A friend of a friend knows a guy who knows a guy…
That’s how a November fall trip to the Spring River started out for AL Harper, Russ Wagoner and
DanStag.
Fishing the Spring River just across the Mo border in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas is an undiscovered gem
within easy distance to FATC members. There are lots of fish, and the Spring River is only 90 minutes past
Licking, Missouri on 63, (where the turn off to Montauk is located.)
We weren’t exactly sure how the accommodations would pan out. The house isn’t open to the general
public, but since we knew somebody (the friend of a friend) we got the place very reasonably. We were
very pleasantly surprised, when the “cabin” was even better than we had hoped.
Most impressively, it was located RIGHT on the Spring River, a couple hundred yards below Dam 3
access, with roughly 75 yards of frontage in prime fishing water.
After meeting our new friend Curt Hargrove, the owner of the cabin and getting settled in, we headed just
out the back door for the stream with about 3.5 hours of daylight. Upstream 40 yards, there were a couple
sets of riffles that dumped into fast deeper water. Russ started in earnest, with his “three little pigs” rig,
with 3 nymphs in a row roughly a foot apart. Russ fished dragonfly nymph with a drifting flashback and a
bethke’s original pink squirrel. He made good use of his time catching 15 that first afternoon, taking fish on
each different fly.
AL fished nearby, stripping flashy gold tinsel streamers running deeply. AL was rewarded with 14 fish in
that area.
Dan Stag worked his way downstream 50 yards and was able to pick up 12 fish, most on a P&P dropper.
The Bennett Springs Killer did catch one, however, a very nice 19” rainbow.
Interesting happening: that first evening after dark, AL caught a trout on a mouse pattern, fishing at night
along the bank. It was a small brownie, but he did catch one. He’s the first (and only) guy I’ve ever known
to catch a trout on a mouse! DanStag tried the next night for about an hour with no luck at all. (AL had the
special touch!)
AL built a very campfire in the pit just behind the cabin and we satisfied our thirst, talked life and fishing
into the wee hours. (No politics or religion.)
The next morning we rode a few miles down to the Bayou access and dropped off AL’s truck, headed back
and launched our watercraft right behind the cabin. We each slowly worked our way the 2.5 miles
downstream, stopping and fishing at likely spots. AL again did well on his streamers. Russ also picked up a
few along the way. DanStag didn’t do that well picking up only 1 until a couple hours later encountered a
nice long riffle with deep, fast water. Ditching the P&P (which worked so well the day before) for the black
Fatty Zebra caused the fish to really came to life. [The Fatty Zebra is a 3.2 to 3.8 mm silver bead on a size
14 or 16 scud hook with either red or black thread and silver wire.] That particular spot yielded 9 fish, some
small but half in the 10 to 14 inch range.
The most picturesque and fun spot on the float was a 2 foot waterfall that had a shallow area on the side to
float through. At the waterfall, Dan caught a couple 10” trout in the very fast foamy water. AL caught 3
there using an Olive Slump Buster. Russ caught several there plus a very nice 16” rainbow in a dropoff
adjacent to the falls on the Pink Squirrel dropper.
Off in the slower water 50 feet below the waterfall, Russ saw a huge brown trout jump completely out of
the water! The guys rowed over to that area and fished it, but without success. Apparently, there were
several hatches going on. Bugs spotted along the way included white mayflies, Caddis flies and a smaller
fly, possibly blue wing olive. There are surely very big fish in that river to be caught!
The award for the most unusual catch of the trip goes to Russ for this big crawfish that just won’t let go.
Look out for those pinchers!
Since we stopped often, the 2.5 mile float took about 5 hours. Dark was fast approaching when we loaded
up, headed back to the cabin and stowed our gear. We drove 15 miles to Hardy, Arkansas the next town
south on 63 and dined at Spring River Draft House & Grill.
The next day was “get away” day, so AL and Russ were up early fishing right behind the cabin in the
nearby riffles. They each caught over a dozen, with Russ having excellent luck drifting an orange pearl soft
hackle on his 2 weight. He said sometimes they hit it on the swing and sometimes they hit it on a slow
retrieve or just letting it hang there a minute. (I guess the fish like to ponder and think about it a bit.)
DanStag stayed a couple hours longer fishing the same area that was productive for the other guys.
Unfortunately, not a single bite was recorded where the other guys had been catching. Moving down 20-30
yards into slower waist deep water (and for the next 100 yards), the RED Fatty Zebra got quite hot,
bringing in a dozen or more. Once the fly got stuck in a tree, it was a signal to head home, rather than re-
tie.
So ended a very fun, productive 2-3 day trip to the Spring River. Can’t say enough about the great
accommodations our new buddy, Curt Hargrove had for us. We’ll surely be back!
- submitted by DanStag 17 Nov 2021
