Arkansas River 9/23

[Allen Morgan]

I decided to take advantage of the low water conditions over the weekend and go scout some holes in the river.  I’m hoping to find some holes that Stripers will be in when there’s a little more water coming down-river.

 

Please accept my apologies for not disclosing the exact locations.  I wish to keep these spots off the radar.

 

Driving out, I had nice, mild conditions.  Dead calm winds, Partly- to Mostly-Cloudy, Sun up, but obscured by clouds, some clouds lit up with a nice lemony-yellow glow from the Sun.  Gorgeous!

 

On arrival to Prospect #1, I noticed the wind had picked up out of the north, clouds were moving in, the temp was dropping, and there was even a light rain falling.  Water flow was about 150 cfs and Falling, and the water temp was around 67ºF.  Clarity is about 4’, maybe more.  It’s hard to tell when that’s about a deep as the river gets without water moving through.

 

I started off with a Rebel Jumping Minnow in Bone.  That lure has proven itself to me many times, and to other folks as well.  I started casting into a necked-down area of restricted river flow.  A perfect ambush point.  I wasn’t really expecting any Stripers, but was hoping for some smaller predators.  Sure enough, after a few minutes, I nice little Kentucky Bass hit my lure.  A few minutes later, a second one fell prey.  I also had a couple fish bird-dog the lure, taking swipes at it, but not connecting.

 

About this time, I was starting to get chilled.  I hadn’t brought a jacket, and since I wasn’t in the water, I was not wearing my waders.  I decided to move upstream to a different spot.

 

Once at Prospect #2, I donned a knit pullover and my neoprene waders.  Ah, warmth!  Then it started sprinkling.  Figures.  I grab my gear and descend the bank, and start the long walk out to the main channel.  This particular spot did not yield any fish.  While it’s publicly accessible, it does not have a necked-down area to provide an ambush spot for predators.  There are some rocks, but they are high and dry at this flow rate.  I might be able to come in here with my kayak and fish, but for now, it’s times to move upstream again and scout out another spot that I could see was constricted.

 

On arrival to Prospect #3, I could see that two channels merged, creating a nice little spot where bait could get flushed out of a shallow run into a bigger channel.  There were also a few rocks around to provide cover, but the bottom was mostly sand.  I threw my lure out, and sure enough, was rewarded with a few Sand Bass.  I kept seeing some kind of fish hit top.  Not hard, but definitely sucking something down.  I figured it to be more Sand Bass slurping down some minnows.  I decided to put on minnowbait, a classic Rapala F5 in silver/black.  Got a couple on that.  However, it’s only about knee-deep at that point, and I could feel the lure dragging bottom.  I decided to switch over to a topwater, a Heddon Tiny Torpedo in silver/black.  I didn’t catch any fish on that lure at this spot.  I figured I had spooked them off, since it was rather narrow and shallow here. 

 

I picked up my pack and started walking north along the sandbar.  After a couple hundred yards, I arrived at Prospect #4.  This one looked promising.  A necked-down area, outside bend of the channel, outside bank was rip-rap, large rocks and snags against the bank for cover, and it looked kind of deep.  I began to wade out.  I got about 1/3 of the way across the channel, and lobbed a throw towards the bank.  I actually got within 10’ of the bank, and started a popping retrieve with the lure.  On the second cast, I got a nice hit the bent the pole over.  I pulled in a small Striper, about 2 – 3 lbs.  Excellent!  Even though the bottom is sand instead of rock, this area holds promise. 

 

I began to throw cast after cast towards that bank, covering the snag across from me, and the rock that was just downstream of that snag.  I began catching fish.  I wouldn’t call it a “hot bite”, but there were definitely some hungry fish looking for a meal.  I caught a few Stripers, one of which was TINY, several Sand Bass, quite a few Kentucky Bass, a wee little Largemouth, heck, I even managed to catch THREE SUNFISH on that Tiny Torpedo!  They weren’t snagged, either.

 

Here’s a video compilation of some of the fish I caught:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMqR_gq8WaA&feature=youtu.be

[Vince Fusco]

Saw you fish pics and it looks like you had a good mixed bag, and fun to boot, Allan. That was a real healthy spotted bass. He has been eating well.

[Allen Morgan]

ALL of those fish have been eating well.  There is a FLOOD of bait in the river this year.  I can't wait to hit that spot with a little more water moving through.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on taking my kayak out to a nearby lake.  I'm planning on doing some trolling, and hanging some minnows under a float near the rocks.  I'm thinking Spotted/Kentucky Bass, Crappie, White Bass (maybe), Saugeyes (maybe), and Channel Cats.  Gonna be interesting.

[Tony Livingston]

Nice report Allen, well done!