hoglaw

It was a brown maribou jig in 3/32 oz. I think it was one of the PJ's that Mr. Hall's company makes. It's just a straightforward trout jig - brown jighead, brown thread, bronze hook, and brown maribou. I suspect olive would work too. I don't know about the bright colors. I've been told that carp are primarily herbivores during their young life, but as they grow bigger they'll eat insects, crayfish, and little minnows. Don't know if that's true or not. I have heard of folks catching them on dry flies that imitate cottonseeds and mulberries. I know they'll eat a crayfish pattern too. On the few occasions that I was able to make a good cast in the field of vision without spooking the fish, they locked onto the jig and ate it 100% of the time. I didn't see any sniff it and pass on it, but they would not change directions or go too far for it. It had to be a good cast in front of their face. When I did, it was game on. Man it was fun, and I absolutely love that rod. The MHX blanks are sweet for the money, and I'd put this up against any G Loomis or St. Croix off the shelf that you could find. It still struggles just a bit with such a small jig, but I was pretty accurate out to about 30 feet or so. It can toss a fluke a mile with just a flip of the wrist. I thought those microguides might hinder the casting ability, but I swear by them now. My next build is going to be a crankbait baitcasting rod with micros. The only decision is whether to do a spiral wrap or not.

So I did an overnight on one of my favorite smallmouth streams this weekend with my little brother and another lawyer friend of mine. Saturday was an epic float day, and I sure hope you guys managed to get out. Beautiful clear day, warm, and very little wind. The wind yesterday was horrible, but I knew this going into the deal and we did most of the float on Saturday and fished hard with just a little water to finish on Sunday. The smallmouth were not cooperating. We managed a few, but it was one of my worst numbers trips ever. Maybe it had something to do with all that cold weather last week...I don't know, but we really struggled. That is until I decided to fish for carp the rest of the way down. I spent a good part of last week building a rod specifically designed for carp. I used an MHX hotshot blank, which is 7'6" I believe. It is extremely fast (stiff tip) but very light. It's made to use in shakey head applications I think. Anyway, I outfitted it as a spinning rod with microguides (see attached picture) as small as a size 3. It also has a Tennessee handle as opposed to a reel seat, and no wrap on the micro tip-top. I was trying to build the lightest spinning rod possible to throw maribou jigs as small as 3/32 oz while maintaining enough backbone to handle 20lb carp. That's a delicate balance, but I have to pat myself on the back because this rod preforms exquisitely. A little slower rod would throw these jigs farther, but I didn't want it to be overwhelmed by fishing something larger like a shakeyhead or a fluke. I threw all three applications, and it handles them all like a dream. Anyway, back to carp fishing. I've never done it on purpose before, but I've had carp try to nail my maribou jig on the little red while trout fishing. I figured they'd do it up here in the warm water too. It was 100% sight fishing. I never made a blind cast. Standing up in the canoe, I would spook most of the fish, but those I managed to sneak up on and make a good cast to would eat my jig 100% of the time. I didn't catch any of the monsters I've seen, but I did land this guy who was 14'8". On 6lb mono, it was a long fight and he drug my canoe down several riffles before I could finally beach to land him. Probably fought him for 1/4 of a mile of the creek. I think I'm converted. It's going to be tough for me to smallmouth fish these creeks when I know I can tangle with these brutes. Wonder what the line class record for 2lb line is on carp? May have to look into that this summer.

Guys, this was an early April Fools' joke - hence the winking smiley face. I did an overnight with my brother and a friend on the creek and was thinking - what would keep me from doing a float? A boy scout trip and a fraternity trip in the same day would keep me off the river. Anyway, Saturday was the prettiest day of the year for a float. Very little wind and bright sunshine. Unfortunately the cold front from last week really did a number on the fishing. We caught a few, but nothing to brag about....unless you're into carp. I caught a couple of carp that made the trip for me.

