Dry Run Bounties

The Dry Run Creek trout, although as abundant as ever, were tough customers this weekend. Apparently, a couple hundred school children have fished the creek during special outings in the last week or so, making the fish far fussier than normal. That didn't mean that Nathaniel, Hunter and Michael couldn't catch any trout. It just meant that they had to add more finesse to their presentations and had to work harder for their fish than normally would be the case. Their best lures were small Lindy Watsit Grubs and Fuzz-E Grubs, fished with dead drift presentations.

Great Expectations

Having spent a couple of  prior days at Dry Run Creek, an Arkansas special regs trout stream that caters to young anglers, Nathaniel and I had high expectations when we arrived at Collins Creek. In fact, Nathaniel came armed with a steelhead net, instead of a trout net. I was also excited because unlike Dry Run, Collins includes a short youth/adult team section.

A tributary of the legendary Little Red River, Collins Creek has regulations that read much like those for Dry Run. Also similar to Dry Run, it is in the Ozarks, beside a hatchery and adjacent to a trout-filled tailwater. Turns out the similarities end there -- at least that was where they ended yesterday. We found a creek that barely had a flow, and where Dry Run's pools stay loaded with trout, we didn't as much as spook a trout in the small creek. Nathaniel did have a couple of slaps at his lure by chubs, but that was the only fish life we saw.

Maybe water flow and trout habitat vary with hatchery operations and discharges into the creek and we just came at a very bad time. Hopefully that's the case because it appears a lot has been invested to create very nice access to a pretty section of creek that, with more water and trout, could provide a cool opportunity. Either way, I'm glad that Collins Creek was a quick side adventure to our main plan, and that Nathaniel gets to fish Dry Run Creek tomorrow!

Arkansas Trout Tomorrow

Nathaniel and I are in Mountain View, Arkansas for the Dulcimer Jamboree, and it looks like we'll have time to do some stream exploration tomorrow. I think we'll head just South of here to the Greers Ferry tailwater area and see what we can find. This section of the Little Red River is a fabulous trout fishery that produced a former world record brown trout. There's also a small special regs youth stream in the same area that I'm sort of curious about. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, I'll have fresh trout photos to post!

Almost May?

It seems odd to me that when Nathaniel and I return from Arkansas in less than a week the calendar will have turned another page and it will be May. Seems like last week I was walking on ice. Of course, there are still fish to pursue before we bid farewell to April. Along with watching Nathaniel catch trout from Dry Run Creek on Sunday, I get to do join in striper/largemouth fishing on Norfork Lake and then spend a day on the Spring River, which is one of my favorite streams for multi-species float fishing. The 2012 species list is currently at 18. I wonder whether I'll add any before page turns to May.

Ready for Dry Run Creek

Nathaniel has been busy changing out hooks and gathering tackle in anticipation of half a day at Arkasnas' Dry Run Creek. We leave for Arkansas tomorrow. Dry Run, a special regs stream that is an  absolute gem for young fishermen, comes on Sunday.

Nathaniel has removed the trebles from several Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish and Tracdown Minnows and put a Daiichi Bleeding Bait bait style hook on the back of each. Only barbless single-hook lures may be used a Dry Run Creek, and those two lures armed with that style of hook have been his most productive baits on past trips. He also packed a steelhead net because he's landed one Dry Run fish that barely fit in his trout net and has seen a few that wouldn't have fit, had he gotten the chance to try!

Nathaniel is aware that his opportunities to fish Dry Run are numbered. It's a long ways from Georgia, so we only get out that way so often, and he's fast approaching the age where he won't be allowed to fish any more. Maybe we'll bring Asher then, and he can fish vicariously, like I do now!

Congratulations Tommy Skarlis

Iowa walleye pro Tommy Skarlis won the FLW Walleye Tour opener on the Mississippi River. FLW photo by Brett Carlson.

