The dreaded Didymo has finally reared its slimy head at Broken Bow Oklahoma. Add that to the recent torrential rains hitting Oklahoma, and it’s a recipe for a decline that will probably last for the next few months at a location well known to Dallas-Fort Worth area fly fishers for its quick trout fixes. And the alarms are going off for other Oklahoma sites like the Blue River.

ALARMS E-MAILS AND GLEANED INFORMATION ON THE BEAVER’S BEND BROKEN BOW SITUATIONS

TFC can’t take credit for the following information or its inaccuracies, but the frenzied concern is in full swing.

MAY 14 -
From Sid Ingram of Beavers Bend Fly Shop,
“The stoplogs were removed last night. This morning I was told to expect the spillway gates to open by noon…. That did not happen.. This evening I was told that the powerhouse was running both units (full tilt)…
All access to spillway creek, lost creek, evening hole, riverbend area have been blocked off… Fishing is NOT an option… The entire river is either closed by barracades or high water… Cancel your trip if you were planning on fishing this weekend… Sorry! ”

Friday, 15 May 09 at 7:15 a.m.
Pool Elevation = 627.23 feet.
New Gate Discharge was 2642 cubic feet per second.
New Gate Settings:
1 Low Flow Valve open 12.00 PERCENT
8 Tainter Gates open 0.25 FEET
Friday, 15 May 09 at 0:30 a.m.
Pool Elevation = 627.19 feet.
New Gate Discharge was 1370 cubic feet per second.
New Gate Settings:
1 Low Flow Valve open 12.00 PERCENT
2 Tainter Gates open 0.50 FEET ”

“Broken Bow area has had more than 16 inches of rain this month. They are opening up the spillway today. And when they did this last year, it was opened for 3 weeks. Zone one will be closed today, and for how ever long they keep the spillway open and flowing. All those big fish we had caught are going to get pushed down river. This is not good. Last time, the flyshop in the park almost went down, as did many structures, benches, and a lot of the man-made structure. I guess the only good thing could be the flooding will push out the didyomo.” — DM

DIDYMO ALGAE ALERT

While fishing the Lower Mountain Fork On Thursday, 4/23, I was advised by a biologist for the State of Oklahoma that the Lower Mountain Fork
River has invasive algae called Didymo. I personally saw evidence of this algae from the Cold Hole to the upper Evening Hole. There is no
reason to believe that it hasn’t spread to a much larger area of the river system. This algae was probably transported to the river by way of
wading felts, boots, gravel guards, wading staffs or any other devices that it could stay alive on while being transported from one stream to
another. This algae has been in existence in some rivers in Arkansas for at least a year. A common name for this algae is “Rock Snot”. It
attaches to rocks and can be seen attached to the end of hooks looking like a whitish gray blob. By searching didymo algae you can learn all
you want about it. Since this information is being sent to at least four organizations with hundreds of members, the State has requested that
you please not try to contact them. As additional information becomes available I will pass it on. The main concern at this point is that you
do not transport it to other non affected rivers such as the Blue, Guadalupe, or any other river you may fish. The state indicated that it plans to post warning signs of the existence of this algae in the affected areas. What you can do is thoroughly clean all your equipment immediately after returning from a trip to the Lower Mountain Fork. – GLEANED from DM e mail

HOW TO PREVENT SPREAD OF DIDYMO – New Zealand Site
Check:
Before you leave a river or lake, check items and leave debris at site. If you find any later, treat and put in rubbish. Do not wash down drains.

Clean:
There are several ways to kill didymo. Choose the most practical treatment for your situation which will not adversely affect your gear.
Non-absorbent items
Detergent: Soak or spray all surfaces for at least one minute in 5% dishwashing detergent or nappy cleaner (two large cups or 500 mls with water added to make 10 litres); or

Bleach: Soak or spray all surfaces for at least one minute in 2% household bleach (one small cup or 200 mls with water added to make 10 litres); or

Hot water: Soak for at least one minute in very hot water kept above 60 °C (hotter than most tap water) or for at least 20 minutes in hot water kept above 45 °C (uncomfortable to touch).
Absorbent items
Absorbent items require longer soaking times to allow thorough saturation.
Hot water: soak for at least 40 minutes in hot water kept above 45 °C; OR
Hot water plus detergent: soak for 30 minutes in hot water kept above 45 °C containing 5% dishwashing detergent or nappy cleaner; OR
Freezing: Freezing until solid
Freezing
Freezing any item until solid will also kill didymo.
Dry:
Drying will kill didymo, but slightly moist didymo can survive for months. To ensure didymo cells are dead by drying, the item must be completely dry to the touch, inside and out, then left dry for at least another 48 hours before use.

Relying on ambient drying as a stand-alone treatment for decontaminating highly absorbent risk goods is not recommended in situations where use between waterways is frequent (daily, weekly or even monthly).

Drying should only be relied upon as a decontamination treatment if great care is taken to actively and completely dry the material (such as by using a heat source where temperatures around the felt are assured of reaching 30 °C). Once the material appears dry, complete dryness must be confirmed by a tactile inspection of the base of the fibres. Once completely dry, items must remain dry for at least 48 hours before use in another waterway.

If you happen to be driving along 380 east of Denton, and wonder what that fishy smell is, it’s a small fish kill that happened last week when extreme fluctuations in lake levels apparently led to oxygen depletion and death of what is estimated to be 2-thousand fish.

JH and I took a look at the carnage yesterday as cars flew by at well beyond posted speed limits, and were puzzled at first by the sight and then by the mystery of what may have caused the kill. Early yesterday afternoon, we had no idea the story had been documented already by local Channel 11 (Denton Fish Kill). The scientist in JH was ready to collect samples right then and there, but didn’t have a means of collection, so it was back to class, and some research. That’s where the story turned up on the Channel 11 web site.

If you want their scoop, be sure and go to their site. Later in the day, I dropped in below the Ray Roberts Dam, and although I didn’t see many folks catching fish, I was audience to a fisherman catching a five pound Hybrid on a huge live bait he had just netted. He and I agreed, pound-for-pound no freshwater fish beats a Hybrid – or more aptly H-Bombs. He caught only the one, and of course I wasted my time flailing with my 5wt and flies that did nothing to entice the other two H-Bombs to bite. Honestly, they don’t appear to be in there thick, but last week’s prediction of Sand Bass running up and H-Bombs being the icing on that cake, has me thinking about an 6wt and sinking line this foggy morning.

Those pesky gar finally gave me a break, and took a big white / white Clouser deep. This is my first Spotted Gar on a fly and weighed in at 11 pounds and 45 inches.

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I finally found the time to throw this video out – it’s just below Ray Roberts Lake Dam, and shows the volume of water being released into the “Trinity”. I say “” to Trinity because this section that reaches from Ray Roberts to Lewisville Lake is really little more than, what we call in South Texas, a canal. Swine Flu Flood as a name seems fitting, since this did begin during the epidemic, or was that pandemic, or was that a sneeze I heard?

The rains are continuing north of the lake, and the lake is full and inching toward flood stage. The flats are submerged and wind driven waves are lapping over the shore line, that is the line where the shore usually is delineated.

We will see what this week holds, or releases, but Providence ponds are looking pretty swell. It may be over to Texoma for a look-see, and report from there – where they have even higher waters and magnificent releases below the Denison Dam.