txspecks04

I have been fishing creeks here in northwest AR, southwest MO, and northeast OK for about 5 or so years now and all are beautiful and enjoyable. Fishing for smallmouth in small Ozark streams is definitely my favorite type of fishing; something about hiking a small creek in the summer and catching a few fish just makes the world seem like a better place. This summer I am going to try and focus in a bit more exclusively on my home state of AR. Anyone else out there that knows AR smallmouth waters very well? I have fished the Illinois river and several of its tributaries in the past, and I have fished the Kings River (Marble access I believe) a couple of times. I have read that the Kings River and the Buffalo are great places to go fish for smallies; my experience on the Kings hasn't been too great, but I have not really explored it enough to make a real judgment. I'd love to hear what the rest of you think about AR smallmouth fishing...I primarily flyfish but I do pick up the spinning gear on occasion when I am going for a quick trip or if I am taking my dog with me.

Glad to hear there are others out there interested in SWEPCO. Anybody out there fly fish this lake?

I have never fished the Illinois for white bass, but I have fished it for small/largemouth bass and I have fished other rivers/streams for white bass. Sink tip or floating tip really depends on what the water depth and flow rate are like, which can vary quite a bit through a relatively small section of the stream. Typically, if I am fishing water deeper than 3-4' I like to use a sink tip (sometimes even a full sink). Clouser minnows are definitely a go to fly (I have found olive and white to be a favorite color) for any kind of bass fishing and under the right conditions you can have a lot of fun with poppers and other dry flies. Hope this helps.

Arrived at Parker around 11:30am as the water was falling out. Fished the area with various nymphs, eggs, and y2ks until about 2pm with no success; not a ton of pressure out there, maybe a dozen or so other anglers spread out...didn't see a single fish caught by anyone. Hopped back in the car and ran up to the bathouse access upstream (upper end of the trophy section). Managed three fish in the trophy section, but certainly nothing to write home about...didn't see anyone else catch anything up here either. Tried some streamer fishing at the end of the day with no success. All in all, a great day to be on the water but the fishing was sloooooooooow. I just can't seem to figure this fishery out...

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the reply rps. I will likely be fly fishing and wading so the trout regs and boat issues won't bother me...I probably end up somewhere in between Parker and Houseman.

Any more word on the walleye? I have never targeted walleye before, but am considering it this weekend. How far up do they usually run? Do you think they could be found around Parker Bottoms? Thanks for the help.

Water was in pretty good shape. I have only been out to Parker Bottoms three times, so I am not sure what "normal" is down there, but I thought it was just fine.

Fished Parker Bottoms on Saturday. Started about 12-12:30 as the water was falling out after the morning generation and fished until about 4:15. Fished upstream at the top end of the rock beaches/islands just before the sign to switch to artificial lures only with no luck; my buddy had one hookup, but lost the fish. Started to head upstream from there through all of the brush, but my buddy's rod tip was pulled off in the thicket and we didn't realize it until about 15 minutes after the fact; I thought it was long gone, but we searched for about an hour and just as we were giving up found it lying on the ground, unbroken though one of us had obviously stepped on it (mud had been smashed on it for about 3"-4" length). What a relief! He has only one fly rod and is just starting to get the hang of fly fishing, so losing this wouldn't have been good at all. After the lost hour, we didn't have much time left so we headed back to the cars and I spent a quick 15 minutes fishing just a bit downstream of the parking lot. Managed two fish pretty quickly with one being the nicest I have pulled from the Beaver Tailwaters; nothing spectacular, judging from the picture I am guessing it was right around 18", but a very healthy fish with beautiful color and a nice thick body (probably between 2-3 lbs). Didn't appear to be one of the typical "stocker" type fish that I catch out there. Anyways, a beautiful day with great company. Tight lines everybody.

That's a beautiful fish, nice work and thanks for the post.

Tim, how does the water look after the recent rains?

This is all great info. I have only fished between the dam and Parker, so the rest I am unfamiliar with. Up close to the dam the water is pretty skinny; great water for canoes and kayaks, and I have seen drift boats (though flows are pretty slow so there is a lot of paddling), but I have never seen a boat with an outboard up that far... I will have to check out some of the more warm water opportunities on downstream, sounds like a lot of fun!

I like the soundtrack you put on the video...the fish and scenery weren't bad either

Thanks for the heads up OTF6. I haven't really fished at all down by Parker Bottoms, always up closer to the dam than that. I will have to give that a try sometime here in the near future. I could see them liking red or burnt orange midges, I typically do best with copper johns out at Beaver (similar coloration).

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the input. If you don't mind my asking, when you say a big fly, what size does that mean? #8? I am sure size probably varies from one body of water to the next but what kind of range would you suggest at Beaver? I have been wanting to learn how to fish streamers on sink tip for trout...I have tried a few times with very limited success. I fish this way for bass quite often with a fairly high success rate, but trout seems to be a different animal for some reason. Thanks again for the info.

Hey guys just wanted to see if anyone has fished out here lately. I am itching to do some trout fishing, but no boat for me so I am wondering if we are back down to wadeable levels yet. Looks like lake level at Table Rock has dropped out a lot (918.5 according to link on forum), so I should be good to go but I wanted to check with someone more local before I make the 1.5-2 hour drive out there. Thanks for the help.

Bump. Anyone been out there in the last week or so? Is the water still way up? I heard it was pretty bad out there a month or so ago...

Thanks flyrodman, I think I will probably start doing that more often. Having fished it often on other waters, I know that it can be a very effective technique.

Thanks for the heads up...crawfish patterns were next on my list . I figured I would start with minnows (clouser), then move to crawfish (I agree, crazy-dads and near nuff are great), and, if that didn't work, I figured I would go to some big ugly leaches or something. I saw some nice large mouth in there as well. I will let you know next time I am headed that way.

Can you fish hopper-dropper rigs in the C&R section of the river? I have always heard single hook C&R portion of the river and have never understood if you could have multiple single hooks or just one...I have always stuck with just one since I figure it will keep me out of trouble, but I figured I would see if anyone could get me some clarification on this issue.

Hit the Baron Fork on Sunday evening for the first time. I was wading on the Arkansas side near 59. Lots of fish in the water, but I only managed two smallies...bigger of the two was probably 12". Pulled both of them on a clouser minnow. Has anyone else done any fly fishing on this stream? Just looking for some tips. I will be getting out there more in the coming weeks to try and figure out some more successful patterns.

Just wanted to give this post a bump and add one additional question...are there any good stretches of the Kings where one could wade fish? I am thinking about a trip this coming weekend (Sat. June 11th) and I typically like to keep it simple and hike/wade through rivers to do my fishing. I am planning to fly fish for smallmouth primarily, but I imagine we will probably pick up some other sunfish along the way. Any suggestions on places where this might be possible (preferably in the Eureka Springs area) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, ended up that I didn't make it out after all...my brother broke his foot so I have been helping him out this weekend. I appreciate the posts though, I will definitely use this information for future trips... Thanks again, tx

Does anybody know of any good public accesses for wade fishing the Baron Fork Creek in Oklahoma? Thinking about making a first-time trip tomorrow morning...any tips would be appreciated. Thanks, tx

I am thinking about making a trip this Saturday morning (early before the crowds arrive)...I am planning to wade and fly fish. Anyone know of any smaller creeks or stretches of the river with public access that would be good for this? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks tx