Ozark Sweetwater

The offer has been made, all you have to do is pick the date. It is a little creepy but since i know ya....

Clacka or Towee.

Hit the river with a couple good guys Sunday. The streamer bite was a little slow, (although we did catch some on several different baitfish patterns) so we switched up and started throwing some crawfish patterns. The results were good...

Here's the added pics as promised.

Thanks guys. Ben has some more pics of a couple other really healthy fish we picked up.. I'll post them up as soon as I get them.

That will work. Looks good to me.

My buddy and fellow guide,Ben and I have been talking about doing a smallie float together for quite some time. Saturday was the first day that we were both free so we took advantage of it. There was a 40-50% chance of rain (which is needed) but it never really threatened us. We had off and on cloud cover all day. It rained on us for maybe 5 minutes in 12 hours of floating. The morning started slow but things started heating up around 11. It stayed good until 3:30 when it really slowed up. Chartreuse and white streamers were the go to flies of the day.Numbers were good with a few really nice fish landed. Unfortunately I didn't take that many pics but here's a couple.

Here is some new info on the hatchery funding.... About $5.2 million in a federal omnibus funding bill should be enough money to keep federally owned and operated fish hatcheries near Norfork and Greers Ferry going through 2015. Mike Oetker, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southeast Region, told The Baxter Bulletin on Thursday that hatcheries are included in the most recent omnibus funding bill. He said officers of the FWS, operators of the hatcheries, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, owner of the hatcheries, agreed to move funds for Arkansas hatcheries to a Corps of Engineers budget line item. So, the funding for the hatcheries will come from the Corps, he said. "(The Arkansas hatcheries) are in the president's budget that Congress has approved," Oetker said. "This is the normal way the hatcheries are funded." FWS will continue, as usual, providing staff and biological expertise to run the hatcheries. The $5.2 million will support Arkansas hatcheries and seven more in other states. Oetker told a public meeting of the Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery here in March that funding for the hatcheries, and negotiations between the Corps and FWS, were complete. It was the first time anyone from Fish and Wildlife Service has come here to talk to us Leon Alexander, President of Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery Leon Alexander, president of Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery, said he left the meeting feeling confident about Oetker's report and hopeful that FWS or the Corps would announce the funding and operating plan. "It was the first time anyone from Fish and Wildlife Service has come here to talk to us," Alexander said. Hatchery funding, renewed by the president and Congress annually, has become more iffy than ever since the onset of The Great Recession and related federal budget cuts — all compounded by the Budget Control Act of 2011, also known as the "sequestration" bill that lops more than $1 trillion from federal agencies and programs over the course of a decade. Alexander says the funding crisis, as it has played out with hatcheries owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, underscores the need for a recurring funding measure that takes the funding debate away from agency heads. Multiple federal agencies are partners in a half-century-old agreement to replace fisheries displaced in the creation of hydroelectric dams, but they have no mandate to fund the hatcheries. "Letters were actually sent to the Tennessee hatcheries informing them they would close," Alexander said. That lit a small fire under bureaucrats, the public and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, of Tennessee. The senator reportedly brokered a deal with TVA for $900,000 a year to run the hatcheries through 2016 while a permanent funding solution for the hatcheries is worked out. The Tennessee Valley Authority, FWS, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Georgia Department of Natural Resources hosted a public meeting in Knoxville on Tuesday to hear comments on long-term funding recommendations. An Arkansas effort happening through federal legislative channels may be getting support for the first time from lawmakers from other states. Alexander says an Oklahoma chapter of Trout Unlimited is attempting to bring that state's congressional delegation on board with U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, of Jonesboro, who sponsors a resolution that could become the National Mitigation Fisheries Coordination Act.

This won't happen. The dams would have to be removed and I don't see that happening anytime soon. The feds need to hold up their end of the bargain on all the mitigation hatcheries,not just the ones in Arkansas.

It is a major concern for The White River System. Basically if Greer's and Norfork hatchery close there will be no trout to put in the rivers. There is some natural reproduction of the browns but very little if any, with the rainbows. With the current regs, it would take no time at all for these rivers to be fished out. If the trout go, so does the economy in Mountain Home,Norfork ,Gassville,Flippen.Cotter,etc. Just think of all the resorts,restaurants,fly shops,tackle shops,and guides that will be out of business. It's a scary proposition.

There's always the bridge piers at James.

I'll be on the lookout for your artwork on the trains around Tecumseh and Gainsville. Nice work Brian.

All of the shots were taken using an Olympus TG-2.

Sulphurs are starting to show up. The caddis hatch is dwindling some, there are still some around the Cane Island area but pretty thin above that.

Yep, there are a few up there.

Thanks! it was a memorable day.

You do have my phone number.

I had a day booked with my buddy from Tennessee. We planned on hitting the water in search of some smalljaws. Well, I received a text late the night before, “I have a major issue at the shop and it’s not looking good.” I knew it was going to be a slim chance that he would make the trip. I received confirmation that Todd was definitely not going to make it. I was disappointed but the boat and gear were loaded so, I had to make the best of a bad situation.

14 and 16 on the EHC and 14-18 on the midges.

On min flow the typical flies have been working, ruby midge,Davy's white tail midge,prince nymphs, and Clint's Sunday special.There has still been some sporadic caddis action so I would have some EHC and some caddis pupae as well.

There is no felt sole ban in Arkansas.

I don't know much about the weight and draft of a 16 ft bass tracker but I would say with the current flows, you would have a tough go of it. If you're running a jet you may have better luck. It can be done but you will have to be wiling to drag it up or down several shoals no matter where you put in. On another note the fishing on the Niangua has been pretty good lately. Good luck.

It's a great addition to the fleet. It's versatility is amazing. I have had fun with it since I got it but this run with the motor and the technical rowing, really proved to me that it is an excellent craft.

Trout will forever be my number one quarry but over the years the bronzebacks have become a close second. Here in the Ozarks we are blessed with a large number of streams that the smallmouth bass call home. Whether you prefer wade fishing small creeks or drifting the larger rivers, there are plenty of both to pursue these hard fighters. Once spring hits our attention turns from the salmonids to the smallies. Waiting with anticipation for them to move from their deeper wintering holes to the shallow water, foraging for baitfish and crawdads. It was time to check out one of our streams to see if they had made the move and to give the Towee a test run with the new motor. Arriving early at the boat ramp, there was still a chill in the air. We droppped the boat in and Chris took the first round on the bow. After a slow start and a few fly changes, Chris got the action started. Chris and I switched places, and I started off with a small bow and a few little smallies. We moved downstream, putting the Towee through it's paces dodging log jams and motoring through the frog water. In a deep tailout, I landed a nice little brown that just crushed my streamer. If you're interested the full report is on our website at www.ozarksweetwater.com

It's starting to come up pretty quick. It will probably be muddy for a few days.