Spring river Dec  4-9  2023

Spring river Dec  4-9  2023
Late fall is a great time to fish the Spring River in Arkansas, especially from the riverside cabin of our friend. Will Black, Tim Klotz, Don McCain, Jim Craig, Dave Komor, Mike Bisaga and DanStag discovered this recently. The canoe hatch is well past and few fisherman venture out.
Although the river is fed primarily from Mammoth spring, the drought conditions changed things up a bit. The output of the Spring was little more than half its usual flow and as a result the Spring River was fishing about a foot below normal.
The first day, in the portion of the river we fished Will Black and Jim Craig concentrated on euro-nymphing the nearby fast water riffles with some success on the Y2K fly with a variety of droppers.
Tim Klotz, Don McCain, Mike Bisaga, Dave Komor and the writer (DanStag) worked the slightly slower, deeper water by stripping streamers and cracklebacks. Although all of us caught fish the first day, no one mopped up like we hoped.
So the 2nd day the guys were anxious to get into fish with the guides (Mark Crawford and Shawn L)  they’d signed up to show them the river.
Don McCain and Jim Craig fished the whole day with Mark and had pretty good luck for the day. We all knew that since they were worn out by a full 6 hours on the river. They caught well.
Dave Komor and Mike Bisaga took the half day and did well also. They were most pleased to find a couple good spots on the river which they went back to the following day. Also, they fished white or white & olive minnow pattens very deep. This discovery helped up their fish take considerably the next day.
Tim Klotz, Will Black and DanStag made the journey up to the dam area where the very fast water is. Just as we started there a tremendous wind picked up. We were hoping that being in the Dam area would shield us. Instead it acted like a wind tunnel. We 3 braved the high winds 35 mph and each caught 2-3 fish there. Each of had to admit it probably was the toughest fishing conditions we’d ever encountered.
By the evening the wind settled down and the next morning was crisp and clear.
Each night we enjoyed great food and refreshment, plus fattening desserts in additional to excellent fellowship.
Because of the guys being with guides on different days we skipped the float trip portion of the trip and fished at the Bayou public access area, 3 miles away by car.

What worked: DanStag had his best luck with an orange mop fly under an indicator with a variety of different tiny droppers. Stripping a crackleback worked too. The last few hours of the trip a brown Mayers mini-leech was a huge hit. (Thank you, Mike Oldani) Wished I’d tried it earlier.
Jim Craig had his best luck on Y2k, chartreuse mop fly and an olive mop fly. A brown San Juan worm, perdigon, Crawford guppy and Crawford sparkle minnow worked well too.

After fishing with the guide on Tuesday,  Dave and Mike started fishing 2 flies, Y2K top and white minnow pattern on bottom, catching a lot of fish on this mainly on minnow ( including Dave’s 20 incher) with a fish occasionally taking the Y2K.
Don McCain had success with Y2K, yellow crackleback plus the white minnow looking fly and black wooly
Tim did best on the black crackle back with white hackle. He also did ok with a tan baby bugger (both stripped).   With the guide on Wednesday Will and Tim used egg patterns & various flies such as a bigger crackle back or even a black woolly bugger below it. The flies were larger sized than we usually fish in our areas.

Lessons learned:
-Importance of  a wading staff
-Importance of hiring a guide on waters you are unfamiliar with.
-Felt soles (legal in Arkansas) give a better grip in slimy bottom, but are dangerous on land, especially on inclines and leaves; very slippery.
-Will’s perfection loop method (pre-tied) for the 2nd fly. ( it swivels on the tippet & avoids tangles. )
-When fishing new water: Fish hang out in shallow 1-2’ fast moving water. Tandem flies: egg & sparkly fly 10” apart.

The Spring River which is known for its raucous float trips during warmer months. But for trout and fly enthusiasts the cooler/colder time of year makes it ideal.
The group all had a great time. We ate well, had terrific fellowship and caught a decent number of fish. Plus we discovered some new productive spots.
We’ll be back to the Spring River for sure.

Submitted by DanStag

PS:
” I have the best luck when I have a piece of shrimp on and put a single piece of corn at the end of the hook.”
 (Advice received from a well-meaning guy at the visitor center.
Remember: it IS Arkansas, after all! )