RiverRunner

The last Black Bear I saw was in the Smokies. Apparently, some idiots had been feeding it doughnuts out of the window of their car and the bear decided that every car that came by would offer a similar treat. The rangers showed up and lured it into a trap with more doughnuts and carried it to a remote area of the park where it was less likely to encounter people. I was told that the number of bear sightings and problem bears was way down due to the use of "bear proof" trash containers.

I once saw a bear that had been hit by a car on HWY 7 just south of Harrison. I'd hate to see what the car looked like after the encounter. Every now and then someone over here spots a young male that has been run out of the hills and ends up on Crowley's Ridge eating from trash cans. There are also a few between the levees of the MS river.

I believe you can rent a canoe at Hardy and they will take you upriver and let you float back to Hardy. Check with Beach Club canoe rental, I think its the place right there in Hardy on 63.

Having lived for several years in the great state of Alabama where the large specimen was taken, I called some of my friends with "inside" knowledge to get there take on this. According to the paper in Birmingham, the pig was killed on a fenced hunting preserve in Clay County, in the Piedmont country near Anniston, AL in East-Central Alabama. The area where the animal was killed is not classic wild boar country, its rolling highlands with a lot of pine and some hardwoods with a lot of rock. Most people that I know who target wild boars do so in lowland areas (south Alabama has many wild boars, not so many in the north). The story that my friends have been telling me is that this operation is cross-breeding "wild" boars with domesticated hogs and feeding them high-protein catfish feed in hopes of growing them to giganitc sizes. The report is this animal was pretty much tame and that the shooter's dad paid big bucks so that his kid could kill it and get some publicity. IMHO, while the size of the animal is impressive, its nothing more than a publicity stunt for some high-dollar "hunting preserve". The real Hogzilla (killed in GA) was a wild animal that was killed in fair chase. I would say that this animal was not killed that way. I would bet that they simply led the thing out on a rope and let the kid blast away with his pistol. According to the dad, he did plan to get 700 lbs of sausage out of it. So I imagine that they will be eating well for a while. Like I said, the whole thing smells like a stunt.

I'm a big fan of the Smokies, Watching the sun set from Newfound Gap is a beautiful expereience, but Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are major tourist traps. You can get nice lodging there at a resonable price though. If you want to get away from the crowds, about 15 miles to the SW is Townsend, TN, on the Little River (a good trout stream I'm told). Its got some lodging and is not nearly as crowded. My wife has banned fly rods from our vacations, so I can't really give you any fishing advice. There are tons of freestone creeks in the parks with native brook trout at the higher elevations with rainbows and browns down lower. There are several fly shops in the area that can give you advice and several books have been written about fishing the Smokies. Have a good time!

This is the same garbage that the drunks who have taken over other area waterways say: If you don't like obnoxious drunks, lewd behavior, stripper shows, and drug use, don't go. Well I think that is a load of BS. These streams are there for everyone to enjoy in peace and without the risk of being harrassed and attacked by those whose sole purpose is to act as stupid as possible. If you want to get drunk, act stupid, and watch ladies strip, there is a place to do that if you want to. The place to do it is not on a public riverway where someone might be floating by with their kids. For some reason, drunks and the party crowd believe that if they take over a certain river, its theirs for keeps. I've been on the Spring River and I've seen stuff that belonged behind closed doors with a cover charge and a bouncer. I've seen one person beat within an inch of their life with a boat paddle, I would be willing to bet that the incident was helped by excessive use of alcohol. Its alright to come to the river, float, camp, enjoy a few adult beverages, and have a good time. Its not OK to get completely wasted and make everyone in three counties know about it. So leave the kegs, beer bongs, stripper poles, and jello shooters at home. If you can't stand following the rules (and not breaking the law), then stay at home. I'd just assume you stay at home and let everyone who can act like adults enjoy the river.

The problem our society has is an "attitude problem". Nobody wants to give up anything for a greater good it seems like. A customer of mine was telling me about his neighbors, who were clearcutting all of the Oak and Hickory on their land so that they could sell the timber to a sawmill. When my customer asked them why they didn't leave some trees for their children and grandchildren, they said "I'll be dead and I don't give a s&@! what happens once I'm gone" To think that we (humans) are not having an effect on the environment is foolish. All one has to do is look at the pollution coming from developing nations such as China & India. If the stuff that they are putting in the air & water is not having an effect, then I don't know what will. Their is just too much science that comes to the same conclusion, we are having an effect on the environment. The long term trends point to this as well. Just because some politician that some people do not like is attached to the issue does not mean that the issue is moot. I think that this issue should be above politics. God gave us this planet to protect and take care of for everyone. Its the only one we've got to live on. We need to take care of it.

