Crooked Creek is as close to a true riparian watershed as we have in the area and when we get regular rains you find the flows go from reasonable to insane in just a few hours.
I have noticed on CC that where a creek comes in has a gravel bar next to it, even Georges creek which doesn't run half the year(way less than half the year this year)
You can definetly tell where the gravel mining was but thankfully the fishing hasn't been degraded too much below there.
The first one I bought was the banjo minnow back in the late 90s. It worked pretty good. there was nowhere near the selection of baits that there is today. The flying lure worked pretty good too. It was good for getting under boat docks and stickups.
Shamwows are awesome.
get a glass or plastic trap and put a full sleeve of saltines in. face the opening downstream and leave it for a few hours. Your wasting your time with a cast net. If the fish arent fast enough then the rocks will catch it. The only other option is a seine.
with 26 miles between launches it makes LOTS of wilderness. When we floated the lower buffalo we saw many holes that were over 10ft deep even with the water as low as it was(gauge was at 2.6)
The other factor is there is always food for big smallmouth in the white river in the summertime.
I personaly like shawnees more than supremes because of the design of the bottom.
I have seen a 20ft riverboat on CC before but the water was flowing alot more than it is now.
from riverton to myrtle the water is very easy going. CC is far rougher.
My bet would be either go from hwy 14 to the white river. I think it would be a great float in april and the river would be deserted below rush. Unless the water is high boats cannot get more than a mile or two up from the white(depending on generation on the white).