hoglaw

You going to be running the lower Elk in it?

I believe that's the dam by the ball fields at Noel. Cool spot.

Anyone fish either of these? I've been goofing around at the office a bit this afternoon and they both look pretty intriguing. I don't need fishing reports - I'm sure they're both loaded. If you have any information on pressure or preferred stretches that you wouldn't mind sharing, I'm all ears. I've mapped both of them out and I know where most of the accesses are, and it looks like quite a few kayakers hit the South Fork of Fourche down by Lake Winona. That's a beautiful area and I'd imagine these are pretty memorable floats. The Glover looks awesome. Does it get much traffic?

For me it's a hula grub or a single tail grub on a weedless jighead.

For the record, we call those black and white furry animals "skunks" here in Arkansas. They make excellent pets and I suggest you grab the next one you see. If one appears agitated and raises its tail in the air, don't worry; this means he likes you.

So what are some of the opinions being thrown around for those of us that can't attend? Are they talking about banning gravel bar camping? Beer?

Seems to me that that shakey-heading and throwing a "small" crankbait are dead-opposite applications. For a small crankbait, I'd want a 7ft. medium speed medium-light action rod. For the shakey head, I'd want fast or extra fast action in a medium to medium heavy, but those are just my preferences. If a rod is "versatile" that just means you're sacrificing performance on both ends. Of course, we're also missing how and where you intend to fish these rods. Are you talking about throwing rebel crankbaits for trout? Rapala jerkbaits for bass on open water or little creeks? I think the rod is the most important piece of equipment, and even though you can get by with an inexpensive one, I'd make sure it's tailored to your exact applications. I think this is especially true in lightweight rods.

I know this is an old thread, but I'm thinking about heading to the Illinois this weekend and doing some combination of the places mentioned above. Point of information though, the old bridge has indeed been closed and the roads leading to it as well. The roads were abandoned by Benton County a few years ago and the farmer who owns the land on both sides of the roads now owns the roads too. There are big locked gates on each of them. That was a nice present from Benton County.

Maybe they're disappearing like the bees? I wonder if Al Gore has something to do with this......

When I was growing up down south, we ALWAYS fished with catalpa worms and they never seemed hard to find. When I bought my house in Fayetteville a couple of years ago, I noticed a 20 foot catalpa tree on my property. Two years later, the thing hasn't had a single worm on it. It's mature, it has pods and everything, but no worms. Today, I noticed that one of the trees by my office off Dickson St. is a thirty five foot catalpa, but it doesn't have any worms on it either. Now, when I was growing up I didn't ever notice a catalpa without worms. Do these trees have to be innoculated somehow? Are the moths that lay the eggs not found this far north? What gives?

If you're that worried about the looks and spacing, just put on a new tip, remove the T-1 guide and split the difference between the tip and T-2. I'd imagine this is an option even if it's a travel rod and it should have no effect on action.

10'8" largemouth caught on Wednesday in a private lake in Hot Springs on a Horney Toad. I'll get the pics off my phone when I can.

I flyfished a lot in college. I went once or twice a week to the Beaver tailwaters, and once or twice a month to the Norfork. My favorite ties for the beaver tailwaters was a hot pink softhackle (with the thread spun to create a segmented thorax). I remember one January that there was a serious snow/ice storm in the forecast, and I knew campus was going to be shut down for a couple of days. I hopped in the Honda and high-tailed it to the C&R section (the middle of it right on the big fan above the long hole above Parker Flats). This is a wadeable area that drops off to 12 ft. plus. Anyway, I hit the river and went right to this spot. I caught a dink here and a dink there for about an hour or so, when all of a sudden the bottom fell out on the snow. The sky got dark, the wind got still, and GIANT snowflakes started falling. Everything got absolutely dead quiet. Right then you would have thought you were in the middle of a school of white bass. Trout started going crazy everywhere! I was hooking them on every cast when all of a sudden a monster smashed my soft hackle like a bass hitting a frog. I didn't have a camera, ruler, or witness, but the brown was a skinny 25" plus fish. It's deffinitely my biggest out there. Bottom line, I think a big trout will eat anything that's in its wheelhouse as long as feeding conditions are right. If they're hungry and looking for high swimming bugs, a soft hackle might draw a strike. If they're in chill mode munching on scuds and sowbugs, they probably never even notice the soft hackle. This is especially true out west when big fish in skinny water will come out of their holes to wack one surface pattern, but not not another.

327 views with 1 reply... So right about now hundreds of folks are flocking to the golf courses and pea ridge I'm guessing.

Funny how "sensible people of the United States" (generalization of those who would actually forward this email) didn't do much speaking out when previous administrations overtly attempted to bypass the real bill of rights.

I'm with Lilley Russ. The wife and I (we're married as of May 2nd) will probably come up in a couple of weeks or so. I may do an overnight there if the water gets down quite a bit.

That many canoes oughtta make the water level come up a foot or so. I think the conditions are right for a perfect storm in southwest Missouri. Are you guys going to have a live band down by the river again this year Russ?

Who needs waders in August? If they're not generating, man up!

Lowest water in the hottest part of the summer.

What did you catch your fish on? I drove over the river last night. The water is deffinitely up and off color, but it's backed up fron the lake and it appears a little clearer than I would have expected.

I'm thinking about heading out to the river after work today (unless the wind is blowing 30). Are there any whites or hybrids left up in the river? I'm launching my canoe at twin, but I've got a trolling motor and am thinking about running up Richland. This time of year, the key is finding a pack of Asian guys. I hear that's the best indicator of where the fish are.

Anyone here used an RX8? I'm in the market for a few super-premium blanks, and for various reasons, I want to get something other than Loomis. The RX8 and the GL3 blanks are pretty comparable in price. I assume some of the big bassin guys have them or have friends that use them. Just looking for some local reviews. Otherwise, what do you tournament guys use for your super-premium rods? St. Croix, All-Star, Falcon?

Between Ponca and Buffalo City?! That's about 3/4 of the river, so I'd say your thinking is on track. Any of the floats from Mt. Hershey down are fine for fishing. The big outfitters are Wild Bill's in Yellville, and the Buffalo Outdoor Center (Marshall maybe?). Outfitters must have federal permits to run shuttles or rent canoes, so I think some of the smaller ones have sold out. You used to be able to rent a canoe or get a shuttle from just about every business in the area.

I'm not sure what model it is, but I have a 6 ft. GL3 baitcast rod that's rated for 6-12 or 6-14 (can't rememember). It's an awesome smallmouth rod, but I use it for wading and creeking, not on a big boat. I didn't want the extra length of the bronzeback. They're the same price roughly. I'm sure the bronzeback is all that and a bag of chips though.

Funny this topic should come up. I've been asked by a local fly fisherman to figure out how to build what he considers the perfect rod for the middle fork of the White River. He wants something that's six feet (or shorter) with the equivilent backbone of a five or six weight. I'm going to expiriment with a couple of ideas - stripped mag spinning rods rated for lures up to a half ounce, cut blanks, or anything else I can think of. I'll probably build one on an ultra slow blank and on a faster one to see how things work out. I'm new to the custom rod game, but I think it's going to be a fun project and I think there would be a few folks that could use one.