marcusearlt

Never seen the fit/finish of a Topwater so I cannot comment on their quality, but I am certain it is excellent. In 2014 I ordered a new 1648 Shawnee with a Yamaha 40/30 and it exceeds my expectations, gets me where I want to go and keeps me comfortable while fishing. One thing to consider when buying new is if the manufacturer will work with you on custom mods and features that you want. Rob at Shawnee was very pleasant to work with and handled all my question/requests/ideas wonderfully.

Found: Winston 8.5 foot 3pc 5wt rod tube end-cap Found Saturday afternoon at the walk-in closest to Parker Bottom. Would like to return to owner.

This is an excellent fishing report. Love the play by play story line. Thank you for sharing. Sounds a lot like the trips I go on except reduce the fish caught by 2/3's! ha...

Same here, think I'm over (maybe) the whites too. Had 3 trips for whites, each with varying levels of success. Almost time to switch gears to those hard fighting brown fish, after a few vacation days to target those cold water fish. Dan - Let us know how you do over at Goshen. According to the time-stamps on some photo's I took, this very day 3 years ago we were wearing them out down there. Could still be some action to be had.

We ran up the WE yesterday, all the way to War Eagle bluff just below the mill. Fish were scattered, caught them if riffles, holes, off rocks and near dirt, etc. No real clear winner in terms of method or location. Used small jerkbaits, clousers and swimbaits. Ended the day with around 40, a mixed bag of whites and spots. All fish were very small but hey I'm not complaining! I had a wonderful time. Very pretty scenery and plenty of hook-ups to keep us entertained. Lots of people out, with the majority reporting mediocre results and some claiming to have blanked. Is it over...?... OR has it yet to begin....?....

I bought a 15ft jon with a 25hp Merc jet 2 years ago. I really appreciate the access it gives me and how quickly I can get there. 75% of my fishing is done wading/canoeing but the rest is in a jet boat. Yes, they are much louder than a prop motor and sometimes tend to suck up debris and force you to clean the grate. That's a few of the trade-offs compared to a prop, as there are tradoffs when comparing of any boat/motor combo or any watercraft/water body you could dream up. I feel the tradeoffs are worth it, most of the time. Just knowing you can cruise up and down shoals a little easier and run in 6 inches of water kinda makes the boat ride more of an adventure in itself. I never swamp out others or do exorbitanly risky things in any boat, but when it's just you on a well known river running wide open knowing that you have good clearance and dont have to stop unitl you want to makes for one awesome feeling. Jets are fun to have around IMO.

You might not be feeling your rod load because it is laying too flat on your back-cast. Try stopping the rod at 12 or 1 o'clock and pausing and see if you can feel it load then. If you can afford the RLS combo then go ahead and buy it. Always get the highest quality equipment you can afford at the time, especially fly gear.

I have been checked more times than I can count, all over AR and some in MO, might be because of the tats and the beat up boats and vehicles I own... Our boat was checked twice in the same trip by different AGFC boats, each with three agents in them, right in the middle of the most explosive boils of white bass and hybrids I've ever witnessed on Greer's Ferry. They were going through all the motions painfully slow while fish were busting everywhere. I think were just jealous that day.

Reading this post way BY FAR the best part of my Monday. Thanks for sharing.

I was in Wisconsin earlier this week and was explaining some of my opinions regarding catch and release, fisheries management, etc. I got the same look from them up there that I do down here, confusion and ridicule. Truth is that there is a deeply engrained paradigm of ignorance when it comes to sustainable fishing practices. It's not geographical, generational, or related to a certain species; it's all over. It saddens my heart to see such wreckless behavior. People just don't know what they don't know.

Some basic things to consider: 1) ALWAYS us non-ethanol gas! 2) keep clutter, attachments, accessories, etc to a minimum 3) keep a spare drain plug in the boat 4) remove trash, etc after every use when you trailer/store the boat 5) make sure the spare trailer tire is sound 6) if stored outdoors, jack the trailer tongue up enough to ensure drainage 7) install a good bilge pump 8) have a good paddle handy 9) run the gas out of the carb on every outing, especially if the boat will sit for long periods of time 10) don't go overkill on an anchor if you use one You are a boat owner now, welcome to the dark side!