Wow, crazy stuff. An entire boy scout troop is doing a wilderness survival/canoeing expedition from Payat all the way down to Yellville. They'll be camping a few nights and eating bass by the stringer-full. Also, the UofA Sigma Nu chapter is doing their annual spring float with the tri-Delts somewhere in there. Should be beer bongs a plenty and some good music. If you're looking to fish this weekend, I'd steer clear

Fayetteville is in an MSA that is three times larger than Columbia's, which is still larger than Lawrence (which everyone agrees is a hole I think). Fayetteville is ridiculously beautiful, with far better looking women than either of the other two (this is a proven fact). The University of Arkansas has a better fanbase than Mizzou (my opinion), and doesn't play in the Big-Howevermanyareleft until Texas decides something else needs to happen. Our facilities are top notch, though I've had no reason to visit either of the other schools. I'd say we're academically better down here, but I have no basis for that other than having attended the Walton College of Business myself - though the basket weaving and communications programs are probably on par at all three schools which would be the more relevant comparison. I'm told we have a good keniesiology/PT department but I don't know. I feel like it would be easier to recruit here, but I'm definitely biased. I know it took me one trip each to WashU and SLU to know that I didn't want to go to school at either, but again, women were my thing. I'm sure we could all debate which school is better/worse all we want, but I know Northwest Arkansas is routinely voted among the best places in the country to live. I think most athletes have a pretty good experience here and lots stick around despite a stark lack of "cultural diversity." Does Mizzou have a coach yet?

Not sure how many folks check this forum, but Mike Anderson has returned home to the University of Arkansas. Not sure that he's the end-all be-all of basketball coaches, but his return here is long overdue and our program is in dire need of rehabilitation. I hope he's the right man for the job...he's certainly the fan favorite and always received a standing ovation whenever the Tigers came here. We now have the best football and baseball coaches in the country, bar none. We have some of the best facilities for football, and basketball, and the best baseball stadium and fan base in the country. Basketball looks to be on the rise with the return of Mike and a phenomenal recruiting class including a stud from St. Louis. It's a good time to be a Razorback fan.

I had a tough time out there today. Went past the first downstream shoal in the flatbottom and goofed around the big hole below it. Wind was horrible, and didn't want to go much farther as a result. Only managed one small male in an hour and a half of fishing. Most by me had similar results, but did talk to a guy with a supreme that had made a longer run and did quite well.

That pic's awfully small. Are those smallmouth or walleyes on the stringer? Looks like 8 dead smallies to me.

Went to law school at the U of A. Not a pig lawyer, though I seem to be encountering quite a few chickens in my practice as of late.

Lots of views but no reports. I'm going to give it a go this afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to report.

It's not uncommon for me to have two or even three different line sizes on my larger reels to save money, but I have never used braid as a backing. I'm with the other folks that said the other way around makes more sense.

Fished with the girlfriend yesterday. Was worried that the 15mph wind would make for a difficult day, as well as the forecast of possible storms. It never rained a drop, and the wind didn't work us over too bad. Water was a little higher than normal and I figured we wouldn't catch much. Boy was I wrong. What we didn't catch in numbers, we made up for in size. Here are two that we caught, one on a squarebilled crankbait that I let sit on the water for a second while I made a few paddle strokes. The second I reeled it after letting it sit, a biggun gobbled it. The second (bigger of the two) smoked my hula grub when I was fast cranking it to make another cast. The fish were really chasing baits a long way, but most were just followers. It's hard for me to fish so fast when the water is up, but I guess that's what they wanted. Boy am I ready for the warm water season.

I've always been a very dedicated canoe person. I have two, neither are nice, but they have served me well for a long time. In any event, my girlfriend absolutely loves to kayak. She will go canoeing (read - fishing) with me any time, but I know she would love it if I would get a kayak. Therefore, I'm thinking about switching over to the "dark side." She has a little one...a dagger something or other. Seems like a short whitewater/creek boat to me. I'm assuming that a fishing kayak and a whitewater kayak are at different ends of the kayak spectrum, and the best of each would not be good for the other use. I'd like a boat that is a "sit in" that I can use a skirt with so I can do whitewater, but at the same time a boat that would be suitable for fishing. When I canoe, I take a giant tackle box, four rods, and a host of other stuff I probably don't need. I'm not a minimalist, but I understand I would have to downsize for kayak fishing. I don't know much about storage capacities, etc., but what I'm looking for are reccomendations for a boat that would be suitable for doing whitewater and doing some fishing. I don't think I'd ever use it for overnight fish camping trips, though that kind of storage would be nice if it didn't totally rule out doing the mulberry or upper buffalo in high water. I figure if I really like the kayak thing, I'll probably get another "creek boat" suitable for doing some of the more serious whitewater stuff anyway. Anyway, I'm completely ignorant when it comes to kayaks, and I would definitely value feedback from the forum members.

