Ham

I rarely fish Tanney. I fish the White below BSL and Norfork. I carry midges in sizes 16-20 and I have gone fishless while I watched a guy maul em on a size 24. In general, I think you need smaller stuff on Norfork. I'd carry 16, 18, 20, 22. I'm too much of a bass fisherman for anything smaller than 20 to be a useful idea for me.

There are the obvious current seems, BUT the multitude of current breaks formed by the irregular nature of the bottom of the stream are often impossible to see before hand. Drift that junk thru there and watch that indicator.

The most recent email I got from AGFC talks about stockings of fishin Arkansas. Apparently, War Eagle got stocked with smallmouth last month. Just an FYI for folks that repeatedly claim smallmouth populations are completely self sustaining. We may have to modify that to "almost" complletely self sustaining.

During the summer, I wet wade the White. Since the regs changed, I've been using multi-fly rigs. Three times SO FAR I've had a trout stick the free hook in me while I was in the process of releasing them. I'm really happy to trade a few lost fish for an easy hook removal FROM ME.

Hmmmm, now you've got me thinking about what would be my best day ever. I've got 46 years of trips to think about soooo this may take a while. I'm glad you had a good trip.

I love fishing WITH an indicator, but the indicators themselves almost always get on my nerves one way or the other. I do try to use the smallest indicator I can that will stay visible while what ever fly(s) and hanging below it. Lately, I'm pretty loyal to Floatmaster stuff. I fish the White and Norfork rivers. I use the standard stuff that works here. Zebra midges, PT's, Prince, GRHE, Copper Johns, Scuds, sowbugs. Egg patterns October thru April or anytime the water has some stain to it.

I was checked by NPS guys today on the Buffalo. Second time I've been checked by NPS on the river. Just sayin.

I have not fished CC as much as I should have, but I've always maintained that it's reputation as one of the best smallmouth rivers in the country is hyperbole. It iS NOT head shoulders above other streams in Arkansas and nearby Missouri. I know that streams on the East coast produce bigger and most likely almost as many smallies. I can only dream about what some streams in Wisconsin or Minnesota or Maine or Vermont hide. My guess is that genetics due to thousands of years of natural selection favors the long lean look and the average size smallie we have. I might greatly favor the >14 inch deep body fish, but apparently environmental forces do not. One of those environment Dorset is the catch and keep angler and the accidental mortality for C&R anglers.

I would lean more towards Medium Heavy than Medium for worn fishing.

I love Table Rock in the summer time.

I love using indicators, but I hate stuff about almost all of them. Lately, I've been using Floatmasters and I'm mostly happy with them. I'll check those out next time I get really frustarted with what I have.

Nice smallie. I wouldn't have named where I caught it, but that's just me.

Hey CM, I don't have my MDC Paddlers guide in front of me, but the first launch above the confluence with Spring Creek is as far upstream as I want to fish anymore. I think we put in off of Hwy 14 once a few years back. I won't waste my eforts on that again. Again, Good Luck have fun, but turn loose ALL the smallies you catch.

How far up river can one launch?

Knock yourself out. Have a good time.

IF I am remembering correctly (I'm offically OLD now so who knows), "what I consider" the upper Bryant is painfully small in spots and has some artifical dams that you HAVE to portage around. The fishing was marginal AT BEST, but it got better the further down we got.

The guage at Tecumseh is without value. I believe you are primarily seeing influence of Norfork's lake level. I hope to float Bryant Crrek soon, but I have NO recent intell.

I don't try to cross anything. I head for the nearest bank. I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Add some 8 or 10 lb leader to your braid for just that reason. I WANT a weak link in my system that I can break IF I need to do so. I use a double uni or an Alberto knot for that connection. Lol, yaknar and his neo's. We do have some cool mornings, but I'm not wearing waders in June.

You need a horn because the water rises so quickly when you are close to one of the dams. They sometimes release a lot of water all at once so depending on where you are when they start the release, you may immediately head for the bank as soon as it starts to rise and still get swept away. I'm all about personal responsibility, but this is not a natural situation. The risk comes from the actions of a commercial enterprize NOT from a bad choice the fisherman makes. They should blow the horn and start with 1/2 unit and then ramp up from there with a second horn blast when they increase to full flow.. It wouldn't ost them anything and it might avoid a drowning.

When I float camp, my buddy and I are generally on the water by 0730 and fish until 1800 or so. With flows on the current river, 11-12 miles a day would be VERY easy with a LOT of fishing. BTW, last time on the current, we had our licenses checked by MDC. The agents were friendly and professional. I was glad to see them out doing their job.

That's great!

I most likely have an old one laying around somewhere. I had an old Gott cooler that I sealed the drain plug using silicone when a replacement proved too difficult to acguire. It worked fine for me, but I VERY seldom use a drain plug.

I practice selective harvest. I release the VAST majority of the fish I catch. I am TOTAL catch and release for smallies because I love them and total catch and release for trout, stripers, and white bass because I don't think they taste good. I'm really too tender hearted for my own good when it comes to fish. But having said all that, remember it's fish we're talking about. If people are acting within the limits of the law you really have no reason to be getting upset with them. I read the string of emails you exchanged with Spro. You seem to be the aggresser from the get go. If I fault Syd with anything, it's that he continued to respond to you. He should learn to use the delete button. He clearly stated Spro's position in his first response. Spro is in business to sell baits; they're not in the business of trying to make you happy. Spro actually has pretty good customer service in support of their products. YOU don't like that they aren't taking a side on your catch and release drama. I'm sure a lot of it is the fault of the medium, but you're coming across as a zealot.

The Alabama rig represents a small school of baitfish so well that the horrible tangle of wires gets over looked. I am not in in any way going to let that change my use of various different line sizes and types of line for my other fishing lures. Some baits really benefit from bing fished on light line. Some baits reallt benefit from being thrown on a heavy line. Some of the little details that keep fishing interesting.