There is one canoe rental place I know of for the Ouchita River. It's on the corner of Broadway and 270 in Pencil Bluff, about 40 miles east of Hot Springs. It is cash only and there is not an ATM for miles around so go prepared. The guy who runs the place is super cool. He's an old military guy and has some really interesting stories to tell. You leave your car at the shop and he shuttles you on the put in and take out, due to private property reasons. I floated back in June and the river looked great.

HA, Jason, that's pretty par for the course when my girlfriend floats with me. I do all the paddling, steering, tackle management, etc while she gets dibs on all the fish. We joke about it all the time. I'm like her free fishing guide but when the trip is over I come home and work for her there too!

Well that's great. We fished the from Ponca to Kyle's a few weeks ago with stained water. Didn't catch big numbers of fish but had a great time just being in all the scenery and what not. That's the thing about stained water vs clear water, you will still catch more fish in stained water than you would sittin' at home. Are you throwing those Clousers on sink tip line or floating? Were you stripping them fast or slow?

Well, how'd you end up doing?

It's all about the strip set. Theres already in my opinion a lot a stretch in floating fly line, after all it does have a mono core, so the rod tip needs to pointed at the fly with as little slack as possible. I use the rod to steer fish around but not to set the hook. When nymphing for trout I raise the rod tip and when stripping any fly I do a strip set. It was really tough for me to develope that as a reflex but eventually it happened. Also try bending your hook out just a little so the point is more prone to grab on and stick in.

Any depths that are shallower than where you set your safety depth in your map settings will be blue. Funny thing is that I'm looking at Honey Creek on my Iphone and I am missing a whole lot more detail than you are. Overall though this app has been great. I have used it in Arkansas and in Texas to key in on places I thought would be productive for a lot less $$ than a sonar with comparable capabiliites. Great deal for 10 bucks.

Good job on the smallmouth dude. The Elk definitley has some fish in it. As far as losing fish, I have fought smallmouth all the way to the boat only to lose'em at the last second many times on the Elk and other places. I starting noticing that a lot of times they weren't really hooked, just holding on real tight with their jaws clamped down to the bait right behind the hook. Seems to happen with a tube a lot. On all my lizards I started using a stinger hook. What size tube hook were you using?

Man that's awesome! Hey, you never know what's going to bite, anything can happen. Cool story, congrats.

Hey I know exactly where that spot is, one of my favorite shoals on the LRR. Ya the LRR can really be generous as you have experienced, but when she's not she can send you home thinking about taking up drinking or mountain biking. I'll be down there next week Wednesday and Thursday, hope I have as much luck as you did. Thanks for the report.

Access to either the Middle Fork or Devil's Fork is going to be extremely limited, except where some bridges cross the river like in Shirley. If you are in the area in the spring then it's worth your while to chase some whites and hybrids, and and thats really only if you are going on a pure fishing trip. It's really spread out and undeveioped down there so doing any kind of shuttle would be outrageously complicated. If you got the family with you I'd do some trolling around the island just above the narrows called Poker Hill, especially the north and west sides, and through the narrows. Have a top water rigged up just in case though because you never know when those hybrids will start busting.

Ya ever since I moved to NWA I'm primarily a river guy now too. But hey that frog with interchangable legs is pretty cool. I see a lot of guys throwing frogs on heavy action rods with 40+ braid. I dont event own anything with over 12lb line and those set ups barely get used. Now if were in Texas/Florida I'd be froggin all the time. You going back out this weekend?

Hey man good for you. I haven't had much luck on frogs but I'm glad you caught some. It's always a good deal when you catch fish at a new place with a new lure or new technique.

It's like a UFO, an Unidentified Floating Object. It may look goofy but that's the same thing they said about Reebok pumps and we all know they make you jump higher.

http://www.ultraskiff.com/ Check out the "Main Instructional and promotional video" on the homepage. I think this little boat is pretty awesome. I could see this being great for ponds, small lakes and slow moving rivers. It's pretty well though out with lots of nice features when it comes to portability and fish-ability. What do y'all think?