Spring River Success

Day one of our autumn Ozarks adventure is in the books, and we four worn out dudes. In fact, I think two of four are gone. We drove all night and hit the ground running at daylight to fish Spring River. We fished the spring all day and had a big time doing so. The bite was good, as it always seems to be at the Spring, and we caught a lot of fish.

Tomorrow we head for Dry Run Creek, where only Asher may fish, and we might make it to the Norfork tailwater, where we can all fish tomorrow. Now it's time to sleep, though!

Fishing Before the Storm

A forecast for heavy thunderstorms threatened today's final leg of our Arkansas adventure, but the storms stayed back long enough that we were able to manage a short Spring River float and a bit of wade-fishing.

Even a short day on the Spring is always worthwhile because the river is beautiful and serves up great
mixed-bag fishing action. We caught a bunch of fish of several kinds during our short outing. Smallmouth bass and rainbow trout were the main attraction, but we also caught a couple of nice brown trout.

Our week in Arkansas yielded an abundance of great and varied fishing. I think I ended up catching seven species of fish, three of which were new additions to this year's list.
Homeward bound now!  Next stop for me is Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin.

Fishy Days Ahead

Eli Moscul hoists a beautiful Niagara River brown trout caught
with Capt. Frank Campbell a couple of days ago. Photo courtesy
of Niagara Region Charter Service.

 

I caught myself daydreaming about fishy days ahead, so I figured I might as well blog about upcoming fishing travel and make the daydreaming at least sort of productive.

Capt. Frank Campbell is largely to blame for my straying thoughts. He sent a note about an upcoming trip to the Niagara River and included the photo at the top of this page. One of his clients caught that brown trout only a couple of days ago. I'll be up there in early May, fishing Lake Erie out of Buffalo for giant smallmouth bass and the Lower Niagara River for brown trout, steelhead, lake trout and whatever else wants to bite. It is one of my absolute favorite places to visit.

I'd better not get too far ahead of myself with a New York state of mind, though, because before I get to the Niagara, I'll be fishing on Norfork Lake in Arkansas for stripers, largemouths, crappie and whatever else wants to bite, floating Arkansas' Spring River for smallmouths, rainbows, browns, rock bass and more and then flying to Green Bay to fish the legendary waters of Door County (Sturgeon Bay area) for jumbo smallmouth bass, jumbo smallmouth bass and jumbo smallmouth bass.

As if that weren't enough to distract me sufficiently, spring and early summer travels will also take me to Deadwood, South Dakota to fish Black Hills rivers and lakes, mostly for trout; back to Green Bay for a big-water mix of smallmouths, walleyes and salmon; and finally South of the Border to Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto, where I hope to lock horns with some seriously big largemouths.

What all that tells me -- beyond the notion that I should enjoy some wonderful days fishing over the next few months -- is that I'd better quit daydreaming and get back to the business of writing fish stories so I'm ahead of the game when I point the truck toward Arkansas next week!

7 Spectacular Smallmouth Rivers

Fourth-generation guide Billy Rosner with a chunk of Vermilion River bronze.

A question I'm often asked is what species or type of fishing I enjoy the most. I'm an all-species angler in every sense, and there are aspects I cherish about everything from crawling up a tiny mountain creek to flipping from the deck of a bass boat to fishing from a big boat for ocean fish. Forced to choose, though, river smallmouth would get the nod. The places they call home; the floating, wading or jet boat approach; and the way they attack and fight puts river smallies ahead of the pack in that mind.

With June being an outstanding time to target stream smallmouth bass, it seemed fitting to share a list of my favorite moving waters for smallmouths.

A couple of disclaimers, for starters. I'm not attempting to name the seven best smallmouth rivers in the country. 1) These are personal favorites -- waters I've fished and enjoyed immensely -- but all are legitimately spectacular places to fish for smallmouth bass. 2) Order is alphabetical.

Buffalo River, Arkansas
Free flowing for 135 miles, mostly through federally owned wild lands in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains, the Buffalo National River offers spectacular scenery and fast action from smallmouth bass and lends itself to a host of floating and wade-fishing options.

New River, Virginia
Steep-sided, rugged and rural, the New River cuts a south-to-north swath through the western tip of Virginia, and a mix of mild and wild river sections produce some seriously big smallmouths (plus more than a few husky muskies) for anglers who know how to target them.

New River Gorge, West Virginia
I know. Same river. However, West Virginia's gorge section, with its crashing rapids, house-sized boulders and towering bluffs, deserves mention of it's own. Super-abundant fish with occasional giants, and all within a very dramatic canyon.

Penobscot River, Maine
Most Penobscot fish have serious shoulders and they hit topwater lures with absolute abandon. The river winds between dense forest and occasional farms, and you never know when you might spot a moose or a bear.

Spring River, Arkansas
As the name suggests, the Spring River rises from a giant spring, so its waters stay a wonderful temperature for smallmouths year 'round. Expect fun mixed catches of smallmouths, rock bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, walleyes and more. Avoid summer weekends, when giant "canoe hatches" occur.

Upper Mississippi River, Minnesota
Because Minnesotans favor walleyes over bass and lakes over rivers, you can enjoy some of the world's finest action for heavyweight smallmouth bass within an hour's drive of the Twin Cities, and you might not see another fisherman.

Vermilion River, Minnesota
Northwoods beauty, a canoe and big, mean smallmouths make for a fabulously fun fishing trip, and that's exactly what you find on the Vermilion River, which is WAY north in Minnesota -- almost to the Boundary Waters, in fact.

Species Count to 21

One of the most fun things about floating Arkansas' Spring River is that when a fish hits your lure, you never know what kind of fish it will turn out to be. We floated the Spring yesterday, and I personally caught half a dozen different species of fish. Three of those -- smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed and longear sunfish -- were species I'd not yet caught in 2012, so I was able to add those to my list. That brings the tally to 21 species through the end of April. My best lure yesterday was a Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish; however, the group's top producer was a Lindy River Rocker, which Lawrence Taylor used to catch a bunch of smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, rock bass and various other kinds of fish.

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.