NWAbassinAC

I think I did see you. I was the guy in the discovery 169. It was just me. Had a pretty good trip other than my snake incident. I don't know if it was you or the other guys who saw it. I'm sure they had a good laugh haha.

You might as well forget about goggle eye when it gets hot. For smallies, I think the hotter and lower the better. They get stacked up in shady areas and in eddies or any where near current where they can pick off prey. I like floating jerkbaits ripped fast in the summer, but pretty much anything on a jighead will work. 1/8 oz is a good weight for the jighead.

I floated Snow to George's creek on Saturday. Did I see you?

If its body was underwater then it probably wasn't a cottonmouth, aka water moccasin. They are very buoyant. I've never seen one longer than probably three feet either. I bet you saw a common water snake. I've seen those suckers get pretty long. They aren't venomous, but they will bite you.

I live right outside Jasper in Marble Falls. Yes, during the spring you will see TONS of snakes on the Buffalo River. Most of them are just water snakes. I forgot the actual name. Banded water snake maybe? The large one you were talking about sounds like a Cottonmouth though. Especially when you said it had his head out of water "sitting like a stick." I have seen more than one Cottonmouth do this. It scares the crap out of me lol. Cottonmouths are very buoyant compared to water snakes. They also are usually quite a bit darker with a light underbelly. Also they tend to be fatter for their length compared to water snakes. Their heads are triangular in shape too due to their venom glands being stored in their heads. Leave them be and they'll leave you be, but I'd keep an eye out for them, especially at night.

I agree that is the best stretch on the upper portion. I've done it many times since I live right by it.

Yeah I usually do too, but my boat needs the carbs cleaned, and that's not too cheap, so bank fishing it is for now. I did have some really good days in January though.

Went out today. Water was rolling pretty good but wasn't muddy down at my honey hole. Water was more of a forest green color with visibility of about two feet. Couldn't get a bite on jigs and soft plastics. Finally got one to bite a suspending jerkbait which doesn't happen too often on the Buffalo it seems, and it fired up the small school resulting in catching two more on subsequent casts. Biggest was about 14 inches.

Just wondering if the water is still real stained up. Thinking about going out tomorrow.

I was looking at places to take out on the Kings River on Google maps. Is Marshal Ford on Madison co road 1505? Or is it on the short dirt road you take off of co road 1505. There are two bridges in close proximity.

Most of the Little Buffalo is private property, but you can put in at the bridge in Jasper and take out at a place called String town Bridge. It's not a short float, but its very doable in one day. You could also put in at String town bridge and float all the way to the confluence of the Buffalo then float down to Hasty and take out. I'm pretty sure this float is quite a bit shorter. Maybe half a day. Its been a good while since I've done it. I could be wrong. To get down to String Town bridge coming from Pruitt bridge heading south towards Jasper... Once you get towards the top of that steep winding hill after you cross the Pruitt bridge, you will see a truck pull off on your right and two dirt roads forking off to your left. Take the dirt road that goes downhill on the right, co road 46 all the way to the bridge.

As far as its reputation of being a trophy zone, what do you think? I've caught a lot of 18" fish on the upper end and one 21" fish (weighed only three pounds) on the Little Buffalo. Ive never caught a 4 lber on the Buffalo. I have on Crooked Creek, but never the Buffalo. I'm hoping to break that on this trip.

Thank you Al. I have heard there is some pretty serious water when it gets up to a certain point. I'd rather not risk it with all of my gear and supplies. Thanks again.

....Yeah, well I'd rather ask specific questions along with reading old posts. Besides, its not like this forum gets loaded with threads like other forums, so there's really no bother in starting another one even if it has been "answered."

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. I plan on doing the trip in late June or early July. I guess I'll visit the USGS webpage to check the discharge at Harriet beforehand. I've never fished the lower Buffalo. How does it compare to the upper part as in Kyle's down to Pruitt? I assume it's wider and deeper of course. Is it mostly long pools? Are they deeper than eight foot usually?

I understand this could be a three or four day float. Has anyone on here ever done it in a canoe? How rough is some of the water down there in summer? Sounds like it's gonna be tough, but I think I want to give it a shot.

Personally, I don't think the fish care if the heads are painted or not, but it's fun....and pretty.

Boss powder paint from http://fishingskirts.com/if you want some different options with some creative colors and mixes. They don't come with a manufacture's temperature recommendation for curing, but stick it in a toaster oven for 15 minutes on 350 and you're good to go. It's lighter and fluffier than cheap harbor freight paint, so it circulates very well in my fluid bed. I took a half ounce jig out to fish in some shallow sharp rocky areas to test the paint. After fishing for three hours, I could not for the life of me chip the paint.

So the guy who used to make you put a ten in the envelope in the Cadillac stopped letting people do it?

Stained water in the mid 40's on the Little Buffalo is some pretty tough conditions. The only time I got bit was fishing super tight to the little amount of cover available. Couldn't buy a bite otherwise.

Not a bad day, but not a good one either. The water was pretty stained up and pretty high due to the snow melting. Caught an few small ones and this 16" skinny largemouth on a jig skipped under a laid down tree.

Going to hit up a honey hole on the Little Buffalo tomorrow for smallmouth. Hopefully some are picture worthy. I will post a report here.

Do you have a pic of that spot? I would love to see it.

I personally don't. Then again, I'm only 26 years old. My grandparents might. They lived here in the sixties.