Devan S.

I really enjoy getting out after the big gills. I usually wait until Bill says in a report they are on the points then I go after them with worms and a drop shot rig. Friday night me and a buddy caught a cooler full of 6-8" gills none as big as yours but good numbers of eater sized fish.

Thanks guys. I was thinking in the 5-6lb range. I wish I could have got a good girth measurement(I just had a regular tape measure). We tried to measure take quick photos and get it back in the water. Jtram if that skinny run is out of the park and your willing to do some walking you might be right.....He will probably be right back in the same spot too.

I caught this fish Friday afternoon out of roaring river. I don't fish for trout very much so this is my biggest trout by a mile. 24" long and thick. For you guys that are more familiar with trout what would one like this weigh?

I'm seeing the same thing. I may catch 10 shorts for every keeper. Even then my keepers may only be 10 1/4" just had a real lack of any size to them but lots of numbers.

Sounds like you had a dandy 3 days. I had the same pattern on Saturday morning throwing jigs on the bank. Get it right on the bank and work it out to 5-10 feet and generally I had a fish. Had to wade through quite a bit of shorts though compared to you. Ironically enough we pulled into one small cove with a log jam in it and caught several fish on back to back cast and had probably 20 on the same spot but didn't catch a single fish over 10 in that one spot. Caught several good gills too. My hope is this weekend after the good weather things will be even better.

Quillback is correct. For food your gonna have to go to Golden(The Pub), Shell knob(Steak Inn maybe another small place or 2), or Cassville(standard fast food, BBQ station, couple mexican joints, and a few home cooking places). Cassville has a motel and roaring river has some cabins and camping. Maybe a few small resorts around I cant think of just outside roaring river towards Cassville. Outside of that maybe Eureka Springs but I would specifically ask about places to park a rig. Big M is pretty slim pickens when your talking an abundance of motels and restaurants within 30+ minutes.

Biglerma. I fished this week in the Kings area for crappie. I found them in area where the wind was blowing into the bank and where there were lay downs. Caught a few shallow but most deeper. Really spread out but was able to duplicate the pattern in 3 or 4 spots. My guess with the wind this week and weekend you could nearly duplicate that pattern all up and down the kings. We also ended up catching a few whites in the same areas.

J-Doc here is a picture looking right to left level with my SI transducer. Could it be the metal vent over the live well inlet?

Yep. Trim the motor as high as it will go and it still does it. I though at first it may have been my jack plate so at one point I mounted it on my jack plate and it still showed up.

Both transducers are on the right side of the boat. Sonar transducer is actually on the right side of the SI transducer. Thats why it throwing me off that the interference only shows up on the left side. Just guessing 8-10" apart so that may be cross talk like you said before. I'm going to either try to shut off the sonar signal next time out or unplug the sonar transducer.

Any idea what the lines on the left side of the SI and showing up on down imaging are? I have a tin boat with 899 on the console. HD SI bathtub on right side of boat I also have the standard sonar puck to the right of the SI. Lines are present motor on or off, speed up or slow down scroll speed, motor up or motor down. The only time they go away is when I get up enough speed that SI drops away 15+ MPH. I have tried adjusting the SI transducer way up and way dow. Down as in below the bottom of transom and out of any turbulence. At this point I'm thinking electrical interference but it only shows up on the left side.....I do know when I I get the scroll speed set to match trolling speed I get good images of the bottom. Any recommendations?

kings

If you turn down 10 highway and head down E260 Rd. there is a small boat ramp that will put you quite a ways up the elk across from the island. (either right before or right after dollar general depending on which direction your coming from) Like Quillback said its very shallow all throughout that area and logs and stumps all over that area.

I'm looking for information about the upper Kings specifically as it relates from the Arkansas 74 bridge to the Rockhouse access. I am wanting this year to float this specific stretch of water. Looks like there are about 5 access points. I know that I can park at Rockhouse and Marble access. Is there available spots close by at the others or are these best served by having someone drop me off and bushwhack my way in? Is there any known rapids in this area or is most of it similar to the lower stretches?

Got out after work today for 2-3 hours. Fished Roaring River arm for whites and crappie. Had some pretty good intel of where to go and how. Knew I was in for trouble when the guys taking out at the ramp said they had to run to the kings to find them. Did manage to scrounge up 2 whites. Water has really warmed up. Saw 62 degrees way back into roaring river and 59-60 in the mouth area by the main lake.

