weighing over 17 pounds and rainbows weighing over 10 pounds.

The fishery features two distinct water courses:

Spillway Creek
A fast-moving feeder stream with pocket water and riffles, it runs clear and cold through a canyon for 1.2 miles from the Broken Bow Dam spillway to its confluence with the main river. The creek offers both rainbow and brown trout and is well suited to lighter rods (one to four weight) and dry flies or nymphs. Spillway Creek has benefited from numerous improvement projects by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Lower Mountain Fork River
This fishery offers a range of water types, from slow and tranquil to fast and raging. Blessed with an abundance of food sources, the Mountain Fork offers opportunities for trout on dry flies, nymphs and streamers. The months of December, January and February are especially strong for dry fly action, but hatches occur throughout the year. The entire river is productive, but fly fishermen often find the best action in the 3.8-mile "Zone 2" section where regulations that restrict anglers to flies or artificial lures, with barbless hooks, and allow the harvest of only one trout over 20 inches per day permit the trout to grow to their full potential.

DRIFT BOAT TRIPS
Some stretches of the Lower Mountain Fork River are best accessed by boat. Woodruff Guide Service offers seasonal drift boat trips. All trips are conducted from an Aire Super Puma Raft with a DRE Gunnison Fly-Fishing Frame. Drift boat trips are available from mid-November through the end of February, and May and June. Drift boat trips offer a peaceful float, with lots of trout action, spiced with enough white water stretches to keep things exciting.

SMALLMOUTH BASS
The Upper Mountain Fork River and a number of tributaries offer seasonal fly fishing for native Smallmouth Bass. These smallmouth are now recognized by fishers biologists as a distinct subspecies designated as the "Ouachita Strain."

In addition to the hard-fighting smallmouth, these trips often produce a variety of colorful Sunfish species, Kentucky spotted bass and largemouth bass, along with an occasional channel catfish, walleye, sand bass and spotted gar. Half-day Trout and Smallmouth Combo trips are available. The best smallmouth fishing spans from the first of May through mid-October.

LOWER MOUNTAIN FORK RIVER FOUNDATION
Rob Woodruff is pleased to be one of the original founders of the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation, a group actively working with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to sustain and enhance the trout fishery on the Lower Mountain Fork River. He serves as a permanent member of the advisory board of the Foundation.

Visit the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation Web site to learn about ongoing projects. Become a member and take an active role in improving one of the South's top tailwater trout fisheries.