Ozarkfisherman

If you are floating on weekdays you should be able to float/fish, but weekends you might do better by wading the tributaries to Elk, like Big Sugar Creek or Indian Creek. Campground on Big Sugar is Sugar Island resort out of Pineville. They also manage the Big Rock campground. Both are nice camping areas with good wade/fishing. 417-223-4410. On Indian Creek, try Indian Summer Camp & RV in Anderson, 417-436-2550. For the Elk, Shady Beach is fine. Also in Noel, River Ranch resort--has a nice new mini-golf and convenience store, located on Shadow Lake. South of Noel on Hwy 59 is Bluff Dwellers Cave 417-475-3666, and across the State Line in Arkansas just north of Gravette is Old Spanish Treasure Cave. A little farther down 59 is Gentry and the Wild Wilderness Safari drive-through--good for kids. For hikes--Big Sugar Creek State Park on the river road near Pineville has some well-developed trails and a restroom facility. Nearby in Northwest Arkansas on hwy 12 near Rogers, the Hobbs State Park has some very nice hiking trails. To fish on weekends, try fishing early and late since most canoe trips won't start until later in the morning and most end fairly early in the day. Hope this helps.

It has been a while since we floated Elk below Noel, but my experience was that a lot of whites were in the river all summer. Don't know if there were hybrids available back then, but am sure there would still be a good run in the spring and scattered whites thereafter. Ditto on the less traffic--it is much less than the Pineville to Noel area--and the fishing is good-usually a mixed bag. We used to catch a big variety of fish by using Rooster Tails or Mepps Spinners, including Channel Catfish. Gary

Fishing Ozark creeks can be great for 'gills, green sunfish (black perch), goggle-eye, and of course smallies. For catching these mixed bags I like to use an ultralight spin rig with small spinners, size 0 or 1, Mepps or Rooster Tail or Panther Martin. You will, of course, catch lots of smaller ones, but I have caught all sorts of larger fish on these while never losing interest because of the variety. Favorite places for this? Big Sugar and Indian Creeks, upper Elk River--wading during the week--stay away on weekends unless you go really early or late--way too much canoe traffic.

During hot weather stick to the upper end of the lake. If you want to fish from a dock, get a room at any of several nice resorts and use their private dock. If you have a boat, there are a number of free launch sites. If you are into catch and release or trophy, try to get into the tailwaters area just below Table Rock Dam if enough water is generating. If you just want a few for the pan, you can bait fish from Fall Creek dock on down. Good luck!

Glad I could help. I taught from about 1990 until 2000. I was the Communication prof and debate team coach. Gary

Yep, I know Ed senior and junior. Junior is now helping to run the place and taking a more active role. Guess they had a really big weekend for Memorial Day. More rain fell yesterday--the river should be full this morning. I'm headed for Taneycomo today--see y'all later.

Go south of Anderson on Hwy 59, through Lanagan past Indian Creek Cove to the base of the hill and turn left just before Ginger Blue on county road to low water bridge. They have a RT. 2 Noel address and their phone number is 417-475-3326. For another option you might try Sugar Island resort on Big Sugar Creek--417-223-4410--I know the owners there and they do a good job.

I live in the Elk River area and all the feeder streams and the Elk are back to normal flow--even had some mud in Indian Creek last week. Conditions should be good in late June if we continue to get rainfall. Otherwise--you should probably check back nearer the time for your float. The watershed has suffered a lot this last year and the springs were all running very low prior to our recent rainfall. Total rainfall for May around 6 inches.

Hi to Fayette! I used to teach at CMC. I live in the Elk River area now, but haven't heard of Eagle's Nest. I will check around and see if someone knows which area this is.

Hi--I am a longtime Ozarks fisherman--used to fish Beaver Lake in Arkansas a lot. Live near the Elk River watershed in S.W. MO and know most of the good spots on Elk and its feeder streams including Big Sugar, Indian and Little Sugar Creeks. Have fished Taneycomo off and on for many years. Planning to visit again this weekend--wondering about river flows and current patterns. Thanks for the forum.