Fishing Smallmouth Bass On The Illinois River In Oklahoma 

idk what that was at 16:30. Ive never seen that brown of a Large but Ive never seen a stripe on a smallmouth lol

That first little smallie wasnt a smallie. Pretty sure it was a spotty.

I work for the outfit you shuttled through. Cool to see people from YT fishing our local waters. Great video sir.

That little tiny one was a spot as well

Man that’s the GRDA for ya.

You two got lucky. I was on that river back in April and GRDA now has an air boat like you see in the Everglades. They buzzed us really close and as you know those boats are LOUD AF.

Yeah, those cops were out of line. Friggin Barney Fife in a boat.

Its best before or after float season. Did you see pictures with the article that inspired you to go? We fish that river several times a year and a friend is a guide on that river and nobody i know has ever caught multiple good size ones nowhere near a 100 in a day. But you can catch small ones and 1 or 2 nice ones in a trip. The cops down there have almost flipped my friend with their wake at full speed and stopped right past us they had no need in running like that.

That river has a right to be cold. Did you know it is spring fed? I was raised in that river. Learned to fish in that river . Also I learned to swim there. Camped out there almost every week end and holidays. Food just taste better on the Illinois River. It wasnt muddy when I hung out there. The chicken plant is the one who messed that river up.. The policemen were probably searching for a female and the female just happened to match the one they were searching for. There is a lot of activity on that river.

Fished there a few times when I was younger... Don't be afraid to upsize to a spinnerbait, jig or bigger crankbait to target bigger fish.. good video

That first fish was a small spotted bass.

16:11 dude that fist of throttle himself into the side of your kayak, and to me it looks like a mean mouth which is small mouth and spotted bass hybrid I believe. I'm still learning, I'm in North Idaho we get smallmouth and largemouth that's it

Last time i was down there they were blasting up and down the river on a big fan boat, loud and throwing wake everywhere. The police were at the ramp we put in at, in plain clothes being nosey acting like dicks too. That was in june. First time ever encountering this on the river.

I've fished that stretch of the river over 100 times in the last 25 yrs it's nice during the week but a madhouse on the weekends

Great video. What set up were you using?

The Illinois! My wife's family is down in Broken Arrow. We go down and stay at one of the resorts and float it every year. I've yet to fish it though. Really wish I could bring my kayak down and just go at it. We typically fly down though, so no bringing the kayak for me. Love that river though. I wish we had water like that here in CO.

I go to diamond head resort almost every year off of Tahlequah. They go through on that boat and make sure nothing is going wrong and no illegal things are happening. It’s not uncommon.

Those two little bass you caught on the main river are spotted bass not large mouth. Plan on going down there in two weeks. Enjoy

Cool video! I just subscribed…I started my own RU-vid fishing channel a few months ago (I’m in Tulsa). Keep up the good work!

I’m actually a Marine Safety Enforcement Officer and I can’t even explain their behavior

Did you use a shuttle service? Have had difficulty finding a service G

It wasn’t just unprofessional, it was just…weird.

not cool by the cops, dangerous situation

those are ignorant fks , even if she was on the deeper channel they could have ask nicely . i would report those idiots. thats not professional at all .

Zero respect for all law enforcement. Nothing but bullies and cowards.

They probably just got hesitant because they seen you.

Just a jerk move, pleasure boater type crap maybe. Definitely seems suspicious