Smallie Report On The Elk

[c & r]

I finally got to try a late fall smallie trip on the Elk today with a good friend. I had heard the water was up a bit because they were lowering the level of Lake Windsor in Bella Vista. Russ checked the water for me at Hog Heaven, and said the river was up a bit, so we decided to give it a try. Ronnie at Riverside gave us a shuttle to the public launch in Pineville about 1:30 P.M. today and we floated back to his take out. The temperature was fantastic, but the wind was tough. Right in my face for most of the day. I was really hoping for a great day of fishing because of the on coming weather change. We got off the water about 5:30 and landed only 9 fish. One nice 15" largemouth, 2 smallies about 17", one 15 1/4" and the others quite small. However, hooked 3 others that felt really solid, but I never got to see them. All caught on a tube. Tried a spinner bait, jerk bait, and a rapala, but only the tube got any attention. The part of the trip that was the most surprising was we only had to get out of the boat 2 times for a short walk. I really don't think the water release from Lake Winsor had much effect on the water level.

I guess that is it until next Spring.............