RiverRunner

Decided to hit the LR on Sunday at Lobo Landing for my first trip to the river since May and the months of round the clock generation. After a small incident at the boat ramp (I backed off the side of the ramp and got stuck) we headed downriver. The water is very stained right now because of everything that was washed into the lake during the spring flooding. The fish were cooperative, we caught 30-40 or so, mostly decent fish. I had three nice browns from 16-19". I caught most of mine on a black 1/32 oz jig. My partner used the fly rod and caught his on a pink micro jig fished on a sink tip and a pink san juan worm under and egg pattern and indicator. I would have liked to fly fish, but we were in my little boat and I didn't feel like hooking anyone yesterday!

You don't want the flying carp. I'm convinced that they are the absolute worst thing that can happen to a fishery. They have destroyed numerous fisheries in AR, TN, MO, & MS. They have moved up the White River in AR and into the Black, so I fear that they will be in the 11 pt and Spring Rivers before long. I don't care how fun they might be to catch, the asian carps must be eradicated.

We should have some wadeable water (God willing) on the Little Red by that time. It should be good fishing when they finally slow up the generating. You might think about giving it a shot.

Nice catch, even though I wish they would have let it go, the odds probably wouldn't have been too great on it surviving. A protracted fight, on any kind of tackle, would have been very hard on any fish that size. However, I would imagine that this fish made several spawning runs, so I would bet its good genes are still in the system. That's a catch of a lifetime for that gentleman, there is no reason to gripe about it. It was unlikely to be caught again. I get more upset watching someone put a 3 lber on a stringer, at least they have the ability to grow some more and provide enjoyment to other anglers. What is the state record in MO?

I just about got run over last weekend on the White River below Norfork. A guy in an AFF river boat with a Honda jet drive almost ran me and my crew over. I was drift fishing the inside of a turn and this guy comes alongside of me and revs the motor several times (water was rolling with 8 units on), sending a wall of water into my boat soaking me and my fishermen. Of course, he had the whole river to play in, but I guess he felt that he needed to run right next to me to be happy. Had I not had a small child in the boat, there would have been a confrontation. Cody, It seems that there are some people on the LR who have a real problem with anyone who runs a boat on plane anywhere on the river. I've had them yell and wave and all that around me, I guess they don't understand that you almost have to be on plane to get over some shoals and be able to move upriver against heavy current. I would never run anyone over and I always give other anglers plenty of room. You also have those folks that live on the water and consider it "their" river and will come running out onto a dock to give you driving instructions.

I echo the same sentiments, I guess we are lucky down here in AR that there are no outfitters on the river anymore and that the Spring River is so close for the party crowd.

It's hard for me to chunk those high dollar jerkbaits at the trout, but there is a reason that they are high dollar, they work. I have several Tim Hughes painted baits, he is a real artist. I've never thought about throwing bright colors like that in high water, I guess I need to give it a shot. Very nice fish.

Do not anchor in swift water in any circumstances, especially on the White River. Most of the drownings that occur on the White are because of people throwing out an anchor during heavy generation periods. Usually, the anchor becomes jammed in something on the bottom and the boat is pulled under. The anchors that come with rental boats are for low water use (or for securing the boat to shore) only. If you need to slow your drift, you can drag a piece of 1/2" chain in front of the boat, but be sure that you are sitting down and have something to cut the rope with in case it catches. In the last two weeks, six boats have been sunk in the Little Red River near here, all of them were caused by anchoring in swift water. Personally, I never anchor, even in dead low water.

Five fish limit, you must have an Arkansas trout permit to keep trout. No other regs, its pretty much a free for all anyway up there.

Welcome to Arkansas, my home state. I'd like to say that kind of activity is rare, but it seems to go on just about everywhere. I've had people give me dirty looks on several occasions just for turning a smallmouth back.

Fished the Eleven Point on Sunday from MO state line down to Dalton, AR. Was surprised to see that Woody's campground and canoe rental is now closed and is posted private property now. I usually put in at Myrtle and float down to Woodys, but now it looks like I'll be floating on down to Dalton. We motored up to the state line and fished back, water is still high and a bit cloudy (that's how we were able to make the run in a prop motor) Fishing was slow for us, I think we caught 10-12 SM and a bunch of goggle eye. We also caught two small kentuckies (the first I've seen in this river). We had 6 SM that were between 12" and 15". Caught them on ringworm, tube, and topwater. The water still needs to drop about another foot for prime fishing on this stretch.

If you don't mind me asking, were you fishing the White itself or feeder creeks. I've heard some good SM reports from the feeder creeks downriver.

If you ever want to see a lot of snakes, just go to the Spring River in AR. I've never seen a water moccassin or anything poisonious, but it is full of those banded water snakes. Of course, some people think that any snake that is in the water is a moccassin. I've seen thousands of snakes in my years on the water, but I bet fewer than 5 % were poisonious. If they leave me alone, I leave them alone. I know people that will drive 10 miles across the lake for the opportunity to kill one. I won't mess with them unless they try to get in the boat. That is my territory and I will defend it. Now gators, that's a different story. . . . . .

There are fish a lot bigger than that one swimming in the LR. I'd hate to have to make a living as a guide on that river, it's so fickle!

