LittleRedFisherman

Wow, don't think I've ever seen anything like that. That boat must be made of titanium. Crazy is all I can say, and dangerous! Hope I never run into those guys out on the river!

. Don't worry I'm on to these clowns, they can gig all they want down by HWY K and below but, up where my place is and my friends are we will be diligently watching and chasing them now. My buddy Gill is retired and has nothing better to do he will be driving all the roads east and west of the river looking for them, they might want to stop their illegal activites soon. Sounds like this is what it's gonna take! Hope ya'll get um! Great report and pics, may have to try that KVD sometime. After fishing hard last winter, and posting pics and reports weekly, I havn't been in 3 months now smallie fishing, and the withdrawl is getting to me. Crossed the Eleven Point coming from the lake this morning, it looked really good still, with good flow. I fished at the lake some, but I'm craving a good river smallie!!!

Great report Al!! I was at Hardy for the 4th, and crossed the Spring and Eleven Point rivers, they seem to be holding up due to the huge springs that feed them. You mention the Eleven Point holding up well at Bardley, but I wonder how the flow is above Greer Spring, I bet it's stuggling to above there. I also crossed Martin creek, which is a nice little bass creek near Ravenden. It wasn't much more than a trickle compared to what it usually is. Our small creeks could be in trouble for sure if this continues. Decent rain chances in the forcast for Sunday and Monday, praying for a good one!!

Looks like Freese won! I bet Dusty Baker is really happy now......

First of all, I don't go near enough... I'm seasonal with my fishing, in the summer months I go maybe twice a month if I'm lucky, in the Winter which is my off season, I'll go 2 to 3 times a week, for that I'm fortunate, but would love to get more time in the spring and summer months....Since getting into smallmouth fishing, and flyfising several years ago, I've all but hung up my duck waders.

I would highly recommend you try the eleven point, there is some really good smallie fishing on the arkansas side, and yes, it will still have a chill to it for sure. There are several put in spots, there's one at Dalton, AR that is probably on of the northern most put in's in Arkansas. There higher numbers of smallies in the north stretch, but if you go from Pochahontas AR and south, there are suppose to be larger fish. I have a friend that floats the Dalton stretch, and claims that he and his group of friends last year caught them by the "hundreds".. I have never floated a stretch of it, but have put a jet in at Dalton and fished around there, and it's good fishing!! Good luck on your choice and let us know what you do!!

Quillback, Yeah, there is some sandy ground up there at Campell, but there some good stuff to. The farm here were I live has been in the family for 103 years. The St. Francis is still got alot of trees in places, as well as alot of down trees in the river, this was just north of the Kennett Bridge. Here's some pics of a fishing trip I took the Men of my Sunday School class on last week. It's really low right now, but made for good fishing, and good times. The river here is at levels you usually see in a dry August, I can imagine how low it will get if this continues. This here is how we do it in the Delta....lol

Great report guys! I have grown up going to the Hardy region as my family has had a cabin in Hidden Valley on a small lake, just up the road from Hardy bordering Cherokee Village. I have always found that as God country as well, although the past couple years of fishing in Southern Missouri on the Eleven Point and Current sure have some beutiful scenery, and fantastic fishing. I heard you say you drove through Pocahontas AR? Right there on the "lower Eleven Point" might be the best kept secret in Arkansas. Game and Fish say it has one of the highest densities of Smallmouth per mile of water than anywhere in the state. May have to try that one next time your down here, and of course call me....., I'm only 50 minutes from Pocahontas!! Great report, I really enjoyed reading the reports on some local waters.

Man, that sounds like you had an amazing time. I believe the eleven point is one of the finest rivers to fish in the Ozarks, sounds like you helped prove my point..... Great report, and Brian is one of the best!

Quillback, I'm only about 8 miles from Campbell, run up that way quite a bit. They have had less rain up there than we have here this year.

I hear ya, our part of arkansas has also been put in the extreme, I'm right next to the Bootheel. I farm for a living, and this thing is hitting me hard, pumping water like crazy where I can. Went fishing in the St. Francis last week, and had a hard time running the boat, very low for this time of year...

They are a good lure for me, not really my goto lure, but always do well with them. I used them this winter and had success throwing them behind bolders in the current. Even when I am searching for Smallmouth with my flyrod, I've always got a rebel craw tied on a spinning rod in the boat.

Awesome video, and some sweet fish!! Nothing wade fishing a small creek! Thanks for posting.

Love those old Videos! I was watching Jerry Mckinnis's show on ESPN about 10 years ago, and he was showing old footage of his original show back in the 60's on Crooked Creek. He was narrating the old footage when it showed him and his partner lift a stringer of 5 or 6 19 plus inch Smallies. He emphatically apologized to the viewers that "we just didn't know better back then"...lol. Like Cheif say's, it's still legal however. Funny how things change over time. Loved the video!!

