OKFlyFisher44

Scott SAS 9'0 8 weight, 3 piece fly rod -Medium Fast Action -Fighting Butt -Stripping Guides -Great Streamer Rod -Rod Tube Included This is a used rod but is in great condition and was only used a handful of times. Casts like a dream with a floating, sink tip, or full sinking line. Only selling because I don't have much use for it and need to clear out some gear. Message me on here or email me at chancemaxville@yahoo.com

We came over to the area on Sunday to chase some smallies amongst the crowds. We avoided the big river and decided to go fish a couple of feeder streamers in hopes of finding some fish and a little solitude. We took turns leapfroggin' each hole on the creeks as we worked our way upstream. The bite was a touch slow, nothing to get really excited about. We did manage to stick a couple of solid smallmouth but then just caught a handful of dinkers. Water was super low and clear, fish were spooookkkyyy! It was great to get out and do some wet wading on a beautiful day. We actually had some solitude on both creeks that we fished. Pretty tough to beat... On a side note, there was a couple of spin fisherman fishing in front of us when we put in on the 1st creek. We fished past them pretty quickly but when we went by, I noticed they were dragging stringers that had smallmouth on them Good smallmouth too. I thought you couldn't keep any gamefish in MO till after the holiday weekend? Correct me if I'm wrong. I asked them about it and they gave us some lame excuse so we just went about our business. Use the link below to read the blog post about the trip... http://okietroutbum.blogspot.com/2012/05/searching.html

It should be rather floatable by canoe or kayak right now and very floatable if the rain raises the flows any at all. For the long float, do Pineville to Mt Shira as I believe it's around 8-9 miles? Tons of good water to fish and it's a nice float. For the short float, I would do Riverside to Mt. Shira as it's 5-6 miles I think? Or you could float Indian Creek from Lanagan City Park to the confluence with Elk River and then float on down to Mt. Shira. Contact Russ at Hog Haven for shuttles. They r great folks...

Chasing carp on the fly is a blast. Only issue I see with the Arkansas is visibility as carp fishing is usually a sight fishing affair. All the carp fishing I have done has been on small clear creeks where u can spot and stalk them with an upstream approach. They r hard to beat on a 7wt as u will normally get to see ur backing with each hookup.

Ur typical baitfish patterns like clousers and deceivers will work. I use an 8wt with a sink tip line. As far as where to fish, they are everywhere up and down the river. Just gotta put in the time to find them.

Yeah I have caught a ton of the baby stripers down there. They will make ur heart stop because they eat a fly just like their larger siblings so u never know. We haven't been out this year for stripers, busy chasing trout and smallies!

Early mornings were the norm for us. Soon as the sun would hit the water, the bite would turn off. I firmly believe they feed at night and into the early morning. Then just lay up all day. I could be wrong though.

There r some serious pigs in there. Last year, our Striper season was shot with the floods because the holes that they would hold in and the flats they would feed on...all changed on us! But the previous years on the LIR, treated us pretty well... Oh well...we will find them again!

Lol. Just giving ya a hard time. It's no secret that stripers swim up the LIR to spawn every year from the Arkansas. I believe there r some resident fish in the river too. Finding them and getting them to eat a fly is the challenge : ) So worth it though.

The guy at Bass Pro is lying...

Stripers? What stripers : ) ??

I haven't been down there myself and none of my crew has made the trip. Haven't heard any reports from the other regulars either. Striper season has been a little sketchy this year...bet we had a good spawn though.

Jim....don't be holding out on me now!! Yeah I was throwing a #6 black circus peanut, I normally throw a #2 articulated streamer on the NFOW and the White. Sometimes even throw a 1/0 on the White.

Check out the blog post for the trip! http://okietroutbum.blogspot.com/2012/04/traditions.html?m=1

Some more pics from the trip...

Well I threw some #24 griffiths gnat and then some #26 tricos at them, couldn't get an eat. It was tough. I went back to the tan micro caddis and was able to pick up several fish but it was not very consistent.

Yes, the cahills were buzzing around with the caddis on Friday evening. On Saturday evening, I don't really know what they were feeding on. Hoping someone could shed some light on the situation.

A few pics from the trip.... Try to post more later or just check the blog for more pics....

