King's River

[Ham]

Fished the King's from Rockhouse to the 62 bridge Monday thru Wednesday with Chef Cajunangler.

We caught fish, but they were running very small and > 80 % ( that's right 8 out of 10) had been caught before. Catch and release works, but it also shows there is lots of fishing pressure.

ALSO, I caught a spotted bass above Trigger Gap so it's only a matter of time before the spotted bass take over and the smallie fishing goes all to hell rendering the river worthless AND to make things worse I also saw an otter which is going to eat all the smallmouth the river has now.

Recent high water had mopved a lot of gravel and made for easy firewood gathering. CA made some mighty good eats. We found good gravel bar accomidations both nights. His tent even survived the tough surprize thunderstorm we got Tuesday night. Thunderstorms are a lot more INTERESTING from a small tent in the middle of BFE.

Water level was low but floatable for the most part. Lots of interesting strainers. I wonder if the outfitters are giving folks the heads up on those?Tough to know before you go since there are few gauges on this river.

The shuttle was a bit of a bitch since the road into Rockhouse is crap. The put in and take out are over run by people looking for a swimming (or bathing) hole. Knuckleheads running their 4 wheel drive jeeps thru the take out area while we are trying to load out isn't great either. Arkansas or Berryville really needs to spend a little money on road repair at the HWY 62 access as well. You need W/O 4 wheel drive and high clearence on your vehicle or it's going to be a LONG hump from the river with your gear.

Had fun, caught fish, saw more snakes than usual which was nice, but not looking to go back until later in the fall or next spring.

[Al Agnew]

Actually what little I've been on the Kings, there seems to be more spotted bass upstream from where you floated, as well as below the 62 bridge. Whether they were always there in such numbers or whether they've been colonizing it from Table Rock is the only question. Since they are native to the river system, I don't have a lot of problem with them.

The Buffalo is full of otters, too...

And by the way...it's funny, but I've noticed a lot more fish with scars and damage around their mouths in the few floats I've done this year than I can remember. What the heck...is everybody pounding these rivers more than they ever have before? I'd think that maybe something else is causing the sores and scars, but on Big River I caught one 15 inch smallie that had a hook still stuck in its lower jaw, so I guess it is catch and release fishing that's causing it. Still...it's surprising, given that the rivers haven't even been fishable for much of the spring due to flooding.

[Flysmallie]

ALSO, I caught a spotted bass above Trigger Gap so it's only a matter of time before the spotted bass take over and the smallie fishing goes all to hell rendering the river worthless AND to make things worse I also saw an otter which is going to eat all the smallmouth the river has now.

I think you are worrying about this a little too much. The James river has seen an increase in the spotted bass population the past few years and it's had plenty of otters for as long as I can remember, but it seems that the quality and numbers of smallmouth have not diminished. You have a river that flows into Table Rock, you will never stop the spot invasion. But don't worry I don't think you will see a decline in the smallmouth.

Here is one caught last week on the James. Caught right at an access with people swimming all around. We caught a lot of smallies in that area but this was the best of the bunch, right at 16.5 inches.

[drew03cmc]

I think you are worrying about this a little too much. The James river has seen an increase in the spotted bass population the past few years and it's had plenty of otters for as long as I can remember, but it seems that the quality and numbers of smallmouth have not diminished. You have a river that flows into Table Rock, you will never stop the spot invasion. But don't worry I don't think you will see a decline in the smallmouth.

Flysmallie is right. There is nothing wrong with spotted bass in that river, they are native to it. There will be no invasion and your smallmouth fishing will remain as it has been.

[Cajunangler]

Sorry guys. I hate to tell on my fishing buddy but he actually LIKES seeing the spots and the otters. I think he was trying to use a little sarcasm and that is always a little difficult using the written word. I guess he could have added an emoticon to help with the translation.

We did have a good time and prepared well with regard to food and drinks. My thoughts on why we caught so many previously hooked fish centers more on people staying closer to home with regard to R&R this year with the higher fuel prices. ALso, we have had warmer that usual weather during the latter weeks of May and early June. I would imagine that all of these factors have created more pressure on local waters.

Ham and I have decided next time we will find a stream that has far less or even no local outfitters providing assistance with access points. This might help elminate some of the added traffic. With the heat moving in we are probably done until fall weahter kicks in for any more overnight adventures.

If you've never been in a small dome tent during a severe thunderstorm I highly reccomend it. We didn't know if we were going to become airborne or if the tent was going to implode. Luckily, neither of those occured but it was a very intense 2 hours we would both like to have never happen again!!! Our wives probably thought we were simply taking a gamble but the truth is NO inclimate weather was predicted prior to our trip. Only small chances of rain and nothing about the possibilty of severe weather. Oh well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Ham's a little older than me and slept through some of the event but if it was my time to go I at least wanted to be alert when it happened. I was very happy to see the moon pop out after the trailing rain moved on and I was finally able to get some much needed sleep. I am blaming lack of sleep on why he caught a few more fish than me on the final day.

[troutbum479]

I've fished the Kings the past two weekends.The ratio between spots and smallies is no comparison. There are far more smallies than spots. My opinion the Kings has gotten better over the past few years. I've seen more big fish between Rockhouse and 62 bridge than past years.

[Ham]

The number of spotted bass caught was significantly below one percent. We each caught one over the three day trip.

Maybe it was weather related, but I have caught much larger fish in years past than we did this trip with the exception of a fine River Redhorse (maybe) that VA caught inside the mouth on a Hula grub. I guessing that t was 4 pounds or so. It really pulled its butt off. CA was unimpressed and swung it back to me to take the hook out for him.

He hogs the choupique too!

Next time I fish the King's it will be higher or lower in the river and earlier or later in the year. Translated = I won't be fishing Rockhouse to trigger gap during the traditional fishing months.

[troutbum479]

The Rockhouse to trigger gap section is the most popular section to float. The river is getting almost to low to float, but perfect for wade fishing. We've seen some big Redhorse also along with some big catfish and carp.