Drift fishing The Arkansas River at Dardenelle

[Smellycat]

Well, I posted on another thread that my son in law and I are going to drift fish at the Dardenelle dam the weekend of the 28th. If anyone else goes, look us up. We will drift fish at night in a green Grizzly Tracker. We may be the only ones out there so we should be easy to spot.
Just can`t stand it anymore, have to fish!

[jtrew]

I wish you luck, Dennis. Are you going to be drifting below the powerhouse? I've done pretty well there at times. I seemed to get most of my fish when I first dropped my bait to the bottom, or when we passed over the hole even with the fence of the parking lot turnaround.

[VerotiK]

We'll be camping Friday and Saturday night (next weekend). Maybe they'll stop releasing so much by then.

[slabmaster]

i bet the flow is atleast 150'000 cfs on the 28th. they are running 171,000 thru ozark right now and oklahoma has a ton of water headed this way with rain in the forcast for every day next week. at any rate good luck and stay safe.

[Smellycat]

Well, we will probably not get in too close to the dam. I`m sure the water will be pretty rough, so we will start a few hundrred yards down.

[Big Sam]

i bet the flow is atleast 150'000 cfs on the 28th. they are running 171,000 thru ozark right now and oklahoma has a ton of water headed this way with rain in the forcast for every day next week. at any rate good luck and stay safe.

Nothing like SPREADING A "little" good new's Rex!!!:wink::tounge_out::ooooh: It's raining as i type this in....The Ar. river wont go down for a while folks .....maybe by August:ooooh::smile2:

[jtrew]

Yeah, one day they'll be releasing 150,000 cfs, and the next day, they won't be releasing any water at all. Bummer for fishing.

[slabmaster]

Big Sam it's killin me to. i do have a trick or 2 up my sleeve for ozark when the water is big , but i am itching to fish around some of the wing dykes with the water down. remember ladies and gentelmen there is always a small craft advisory when the flow is greater than 70,000 cfs. :crazy:i think i'll just go catch some trout.:roll_eyes:

[Big Sam]

Smelly cat won't have any trouble drifting:tounge_out: about 15mph pull in the current:tounge_out::ooooh: Good luck Smelly!!!!

[Wiscars]

150,000 cfs is too risky for us to bother with. One small problem can balloon into deep trouble quick!:crazy: Wish you luck and be safe . I know there are some big fish ready for us all with all this water but skippies from shore are fun to catch too.And less risky! Post your results for us shorebound cataholics.:wink:

[VerotiK]

We've fished when there was that much water before, it really isn't that bad as long as you stay back from the dam a little bit. You just move faster. Most of the time you can find a lane where the water is a little slower than the rest.

[fox9988]

Yeah, one day they'll be releasing 150,000 cfs, and the next day, they won't be releasing any water at all. Bummer for fishing.
Seems like its been that way for the last few years.Maybe the Okies will learn how to control their monsoons one of these years:wink:

[Smellycat]

I`m gonna use my home made drift socks, made from two 5 gallon buckets drilled full of 2 inch holes, tie one at each of the boat with about 8 feet of rope. Should slow us down a bit, maybe enough for a big ol fat hundred pounder to catch up with my hook.

[Little Mac]

You boys be careful out there. Ark. river doesnt compare to the mississippi flow and Im used to it, but none the less its still dangerous, so ya'll be carefull and keep your Life vest on. I hope you catch a biggun. Mac:wink:

[jtrew]

I`m gonna use my home made drift socks, made from two 5 gallon buckets drilled full of 2 inch holes, tie one at each of the boat with about 8 feet of rope. Should slow us down a bit, maybe enough for a big ol fat hundred pounder to catch up with my hook.

Have you ever tried this? Seems to me that those 'drift socks' are going to drag the boat along at the speed of the current. Drift socks are great for when the wind is blowing your boat.

[TOPS]

I made me two of those drift buckets but have not used them yet. I have not drift fished sense Mac and I did it a couple years ago.

[VerotiK]

Have you ever tried this? Seems to me that those 'drift socks' are going to drag the boat along at the speed of the current. Drift socks are great for when the wind is blowing your boat.


We'll give them a shot, but i think you are right, they are for wind, not current.

