Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Great weekend for camping and fishing. Not many other people on the water. The river was low, my kayak drug alot...had to walk some. The fishing was good on Saturday but was fantastic on Sunday. Most fish were in the 2-2.75 lb range w/ 1 over 3 lbs (20.5") and a Lm at 2.66lbs. Can't wait to get back but need some rain in the area first.

Thanks for the pics, sounds like a good time. could you please tell me where crooked creek is? i'm wondering if this is crooked creek around Harrison,Ar. or if you went to a different "crooked creek" that i'm not aware of. I'm not familiar with the accesses to know which creek you are going to?... I only know of the crooked creek near Harrison, but don't know any access names of it or of a possibly different one? Hope you can clear this up for me.
Thanks

Cool. That was quite a hike for you PW. Did you camp on a gravel bar?

Nice looking string of fish!

Did any of them end up in a fry pan, maybe some clarified butter and toasted almonds added for added flavor?

I'm thinking a nice green salad a bottle of river cooled white wine and you got a nice meal there!

Rummer, that is the same Crooked Creek that runs through Harrison. I caught my weight in pumpkinseeds and goggleeye there when I was a pup fishing from the low water bridge. I was the kid with a full stringer hanging from a handle bar. There are a few public accesses. Check southwestpaddler.com to locate them.

okieboater wrote:Nice looking string of fish!

Did any of them end up in a fry pan, maybe some clarified butter and toasted almonds added for added flavor?

I'm thinking a nice green salad a bottle of river cooled white wine and you got a nice meal there!

Followed by a nice DO cobbler made with wild blackberries.

Now you are talking!

As a kid back in North GA farm, we picked bucket after bucket of wild black berries each season which Mom made into cobblers and jam.

Homemade black berry jam on Mom's biscuits cooked on her wood stove, I can still remember how good a breakfast that was.

RR-it's the same river. Snow access is off hwy62 east of Pyatt, Ar. Kelly's slab is at the "Fred Berry" AGFC conservation education center in Yellville, AR.

Deuce-it's a trip but I've been floating ozark rivers's for almost 27 yrs (my dad started taking me at 7) and I would drive from anywhere to float/fish them. Gravel bar, only way to go. See pic

Okie-sorry I'm strictly catch-n-release...except catfish and crappie. So they're still in the river for my kids...when they get a little older.

Well, Crappie would work just as well!

When we lived in Utah, I did a lot of trout fishing mostly catch and release, however, it was nice to keep a few for my wife and I to enjoy by the camp fire in the High Uinta Wilderness Area. A great place to hike and just full of little lakes built way back when they did a lot of the work by hand or with mule power.

Growing up in GA, we made hangers for our fishing boat out of electric conduit tubing and hung a couple coleman lanterns off the side and fished for crappie at night.

spent a lot of fun friday nights catching crappie, taking them home, fileting out the meat and doing multi family fish fry events. We had a decent sized iron pot that Mom would use outside (we would build a wood fire around it) and cook up crappie, hush puppies and taters. That and sweet tea made for quite a nice Sat gathering.

One of the best bronzeback streams in the state for certain.

Glad to hear its still doable right now. Thanks for the report!

Plastic Worm,

Glad you released those smallies. CC is getting to be a pretty good fishery. I'm like you, never keep river smallies, but love crappie, walleye, etc caught from lakes. I've never caught one over 20" which is my goal for this year. Any tips?

Plastic Worm,

Glad you released those smallies. CC is getting to be a pretty good fishery. I'm like you, never keep river smallies, but love crappie, walleye, etc caught from lakes. I've never caught one over 20" which is my goal for this year. Any tips?

arfish wrote:Plastic Worm,

Glad you released those smallies. CC is getting to be a pretty good fishery. I'm like you, never keep river smallies, but love crappie, walleye, etc caught from lakes. I've never caught one over 20" which is my goal for this year. Any tips?

I'm no Plastic Worm , but in my experience it's hard to beat a green pumpkin tube on a jighead. Here a a couple of examples in support of my assertion.

Nice fish, and a little friendly ribbing!! I've done really good on tubes. My favorite is a craw. I'm no expert but I would suggest using bigger baits. I don't downsize for smallies, I use the same size I would for LM's. You won't catch as many but when you do it'll be a good fish. Plus you can catch LM and smallies on the same trip.