Crooked Creek Angler

My biggest was 21 1/2" on the lower Buffalo, but this picture was handier. A solidly built 19 3/4" also from the lower Buffalo 2 years ago I think. Early fall on a spinnerbait. Put up a great fight. Had another over 20" on the Buffalo and one on Crooked Creek as well. But of course the ones that have gotten away were EVEN BIGGER! 😇

Still a few nice rainbows to catch on the North Fork. This one caught in July wasn't measured, but was probably in the neighborhood of 19".

Have you made your logistical plans? I would strongly consider Shipp’s Ferry boat launch on the White river as your take out point. Would definitely recommend getting a good map of the river in order to track your progress. How much time are you planning to take for the float. This will make a big difference on what you need. You also need to have a good idea of water levels and how the level can impact the trip. I’ve done this trip over twenty times and would be happy to help you out with more info. I have a detailed list of items to take, meal plan ideas, etc. Would be easiest to send some of this stuff via email.

Lots of opinions on what make an expert, or what makes a good fishing day and I would guess just about every one of them are correct. Your perception is your reality in many cases. Been fishing for smallmouth on many creeks and streams, mostly in north central Arkansas and south central Missouri, for many years. For most of those years I've enjoyed one of the biggest blessings that a creek fisherman can have and that is a good fishing partner to enjoy it with. We are like minded in how we like to fish and our enjoyment of the experience. Never any competition, but lots of encouragement and occasionally some good natured kidding. I am genuinely tickled when he catches an 18+ and it goes both ways. While we really enjoy the whole experience, we do have a standard for how well the fish are biting, (you notice I did not say how well we are catching them). Our proficiency has probably gotten a little better over the years, but generally it's the conditions and the fish that dictate how many we catch. Fishing-wise we hold about 10 fish per hour to be the standard for above average biting (counting bass only). This doesn't mean that if we catch 3 fish per hour it's a bad day, it's never a bad day on the creek, but they're not feeding at an above average rate. I will emphasize that we are not typically fishing for numbers, but rather decent-sized to large fish. That's not saying that we won't downsize lures on a tough day to hopefully get a few bites. Also, like Al has mentioned, we like to stay in the canoe and keep moving, fishing for active fish and rarely getting out of the canoe to fish. I will say however, that as we are getting older we tend to lose count of our FPH (fish per hour) rate a lot more than we used to and end up having to make a swag at it at the end of the day. Our record rate by the way was 23 FPH. That day beat anything I've ever seen and was our best day by a wide margin. Be interested to know if anyone else keeps track of their catch rate per hour? Like about everyone else has said it's all about what YOU enjoy and doing it YOUR way. I do know that we are blessed to live and fish in a wonderful part of God's creation.

This depends heavily on water release at either location. At the moment Bull Shoals dam has flood gates open and I would not recommend fishing in those conditions. Taneycomo may have similar conditions. I would explore other options and take a rain check on the trout fishing until conditions improve.

It's easy to get online and check Buffalo river levels to see if it's floatable. At the moment it is a tad high for good fishing for my tastes, but definitely floatable. It is coming down daily, by is of course heavily dependent upon rainfall. Research river level and weather forecast about a week before and plan accordingly. best of luck!

I'm guessing that about every decent smallmouth stream listed on this forum has 18 to 20 inchers in it. I'd pick a few streams closest to me that I could fish regularly and spend a lot of time getting to know them. I've caught 4 or 5 fish over 20 inches and one over 21, but it's taken me 25 years to do it! In my opinion, there are a couple of situations that increase your odds of catching a really large smallmouth; 1) fish after a warm spring rain that raises and stains the creek throw a big spinner bait, 2) fish a lot at night, not many people do. Good luck!

A good floating buddy of mine and I do this float about every year in late Sept. early Oct and have been doing it for about 20 years now.. Most years the leaves are barely beginning to change at this time. If you want some real color mid-Oct would be better, but the weather is a little more unpredictable then too. We usually leave Rush early in the morning, (close to daylight), and do the trip to Shipp's Ferry in 2.5 days. Then again we get up super early each morning and pack up camp before daylight so we can get on the water right at daybreak. We seem to catch the best fish before 9:00 AM. We usually cover over 10 miles each day fishing at a fairly fast pace and not staying at any one place very long. I would recommend buying a good map with mileages on it to keep track of where you are on the river to get a good feel for how long it will take you or when to pick up the pace, (or slow down), when you need to. If you have the time it would be nice to do it in 4 days and 3 nights and take it a little easier only doing around 7 miles or so per day giving yourself more time for camping, cooking and fishing. Like Hoglaw says, the river level means a lot. I've done the trip in a day and a half before as well when the river was up and rolling. All in all, a great time to float the Buffalo, typically good weather, not many people, and good fishing. I think our record for total number of bass, (we don't count bluegills, catfish, and the occasional gar that eat our lures), is 317 in a 2.5 day float, (that trip was at 300 cfs). But that was back when we used to keep count. Nowadays the number of fish are not as important. Hope you have a great trip and remember when on a long float to always take the chicken trail ! Maybe we'll see you out there... p.s. - I'd recommend Shipp's Ferry as the take out as well.