[Homeybrew]

I'm packin' my schtuff and respoolin' with some fresh 30lb test.. .Man oh man am I ready to got out there.

[4Low]

I'm interested in those drift socks too....Do they slow you down on the river??

[Steven Armstrong]

i bet the flow is atleast 150'000 cfs on the 28th. they are running 171,000 thru ozark right now and oklahoma has a ton of water headed this way with rain in the forcast for every day next week. at any rate good luck and stay safe. lock and dam #15 145,000 cfps today, ft.gibson and keystone still 20ft. above normal level this morning, it will take most all summer to get things back to normal:tounge_out:

[jtrew]

Drift socks are designed to keep the boat moving closer to the speed of the water around it than would be the case without the drift socks. So, if there's a strong wind blowing downstream, causing your boat to go faster than the current, yes, they'd work in the current. There's no way a drift sock is going to make the boat go slower than the current. I don't know of any way to do that except run a motor or drag something on the bottom.

[VerotiK]

We came home today rather than staying another night. Started raining about 8am with no end in sight. The river was ROUGH. We ended up motoring up into the lock entryway and fishing there, caught one small one, then rode one scary ride back to the ramp.

[PTDixieGal]

Drift socks are designed to keep the boat moving closer to the speed of the water around it than would be the case without the drift socks. So, if there's a strong wind blowing downstream, causing your boat to go faster than the current, yes, they'd work in the current. There's no way a drift sock is going to make the boat go slower than the current. I don't know of any way to do that except run a motor or drag something on the bottom.

I just bought In-Fisherman's "Classic Catfish" video this week and they have a pretty good explanation of drift socks. They said, in a nutshell, that the goal is to be as close to the speed of the water around the boat. Just like what was said earlier.

[jtrew]

I just bought In-Fisherman's "Classic Catfish" video this week and they have a pretty good explanation of drift socks. They said, in a nutshell, that the goal is to be as close to the speed of the water around the boat. Just like what was said earlier.

They may have said that, but tain't zactly right. If you're on a lake, the water is generally still, and you could easily use an anchor to stay at that speed. The whole idea of drifting is to let the wind or a trolling motor move you slowly across the area you want to fish. But if the wind is too strong, it can move the boat faster than you want. Drift socks slow it down.
As far as drifting the same speed of the current in a river, some of us like to drift at that speed, which doesn't require a drift sock; others like to use a trolling motor to make the boat drift downstream slower than the current. A drift sock in this case would actually be working against the trolling motor. If your boat catches a lot of wind, and there's a really strong wind blowing, there might be occasions where a drift sock would help. For instance, if the wind is blowing your boat across the river, a sock would slow that down.

[Smellycat]

Yeah, like Jon said, our trip was a bust. We thought we could find some slower lanes to drift in, but not this time. The water is just too fast now. We found a good still area just past the bridge, but didn`t get a bite. We motored up the channel to the lock, were getting some bites and Jon caught one 2 pounder, but that was it. I think they cranked up the flow some after we got in there because when we came back out it was a wild ride I don`t plan to ever take again! We all wore our life jacket the whole night.

[PTDixieGal]

Let me rephrase what I said earlier...there are a lot of "if/then" scenarios that they talked about when using a drift sock that I don't intend on going into a lot of detail about at this time as I am still watching the video, trying to take it all in. In a nutshell they said in this situation you can use a drift sock in an attempt to get as close to the speed of the water as you can.

[slabmaster]

We came home today rather than staying another night. Started raining about 8am with no end in sight. The river was ROUGH. We ended up motoring up into the lock entryway and fishing there, caught one small one, then rode one scary ride back to the ramp.

i am glad you boys made it back to fish another day. i aint gettin out there till the small craft warning is gone. i do have a trick or 2 for fishing the fast water but i aint runnin up in the current at 100,000 + cfs. you boys are braver than i am.

[jtrew]

I've been thinking about getting on the main river just long enough to get to a backwater area I know about, but I'm hesitant to do even that.

[Smellycat]

We were fine as long as we stayed away from the gates. The water was just too fast for drifting.Then I hoped if we found some slack water, which we did, we would do well, but it didnt happen. I have a pretty good little boat for the river with nice high sides and very maneuverable. Anyway, we are gonna stay with the lakes for a while.

