chub minnow

You should be fine so long as you scout each and every strainer before attempting. I don't know what has happened since the last flood, but there are a couple of turns that are sure to have strainers all the way across. I'd bet my paycheck you'll be carrying around a few of those, but the fishing should be great. The smallies are pretty well into their spring - pre spawn routine. Look for 'em feeding at the end of riffles, current seams etc. during the early morning and evening. During the daytime they will hold in deeper water near cover, but they will be feeding if something presents itself. Again, if you use common sense, you won't have any problems. I would gladly run the powell to cyclone section by myself right now. If the level gets over 5 after tonight's rain, I might reconsider. It will be tempting to shoot the low water bridges you'll encounter (3) but I wouldn't recommend it. The 2nd bridge at Cyclone probably has the least deadly hydraulic, but I wouldn't chance it. To sum it up, unless the water comes way up, I'm jealous.

Ollie- You guessed it. She was right under that big root wad. (that used to be there? Probably in Grand Lake now!)

I almost forgot... I know you won't believe it, but we were up there last summer and saw a boy (7-8) who had a caught a largemouth that would weigh well over 6 lbs - easy. I wouldn't be surprised if it was close to 8 lbs. They said he was worm fishing for sunfish and hooked a small bluegill that was immediately engulfed by the bass, which subsequently got hooked on the worm hook. Supposedly the boys first fish. How do you top that? The fish I can vouch for, but the story sounds a little far fetched to me. Anyway, they are in there.

You should be able to catch some smallies, but I doubt the fishing will be great. I would definitely pack a few mustard bitsy tubes as well as some trick worms and you'll catch fish. If you are camping on the river two nights you should have plenty of time to do the whole thing. The creek is pretty fast up by Powell at this level. You can also cut a few miles off by putting in at Cooper's Ford. They don't like it when you put in there, but it is a county road that crosses the creek so it should be fine so long as no vehicle is left there. This cuts off a lot of slower water and puts you right at the first few good fishing holes. I know the Powell to Big Rock section like the back of my hand so if you have any questions on that part let me know. I definitely recommend getting up above Cyclone; no people, no roads, and lots of hungry smallmouth. B.T.W. If the gauge stays below 4.75 it will be a PERFECT weekend for the Big Sug. We did it at 4.65 and had a blast. Just be prepared to carry around a few (or few dozen) strainers.

I'd do it in a Colorado River raft, with a guide, a helmet, life jacket and rescue helicopter on standby.

As far as I know there aren't any real catch and release streams, except that all Ozark streams are, by regulation, catch and release during the spring spawning season. The Jack's Fork and Current River area would be great if you also wanted to hunt and trout fish. The Eleven Point and North Fork are great for fly fishing for both trout and smallies. The King's River in Arkansas has a trophy section that allows only 1 smallmouth over 18" per day. There would also be less people on this river than say the Current or Eleven Point.

Not that it will be a problem, but once the Powell gauge gets below 1.5-2 feet or 100 c.f.s. it gets pretty tough to float without some dragging. Best time to fish it though.

Big Sugar is very comparable to Jack's Fork, with a little less fall. In an open canoe without float bags etc. I wouldn't recommend going over maybe 5 or 5.5 due to strainers and several low water bridges. A kayak or raft is a different story, but still over 6-7 at the Powell gauge and the water at Pineville could be in the trees, it just depends on where it rains. We did it at 4.8 or so and were canoing down the road leading to a low water bridge near Pineville (Crag-O-Lea). Anything over 5 and I doubt you'll be able to get anyone to do the outfitting for you because the low water bridges will be impassable and the shuttle around is LONG. If it is low enough I would camp at the State Park beach just after the first (private) low water bridge. Just look for the State Park signs... if they're still there. The number for Creekside at Powell is (417) 435-2274 they can give you conditions at the put in and probably some current information on obstacles.

We put in at Owl's Nest, and went down to Sugar Island. It was a quick float with little opportunity for fishing but I did manage one nice SM right before we took out. There are several extremely dangerous looking strainers on this section right now so scout your line before you commit.

The ramp at Shell Knob by the bridge was clear on Sunday.

The damage is incredible on the Elk. Check this picture of Shadow Lake out. I never imagined the river being up there!

Beaver was definitely over flood gate level for some time. The water was up in county roads and private property way above the take line. The parking lot for the ramp at Goshen is torn up pretty good.

The gauge is at about 4 feet, 500 CFS right now. This is the perfect time to float the Kings. Just watch out for rising water due to upcoming rains. Here's the gauge site: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ar/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=00065,00060 or for the whole state: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/AR/nwis/current?..._no_station_nm=

The Mulberry River is tributary of the Arkansas that runs out of some of the wooliest country around here. It is one of the best class II-III-IV rivers in the ozarks. The Mulberry consistently has a gradient of over 10-12 fpm with great named falls that constitute most of this drop. It is, however, a horrible place to fish... well unless you like catfishing. People claim to have good luck smallmouth fishing but if you want to fish your time is better spent on the Elk or Buffalo.

