Devan S.

I really enjoy reading and watching mountaineering. Is it ridiculously unsafe? yes. Dumb? Maybe but its intruiging and I get why people do it. I've always wanted to trek to Everest base camp(no desire to go beyond) but feel like my opportunity and desire as diminishing. There are tons of really really good videos(hi def, great sound, no music) of Everest summits on youtube.

Depot is good. I have zero complaints but its on the farrrrr end of the lake compared to the others. If your over this way...I'd pick it over just about anything else but don't know that I'd drive over just for that. The musuem on the other hand is top notch.

This winter the water got super low, like can't get above 62 bridge low. Thats probably good for the trout that survived the lower pressure winter with the lack of stocking. Now with the lack of generation(it's not minimal....its none, for weeks on end) and with the low water it's heating up below in the shallow clear water fast. Of course its the redheaded step child so no chance of them opening gates over the top(even just a crack would probably help). No chance at ever getting a minimum flow or siphon. No word on what the cause of the shutdown is.

I am glad you are happy. I loathe Beaver Tailwater's treatment compared to others on the white river chain but it is home and that is where my heart is. I don't know the rest of your plans but if generation gets in your way, just remember that a 1/4oz. swimbait head with a keitech(or other) slowly scrubbed around the dam site, indian creek or other general locations in the area will at least lead to the tug of a mad smallmouth. SWMO/NWARK where you can snag spoonbill, catch walleye, rainbows, browns, sunfish and perch, all the bass species, maybe even find some catfish in a 1 mile circle.

Its really quiet the feat. Going from the tailwaters down river to say roaring river arm isn't all the surprising even with the drought we've been in there's plenty of water with generation to get started down river. What is impressive is the upstream travel up roaring river. With the drought roaring river has been really low and there hasn't been any sustained high water short of the 4-5 days right before the fish was caught.

If someone has never done a crawfish boil this is the 1 single tip that will cause chaos if not thought about ahead of time to me. Make sure you think about how your gonna get the inner strainer pot out of the bigger pot when your ready. My inner pot has a hook but if its under water or at the boil level that puppy gets hot. When I do a big boil its hard to pull a pot of 10-15lbs of bug, plus the fixings straight up and out without touching the strainer somewhere, sometime.

Good news: I checked off Indiana at Brookville Tailwater. Caught several small browns. Bad News: I am in Cleveland just outside Rocky River and they are catching steelhead. Work is calling, I've broke my last airstream rod and all I have left is my 4wt fly rod.

Basically any spot they stock. Bertrand ramp, Parker Bottoms, or the dam ramp. I haven't been down since right after the big freeze and I almost exclusively stumble around in the dark down there but any access above Bertrand should have a lot of open bank to move around and find fish.

They are back to stocking albeit I'm not sure how much. The biggest deal right now is that the water is very low. Table Rock Lake is low which means much of the water above the 62 bridge is inaccessible by boat unless generation and then you don't want to be caught. Right now between the lower water, reduced stocking, and getting close to spring walleye. The trout are getting a bit of reprieve in the upper sections. Could start raining next week and everything I wrote be out the window though.

On Table Rock Lake the only lower limit of fish is Walleye and per MDC/AGFC its nearly a put and take fishery. Nobody with any significance catches and releases walleye. I've been criticized over the years for throwing back big fish. Panfish, I can nearly keep coolers full. Nobody bats an eye for bait or eating. Crappie identical to walleye in that nobody in any significance catches and releases but people keep coolers and freezers fill with em. Catfish, I can use about any lazy method to catch and can keep 10. Yet all this pressure always talked about being insane is catch and release tournament fishermen not the slicer and dicers. Those guys are out chasing other species and they might catch and keep a few bass but its acceptable for every species except bass. Literally blows my mind.

Current Status as of Feb. 2026 I checked of Louisiana and Oklahoma this weekend. LA had a target of Turners Pond in Minden, LA. Supposed to be stocked a couple weeks ago but the ice storm delayed things until the 5th. Showed up and LOTS of people fishing. Most of the pond is 2ft. deep and clear water. I never saw a fish. There is 1 "deeper" section with a fountain....no fishing signs prevent you from getting close enough to cast to the fountain. Did see trout jump around it so assume they were holding close. Trout fishing and stocking is apparently a popular deal in LA. Although almost everyone I saw had 8ft surf style rods and big 20lb white mono. Just not setup for trout like we are around here. I could cast 10-15 yards farther than most with 1/8 jigs. Rolled on a bit east to Grambling city park pond. You have to have a special permit $2 to fish here from the city police which is basically on site. Just a paper that says "fishing permit" with your name and date and police officer signature. I assume it helps to keep this place a little cleaner and I'm okay with that. Water was deeper and fish far more active. Saw several nicer trout jump. Quick and easy. I had a net malfunction and the trout took a slight trip through the grass. Onto Broken Bow and Lower Mountain Fork. I have drove by this place probably 20 times over the last 10 years. I have 1-2 work trips that takes me right through here, if I drive, I've never gotten off 259. Really nice state park and it appears to have a lot of access for fishing. I drove through and hit a few spots right by the road but time was limited. I was able to catch one and move on. I think I will add this as a 1/2 day stop on work trips when travelling in the future. I'm half way done at this point and in theory, they should get easier as the states get smaller. Honestly getting the southern stocked spots out of the way should open up my timing a bit. I think this year I'll get the driftless area out and maybe Michigan on personal trips with a chance at IN and OH through a work trip.