Actually I believe that I have the National Geographic Buffalo National River East map. You can find it on Amazon and other places. They have the West map there as well if you need the whole river. I haven't floated the entire thing yet, but I'm working on it!

I have a great waterproof topo map of the buffalo river that includes the lower end and shows the river with mile markers and all the trails. I can't seem to find it online though. I'll grab it when I get home and get you the information.

I live in the Mtn. Home area and fish for stripers occasionally. The only technique I use is, which is a very popular one, is slow reeling a large stick bait after dark. The standard is the 5" floating rattling rogue but there are many stick baits that will work. I've had luck on large rapalas, bombers, yoziris, you name it. Just get a little more than a long cast off of a flat, shallow point almost anywhere on the lake, cast toward shore and reel in very slowly. Works best when water temperatures are between 45 and 65°F with the sweet spot probably somewhere in the 50's. On a good night I might catch a dozen, but a normal trip for me is usually 1 to 4. Most of the striper fishing is done near the dam, but I've found that stripers are almost everywhere. Closest launch sites from Springfield would be on the upper section of the lake, Calamity Beach, and Pigeon Creek. Probably be a good idea to arrive an hour or two before dark and get familiar with a few points that you may want to fish after dark. Good luck.

I can give you a good bit of first hand information on the lower end of Crooked creek below the 101 bridge as I have floated it probably 6 or 8 times over the past 20 years and waded parts of it many times. Let me start by saying that about 1/2 mile below the 101 bridge the water comes back up and the creek always has water there, (at least it has in the 26 years that I've lived here). There is now an AGFC landing there. You have to take a left at the hill top prior to the 101 bridge and follow the signs. It's around 9 miles from the 101 bridge to the White river. The creek in the summer time is a series of pools usually connected by no more than a trickle, when it's dry it can be 100 yards or more between pools but some of the pools are quite long and deep. If you are young and hardy you could probably drag a kayak down this stretch, but you would be tired at the end of the day. As you might expect there are considerably more largemouth than smallmouth in this section and some of the largemouth are true lunkers. I've caught more largemouth in that section over 5 lbs. here than anywhere I've ever fished. Floating this section is obviously very water-level dependent and is generally an option only in the spring. I wish I could tell you the cfs reading at Kelley's Slab that would correlate to a good level on the lower end, but I don't know what the number would be. Even at a "nice" water level canoe floating is an adventure. Because the stream does have stretches that are normally dry, there are plenty of willow thickets to negotiate through and a fair number of tricky bends twists and ill-placed laydown trees. All in all it's not for the faint of heart. It may be that Google Earth has revealed all secrets, but that doesn't negate that fact that the middle stretches of this section of creek are usually darned hard to get to as there is only the one public access. Rest assured that this stretch sees considerably less fishing pressure than most places you'll find. Whether it's a hidden and magical place is a matter of opinion... The area near the public launch gets fished a good bit by wade fisherman and I haven't caught as many good fish near there as in years past. I can also tell you that there is permanent smallmouth population in this section and I have caught a few over 18" there and have no doubt that there are bigger ones to be had. In the summer time the water does get quite warm and there are a considerable number of cottonmouths in the area. I've been fishing the upper end of Crooked creek for years and have seen 2 or 3 cottonmouths total. On a warm summer day on the lower end it's nothing to see 6 or 8 cottonmouths on the lower end, (I'm not talking about brown water snakes, these are the real thing!) I'm not particularly afraid of snakes, but I do try to give the poisonous one's plenty of room. In summary the lower end of Crooked creek 1) Does hold some really big fish, (mostly largemouth), 2) Isn't floatable all that often, and when it is floatable it is an adventure, 3) Has low water and a thriving cottonmouth population in the warm months. 4) Doesn't get much fishing pressure in the middle of the stretch, (a few people wade down when the water is low and a few boat up when the water is high). My days on the lower end are about over, but if you are in good shape and up for an adventure I would recommend giving it a try. ps- I've also floated and fished the section between Yellville and the 101 bridge several times. The first 4 or 5 miles below Yellville can be pretty good, but the section below that all the way to the 101 bridge was never good fishing. This is to be expected, because this is the section that goes bone dry during most summers.

Any idea on when this access will become available for public use? Will it be after completion in 2016? Really appreciate the updates.

Soft plastics usually do well, flukes, zoom lizards, senkos, various grubs and tubes. If the water is running strong like I think it is, you'll catch fewer but bigger fish on spinnerbaits and crankbaits with few snags. Never hurts to try a few top waters also. Have fun and be safe..

You can read it in old threads, but I would also suggest taking out at Ship's Ferry access on the White river, which is about 6 miles below the mouth of the Buffalo. It's not always a guarantee that you can paddle up the White to Buffalo City. The trip down the White also allows for some bonus trout fishing. It will add about 2-3 hours to the float. 300cfs is my favorite water level, but I've went down when it was considerably higher and lower.