May is the perfect time for fishing and hiking in the Natural State, so enjoy the best of both worlds with a backcountry wade fishing adventure.
Many hikers traverse the Ozark National Forest and Ouachita National Forest on the Ozark Highlands Trail and the Ouachita Trail. The Ozark Highlands Trail spans much of the width of the Ozark National Forest from Lake Fort Smith State Park to the Richland Creek Wilderness Area.
The Ouachita Trail spans the entire width of the Ouachita National Forest from Pinnacle Mountain State Park to Talimena State Park in Oklahoma. The trails pass or cross multiple streams that beg to be fished.
Also, many remote national forest roads and logging trails meander through the national forests, providing access to remote pools full of smallmouth bass, Ozark bass, green sunfish and longear sunfish that might never have seen a lure.
You can also explore the Buffalo River area afoot on the Buffalo River Trail, which crosses a lot of little rills and creeks that feed the Buffalo River.
I discovered many hidden fishing holes during my 20s and early 30s when I spent much of my time tromping around backcountry Arkansas, especially in the Ozarks and Ouachitas. I couldn't afford a boat or canoe in those days, and my fishing gear was limited to one ultralight spinning rig, a couple of floating Rapala minnows, a couple of Zara Puppies, a small selection of worm hooks, 1/8-ounce bullet sinkers and a bag or two of soft plastic worms and grubs.
That's all you need for a day of fun on a creek, and all of the lures fit in a small, wallet-size tacklebox that tuck easily into a pocket.
The late Frank Thorpe, a writer in Springdale and a gifted bass fisherman, showed me the potential of small waters on several White River tributaries near Springdale and Fayetteville. Big fish often live in small waters, and we spent many happy days side by side, chest deep in muddy water catching feisty Kentucky bass and the occasional bruiser largemouth bass.
Hard plastic lures work occasionally, but to consistently catch big fish, Thorpe taught me that there is no substitute for soft plastic worms and grubs. Watermelon with red flake is the gold standard, followed by pumpkinseed/red flake.
Armed with that knowledge, I began to wander.
One of my favorite haunts is Little Piney Creek near Haw Creek Falls Recreation Area north of Dover. I spent countless hours wading from pool to downstream from the Highway 123 bridge, and that's where I began to master the art of angling for smallmouth bass with ultralight spinning gear.
One particular moment stands out. Miss Laura was mystified with my fishing obsession in the early days of our marriage, and she did not share my fascination.
It was a hot midsummer morning when we chanced upon a shady pool in the Little Piney. The water had long stopped flowing, and some rocky sections between pools were dry. Fish were confined to pools. They had exhausted their food supply, and they were very aggressive.
I flicked a bone colored Zara Puppy, a miniature version of the famous Zara Spook, next to a boulder. A big shadow flashed from behind the boulder and knocked the lure about 3 feet in the air. When it hit the water, a 15-inch smallmouth jumped on it like a cop tackling a purse snatcher.
"Wow!" Laura uttered softly. That's when she understood.
I've had similar experiences in Hurricane Creek, which flows through the Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area north of Dover. I walk the unimproved road that snakes through the middle of the area. When I reach a creek crossing, I fish upstream for a few hundred yards and then fish back downstream for a couple of hundred yards.
The water is so shallow at the fords that it doesn't look remotely fishable, but there's great fishing if you're willing to work for it.
I've found similar honeyholes in Ouachita National Forest in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness Area. Until the mid-1990s, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission stocked rainbow trout in some of these tiny little streams. They ceased because non-native trout competed with native fish for a limited food supply, but smallmouth bass are still there.
Caney Creek gets progressively wider and deeper as you descend into the wilderness area. It takes a day or two to reach the best spots, so camping in the wilderness area is necessary.
The creeks in the Ozark National Forest north of Van Buren also offer superb fishing. My favorite is Cove Creek, where in 1995 I was trapped in a flash flood while fishing with Lee Nigh of Van Buren. The fishing was crazy good until the moment the 4-foot high wall of water slammed into me and trapped me until 3 a.m.
The upper stretches of Lee Creek are good, too, as are sections of Frog Bayou that are accessible from roads.
The Mulberry River in Franklin County is another favorite. Alan Thomas of Russellville and I used to make semiannual pilgrimages to the Mulberry in June. We'd start at Redding Recreation Area and wade upstream until we got tired. That place taught me that you can catch a lot of fish from water seemingly too shallow and tight to hold fish.
You can also wade downstream from Redding, but the water gets progressively deeper that direction.
Another favorite is Richland Creek. Using Richland Creek Recreation Area as a base, you can fish upstream and down and catch smallmouth bass all day on curly-tail grubs. I introduced this water to my young nephew Henry Hamm of Princeton, N.J., last summer. He caught some nice smallmouths on live crawdads that he captured.
My greatest creek fishing adventure of all time was about this time in 2017 with Ray Tucker of Little Rock and Shane Goodner of Hot Springs. I am sworn to secrecy on the location, but the three of us caught more than 80 fish, most Kentucky bass, in only a few hours of wading.
Goodner dubbed our group "Seal Team Three." He emailed last week to let me know that it is near time for a mission.
Try it yourself and see how much fun hiking to and wade fishing in a mountain stream can be.
Sports on 05/19/2019