With dry weather, conditions are excellent for wade fishing in streams across Arkansas.
Our tourism literature equates wade fishing in Arkansas with fly fishing for trout on our tailwater streams below our big dams, but there are plenty of overlooked wade fishing opportunities for other species. Notably, our mountain streams offer fine wade fishing opportunities for smallmouth bass, Kentucky bass, largemouth bass and bream, especially longear sunfish and green sunfish.
Wade fishing is a basic form of the sport that anyone can enjoy with only a small amount of equipment. Here's a guide to help get you started.
Background
My love for fishing was born in the 1970s wading Woodruff Creek in Sherwood, roughly from John F. Kennedy Boulevard to beyond Club Road. That is a very long stretch of water, and I learned every rock and every riffle at a time when kids left home after breakfast in the summer and didn't return home until suppertime. Our parents didn't know where we were, but we were safe and built lifetime friendships using the most basic equipment to catch bream and bullhead catfish.
Bass were mysteriously out of reach. We saw them, but they wouldn't bite bacon, corn niblets and hot dogs, our main baits. One day I perched on a rootwad on a vertical bluff for hours trying to catch a chain pickerel that lolled in the shadows.
I recall vividly the day I caught a mess of creek crappie. I used a length of wire I found on the bank for a stringer.
My gear included one of my dad's old rods with a broken tip. I tied a length of heavy monofilament to the next tip down and wrapped the excess around the stub. I had a hook and a weight with no bobber. I used a small bit of bacon for bait. When a fish bit, it drove the bacon up the shank, enabling me to re-position the bait and use it all day.
Fortunately, much better gear is accessible these days, and it's a lot more affordable.
What you need
For most stream fishing, I recommend a graphite rod with a medium-light action. To minimize complications when fishing among tight bank-side cover, I like a short rod. My favorite creek rod is a 5-foot, 6-inch Falcon ultralight spinning rod that I've had for 22 years. It wears an old Shimano 1000 series spinning reel spooled with 6-pound test line. The reel has a rear-mounted fighting drag, so you can instantly adjust the drag to handle any size fish you encounter.
For smallmouth bass fishing, I love ultralight or light-action baitcasting gear. My reels are Shimano Calcutta 51 models, tiny round reels with left-hand retrieve. My favorite rod is an Eagle Claw Featherlite, but I have several other brands that I like, too.
For light baitcasting, 1/4-ounce is the upper limit for weight. Mostly you will use 1/8-ounce. It takes practice to throw tiny baits with tiny weights with a baitcaster, but when you get the hang of it, the method is versatile enough to handle just about anything. On this rig I have landed 14- and 19-pound striped bass.
You will also need wading shoes. For wet wading in shorts during the summer, an old pair of tennis shoes works. I prefer proper wading boots to keep gravel and sand out of the shoes. They are available in a wide range of styles, and price is commensurate with quality. I wear the Korkers Dark Horse. It has removable soles, including a felt sole for wading in slippery environments that exist in all Ozark and Ouachita mountain streams.
When using felt soles, always disinfect the felt with a bleach solution and sun dry to prevent transporting undesirable algae spore to uninfected environments.
Read the Water
Stream fishing is all about deciphering the puzzle of moving water. The best fishing is almost always at the tails of ripples and rapids. Food concentrates in the oxygenated water, which attracts predators. Fishing is also very good right above rapids. The best places are at pinch points that constrict current. Look for large rocks on the bottom because they break current, allowing fish to wait effortlessly to ambush prey.
Look for anything that breaks the current. If you see water surging, circulating, making a V or even slowing, it's because something below is diverting or interrupting current. It's usually a rock or a snag, and that's a great place to find a fish.
Bends in the banks also break current, and fish wait behind bends to wait for prey, especially if rocks or wood are in the water or at the water's edge. If these features are near deep drops, they are excellent places to fish.
Remember also that fish face upstream as they await prey. You will catch the most fish and biggest fish wading and casting upstream. Walk slowly and make as little noise as possible.
Trout streams
An ultralight spinning rig is perfect for trout fishing. With proper drag control, you can handle any size trout in the stream while coaxing maximum fight from the smallest trout in the stream.
Because trout water is usually very clear, conspicuous line can spook trout. I recommend a fluorocarbon leader, which is invisible in water and sinks quickly.
Of course, trout streams are very cold. For wade fishing you will need a light pair of breathable waders, available at many outlets for about $100. You can get them with booted feet for a bit more, but I prefer separate wading boots.
Pay close attention to water levels when wading in a trout stream. Water can rise rapidly with hydropower releases from the dams, and an unobservant angler can get overwhelmed very quickly.
Bass streams
You can wade fish a great number of streams at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission access areas, and the fishing can be surprisingly good despite traffic.
However, my favorite way to fish streams is to tie a canoe or kayak to a belt loop and wade upstream. Food, drinks, camera equipment and fishing gear ride in the boat, which always floats behind and out of the way. When I reach a deep hole, I paddle through it until I reacquire wadable water. I fish upstream for a couple of miles, and then turn around and re-fish it going the other way.
The best fishing is in the runs and riffles, but I've caught a lot of smallmouth bass in the middle of rapids with topwater lures, especially buzzbaits.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Atlas and Gazetteer shows all public stream accesses in every county. It's money well spent to get you on your way.