Tag Archives: Cossatot River State Park Arkansas

Ed Banks Access and Brushy Creek Access on the Cossatot River 30 July 2021…

We woke up early and packed camp quickly. Our first planned stop was the Ed Banks Access point. We wanted to fish further downstream this time. We drove through a clear cut area along the way and also ran into a work crew who were prepping the area for replanting.

Clear cut area.

The Ed Banks Access area is one of our favorite spots. There are two primitive campsites, one on each side of the low water bridge. The Ranger told us that they were free to camp in, but we had already set up camp back in Cossatot Falls. Had we known, we probably would’ve camped there.

Ed Banks Access downstream side.
Fishing in shade was nice.

We ended up catching 50 fish in the 2 hours we were here. About half of them were perch, but they were fun nonetheless.

To reach the Brushy Creek Access Area we had to drive out of the Forest Area and take Highway 246 west a little ways. This is a really nice Day Use Only area that tends to be a major swimming hole during the summer months. We opted to head downstream to avoid the swimmers and also because we had never fished this section of the river.

Bring your “A” game!

This section required a lot of wading across slippery rocks and lots of boulder hopping. You WILL get a helluva workout. We fished downstream for about a mile and a half before the heat really kicked in and we decided to head back. The rocks were a killer due to being so slippery. You need to wade this section very carefully. Even the rocks that looked dry were sketchy with wet wading boots. You have to do it to fully understand.

We only caught 10 fish in this section before we decided to call it a day and begin the 3.5 hour drive home. We got home at 1635 and began the process of cleaning gear, doing laundry and getting everything put away. I updated my log book and we started making plans to do another trip. That’s how we roll!

P.S. We apologize for not taking many fish pics. Our cameras were stowed in our packs which made it time consuming to get pics. In this heat we generally release the fish immediately. Also, both of us were constantly leap frogging each other to explore and fish so we weren’t in close enough proximitiy to get pics of each other. Thanks for reading.

So Where Have I Been?

This will be a brief overview, followed by more in-depth blog posts…

We had planned a two week trip for the latter part of June, but neither one of us could get away for a full two weeks. So we made it happen in one week instead.

I did a blog post awhile back on “The Thin Blue Line”, and that came to fruition for the most part. Our initial plan was to camp for a few days at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas and explore/fish Lee Creek. Next up was to head south and check out the Cossatot River, then head over to Pine Creek Lake Campground in southeastern Oklahoma to use as a base camp to explore the Glover River.

We stayed three nights at Devil’s Den but it was way too crowded for our taste so we left. We fished Lee Creek and Ennis Creek but just couldn’t find anything of decent size.

We got up early and headed to the Cossatot River to fish and look around. We had heard of this place from a fellow traveler and were curious to go there. The fishing was good to say the least. The Cossatot River State Park Campground had decent tent sites, but there was no running water and only pit toilets.

Up early the next morning we headed to Pine Creek Lake Campground across the border in Oklahoma. When we arrived, we were met by locked gates and CLOSED signs due to flooding. Once we backtracked and drove across the dam we could make out the tops of power poles with the power lines being underwater. The other campsite we picked was closed too. We drove across the Glover River and it was bank to bank! Usually, this time of year, its low and you could wade fish it. Needless to say we hit the road again.

We managed to find a campsite at Queen Wilhelmina State Park and stayed one night there before deciding to head back to the Cossatot River for further exploration. We spent our last night at the Cossatot River State Park Sand Bar Campground and headed home the next morning.

All in all, we had a great trip even though we had some “bummer” moments. We fished new waters and explored a lot of new roads.

Stay tuned for more fishing pictures…