Unfortunately, I would say that they idiot drunks and party crowd have ruined it for those who just want to have a cold adult beverage and a relaxing float. Also, a lot of the problem is underage drinking as well. I think you will see a heavy handed law enforcement presence early in the season to get the word out. But, if you are not causing a scene or acting stupid, I don't think you'll have anything to worry about.

Very annoying! I had the same thing happen to me at Norfork last weekend. People (guides) would run up almost to the back of my boat and start their drift. I always go upriver of other boats to start my drift. I guess they need to get to those fish before me. I hate crowds!!!

cmo, Those are some good looking fish. Where did you guys put in at? I prefer the Lobo to Pangburn area myself.

"I'll be in my back yard cooking ribeyes instead of burning gas this weekend... Well, maybe a trip or two to Taney... " Lucky you Terry!!! I've got to drive to Alabama and pull back a U-Haul trailer full of stuff. I'm sure to get good mileage pulling that thing. At least I'll get to fish the pond for a little while.

I'm probably gonna regret giving my thoughts on this one, but here goes. I've been bass fishing a long time, and I've fished a lot of tournaments as well. I don't intentionally fish for bedding fish in the spring, I prefer to fish deeper water most of the time. Sight fishing is just not for me, I've always thought that post or pre-spawn fish are easier to catch and pattern. However, most biologist seem to be of the mind that bed fishing (on lakes for largemouth, not rivers for smallmouth) does not adversly affect the population because only a small percentage of beds are visible to fishermen. Most bass, esp those in highly pressured fisheries (Lake Fork, TX for example) spawn in deeper water where beds are less likely to be seen. We could debate the ethics of bed fishing all day and all night, but the truth is if you are bass fishing from March to June, there is a good possibility that any bass you catch could be off of a bed or guarding fry. Another factor to consider is that bass in southern lakes and impoundments (which I would consider any lake in AR & MO) and do not all spawn at the same time. There will be fish on the beds from March all the way into early June. In northern lakes, the situation is different because of the shorter growing season. In those lakes, all the bass in a given lake will spawn at pretty much the same time. That is why there is a closed season on bass in northern states. Bed fishing could pose a threat to those fisheries. I'm no expert on the spawning habits of stream smallmouth, so I'll keep my mouth shut on that one, I usually don't start fishing for them until mid-May (when I can wet-wade). But, in our area, the evidence suggests that bed fishing for largemouths in the lakes does not harm the population. You may not like the idea of someone fishing for bass that are in the act of spawing (and I'm not sure that I do) but it is legal and according to the biologists, not harming the fishery. I just get leary of these debates on bed fishing because if taken to its extreme, we would have a closed season on bass (no fishing whatsoever) to protect them during the spawn. But like I said above, if you are bass fishing from March to June, you are fishing for fish on beds you can't see, regardless of how you feel about bed fishing.

When I was in Tennessee and Alabama and used TVA facilities, I noticed that they took security a lot more seriously than the COE or SWPA. Right after 9/11, they closed the area 250 yards below all dams to boating or fishing, which seriously disrupted fishing on the tailwaters (on TVA lakes, you can normally boat up to the face of the dams). They also gated off access to locks, fishing piers, and generation facilites. Although you can now boat back up to the dams, they have installed permaneant fences and gates to keep people away from the dam who are on foot. When terror alerts are issued, they also close all visitor centers and suspend tours. Its worth noting that the TVA has their own police force that patrols TVA facilties. I've always thought it was strange how much difference their was in the way that the COE and SWPA ran operations compared to the TVA. Of course, if the TVA was to take over the operations of the White River Dams, it would be a good thing since the TVA has a much better record when it comes to water quality and fisheries issues than the COE or SWPA.

Anyone interested in this should go out and rent "The Dam Busters", which is a movie about the British squadron that bombed the dams on the Rhine River in Germany during WWII. It was no easy task for them to take out those dams, even with four engined bombers and huge bombs. They ended up using bombs that skipped and then sank at the foot of the dam, detonating on the bottom, which caused a breach.

I have to agree with Dan, soft hackles are among the most productive flies to use in this part of the world. They are easy to use and once you get used to working with partridge or hen hackle, easy to tie. For some reason, the strikes you get with a soft hackle are tremendous.