This is so cool. I'd really like to do a jungle golden dorado on the fly. One of these days.....

I'm going to simplify: 5 new trout states 1 Arkansas Master Angler 1 state trout slam 2 new species

You guys are right. I think it was just one of those trips I was a bit too aggressive on mentally. I did have fun and saw some cool spots, some waterfalls, put some miles on my feet and caught some fish. What's next happened today @Johnsfolly. Mississippi stocked lake Lamar Bruce Tuesday. Would have worked perfectly if I hadn't bailed early to swing back through on my way home. We conned Mimi into babysitting overnight and the wife and I drove over last night and fished this morning and drove back home today. She got BBQ x2 and I got to fish and we got about 14 hours in the car together without kids. Mississippi Facebook post announcing they stocked had some negativity about stocking trout vs. other species and lakes. However Lake Lamar Bruce sets up really nicely for this. Its a nice little park, nice docks, and great bank access like you can see behind me. They actually heavily stock a very small pond just off the main lake about 2 acres with 1,075 fish. Its littered up pretty good now, you can see the line all over the dock in the picture, hooks, and power bait containers left behind. Really a shame for no longer than its been stocked it sure shows some use but it has potential for something that isn't readily prevalent in this area Sipsey Fork is a couple hours further East and you saw my access issues plus the fish size. We got there early. Fish were actively jumping and splashing. I threw a white zig jig and caught 7 or 8 in about 20 minutes and we headed back west. It looks like Louisiana doesn't stock the ponds in the northern part of the state along I-20 until late in January. Pending the weather, cows, and family that will be my next trip outside of the 4 state area and will likely swing through Broken Bow to check off Oklahoma in the same trip.

Moccasin Creek State Park is bordered on one side by a hatchery. Search "Trout and Moccasin Creek State Park" and you get tons of hits. The section along the park is reserved for kids and handicap and it gets all the fan fair; stocked heavy with all 3 species. There is mention of trout farther up and brookies above the falls. A place where one could conceivable get a Georgia Slam. As I paid for my camping, I asked the park attendant how far up I need to go. He said its steep and dangerous and he would be surprised if I could get above the second falls. He also said fishing is slow right now. I was the only person there. Plan was to hike to Hemlock falls and fish the big pool below the falls. I did and never had a bite, never saw a fish either. Then I packed up and followed a faint trail around and over. There is another set of falls about 1 more mile in. I assume past that is Brookie heaven. At this point, I will never know. The trail disappears after about 100 yards, down trees all over, wet trails, steep inclines, lots of leaves on the ground making things slick. I bailed. It wasn't worth getting hurt. A slip would have likely had me going down 30-60 feet. Not worth a major injury. Most of the trail before Hemlock falls is 30 feet above the river. I hopped around a bit but never saw a fish and never re-strung my rod. I was deflated. When I left, I stopped back by the ranger and asked about an adjacent road that may access the headwaters. It has been closed and FS doesn't have plans to open it. The only real options were 6 miles coming in from the AT....not worth it so I bailed and headed to my backups for Georgia. Warwoman WMA has multiple creeks said to have all 3 species in it. Generally decent road system to get you close to fishable spots. I saw 1 fish and caught that 1 fish. Again a still from the video of the kind of stuff I was trying to get through. My assumption is that much of this debris is leftover from Helene. Or maybe its just always like this? This is the last of the fish pictures....if that's what your here for you can skip the rest. I also managed to break my fly line here. Frustration with being tangled in everything on a line that was probably 8 years old and not been taken care of. I drove a lot of miles through forest service roads and stopped at 4-5 creeks. Bushwacked down.....looked around hit 2 or 4 holes and then head back to the car. I bailed from here and headed to Walhalla SC. I found the cheapest motel in town, I was sore and wet, mentally beat. Next morning I headed to the Chattooga Fly shop. Interesting place. I highly recommend. I reloaded and headed to the upper Chattooga looking for anything. The section between Burrells Ford and Ellicot Rock has a decent trail, at least up until it crosses the East Fork of the Chattooga. Then it gets smaller but not terrible and started to get higher above the river. I hiked beyond Ellicot Rock up into NC. Generally the stream is more open down by the river with more room to cast and far less bush wacking. However my fortunes did not change. On about the 5th or 6th run I fished, on my first cast I had a fish come up and slam my pink indicator. I did everything but bust out a seine to catch that fish but never saw it again. That would be the only fish I saw this day. Frustrated and with the weather looking good at home, I packed it in and drove home.