I'm gonna guess that it takes 5lb and change. so 5.25

I float the kings several times a year. This year my intent is to float the entire length from Kingston to Romp Hole. I haven't ever floated above the 62 bridge outside of Berryville. I know where several of the take outs are in this section and they are generally very busy. Its a close drive for me and I enjoy it. There are fish in the river although Ham and Ollie are correct some areas get beat to death. Here is a breakdown from 62 bridge down to 86 by Carr lane: 62 Bridge to 143 Bridge at Grandview: 62 bridge is a popular swimming hole. Lots of locals and crowded on the weekends. 143 Bridge at Grandview you have to cross private property for access and there is a fee box. Not sure on the price off the top of my head. There is a decent little section of rapids right before Grandview. Not dangerous but fun.I generally run into very few people at Grandview. Those I do see are launching or taking out. Parking at 62 bridge is usually a disaster on the public no fee side. I'm usually there early enough parking isn't my issue but getting out is. The road down is narrow. 143 Bridge to Stony Point: Stony point is located on county road 416 off 143. Long section of Gravel bar. Will be lots of people taking out here and camping. Road is okay to get down to. Stony Point to Romp Hole:Romp Hole is off county road 450 of Arkansas 221. This is what I consider to be the last take for floating. Past this your paddling and in early spring fighting the white bass boat crowd. There is a small boat ramp at Romp Hole. Road to romp hole is rough but no major hazards that I know of. Decent parking too. Romp Hole to 86 Bridge: I am not sure if you can still get down to the river on the east side of the bridge. I believe its been blocked. This is going to be solid paddling almost the whole way. In the spring the whites run and there will be bass boats out and about in the stretch. Like I said its close to me so I float the lower section pretty often. I've had times where I've floated and seen one or two people in an 8 mile stretch and I've floated and seen 50 or 60. The big holiday weekends will be busy and the public access will be full but it will be nothing like the Elk river that time of the year.

I have a family member that fished Grenada this year in October. They got a guide and had what the guide said was a really tough day. Ended up with 20 or 25 fish total and 3 between 2.5-3lbs. He had a blast and said he would go back in a heart beat.

Like others have said the ramp is on COE property you could use it. The real question is are you parking your vehicle after you unload on public COE or private?

You use to be able to launch directly below the bridge if you had a small boat and 4 wheel drive. I believe last time I went by they had blocked off the road to get down there.

When COE first closed it they held public meetings and seemed content with just locking it. IF its under COE control is there anything Fitzpatrick could do? I thought the COE was federally funded. I know I went to the Missouri State Parks reservation site and it will not let me reserve a site for June. I can however reserve sites for other parks in June. Leads me to believe it would still be under corps control however I could be wrong. Locally I know law enforcement prefers it open. They now have no way to patrol it as well as cutting off other emergency services to the area.

I finished my bachelors degree in 2012. Found a local job pretty quick could have committed to move to the city and had a job before graduating. I paid my way, applied for every scholarship I could, worked on campus, and took out loans. I left with around 20k in debt(all of which is paid for now). It can be done but its not easy. There are programs for those who really cant afford it. Due to my family I didn't fall into those programs it was all on me. I didn't do the party lifestyle I studied my butt off lived off campus with 7 guys in a 4 bedroom house and did it on the cheap. I also didn't go to "State U" and most importantly I got a degree in a value added field (STEM). I couldn't imagine myself paying for my kids to do what my friends did go to University of Arkansas, party all the time, get barely passing grades, get a worthless degree, and then complain that they got screwed. My biggest take away for me was college was a 75K to 100K investment. I had to invest in a degree that was going to pay off at some point(sooner, rather than later) and that there were jobs available. I can tell you most of my friends invested in what would be fun and make them happy and they are now paying the price for that.

I camped at Viney Creek 2 times last year. It's close an convenient for me and on the weekends almost always full with day use people (although less last year). I camped over memorial day and I know reservations were opened just a few days before that weekend and the park was nearly empty that weekend for what should be a busy weekend. I know the mo-state parks guys/gals said several times there was no way for them to break even down there. I wish someone could explain to the whole group that you cant miss one of the 3 busiest weekends by making last minute choices and then charge a $40 yearly pass that is only good 3 maybe 4 months of the year and expect to make money let alone break even. Still not sure why the COE wont just leave it open like Kings River. There sure are a lot of unanswered questions for a public park........

Just went by Eagle Rock. You could probably put in on the big parking lot by the highway right now by morning may be a different story. Would make for a pretty shallow ramp.

If nothing else avoid it for the terrible parking lot and marginal ramp conditions. If you wanted to fish the far upper stretch of the Kings call the people at Hickory Hollow Resort they will generally let you use their ramp for a couple bucks. Otherwise Viola or 39 Bridge are better choices.