Report 6/2

[zthomas]

Did a solo float--my first ever on Crooked Creek--from Kelly's slab to Yellville. Had to do a moderate amount of dragging--maybe 6 or 8 times--but not too bad. Fishing was tough though. Obviously, the water was very low and clear, with minimal current, and the fish were spooky and not in an eating mood. Got some ambitious little sunfish on topwater stuff, but no bass. Switched to a crazy-dad and got a few little smallies and one decent one. Still a nice float with perfect, not-too-hot weather. Got off the water at 1 p.m. and went over and waded the walk-in access on the White right above Wildcat Shoals and caught a bunch of 10- to 14-inch rainbows stripping streamers.

[joeD]

Ouch. I guess I might in trouble father's day weekend. That bad zthomas?

Also. How's fishing from your "vehicle?" Intrigued. Concerned about oars, maneuverability, ease of fishing etc. Most importantly, stability.

[zthomas]

Honestly, I love the boat, although it does have its shortcomings, the main on being that it doesn't glide like a canoe. Rowing through long pools is definitely a bit of work. On the other hand, it's super stable. You don't even have to think about swimming. I run class III whitewater in it in the winter with my kayaker buddies. It's also, in my opinion, easier to fish from than a canoe. When you really want to work a pool, you put on fins and you can kick it around like a float tube--not as well, but better than having to put down your rod and pick up your paddle every time you want to move at all. Rowing takes a bit of getting used to if you're accustomed to paddling, but once you figure it out, it's way more maneuverable than a canoe. Because you're pulling against the current, you can more or less stop in mid-rapid and ferry to one side or another to get around obstacles. Here's a couple more pictures that show the boat better...

[joeD]

Thanks Zach. Much to consider. Rowing through long pools is a chore anyway, even with 2 people. I'm old and fat, and for some reason, I feel less stable in a canoe than I used to. And it seems I'm doing more canoe controlling than fishing. I have a solo canoe that I use, but, in reality, I'm a social animal, so I'm usually with a partner. Still..

How does it do in low water? Or a windy river? Kinda looks like the Buffalo in those pics. An easy river.

Point being, my biggest question mark, those oars. I'm in Missouri, not Montana.

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, rowable craft like that are great in big, fast rivers, not so great in the slack water of a lot of Ozark streams. As I've said before, I have a Watermaster personal raft that you row as well as use with swim fins. Even out in Montana on the Yellowstone, there are times when I have to turn the thing around backwards and put some muscle into rowing to get down a long stretch of slower water, especially with an upstream wind. I have really thought about getting one for the Ozarks as well (even though they are more expensive than a toon or even a good solo canoe). But I don't think it would be as useful on the kind of smallish to marginally floatable streams I fish in warm weather. Every craft has its drawbacks and its advantages...just depends upon what you like the most or the least.

[kkparks_3]

I saw a couple of pontoons last year on Crooked Creek rigged with trolling motors (no oars at all). Those guys were just cruising along going wherever they wanted. I had always ruled out the pontoons because of having to deal with oars, but after I saw that it made me think that might be the sweetest way to go.

[diamondback#5]

fished crooked creek thur. at kellys slab before the rain, it was reallly low and clear, probably as low as I have seen it so my expectations for catching fish wasn't very high, but I was to be pleasantly surprised. lucky for me the weather was cool and cloudy because I had to probably walk about a mile and half down stream before I found some deep water that looked like it would hold some desent fish. I took my flyrod and my spinning rod in case one technique worked better than the other started fishing with the spinning rod first and used a small pumpkin colored slider soft plastic bait threaded on a 1/32oz. crome headed jig and started catching smallmouth and rock bass/ goggle eye. the smallmouth weren't very big at first, but the smaller fish that I was catching began to attract bigger smallmouth and before long I had on a 17in. smallmouth. after the 17incher I began to catch bigger smallmouth in the 10 to 12in range, I really lost count of how many smallmouth I caught and I probably caught more rock bass or just as many than smallmouth. I was really surprised when I switched to my flyrod and caught 2 carp on a #12 olive woolybugger. I caught some more smallmouth and rockbass on the fly rod before I just got too tired to catch another fish and desided to call it a day.