I saw people catching whites above the 412 bridge as well as at the "dollar hole". I'm not sure if they are all the way up to twin bridges yet. It seemed like everyone in a boat was coming down a good bit from twin bridges to fish. I only saw small fish on stringers, but I'll probably give it a try on lunch anyway. We were planning to go out tomorrow evening, but I think it is supposed to rain the next few days and foul the water up again-- just when it was starting to clear up a little bit.

There are numerous places to rent canoes and camp in the summer, but it is somewhat more limited in the winter. I'm sure wacky worm would be glad to outfit you down at Hog Heaven. You can also probably camp there, Big Elk or Sugar Island. These places all have facilities. You can go upstream and do primitive camping on the Big Sugar at Owl's Nest, or possibly Camp Tilden or even Creekside - way up the creek. The water is high right now, and the best clear water fishing might be up Big Sugar. I would definitely recommend starting on Big or Little Sugar and floating into the Elk. It gives you some smaller water to fish with some great smallmouth numbers.

Bobber is correct that we are nowhere close to the spawning run, but that doesn't mean you can't catch 'em, it's just not going to be in any numbers. I have heard several reports of whites being caught between the War Eagle and Goshen. Maybe just one or two, but it only takes one nice white to make a meal!

I think I saw them hitting some shad early this morning just upstream of the 412 bridge. It could have been spots, but I don't think so. So you should be able to get into something a few miles downstream from Goshen.

Kentuckies, Spotted Bass, Spots. My grandmother always called them Kentuckies. She taught me how to catch 'em on live crawfish and my life was never the same.

The date is definitely off. I saw this picture in a magazine (Field and Stream?) last summer. Definitely a real fish though -WOW!

Welcome, and good choice getting Capt. Don to help you figure out the Rock. I've been fishing on Tablerock since I got my first Snoopy pole and it still mystifies me at times!

It gets pretty shallow upstream from Romp Hole. There are probably walleye feeding up there at night, but I have never caught one in the daytime. A self proclaimed 'Old Walleye Fisherman' told me that they stage downstream of Romp Hole in the deeper water during the day and go upstream to feed at night. There are a few deep holes a mile or two upstream of Romp, so I'm not sure of the validity of his statement, but it sounds reasonable to me ..... a guy who never catches any walleye. You'll at least catch some smallies and K's though. Almost guaranteed.

I'm starting to think that the winter is my favorite season on the lake. No jet skis, fireworks or (please forgive me) 300 hp bass boats screaming by with their hair on fire. The quiet can be almost deafening. I thought these pictures capture that.

JS-There is another access downstream. Check this link: mdc.mo.gov/documents/area_brochures/8307map.pdf I'm having trouble loading this right now, but it worked before. Let me know if it works for you.

I fly fished Big Sugar from the canoe yesterday. Things were slow on the fly, and I needed to hurry up due to the rain so I switched over to the spinning rod. Tried a green bitsy tube and trick worm to no avail, but once I switched to the mustard bitsy tube it was on. I caught a little smallie in the straight stretch just before Owl's Nest that put up a pretty good fight. I fished the big hole for a long time with both the mustard tube and a similarly colored fly on the 6wt. As I was getting ready to portage around a strainer at the end of the hole and reeling the tube back to the boat -WHAM! a nice 12" largemouth nailed the tube, and proceeded to put up no resistance coming to the boat. Just before the boat launch area at Owl's Nest I threw under a big tree onto what would appear to be a bed (lighter colored gravel). Before the tube even hit bottom, my line went tight and the fight was on. I was using a medium light spinning rod with 6# Fireline with 4' of 4x tippet on the end. I was very concerned that this fish was going to break off considering that he was spooling line off the reel pretty quick. I did finally manage to get him turned back towards me with the current and things started going my way. After two nice jumps his was in the canoe and we were all in a snarl of overhanging limbs that threatened to tip us over. Once I extracated us from the snarl I measured the little guy at just short of 16" and sent him back to his bankside lair. The stretch from there to the Big Rock hole is a little scary to navigate by yourself right now, so I didn't do much fishing until I reached the hole. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I put the fly rod away for good. No fish were caught in the Big Rock hole, and I was pretty sure the river was starting to come up. I basically just fished really prime looking spots as I floated by from there on out. The last fish I caught was maybe the most fun. A couple was driving by in one of the many areas that the creek runs right by the road. They slowed down and eventually stopped. She asked if I was having any luck and I replied "a little bit." She asked another question I could not understand, and at that moment -BAM- my line goes tight and I exclaimed, "There you go!". As they photographed me, I landed a nice little smallie. From there I booked it back to the takeout before my wife called out the rescue party. I did manage to hook into one more right before the takeout that was either huge or wrapped me around something. Either way I'll have to go back to get a look at that one. All in all it was a great day of fishing in completely miserable conditions. I would love to have some company in the future, maybe even a smallmouth fly tournament? Indian or Sugar would be great for this.