After all the fish had been weighed at the FLW Walleye Tour opener on the Mississippi River, Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa had tallied nearly 9 pounds more weight than his nearest competitor. Skarlis' 72-pound, 8-ounce three-day sack earned him his seventh major victory as a walleye pro. Skarlis seems partial to spring fishing because five of those wins have come during the month of April.

I've gotten to fish with Tommy Skarlis a few times and have done some story and photo work with him, and working with him is always a pleasure. Therefore, I'm always delighted to see his name atop the leaderboard. Congratulations Tommy.

Trophy Bass From Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area

Georgia fisheries biologists weren't surprise by the 13-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass they caught while doing sampling work at Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area. Fishermen probing the same 106-acre lake caught and released 46 documented fish that weighed more than 8 pounds during February and March of this year alone. Ten of those fish weighed more than 10 pounds.

The lake has been intensively managed by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division with an objective of creating opportunities for anglers to catch trophy-class largemouth bass, and the plan obviously is working well. The biologists' strategy includes low-density female-only stockings and and a strict catch-and-release requirement.

One of several special areas managed with fishing as the primary objective, Ocmulgee PFA is located in Bleckley and Pulaski Counties. In addition to bass, the lake also offers good opportunities to catch bluegill, shellcrackers, white crappie and channel catfish, with good facilities for fishermen. In addition to the larger lake, the area also offers a 3-acre kids-only To learn, visit the Ocmulgee PFA page on the Georgia WRD website.

Jumbo Bream Allure

They don't jump or don't flash spectacular iridescent colors, and a REALLY big one weighs less than a fairly small version of most other popular game fish. That said, genuine jumbo bluegills possess tremendous allure. Big bream are brutishly strong, and they attack baits with sometimes-ridiculous gusto. However, I think the greatest appeal lies in the fact that a jumbo totally defies what a bluegill is supposed to look like. They are so far from the norm that they almost don't seem like the same kind of fish that crowd the banks in every cove and that I caught with bread balls on No. 16 hooks from the banks of neighborhood ponds when I was a boy.

Whatever the reason, I'm no different from most other anglers I've been around. As many opportunities as I have enjoyed to fish all over the country and even in other countries, I still get absolutely giddy at the prospects of swimming a Road Runner past a cypress tree and having it hammered by a bluegill I won't even be able to wrap my hand around once I land it.

Yet Another Hookset

I suppose I shouldn't complain, given that photos were a major objective of the day, but it seemed like every time made a decent cast, I'd barely begin working the bait when Nathaniel would once again set the hook hard. That meant cranking in my offering in a hurry and scrambling for the camera so I could get shots of him landing and displaying yet another chunky largemouth.

Nathaniel coached me on what he was doing: He was throwing a YUM Houdini Shad with the tail reduced to a fork and with the bait rigged weightless on a 2/O Daiichi Bleeding Bait Red Wide Gap Worm Hook. He was working the bait slowly enough for it to stay out of his sight, watching the line carefully and setting the hook hard at any unusual movement. Line watching was critical because he felt very few of the bites and the fish weren't hanging on long.

I did my best to follow Nathaniel's direction, and I did manage to land a few bass by doing so. That said, he obviously was picking better targets, making more accurate casts, putting a different twitch on his bait or doing a better job of detecting strikes, because the number I caught, even by using his overall approach, was only a fraction of what he continued to catch.

Nathaniel getting in such a good groove really was great for me, photo-wise. More significantly, though, it was fun watching him figure out a pattern, refine the approach and execute it well -- and the be rewarded by catching bass all day long.

The Pond Boss

"Why?"

That's the question Bob Lusk is famous for asking, and I'm convinced it's a huge part of what makes him so good at what he does. The publisher of Pond Boss magazine and pondboss.com and a highly sought fisheries biologist who specializes in pond management, Lusk asks questions about everything -- and he truly pays attention to the answers.

