We decided to recon as much of the river as we had time for on Tuesday. We looked at Access Points 1-6 trying to find a place to wade fish. Pine Ridge Access/Little Hope Road was about the only one that had a gravel bank that we could wade fish up and down stream. The Oden Bridge at Hwy 379 was another option. The rest of the access points were not conducive to our needs.
Gravel bank allowing us to fish from shore.Any shade dropped the Temps by 10F.Big chunks of quartz were everywhere.
We did stop for lunch at El Diamante’s Mexican restaurant in Mt. Ida Arkansas. A lot of food for a reasonable price. After, we stopped at Bob’s Food City to replenish a few supplies. It was quite the eclectic grocery store offering some outdoor camping gear too. Managed to grab some souvenir T-shirts as well.
Driving back to the cabin on Hwy 88, I noticed a Forest Road (#274) and we decided to see where it went. There ended up being a turn off that led to a small lake.
Fished all the way around and caught nothing. Lots of algae in it.
We drove several miles of the Forest Roads (#274, #274A and #274B) just to see where each branch led. Lots of washed out low water bridges that really needed some repairs. Most of them ended in places that the Subaru Forester couldn’t safely go. We had fun irregardless of the outcome. We love driving down roads just to see where they go.
After returning to the highway we opted to head back to the cabin. It was after 1600 and we decided we wanted to fire up the grill for dinner and try to clean up and cool off. And true to form…like each day we’ve been here…the heat caused clouds to form which produced thunder and lightning in abundance but didn’t give us any rain. At least it blocked out the intense sunshine!
We had been looking over maps while camping last month and settled on an exploratory trip to the Ouachita River in Southern Arkansas. All we had to go on were some brief fishing reports, some paper maps and Google Maps satellite images. We were unable to locate anyone we knew who had ever actually been there.
Due to the summer heat we opted to rent a cabin this time as opposed to staying in a tent. We chose to stay at River View Cabins in Oden Arkansas.
Monday morning bright and early, we made arrangements to rent a canoe for the day to take a 10 mile trip. Our plan was to paddle and wade fish as much as possible. We were on the water by 0820 and immediately I was having issues with the canoe. The right side of my seat was broken and hanging down so I had to paddle to shore and tie it up into place with some paracord I always carry. This is nothing new with rental canoes and we’ve experienced similar issues in the past. With the seat fixed, we were on our way. I noticed we were slowly taking on water but it wasn’t of great concern since I figured we would be stopping often and we could empty it out. We were never in danger of sinking, it was just an annoyance.
Typical rental canoe…beat to hell and beyond.
First thing we noticed was that this river was definitely a canoeing/kayaking river and wade fishing would be available only in a few spots.
Most of the river was like this with very few places to pull over and fish like we wanted to.
As the day progressed, the sun was more and more intense and the heat really kicked in. By noon it was showing 94F with a heat index of 110F. We took every opportunity to submerge ourselves to cool off. As it turns out, we were the only ones from the canoe rental place to complete our chosen route. Everyone else quit at the 4 or 6 mile mark due to the heat. Can’t say as I blame them!
It was HOT!
We tried to fish the riffles and rapids every chance we could. The slower sections never produced for us which was expected so we avoided them.
We always have fun catching Smallmouth.
We always had to be aware of where we were on the river. Neither one of us had canoed this river before so we were always on alert. I’m comfortable in a canoe but the wife had never paddled through rapids before. Most of her time has been spent canoeing on lakes. We had a few Class I/II sections and I could tell she was really nervous. She did great and became a lot more comfortable with it as the day wore on. It probably didn’t help her psyche seeing a destroyed tandem kayak in the parking lot from a couple who failed at navigating correctly under a low water bridge. Yikes! Just hope whoever it was managed to come through OK.
We stopped for lunch around 1330, and after, we realized that the pick up was scheduled for 1530 and we had 4 more miles to go so we needed to get moving. We managed to catch a few more fish before paddling the rest of the way to the take out.
The Cave at the 6 mile mark.