Awesome fish, I'd say at least 8 pounds!! Also, I like your boat there, looks like an ole Sears and Roebuck V bottom, probably from the mid 60's? I have one just like it, my grandfather ordered it from there catalog in 1964, built like a tank..

Ron, I to was stocking up on some lure the other day for smallies, and picked up some more roadrunners liked you've mentioned. I havn't tried them yet like your describing on spinning gear, but one time this winter i ran out of jigs on my flyrod, and i tied one on, and drifted it under a thingamabobber on my 4wt. Caught several bass on that, plus a 17 incher to finish the day, on a flyrod. So I to am gonna give them a try with the spinning gear next time i go out. May try to head Pochahontas later in the week on the Eleven Point.

Quality fishing to me, depends on what my mindset is, and who I'm fishing with. Like sometimes I head to the Ozarks to target big Smallmouth, and other times I'm taking someone fishing for the first time, and numbers and a quality experience are more important. When I am fishing in the Ozarks, just being there warms my soul, I've always been that way, that alone makes me happy, the fish I catch is just the icing on the cake!! Yesterday was a perfect example of what a quality day of fishing means to me. While down near Heber Springs visiting my wifes family for Easter, I took my two brother in laws, and one of there wifes, who had never trout fished before. Darla caught several really nice rainbows, and she was estatic, her and my brother in law are wanting to go buy some fishing poles now. That made my Day that they had so much fun, and have possibly introduced them to a new hobby they can both enjoy. Now if I had been by myself, or one of my hardcore fishing buddies, we would of been hammering the banks with jerkbaits and flyrods for a trophy Brown, instead of drifting the high water for cookie cutter rainbows. Either way, I am just thankful to be there, and I do think that many of our Ozark streams, are truly World Class!

Felt like I was there as well, another well described day of fishing. I fished a deep hole in a field today where a levee broke last year, it's full of fish, but they to where biting slow today.

That is some really neat stuff there!!

1. Beetle Spin (best thing I've used that catches anything) 2. RoadRunner 3. Jointed Rapala ( or a favorite Crankbait) 4. Spinnerbait 5.Texas Rigged Worm Of course if you on the bank with kids, can't beat a bobber with a nightcrawler.

Smalliebigs, man that's torture to see, I just got in from my 3rd 15 hour day. I'm ready for some "aquatherapy" for sure. Maybe next time...Glad you had fun.

Good deal, glad you catch some fish, 18 inches is a dandy rainbow. Yeah, JFK was a good chioce, you can get away from the muddy water there usually. I put in there for the first time myself this winter and drifted all the way down to Lindseys, there some good water down there.

I'm interested in a small boat, that I could float in, or possibly a canoe. It would be nice if it was big enough for 2 people, but I don't want it to be to big. I'd like to be able to throw it in the back of a pickup. Around here, there's a couple small "ditches" that have alot of bass in them that are fun to float. As a kid, I had a small jon boat, and that would work. I just wondered what is out there that some of you have used, and what opinions you might have. A small two man boat like a bass buddy would be great for floating the Mayo Ditch here on the farm, but don't know about floating a river like the Eleven Point? Thanks for any suggestions, Bret.

This is true, I've never seen a bad Ozark stream yet!! Talking about water clarity reminds me of a lake we have a small place on near Hardy Arkansas, Lake Mirandy. It was once one of the clearest lakes in that area, including the Cherokee Village lakes. However, it was full of hydrilla, which you had to clean out around the dock all summer for swimming, but the fishing was fabulous in that lake. As a young kid, i could catch a mess of crappie, and 4 pound bass all day long, and blugill bigger than you hand. Mirandy had limited cover, but all the weeds made great fish cover, the POA decided to stock grass carp to get rid of the weeds,. Now the lake is clean of the weeds, and the water has a "healthy green color" as they say, but with limited cover, the fishing has went downhill. It's full of 10 to 12 inch bass, no big ones anymore, and the bluegill are thinned out, and the crappie nonexistent. When you do catch a decent sized bass, it's got a big head, and a skinny body. Now it's being addressed, but the only answer the Game and Fish has gave us, is to start keeping those bass we catch for a few years. I never was in favor of the grass carp, I prefered the clear water and all the weed cover, and the faboulous fising. I'm trying to get involved with the city council, that has now taken the lake over, to address the problem, like a christmas tree dropoff and such. Last year, I volunteered to construct homeade fish attractors and safe havens, only help I got doing that was my Dad. Sorry for the tangent, guess I was venting. Bret

I fished earlier in the year down there when the river was big. I would recommend putting in at Lobo Landing, it'a a deep 3 mile stretch of water, and the current slows down there. go upstream about a mile and start drifting. If you can find an inline spinner, that you can simply just attch a hook to, then try a power egg, or power worm, chartruse, and flo orange are my favorites. I have never failed to catch fish at the Lobo area, when the water is high. If the water is muddy, try to find a creed that runs into it, with clearing water, many times the trout will be hoarded in there to get out of the muddy water. Good luck, let us know how it goes...Bret.