White River Around Twin Bridges

[jdelow77]

Going to float from a few miles above twin ( a friends land ) to private take out point a few miles below , what type of gear should I bring ? Crappie ? Bass ? I've never fished that stretch this time of year ! I'm clueless about this stretch this time if year ...

[Amery]

It's gonna suck. I'd fish top water and soft plastics. Might manage a few bass.

[hoglaw]

Yep. It sucks. And that really sucks because it used to be so good. 2002 or 3 was my last good bass summer out there. The year of the big flood when they built the bridge and ramp. That was the last of it.

[jdelow77]

I remember back in 98 or 99 ? We use to fish at the Richland bridge and it was actually deep there , a friend caught an 8 pound plus Largemouth ! We use to catch decent sized catfish out of there too , but yeah like you said when the new bridges went in it hurt the fishing big time !

[hoglaw]

I don't think I ever caught an 8 out there, but I did catch a spot that was just over 7. Big enough to make me check the state record (7lbs 15oz at the time as I recall). We used to just dominate big fish out there. A trip without a 5 was a lame trip. All we ever fished were spinnerbaits and weightless trick worms. We threw other stuff, but those were the top producers. The crazy part is our very best hole was the 200 yards or so right below the 45 bridge, and even under the bridge! You could spend all day out there now and not catch a nice bass. The water quality used to be so much better too. I think that has to do with runoff/effluent from the treatment plant by Wyman, or at least that's what someone told me on here.

We always canoed it. My uncle owns a place on Blue Springs (it's about to sell I think) that's about 20 acres, and his property goes to where Mill Creek and Richland come together, just a couple hundred yards below the Richland bridge. So we'd park at his house, walk down the mountain, and unlock a canoe that was chained to a tree. We'd walk/float it down Richland and fish the river. About the same time as the fishing started to suck, someone stole that canoe. A red old town. Don't remember the model.

So It's hard for me to say whether pressure or water quality ruined that area. I think it's some of both. I've floated from Tuttle Road down to the Richland bridge as well. Haven't done that in years. I bet there are still some decent fish along that float, but it's a bear to do and just not worth it anymore. It's the worst decline of a fishing spot I've ever seen in my relatively short life. Really makes me sad.