perfect! thx for the tips! looks like I will be going Tuesday morning!!! how will the cold front make the bite you think. These guys in the pools when there is no generation should still be hungry in cold temperatures right!

Check the generation schedule before you go because they have changed it for the next few days and are generating in the morning as well as afternoon.

So is it better to go before generation, during, or after? I know its not that simple but I went during generation on Friday and landed one small stripper a few large mouth ~1 lb each and nothing much else. The fishing pressure was high so that also probably effected the catch rate also.

Before generation, you can go wading then.

Question for didga getny(or anyone else). Are you wading out in the river before or during generation? If so, do you have an Oklahoma license? Can you reach the fish from the bank with a fly rod?

Waded out in the river before generation; have an OK license; have not fished this year from the bank with a fly rod.

In my experience, it is very challenging to reach the fish from the bank with a fly rod prior to generation, but you can do so once generation starts, though the flows make getting the fly down more difficult.

Booglerz and Big Red Dog, my short answer is I agree with Fish Chaser and suggest fishing before generation. You won't have to compete with the bank fishermen, you'll be free to move around and you will almost certainly catch fish. But remember, as Jerry Hamon pointed out......you must have an Oklahoma license!!

Big Red Dog, in answer to your other questions: we aren't wading during generation....water is too fast so we're fishing from the bank, mostly the TX side. When they are not generating, we are spending most of our time in the water. If you don't want to wade (bad knees or something) fishing from the bank on the OK side can be very good.

Now my long answer as to when to go:

Before generation: generally speaking, I prefer to fish when they are not generating. You can catch a zillion fish, including many good ones, but most are relatively small.....like 10"-16"s. This year, when they finally stopped generating 24/7, I fished 10-12 days before generation and caught fish until I got bored. During those 10-12 days, I caught probably 12-15 fish in the 5-6 lb range, a couple of 7 lb'ers and one fish over 8lbs. Knowing there were much bigger fish in the river, and that I wasn't catching them, I decided to change it up and fish during and after generation.

During generation: even though in the past few weeks I have caught a few (three I think) 10+ lb fish during generation, overall fishing during generation has been the least productive for me.

Fishing after generation: I have caught more 10+ pound fish after generation than at any other time. The problem is the window in which I have caught those fish has been a very short time frame of 15-20 minutes. When they shut down the generators, it takes about 10 minutes for the current to stop, and, of all the fish I have caught after generation, almost every one of them I hooked within 10 minutes of the time the current stops. 20 minutes after the current stops the fishing just shuts down. I live in Dallas so it's hard to rationalize driving up to fish a 10-20 minute window, so I usually drive up early enough to fish an hour or so of generation, then for 30-40 minutes after generation.

With the current generation schedule of 8am-8pm, you don't really have much option. But, they'll probably cut back the schedule in a few days and we'll have more opportunity.

For those of you who are curious, the fishing in the river should be good until the water temp gets below 60 degrees.....usually the first or second week of December. Then it will be a whole lot more 'miss' than 'hit' until mid April when the water temp gets back above 60 degrees.

I am going to try and go out Friday night after 8 pm to try and fish a little after generation and stay out there till the sun comes up so I can fish before generation. Is this a totally bad idea or could this be worth it. I know it is only getting colder and want one good crack at it before December. Looks like they are generating from 8 to 8 for the foreseeable future so my option are limited and the 1 and a half our drive seems like alot for 2 hours of morning fishing so I thought I would make a night out of it. Thoughts on this?

In 09 we fished it a lot in the dark big popper type flys that make a lot of noise an clousers. It's fun when there is no wind an they are in calm water it looks like a torpedo coming after your lure you can really see it well with the lights on the dam.

That is what I am hoping!!

You need to let me know how you do I'm interested in how the night action is.

will do man for sure! I am going to try a little bit of everything, fly fishing, cut bait. topwater, you name it!

If 2 units were generating, you have a little bit more time to fish after generation before the fish shut it down. With only one generator, the water level goes down so fast, leave you a very short time frame to catch nice size fish.

I intend to try my hand at the Denison Dam tomorrow. Should I expect the river to be:

1) muddy after the recent rain
2) much higher than normal

Tks in advance.