Asking "why?" helps Bob understand the needs and desires of the folks who seek his services services. As importantly, it helps them think through their own wish lists and better prioritize objectives. It also helps him get to know the people themselves, and relationships are critical to every aspect of the Pond Boss' unique job description.

The same curiosity causes Bob to never stop learning about fish and the places they call home. He may know as much about pond management as any man living, but he'd be the first to tell you that he understands very little. He's continually asking himself why a certain plant has shown up in a particular pond, asking others about their own areas of expertise, asking pond owners what they have observed on their own waters...

Twice I've gotten to spend time with Bob Lusk, and twice I've walked away with so much new understanding of various topics. More importantly, though, the Pond Boss leaves me inspired to do a better job of asking questions. I'm very blessed to get to spend time on the water with so many knowledgeable and interesting people, so I need to take advantage of every opportunity to learn all I can and then share what I learn through writing.

New Homes for Basss

As much as I enjoyed catching big bass and bluegills last week, one of the most fun parts of our most recent trip was helping stock 350 big bass into Richmond Mill Lake. We ran loads of 10 or 12 fish at a time all over the lake and released them into their new home with a net. Here's peek at scene.

Sore Thumbs Again

Nathaniel wasn't complaining when he told me yesterday that his thumb was sore again. Anyone who spends much time bass fishing knows that the "sore thumb condition" is a good thing. It means that you've been grabbing a lot of chunky fish by the lower lip and that their sandpaper-like teeth have worn the skin a little thin on the inside of your thumb.

We were returning from a visit to the King Fisher Society, where Nathaniel had enjoyed a day and a half of doing battle with some of the chunkiest bass on the planet. With neither of our thumbs quite recovered from fishing at Jimmy Houston's ranch a week or so ago, it didn't take many fish to start making them raw again, and Nathaniel was hauling in big bass at a pretty good pace yesterday.

King Fisher Society's Richmond Mill Lake is probably best known for the amazingly big coppernose bluegill that call its dark waters home, but Nathaniel had a hard time putting down the bass rod when he kept ending up with 3- to 5-pound largemouths at the end of his line. Of course, King fisher's bream are so big that they can work on your thumb a little, too. You almost have to lip some because you can't get a hand around them!

Twitter Test

I was mostly curious whether I could figure out how to add a Twitter follow button to a blog post. If it works, I suppose the next step will be to add it to the home page. Wherever the button lands, I hope you'll use it and follow me on Twitter!


Follow @jeffsamsel


I hope to have cool reports in the next few days, by the way, but I may not have access, so we'll see.

Barbless Only Please

"Remember we pinch all our barbs," Jimmy Houston reminded Nathaniel and me as we we stood by my truck, rigging rods with YUM Dingers and other offerings. We were visiting the Houstons' Oklahoma ranch and were just about to hit the lake for a few hours of afternoon fishing.

Only barbless hooks may be used on Jimmy's lake, which is the epitome of sound fisheries management. Bass, crappie and bluegill are all fat, healthy and abundant in this 125-acre lake, which also offers a perfect blend of grass, timber and open-water habitat. Banning barbs allows for quickl and simple releases and helps keep the bass in great condition.

Nathaniel and I boated somewhere around 100 fish in an afternoon and a morning, and while I missed my share of strikes due to faulty hook sets or other factors, I cannot think of a single fish that either of us lost and that I think we would have landed had we had barbs on our hooks. On the other hand, I can remember a few specific fish that took baits quickly and got hooked deep. I was able to slip out the barbless hooks easily. With barbs, I'm pretty certain some of the same fish would have bled and been kept out of the water much longer and might have become marginal release candidates.

Our experience has been exactly the same at Dry Run Creek, Nathaniel's favorite special-regs trout stream in Northern Arkansas. Keep the line tight, and the fish fish don't get off anyway, but they sure are easier to release in good condition.

I think the barbless requirement is a really good one for any waterway where most fish will be released, and I commend Jimmy Houston for his commitment to sound management on his property.