It's almost exclusively a spinning rod type deal, though I've thrown a shakey head in creeks with a baitcaster before. I'm building a shakey head rod as we speak. MHX hot shot blank (7ft. extra fast spinning)with Tennessee grip and micro guides from the 4th through the tip. Looking forward to using it when the wind finally stops blowing 30.

Nice. I meant I'm at that wonderful time in my life when all of my friends/relatives seem to be getting married. Every weekend in May is shot it seems.

That's a heck of a long drive to get back to the weigh in by 4 or whatever it is. The only reason I wondered if lakes were allowed is the website says something about natural lakes and beaver ponds being off limits, which made me think that public access impoundments would be okay. Doesn't matter, the one I would have fished is outside the boundary anyway. Looks like it's a little closer to home. I'm almost certain my local flowing water choice would have some pressure on it now. Doesn't get fished much at all normally, but if they have fifty or so contestants, someone is guaranteed to realize it's there. I have a thing about fishing behind anyone else on a float trip. Summer is wedding season too, and I can't "prefish" in the two weekends leading up to the tourny. Oh well, I think I'll still give it a go. I bet it will be a heck of a good time and I look forward to meeting some of you guys.

If you told me I had to do a float on any given day and catch my three longest smallmouth, CC might be my choice too. I'm just concerned about making a 2.5 hour drive from the "weigh in" site and having to get back. You'd have to be off the water pretty early, which limits you to a quick float. I've got a couple of other places in mind a little closer to home. The one thing I couldn't figure out is whether this tournament excluded lakes. I saw something on there about no private ponds and no beaver ponds, but didn't see anything about impoundments. If you told me I had to catch the biggest smallmouth possible out of a canoe, I have two lakes in mind that are both public and in the general area, but obviously would have to plan differently if it's only moving water. Anyone know the answer?

I'm not really sure. You could google earth it and check. Cow to Swinging is maybe 5 miles? It's not a full day float for us. Swinging to Lobo is maybe 7 or so. We do both trips as little day trips, and neither take a full day.

I just put it on my calendar. This sounds like a blast. There was something in the rules about "no natural lakes or beaver ponds." Does this mean all impoundments are out and it's only flowing waters? Why didn't they just say it that way? Also, I couldn't find the boundary map of the fishing territory.

JFK to Lobo is a LONG float. We do JFK to Cow Shoals occasionally, but that's a &*%$# because you have to carry your canoe up the stairs at Cow. Cow to Swinging is good. Swinging to Lobo is a possibility too, but JFK to Lobo has got to be like 20 miles or something.

They were running water from 6 to 6. We got there a little too late to put in at swinging bridge - the water was already starting to come up. Put in at dripping springs instead and floated to Ramsey. Fishing was quite good from 10-12, then tapered off quite a bit after noon. Caught plenty of rainbows but no size to speak of. Beautiful weather and not too many other folks fishing. Saw two or three boats I think. Water was just starting to rise a bit when we took out. Nice way to spend a day.

I went over there one summer with my little brother and wanted to try below Yellville. I didn't have a clue on accesses or distances. I basically looked at a map and found the first place below Yellville to take out. It may have been 101. Not sure. Anyway, we put in at the city park in Yellville early in the morning and started heading down. I basically spent the entire float dragging a canoe through willow thickets and over gravel and thinking "surely we'll find a deep hole here soon." We didn't. It was absolutely brutal. We booked it as quickly as we could down to the takeout. Fortunately we were both young and in good shape, because after hours of dragging and carrying, we loaded up the canoe and hauled it to Kelly's slab with just enough time to float down to our original put-in vehicle at Yellville. Maybe with more water it's different, but we didn't even find stranded fish in the pools that still had water. It is not a trip I recommend.

This might be the least watched thread on the board, but figured I'd post anyway. Happen to be going down to Little Rock today so we're going to float the Little Red tomorrow. Not sure where yet, depends on generation. From the looks of the SWPP charts, generation has been twice a day for about four hours each time, so I imagine we won't have a hard time finding the right canoeing water. How has it been fishing lately?

Didn't realize they were widening highway 7. Did the state already have an easement for widening it, or are they condemning/purchasing one?

Was most of this shot on the North Fork or the 11 point, or was it a combination of both?