Poke 'Em

If you saw anybody come in from the soccer fields with a fly rod at about 2:00, that was my brother... just fyi...

I've been wet-wading for the past two weeks, as long as the air temp has been in the 60's or better.

The vast majority of that stretch does not look like that picture. It's much calmer.

Out west we love to keep small brookies (6-8"), just gut 'em, wash their insides out real well, and fry 'em whole. Just pull the meat off the bones when you eat them

What is the best flow for fishing for stripers below Zink? Also, how long does it take for the water to get from Keystone to Zink when they start generating? Thanks!

I guess I'd rather have an "I released a lunker" patch than a "Look how big this fish grew while feeding solely on trout pellets! What a trophy!" lunker on my wall... *ducks and hides*

Or they may be fish that had been in the river a year or so and had spawned out (explaining the rubbed fins). I caught some like that last couple trips over, and all the fish with fins like that appeared to be males.

There are some BIG sculpins in the Current. 6-7". A big meal for a big brown...

I'm thinking about making my first trip to the White tomorrow. Is there anywhere besides Rim Shoals that has wadeable water at 1-3 units? Thanks in advance.

Sounds like vote early and vote often.

oh. duh.

I didn't know there were brown trout in Crane.

PM sent

Well, at least I know how to start a discussion... IMO - and I'm admittedly selfish when it comes to fishing spots - there's no benefit to posting up fishing reports, unless you just want everyone to be jealous of you. (Now I'm not saying that's necessarily why those that post reports think that way - that's just how I think). While posting up a fishing report (for any spot, not just Crane) may not hurt the fishery and may not significantly increase fishing pressure, it also does run that risk - I don't think that can be denied. It's happened too many times, if not on Crane, then on other waters. So when I look at the risk/reward of posting up a fishing report, I don't see any reward, but I do see the risk of ruining a good spot. But like I said, I'm selfish when it comes to sharing fishing spots with people I don't know.

Internet scouting is very, very real. Just for an example... Over in Oklahoma there's a little lake called Sahoma. There are a few ducks that frequent Sahoma, but not many. It doesn't get much pressure though, as it's not widely considered a duck hunting hot spot. Well, last year, some guys held a little "experiment." They posted up a fake hunting report, complete with pictures, of great limits being killed at Sahoma. Of course, none of those birds in the pictures were actually killed at Sahoma. The next week, this lake that before rarely had more than 1-3 groups on it at a time was over-run with hunters. While Crane may not get a ton of pressure right now, it won't stay that way forever...

It's only hypocritical if I'm also posting fishing reports... And if you want to go ahead and post up your good fishing reports, that's fine... I just hope you enjoy seeing four other cars in the parking lot when you get there.

Because of the length of the laterals necessary to produce adequately on these wells, you aren't going to see a real high well/sq. mi. density. In some places, you may see as many as 4-5 wells per section, depending on production in a particular area. In terms of water, the biggest chunk of water use will come right after the well has been drilled during the frac. On a typical waterfrac, between 1 and 8 million gallons of water may be pumped into the well. After this though, there is relatively little water required for the well. There has been some talk of going back in and re-frac'ing wells several years later, but that trend hasn't really started yet.

Which probably has something to do with the number of fishing reports posted on the internet for all the world to see...

Right now, the vast, vast majority of the Fayetteville Shale play is in Central Arkansas, in the Conway to Searcy area. As far as chemicals go... everybody knows what chemicals are being used for water-fracing. Friction Reducer, an FR-Breaker, and occasionally a biocide and/or a surfactant. I'm not going to go into the chemical make up of each of those, but they're not that hard to find. Also, Halliburton is basically a non-player in the Fayetteville Shale right now. While there is a definite footprint associated with drilling (as you said, roads, pads, pipelines, etc.), most gas companies are moving toward "pad drilling/frac'ing", which is the drilling and completion of multiple (2-5) wells from a single pad. This significantly reduces the surface footprint. Furthermore, a significant amount of the water that returns to surface after a well has been frac'ed can be reinjected as frac water in another well. While it's not currently possible to use 100% flowback water because of the high salt content, up to 20% flowback water has been used. Before Chesapeake really got heavy into drilling the Fayetteville Shale, they had a small lake built (I can't say exactly where) that will supply a large portion of their water needs. I don't know where you got your 80% flowback number, but that's way off. I've never seen a shale well flow back more than 50-55% of the original load. 30-35% is more common. Also, I have never ever heard of flowback water being spread on fields. Maybe they do, but I've never seen it or heard of it, and I've frac'ed hundreds of wells. While it's true that the gas industry can put a huge load on the county roads, etc., the gas industry also pours a lot of money into those counties, which can then be used to improve the roads. If you look at any county where the oil and gas industry has had a lasting presence, the roads are almost without exception, in better condition than neighboring areas without an oil/gas presence. While it may be true that there's not enough manpower to completely regulate the oil and gas industry when it comes to environmental issues, the penalties for non-compliance have gotten so great that the vast, vast majority of companies are being exceptionally careful when it comes to groundwater protection, surface protection, etc. While yes, there are some issues to be concerned about (primarily water use, and oilfield traffic), the oil and gas industry, by and large, has done a great job in recent years of protecting (their a$$es) the environment, while providing a huge boost to local economies.

Yes, because killing a fish is definitely equivalent to killing a human. Perhaps he took the fish to a taxidermist and the ring was found there. The story doesn't say how the ring was discovered.

I fished below the park last weekend and caught two small (4-5") rainbows. Do you suspect these are just some little fish that accidentally got put out with the stockers, or do you think there might be some natural reproduction in that stream?

I've caught a fish (albeit a largemouth) with a hook coming out of its anus before. So they won't starve.

They'd been shutting the water off at midnight all week, so I decided to head up last Thursday night (Friday morning). Of course, the one night I go there, they don't shut off the water all night. I started by outlet 2, and shortly after I started Leonard stumbled upon me. Having never fished Taney or night-fished for trout, I was a little clueless. Leonard took some time and got me started. From 12:30 to about 2:30, I caught easily a dozen 'bows. Then it stopped. I moved up and down the shore a little bit with no luck, and eventually moved up to Outlet 1 where I caught a 17" Rainbow. No browns though. There were probably 8-10 cars there at midnight, none by 3 o'clock. I guess either everyone else experienced the fish shutting down, or just got frustrated at them not shutting off the water.

Hello all. I'm fairly new to the area (been here about 3 1/2 months), so I haven't yet experienced a full season of tailwater fishing. My brother was thinking about coming down from Indiana some time in the next couple of months for the fall brown run. My questions are, when does the run usually start (and how long does it last until), and is there any real chance of being wadeable water by then? It seemed like we were just getting close to having wadeable water when Gustav came through. Of course, it depends on what happens with Ike, but if we manage to avoid Ike, do you think it might be worth his while to come down?

Looks like it's back on again.