Headed out to Lobo for a few hours this afternoon. It had been reported that the ramp was closed for repairs, but the word I got was that they were going to try and keep it open while they were working on it. Since the water has been high lately, I decided to spin fish with jigs. Water was low when I got on the river, so I decided to head downriver to stay ahead of the rise. Caught several good fish on 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs. Colors were black and olive/orange. Caught some nice rainbows and my first real trophy this year, a 23" brown that I am not going to attempt to guess the weight of. After about an hour of fast action and rising water, the full force of two units arrived. I still don't know how to fish the LR on two units, so after fighting the current for a while,I decided to do some boat riding. It's funny, on the White, I feel like I can catch fish anywhere from zero units to eight units. On the LR, once they get two going, it gets awfully tough for me. I guess I need to spend more time on it when its up. All in all, a good little trip. Cameron

It looks like some idiot fish farmer is responsible for this, just like they are for the infestation of Asian Carp. When told that these fish would be outlawed, he seined his ponds and dumped them on the levee, where they no doubt escaped into Big Creek and the Lower White River drainage. Our waters on the MS river and the lower White are already in trouble due to the Asian Carp, they have wiped out numerous oxbow lakes along both rivers. Now,with these things, there is no telling the damage that will be done, especially considering the floods we are having this year. My only hope is that the gar and grinners will give them a hard time. If I catch one, I have a seat pedestal with its name on it.

Could be from the Ouachita Mtn. drainage? I wouldn't tell either, it takes too long to grow a trophy brownie. Dan-O, you ought to try a 4"ringworm on a 3/16 jighead. I've caught some toads on those things when they won't touch a tube.

I've been told that Big Creek gets very low in the summer and runs dry at times. I looked around up there near Wilburn oneday and really couldn't see any decent fish to speak of, but I did see some holes that looked like they might hold enough water year round. I know that when you cross it at McJester road, the creek is full of cypress trees. I don't know of any canoe rentals in this area.

Unfortunatley, these kind of events bring out the worst in a few people around. Back in March, people were looting stuff from flooded houses on the White River below Norfork. Also, there is an island where numerous boats and other items from peoples docks had washed up, people showed up and stole motors, gas tanks, and anything that could be loaded up and carried away in a boat. A friend of mine had the perfect word for these kind of people-scavengers!

With the lower Little Red still out of its banks (the community of Georgetown has been cut off for almost three weeks), the COE decided not to generate on Saturday. I got to the park about 11:30 and connected on my first drift. I ended up with around 15, with one good slot fish and bunch of real pretty stockers. I noticed two things on this trip: the first was a number of dead walleye and hybrids, I was wondering if they got pulled through the dam or what. The other was the number of total idiots who were at the park. I've never seen so many discurteous people in my life. While I was fighting the slot fish, I had a guy run (not walk, but run) to the spot where I was fishing. As I was walking upriver with the fish to keep it out of the moss, he made sure he was standing in the same spot I'd been in. After I unhooked my fish, I resumed fishing. He then decided that my indicator was a good target for his casts and he almost put his fly on my indicator. That was it for me, I walked away rather than have words. Of course, he didn't catch anything because he was fishing for the elusive Little Red flying trout. I also had two guys walk about 5' from me and start chunking hardware, which put all of the fish in the hole down. I guess that's what you get when its "public" access. Of course, the rest of the river is muddy, so that tended to concentrate the anglers in the park. Hot flies for me were the #16 tan zebra and a #16 rainbow warrior. Cameron

I have heard that Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock may have some boats to sell. I do know that they have several 20' Shawnees. You can probably find their number in the phone book or on the internet. Like Ham said, watch the Baxter Bulletin (www.baxterbulletin.com) for boats. Also, don't be afraid to ask around at some of the docks and resorts, they will replace boats and sell the old ones every now and then. If they're not selling, they may know someone who is. That's how I found about about my current boat. Also, an old junker is not hard to fix up. Once you get the hang of it, fiberglass is pretty easy to repair. I bought mine when I was a poor college student too and I gave $1150 for the boat and trailer. I've gotten ten years of good service out of mine so far. Take care of them and they'll last forever.

Growing up in NE Arkansas, I always heard about the Beatles landing at the airport in Walnut Ridge, on their way to MO. I guess that is where they were headed. That is a neat part of history to say the least.

I took this the other day, I don't think I've ever seen the water that close to the Edgemont Bridge. Nice fish, are those whites really any good to eat? I've always heard that they had a bad red streak that tasted bad. I do know that they pull hard! I always catch a bunch when I fish the Tennessee River for sauger in the winter.

Hey TT, the LR looked fishable today when I crossed it at Pangburn. I was thinking of breaking out the spinning rod (I'm not very good at fly-fishing high water and running the boat at the same time) and throwing jigs up around Lobo this weekend. Do you think it would be worth it? Cameron

Don't expect any low water on the Little Red anytime soon! They are running one unit around the clock right now and I'm afraid that is the lowest water we will see for a while. Once the flood recedes on the lower White, there will be two units around the clock with the possibility of flood gates. I have a list of new (to me) smallmouth streams I'm going to try this year, I can't wait for the water to fall and warm up!