Fish For Breakfast

As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drewthe net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the deisciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.

John 21: 13

Seriously Bassy Morning

Leaving the water was tough this morning. In fact, Bruce Stanton, Nathaniel and I arrived at the breakfast table a little later than the rest of the gang. It's tough to abandon frequent doubles of chunky largemouths, all up shallow and attacking wieghtless YUM Dingers, Houdini Shads and Yumphibians. It was especially tough for Nathaniel and me because after breakfast it was time to hop in the truck and begin the long drive to Georgia.

Collectively, our boat tallied 51 fish in the 2 1/2 hours between sun-up and breakfast. Our biggest bass probably weighed about 4 pounds. This morning was also extra fun for me because Bruce and I have been friends for 16 years and have spend many days in boats or wading in streams together, but had not had the opportunity to fish together for a few years.

I'm thankful to Jimmy and Chris Houston for their wonderful hospitality. They treat every guest at their ranch as a friend as they share a place that they obviously love.

Bass, Bass & More Bass

Nathaniel and I enjoyed one of the most fun afternoons we've ever spent together on the water. We're visiting Jimmy Houston's ranch in Oklahoma, and we got to spend a few hours piloting one of Jimmy's boats and casting for bass. Between us, we caught 40 fish, the biggest of which weighed about 5 pounds. Nathaniel also caught a whopper bluegill, which he spotted in the water and then sight-casted to with a Lindy ice jig.

I also gained confidence in a bait I'd never thrown before -YUM's new Yumphibian. I caught the bulk of my fish by casting a weightless Yumphibian close to the bank or near cover and swimming it just beneath the surface. We'll spend a few more hours on the lake tomorrow morning before beginning the long drive back to Clarkesville.

Finding the Right Spin

It would be tough to complain much about the driving rain and accompanying lightning that drove us off the lake prematurely today. After all, the fast action we enjoyed in the few short hours we were able to fish was caused by flooding rains a little more than a week ago. The now-receding flood waters had put the bass among flooded briers, and Harry Padgett knew that a BOOYAH spinnerbait would be the key to bringing the bass out of hiding.

Our job this morning was to figure out exactly how the fish were positioned, what size of spinnerbait would produce the most strikes and the best presentations. Padgett is very observant, so it didn't take long for him to figure out that the fish had moved substantially since the day before and that they were using cover along the edges, close to drops, especially along outside bends in the inundated creek channel. Initially, the fish wanted our spinnerbaits swam barely beneath the surface, but as the morning progressed, they dropped lower in the water column and wanted the baits presented deep enough that we couldn't quite see their flashing blades or white skirts.

It was a fun morning of fishing, and Nathaniel, Harry and I all caught fish. It was also a great lesson about fishing flood waters, finding fish and allowing the fish to reveal patterns.

Heads or Tails?

Same legendary river. Same part of Arkansas and Ozark topography. But that's where the similarities end. The Beaver Lake tailwater, where Nathaniel and I fished yesterday with Brad Wiegmann, stays 51 degrees and super clear, and most fish you'll lock horns with will be rainbow or brown trout. The headwaters, where we launched Wiegmann's kayaks this morning, was more then 15 degrees warmer than the lake's tailwater and sort of a dark green with modest visibility. White bass are the main attraction in this section during the spring, but the walleyes are also up the river, and in truth any given cast could produce a variety of species, including stripers, smallmouths, spots and more.

One other thing these two sections of the upper White River have in common is that they are really fun to fish out of kayaks and by wading. If fact, it's hard for me to imagine a more fun way to fish on a beautiful spring day.

The highlight of the fish catching was a big walleye that took Brad's YUM F2 Walleye Grub in the uppermost pool that we fished this morning. Nathaniel had the hot hand when it came to catching white bass. He tied on an XCalibur Xcs Square Lip before we launched this morning and never had reason to change lures.