My favorite trip of the year happened this past weekend as the crew and I descended upon the Current River for the 4th year in a row to camp and fish the Blue Ribbon section of the river in hopes of epic caddis hatches, big browns, and good times. Half of us arrived on Thurs night to get a jump on fishing while the rest of the crew arrived on friday evening. On friday, we were met with cool temps and rainy weather as we woke up and creeped out of our tents. After a quick breakfast, we took to the river via Tan Vat and went to work. We spent most of the morning throwing streamers in hopes of turning a big brown as well as mixing in a little nymphing in the more technical water. The streamer bite was decent as we caught small browns and rainbows while turning/hooking up on a few bigger browns but couldnt stay hooked up. After lunch, we switched up gear and decided to do chuck a bobber while we waited for an evening dry fly bite. The bugs didnt disappoint us either as around 5:00, small caddis started to push up the river as well as some tiny mayflies began to come off. The fish began to look up and the bite was on. We had an epic evening of throwing dries while having the whole upper section to ourselves as we fished our way back to camp. Micro tan caddis and light cahills did the trick for us. We made our way back to camp and awaited the arrival of the rest of the crew as we ate dinner. On saturday, we had absolutely beautiful weather with sunny skies and mild temps as we hit the river. We all split up and fished various sections of the blue ribbon water. Fishing was good, nothing lights out but we found enough fish to keep us entertained. Tricos started swarming the river around 11:00 as well as some more tiny mayflies. A few fish were looking up and gave us a few dry fly eats but nothing too consistent. We mostly stuck to the bobber chuckin' with various bugs bringing fish to hand. Eggs and caddis stuff were good under the bobber and small olive streamers stuck a few fish right before lunch. The following evening gave us another HEAVY caddis push which was very cool to see once again. The fish began to look up once again but the bite was pretty tough. They were eating the caddis that would drop/skate on the surface to lay eggs but they were keying in on another bug....one that we couldnt figure out? I watched 3 fish feed for at least 5 minutes and never could actually see the bug they were eating. We were able to catch a few trout on the tan micro caddis once again but it was hit and miss. We packed it in and headed for camp to enjoy a night of great food and adult beverages. On sunday, we were slow to get around and get geared up as the wind was blowing pretty hard. We all split up and fished different sections till around 1:00 before we decided to pack it in. The wind was a constant pain in the butt and made the temp seem cooler than it really was. We did manage to stick a few fish by chuckin' the bobber with an egg, SJW, or a sowbug underneath it so the day was still a success. We called it good and loaded up the trucks to head home.... Another awesome spring time trip to the Current, next year will be the 5th anniverary of this trip and it just keeps getting better and better.... Love this river....

Right on Sean! Its been fishing good. Need to keep having some warm days and nights to keep them active. Give me a shout. I will get u dialed in on directions, floats, and shuttles. I am leaving tomorrow after work to head to the Current River for our yearly trip up there or I would try to join u next week. EHammer, glad to hear u love ur boat. I love my HeadHunter as well. Perfect boat for the weekend warrior and all of our Ozark streams/rivers. I have floated the White on 20,000 cfs in my boat and it was no issue.

EHammer...Sweeeeeettttt boat! I need to get in on the action with u and Sean. Would be sweet to see 3 Clacka Headhunters rolling down the NFOW. We haven't been since March and I'm missing it. We have been chasing the smallies in the drifter. Speaking of that, Sean, when we gonna get ur boat on some smallmouth water son!

Get with Russ or Jean Ann at Hog Haven to set u up with a shuttle. U can access the river at Pineville, a couple spots along HWY H, and at Mt. Shira. Mt. Shira is just up the road from Noel, MO and HWY H runs out of Noel on it's way to Pineville. Lots of good water in those areas. Have fun!

Justin...anytime u wanna make the trip, just let me know. We will put the sneak on some McClouds!

I hope ur right! We haven't made it down there yet with all the high water.

That pretty much sums it up right there. Crane is not a freaking secret. Everybody that has trout fished in the Ozarks knows about it more than likely. And it's reputation for being TOUGH, snake infested, hard to navigate, etc always comes up way before any talk of big fish does and it always will because it's true! I don't know why everyone is getting their feathers ruffled about anglers posting fishing reports. I have fished Crane for the past 5 years and 9 times out of 10 I am the only one on the water. I only fish it on the weekends too. Do I believe there is more pressure now than there used to be? Well duh! More and more people r getting into the sport and are wanting to explore other fisheries besides Taney, Roaring River, or whatever. But I also believe that 75% of your typical weekend warrior fisherman will come to Crane, get their butt kicked, decide it's not for them, and head back to their favorite honey hole at a stocked fishery. Or they will catch a few of your run of the mill 10" McClouds with their 9' 5wt rod they almost broke 10 times just getting to the creek, call it good, and probably not come back cuz it was too much trouble to catch some dinks. I can understand and appreciate everyone wanting to "protect" the resource but keeping a couple of fishing reports off a forum isn't the way to do it I believe. But maybe I am wrong? I understand the logic but not on a regionally and nationally known fishery like Crane. If you wanna protect the resource, keep buying fishing licenses and trout permits so MDC can buy more public land, donate to TU, or just let people know why ur in Crane when u r getting food or gas so that the locals r reminded of the resource they have that is bringing revenue into their town so maybe they will help protect it themselves. I don't know. Maybe I am wrong but that's just my 2 cents. This is a dead horse and I finally got sucked into beatin' it. Ok, off the soap box for me...