Danimal

Pretty much what I was afraid of. Thanks guy's.

Helps a bunch. Sounds like the same conditions we had about 4 or 5 years ago (also a high water summer). There were a few worn out looking trout -- but I was catching a lot of small channel cats on a #16 pheasant tail believe it or not LOL. Think I'll clean up the sink-tip and the bass-bug taper for some smallmouth fishing instead. Thanks for saving me a trip over there.

Looks like the water's down this weekend (about 300 cfs). What are the chances any trout are still in the river after all the high/warm water they've had all summer? Water temps have been anywhere from 68 - 73 degrees for a while. Thanks in advance for any input.

Hada's creek crawlers are awesome. A bit pricey though -- I've dove to the river bottom many times to retrieve them. LOL

Most of these mountain streams have good populations of channel cats (and some flatheads) that not many people fish for. Use some of those sunfish for cut bait. Let the smallmouth go to fight again. Oh, and great pics -- always good to see the youngsters being brought up to appreciate our rivers and streams.

Made it up there late afternoon. Tan SJW was about the only thing I could catch them on. Only caught a half dozen or so. All fairly small. Lost a 16 or 17 incher. Had a young man wade up to me and ask if I "had any experience with hook removal" LOL. He'd barbed his finger with a #16 Hare's Ear nymph. We used a leader loop to do "the trick".

All of the public (NFS) campgrounds on the river are now day use only because of the lawsuits resulting from the fatalities during the flood on the nearby Little Missouri river a few years back. But gravel bar camping on the river is perfectly legal (makes a lotta sense). There are a few private campgrounds in the area too. Ouachita Haven is the one I use mostly. They're nice folks. It's located about 4 miles down river from Rocky Shoals near Sims. They can provide shuttles for any of those sections near the lake

Check out the Dragover section on the Ouachita. You can hike your own shuttle. The river makes a huge bend that gives you about 5 miles of river to float, but it's only a 10 minute hike from put-in to take-out. Anything below Hwy 270 is floatable pretty much year around, though you might need to get out and let your kayak float through a spot or 2 if we don't get much rain in the next month. Please release any smallmouth you catch down there -- plenty of spotted bass, catfish, etc. if you're wanting to fry some up.

Dying to swing the fly rod, but the smallmouth streams in my neighborhood don't provide much relief from this insane heat. How's RR fishing right now?

Yep, I first fished the Kings almost 30 years ago and thought I'd found heaven. I still go once in a while and it's still a beautiful stream, but the fishing has steadily declined as the population of NWA has risen. I'd give anything to see some tighter regulations (and enforcement of those regs) on that river.

Funny you should mention that Hoglaw, Because when he returned my call I was already on the creek fishing. I had to pull off just above a tricky shoal for about 10 minutes to finish the conversation. LOL

Never got to meet him other than a return phone call a few years ago. I had tried to call him on a Sunday morning for a shuttle but he was at church (I had found another shuttle by the time he returned my call). Seemed a good fella. My thoughts and prayers.

Was there enough water flowing over the dam to cause a strong recirculating hydraulic, and if so -- are there signs warning of it?

That's a chunk!

Between 4' and 5' feet on the USGS gauge would be optimum from Marble down to Rockhouse. 3.5' to 4' From Rockhouse down to Trigger Gap.

Thoughts and prayers for his family and friends. Always enjoyed reading his posts -- rest in peace Wayne.

Floated the Mulberry today. Caught several fishing a Clouser in the faster shoals, but not much size to them.

Probably a large rat snake on the rock. Snakes are concentrated (breeding) this time of year. They'll somewhat disperse in 2 or 3 weeks. But they're always there -- you just don't see them LOL. It's their turf. Please let them do their thing.

Caught a 24 inch female in the "trophy" area downstream from the Watts walk-in access yesterday evening. Not as big as the record fish, but a heckuva lot prettier. Fins and tail were in perfect shape! What's even better -- there was another one just as big sitting next to her when I caught her. Not sure if they stocked some big ones recently or if these are holdovers. I'd post a pic if I knew how to get it on this page from my old dumbphone. I texted a pic to my sis-n-law and had her post it to my Facebook page. If anyone knows how I can get it from FB to here, let me know and I'll post the pic!

Gonna try and hit it in the AM. Will post a report.

Jeannie -- nuff said...

Upper (above Broken Bow Lake)? Or lower?

Some friends and I broke out the yaks and paddled upper Richland. No fishing -- but an awesome day on the water!

Hoping for the upset too. On the bright side; a road loss to a #1 team we've beaten the last 3 contest shouldn't hurt us much in the polls.

You'll want the level to be OVER 4 ft. on the USGS guage. Preferably 4.5 or so.