Kerr to Galena

[jdavis]

Floated from Kerr to Galena early Tuesday morning. Caught plenty of fish but more small ones this time (10"-12"). We did manage to find a couple of 15" smallies and one 17".

I am still getting used to fishing the river now that it has water in it. Last year you could pretty much tell where they were holding. How does everyone like to fish the slow deep sections?

[Al Agnew]

Slow, deep sections of Ozark streams:

I usually spend a bit of time fishing the heads and tails of big pools, and fish down from the heads until the current gets very slow. If I catch a fish where the current is slowing down, I will go ahead and fish a little farther down the pool.

But usually I simply paddle through the middle of the big, deep pools. Fact is, active smallmouths are very seldom in that water. It simply isn't where the food is. So, rather than spending time trying to find the occasional fish that is willing to bite in that water, I simply skip it and concentrate my efforts where I KNOW the active fish are.

[jdavis]

That has been my strategy in the past as well. However, with as much water as we have had lately, it seems like the current has been so strong in some of the trusted spots that the fish had moved to calmer water. Even fishing the seems and edies has been difficult in some cases without an exposed gravel bar to get out and wade from.