another smallie report 5/5/06

[Brian Sloss]

Had some guys float Cane bluff to Greer to hunt smallmouth. The water was high and pretty murky, but they still managed a fair number of fish. Grubs were not working, but crank baits were. They landed one trophy sized smallie. It measured almost 19 inches and they estimated its weight between 3 & 4lbs before letting it swim away. That is all for now.

[Wayne SW/MO]

If the water will just go down, I think I overdid my wishin'.

[snap]

what is the river level at this time? Better yet, so I can get the picture, how much higher is it now then last October, my most recent trip? Plans are for three of us to spend the week starting Thursday before Memorial Day on a gravel bar...hoping the gravel bar is still there!

[Phil Lilley]

There is at the top of the Eleven Point forum a topic-link that has two links to USGS sites giving water level and cfs.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ar/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=00065,00060

This one indicates levels are alittle higher than the mean but not by much.

Brian or someone close to the river can do better in describing what it looks like compared to another period.

[Brian Sloss]

The river is cresting at about 1 & 3/4ft above normal (not too high) and is moving at a good clip right now. We are not expecting any rain through the weekend and the river should continue to recede. The water was pretty brown above Greer today, but that was the condition when the big fish mentioned above was caught. Greer spring is dumping some clear water into the river now, so it is murky below Greer, but not as bad as upstream. The trout fishing will be tough for a while the water recedes a little, but the smallies have been biting pretty good even in these conditions. Crankbaits have been most effective in the murky water.