Sorry for the delay, but my brother and myself headed back to the LR on Sunday out of Lobo Landing. I got there about an hour before he did, so I put the boat in and headed for Mossy Shoals. I caught a nice 15" rainbow on a #16 rusty midge out of the deep pool there pretty quickly, but as soon as I hooked the fish, two guys in a pontoon boat spotted me and drove right into the middle of my drift and dropped anchor. Rooster tails were soon landing at my feet. I decided to head back to the ramp after that and wait for my brother to arrive. After his arrival, we hit our upriver spots (Moss Dam & Schroncher Shoals) and struggled with only a couple of fish each on midges and soft hackles. Headed back down to Mossy later in the day and got into a large Caddis & Mayfly hatch. My brother did well on an Elk Hair Caddis and I finally started to get them on a #10 black woolly bugger. Best fish caught was a 17" rainbow which was taken on the EHC. Caught a lot of little brookies and a few small browns. Haven't seen any bigger browns in a while, but I know there around somewhere.

Over here in NE Arkansas, the favored boat ramp technique of many is to whip in off of the highway and drive past the anglers getting their boats ready in the parking lot and drive directly to the ramp (usually one-lane, if more than one-lane, try to block both of them). Once on the ramp, its time to start installing the motor, trolling motor, depthfinders (make sure to turn on all of the fish alarms!) and to get all rods rigged up. This is also the time to get minnows on all the hooks and to get rods layed out just like you want them. Now its time to launch the boat while trying to avoid getting the tires of boat trailer or vehicle wet. Once off of the trailer, be sure to pull the boat up on the ramp instead of on the bank next to the ramp or over on the courtesy dock if one is available. No sense allowing any other anglers a chance to get on the water, its all about me you know! After securing the vehicle (by taking up three parking spaces) its time to go fishing. At the end of the day, after putting the boat on the trailer (again by not getting any trailer or vehicle tires wet) just pull the boat up the ramp a few feet and methodically load up all of your gear. If anybody comes around to help or tell you to get a move on, just tell them to kiss your A!@ and get away, its a public ramp and you can spend as much time on it as you want!!! I've seen this scene so many times (esp in the spring when crappie fishing is hot) that its not even funny anymore. I've always thought that boat ramp etiqutte should be posted at the ramp.

It amazes me how much some people just don't value their own lives and the lives of other people enough to do something like this. We had a school shooting here about 10 years ago and no one has ever really figured out why they did it. You hope that these kind of things will stop happening, but they seem to be continuing. As someone who is going into teaching, that's kind of a scary thought. Nonetheless, what a horrible tragedy. No one should lose their life getting an education.

I hope John doesn't mind, but here is a link with pictures and tying instructions. That is a great fly to say the least. http://www.northarkansasflyfisher.org/GrnButtSH.html

Good to hear everything turned out OK, that stuff can get scary. It may take a few days to get all of the caffeine out of your system though.

That's a good deal for someone. IMHO, Shawnees are the best river boats out there, Gay builds every boat one at a time and his craftsmanship is unsurpassed. Unfortunatlely, the wait for a new boat is over 2 years from what I hear. I'd like to get a newer wider one someday.

I noticed in the paper that the boat they were in was an old Shawnee jon boat. I wouldn't take mine out on the lake unless it was dead calm, and I probably wouldn't leave the creek. As tragic as it is, they were asking for trouble when they took that boat out there into the gale.

It reminded me of a hurricane yesterday, I thought I was gonna get blown off the road several times. I'd rather fish in the rain than in the wind!

From what I hear, the fuel economy that the E-Tec gets is as good as 4 strokes. But the price on the E-Tec is pretty steep from what I've seen. But its a great looking motor.

I don't know Gabe personally, but I have seen him around on the river and at the ramp. He has a good website with good info. Buffalo Shoals is one of the most beautiful shoals on the river. You have to boat up to it, but that's what makes it so good. Its long and has some real interesting rock formations on it. A lot of people have the idea that all of the best fishing on the White is at Rim or from BS dam to Cotter, but there is good fishing in more obscure areas all the way down to Sylamore if you can catch the water down (which can be tough in the summer). For years, the only place I fished was between Norfork & Calico. It seems that a lot of fly fisherman ignore the White below the confluence, and thats a shame, because the fishing can be spectacular at times. I fished all day the other day in the C&R area at Monkey Island and never saw another person the entire time I was there (The most people I've ever seen here is 3) Steamboat and Red's Landing are also good areas to try as well. The White is a long river (101 miles) with a lot of neat stuff to check out. I hope to do some more exploring this summer