We ended up catching 19 smallmouth between the two of us with one going 2 pounds. We had fun despite the blazing sun, the “beater” canoe,and the oppressive heat and humidity. I did a blog post entitled “The Thin Blue Line” and this was a classic example for us. We saw it, researched it and decided to give it a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained…
When I got home from work Friday, I was chatting with the wife trying to figure out what we were going to do this weekend. She wanted to go fishing on Saturday and I reminded her that it was going to be 95F and sunny. I mentioned that Sunday was supposed to be cooler with a high of 82F. We both decided to go fishing on Sunday! What we didn’t count on was a thunderstorm Saturday night. As we went to bed, I was checking the stream gauges and noticed the river was rising. Outside, thunder was booming and lightning was flashing. Rain was coming down in sheets. But it was moving fast so we called it a night. I decided to check in the morning to see if we could actually fish this river.
Upon hearing my alarm at 0430 I immediately grabbed my phone and checked the stream gauges. The water had risen but was dropping fast. Sunday was a GO! After a 2 hour drive we were standing on the riverbank by 0720. Temperature was at 69F with a slight fog. We were the only ones there.
I’m going to diverge a bit here and try to explain this river. The last time we were here we noticed that everything was different. Looking back over my notes I noticed that on May 28th, 2021 the water level in this river was almost 18ft high. That amount of water and flow drastically changed the riverbed. I mentioned that in a previous post. So I had the wife take a photo to give you an idea of what occurred.
I’m 5ft 9in and my rod is 5ft long…so lets call it 11 feet. The water level was at 7.3 feet when this picture was taken. No wonder everything changed.
We stepped into the river and began casting and trying to locate some fish to develop a pattern. It didn’t take long and we had 5 fish to hand. They were in their summer pattern so would be hanging out in pocket water amongst current. If there are stretches of slow water you might catch some little ones, but generally, only perch and gar are hanging out there so we skip those sections.
Slow water…Any obstruction or seam in the river is a top spot for us to cast to.All of the fish we caught today were healthy and feisty.This one put up a great fight!Last Spring this gravel bar had 3 branches flowing through it.This Cottonwood didn’t stand a chance.Best fishing partner EVER!Beautiful coloration.We covered 3 miles of new water on this river.82F with a breeze and good cloud cover. Perfect day to be on the river.
We fished for 5 hours and covered 3 miles of new water. Last Spring we did a reconnaissance trip to this area and realized we would be swimming a lot to cross several sections. This time, we were able to wade across everything so it was a lot more enjoyable.
All told we caught 101 Neosho-strain smallmouth bass on this trip which is a new record for us (We are 100% Catch and Release and use barbless hooks) I would estimate that about 40% were dinks, 40% were decent and the remaining 20% were above average. We were very happy and had a great time. The only downside was that we noticed the Owner Cultiva JH-85 and JH-86 2.2 and 2.0 gram jig heads didn’t seem to be as sharp as we prefer and we ended up losing quite a few fish. Definitely considering switching to the Gamakatsu Round 211 3/32oz jig heads.
She was trying to get a picture of a big Velox but he had other ideas and escaped. The look says it all!
We left the house at 0535 and entered the river at 0725. There was a fog in the river valley and the temperature was 63F. It was a beautiful start to the outing. Considering that we had been inundated with rain for most of the week, we were really looking forward to some actual sunshine. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before the sun came up and the fog lifted.
With all of the rain recently, it was interesting to see how much the river had changed. Pools had shifted, gravel bars had moved, the river had split in a couple of places. What used to be an easy walk is now precarious. As the old saying goes…”no man steps in the same river twice.
My main intention for this trip was to try out a new rod. It is the Majorcraft Finetail Trekking and Travel FTX-B46/505UL.
It is a 5-piece baitcast rod with a stiffer action. I kind of like the fact that I can stash 2 rods in my pack. One is a spinning rod and the other is the baitcast rod.
Majorcraft Finetail Trekking and Travel FTX-46/505UL. Picture taken just as the sun was coming up.
We had a really good outing with 34 fish being caught with about 8 of them being decent. Neither one of us took fish pictures since we were releasing them right away. For 3 hours we had the river to ourselves before a few other fisherpeople showed up. It was well worth the drive.
