Upper To Middle Buffalo River Report 05/07-10

[DaveMac]

Fished 16 miles of the upper Buffalo (Pruitt to Mt. Hersey) last week. Trip also included a foray into the Richland creek area. Monday started out overcast and cool, but a rainless front moved through Tuesday making for cold (upper 40's) conditions starting out in the mornings but mid-70's by late morning and the rest of the day. Stayed at the Front Porch Inn at Jasper - the Ozark Cafe is not to be missed! - and used Buffalo River Canoes. BRC is awesome - I highly recommend them as outfitters - they put us on the river each day and shuttled our car to the take-outs with no problems and great rates.

Two main points of observation on the trip. First is, the area is seriously dry, maybe the driest in 25 years according to Jesse at BRC. The river was very low and clear. The upper section from Ponca down to Pruitt was not floatable, and the rest down to Mt. Hersey included lots of dragging through the shoals. Not a lot of walking but enough to make those interested in just canoeing complain about the conditions. Second point, the smouthmouth fishing was outstanding, especially Tuesday when the skies were overcast. Best stretch for us was Pruitt to Hasty. The fish were where you'd expect, places with good current going into rocky and gravel holes at the tops of pools, and they were very aggressive. The problem was, because of the low water these places were few and far between, especially as we made our way downstream (the river tends to flatten out and widen). Many times we'd say - this would be a great spot if there was more water...

We spent more time fishing frogwater and marginal places than I like. We would throw soft plastics and let them sit and the fish would come up and take them and you'd set the hook. These were mostly smaller (8-12 inchers) fish, the bigger ones were in the current.

Although the river is low right now, it is drop-dead gorgeous (a term my son uses to describe girls but I use to describe smallmouth streams!). Richland is very cool, big boulders with pools containing very aggressive (but small) fish. If you go to Richland, watch the poison ivy. It should be the state plant of Arkansas as it grows just about everywhere. The attached photo shows the average size fish we were getting in the fast water and the condition of the river. All in all a great trip but those guys need some rain real bad.

[budman]

We were there at the same time but fished a little down stream. Baker's Ford to Tyler's Bend and then to Gilbert. We to thought about trying Richland but opted for Crooked Creek. We found the fish about the same and you, mostly smaller stuff but each of us caught at least one in the 15-16 inch range. Tuesday was our best day and wish the clouds would have stayed around. Had to hunt for some shade to be able to find any fish. The water was really clear and the fish were spooky. But we had a great time and looking forward to when we can do this again.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Thanks for the report. We need rain, just not a bunch at once.