On the way out we ran into the Game Warden and he checked to see if we had our licenses…which we did. He thanked us profusely after noticing all of the trash in my sling pack I was digging out while getting my license. We talked for a bit and we thanked him for doing his job and for caring about this river. We also ran into a few other people that we chatted with and in the end we all had similar thoughts about this river. “Mum is the word” and none of us mention it, instead preferring to keep it hidden for as long as possible.
I have a natural inclination to observe things. And I find it fascinating to watch wildlife. I’m 50 years old, yet still find wonderment in seeing a deer or a fish or bird, or anything really. And I’ve seen thousands of deer.
As I was in the middle of the river fishing, I kept hearing subtle noises coming from the bank behind me. I would peek over my shoulder every once in awhile to try and locate the source. Once I spotted the deer as she quietly browsed on the shoreline foliage, I stopped fishing and perched myself on top of a rock and just watched.
I observed how she was moving, what she was feeding on and how alert she was. No doubt she knew I was there, but still, I dared not move. I was in awe and quite content to just watch. Her mannerisms hinted at wariness, as well it should. I was no threat to her but I’m sure she had a Ph.D in human behavior and was ready to bolt to safety in an instant.
All told, I probably sat there for 10 minutes just watching. Eventually her path took her around the bend in the river. I stood up, stretched and continued fishing. Happy and thankful for the encounter…
Next stop was the Sand Bar Access and Campground. With it being after 4pm we opted to grab a campsite. There was only 2 other sites taken when we arrived so we grabbed one that was away from everyone else. Again, no running water and only pit toilets for $15 per night. The campsites were spacious but poison ivy was everywhere.
This area also has a Day Use Only Area and it was packed! Apparently it is a favorite swimming hole for the locals and they were everywhere on both sides of the river. With it being our last day, we opted to hang out in camp, cook dinner and get organized for the trip home. We would have preferred fishing this section but there was just too many people around.
It didn’t take long for the campground to fill up with all sorts of people. I’ll never understand why people have to drive through a forest and into a campground with their stereos maxed out. Campground etiquette was out the window! Some guy decided to start chopping wood at 10:30 pm. It literally sounded like he was building a log cabin.
We slept fitfully until 1:30am when some locals in a truck showed up, again with their stereo blasting and were trying to party at the river. Someone at the other end of the campground got up and started screaming at them at which point they promptly turned the stereo off and left. Finally we could get some sleep. NOPE!
From two tent sites away a little girl woke up screaming that she was afraid of the dark! And I do mean SCREAMING! Her mother ended up packing up and leaving.
We slept till 5:30 and packed up and headed home. If I ever camp there again it won’t be during summer. Probably early Spring or Fall.
Again, sticking to our original tenet of exploring new roads and areas, we chose a route home that was off the beaten path. We gathered a lot of new information on this river and thoroughly enjoyed fishing it. We became familiar with the GaiaGPS app which was a definite asset to the trip, especially since we didn’t have cell service for most of our trip. We consider the cost of the upgraded app money well spent. I’m sure we will be back.
I hope you enjoyed this series of blog posts. There will be a few additional “addendum” blog posts to cover some of the gear we used and why. Thanks for reading!
With this trip being our first to this river it was tough to fish as much as we wanted to. I’m sure that sounds odd but we wanted to explore as much as we could and considered this trip more of a reconnaissance run than anything. All told, we only covered about 6-7 miles of river. We wanted to get a feel for the place, to see what kind and size of fish we might encounter and to scout out access and camping spots.
The forest roads to the Cossatot River weren’t too bad.
We drove through sections of clear-cut areas and since this is logging country it was to be expected. It was nice to see large swaths had been replanted and were doing well.
Upstream from the Ed Banks Access was a “snot rock boulder fest” and wasn’t a lot of fun. I’m not a fan of snakes and we had seen our fair share. Thankfully none of the ones we encountered were venomous. But where I was, I was on constant alert.
She wanted no part of the upstream side and opted to head downstream. Wiser choice I will admit. After about an hour I joined her on that side and it is much easier. We caught a ton of perch and little Velox. All told we caught 27 fish with one being a nicer smallmouth bass.
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After several hours of fishing some local kids showed up in trucks and on ATV’s. There must’ve been 20 of them and they were rowdy. We decided to move on to another access point we had seen on the map.
Velox Seeker 