[jtrew]

The other day, I talked to some guys who really slayed them, and they said they anchored in slack water and cast out into the current.

[TOPS]

The Current here at London is still very strong on the river.

[Wiscars]

Well,we all seem to think the same. We wanna go real bad cause we dream about those newer,deeper scour holes below dam and dikes and those fat bruisers working them. But our love for life has us biding our time till we see some safer conditions. I'm with Jerry, thinking about the slack water close to the flow. It isn't the current. It is all the junk you might hit easing around from place to place. Lakes are fishing good and safer too. Just aching to hit the river.:confused2::sad2:

[Smellycat]

Yes, We also had trouble with stuff floating in the river. We ran over a good sized log on the way into the lock. Pretty scary. I posted my son homeybrew on the nose of the boat with a spotlight and cured that problem, but found plenty more problems later.
Glad to hear someone with the same idea of finding slackwater had good luck Jerry.

[jtrew]

I haven't tried it yet. My van is still down with a blown head gasket, and the guy who was going to fix it for me is in the hospital because he hurt his back. And at 8 mpg, my motorhome isn't a real good option to use to go fishing every day.

[kmcalester]

Some good info there in Arkansas.

[8898dan]

Hey guys, Ive only fished twice this year , but it was both on Ar river and last year we wore them out with all the high water. The trick I learned last year was that there are plenty of tributary rivers to the Arkansas that have boat ramps near the Arkansas. Usually unless it is after a heavy rain, these tributaries are actually backed up and have very little flow at all because of the volume going down the Ark. Put in on a tributary and motor down to the mouth at the Ark and fish where the slack water meets the big current. That way you never have to get out on the big river at all. This has worked very well for me. Seems like the fish dont like it out in that fast water anyway if they can sit on the edge of it. Caught my personal best 40# using this method earlier this year in March. Cant wait to get back out but those gas prices are keeping me away. Good Lord it costs 25 bucks to fill up a 6 gallon gas tank. I dont see how the guys with the big motors fish at all but every day you see the big ski boats and bass boats filling up. Another thing Ive noticed on the Ark river when it is up and rolling is that it really isnt very scary at all if you stay well below the dams. Just be sure to stay between the boyies until you get ready to fish. Last year I would get on google earth and log coordinates of wing dams and such that you could see on there because they took pictures at normal river heights. Then you know where they were on the river when the water is 10 or so feet higher than they are and you can fish them. This was very productive and the current was not nearly as bad when fishing submerged wing dams. Anyways Im just trying to say there are many ways to fish that river at these conditions and it can be done safely. Good luck everybody.

[Smellycat]

Thanks Dan, I will sure remember that info. Had`nt thought of that. I have heard to fish those spots after a rain when the water was flowing fast into the main river from the creeks, but that`s a new "good Twist" and sounds like I`m gonna have to try it!

[jtrew]

Hey guys, Ive only fished twice this year , but it was both on Ar river and last year we wore them out with all the high water. The trick I learned last year was that there are plenty of tributary rivers to the Arkansas that have boat ramps near the Arkansas. Usually unless it is after a heavy rain, these tributaries are actually backed up and have very little flow at all because of the volume going down the Ark. Put in on a tributary and motor down to the mouth at the Ark and fish where the slack water meets the big current. That way you never have to get out on the big river at all. This has worked very well for me. Seems like the fish dont like it out in that fast water anyway if they can sit on the edge of it. Caught my personal best 40# using this method earlier this year in March. Cant wait to get back out but those gas prices are keeping me away. Good Lord it costs 25 bucks to fill up a 6 gallon gas tank. I dont see how the guys with the big motors fish at all but every day you see the big ski boats and bass boats filling up. Another thing Ive noticed on the Ark river when it is up and rolling is that it really isnt very scary at all if you stay well below the dams. Just be sure to stay between the boyies until you get ready to fish. Last year I would get on google earth and log coordinates of wing dams and such that you could see on there because they took pictures at normal river heights. Then you know where they were on the river when the water is 10 or so feet higher than they are and you can fish them. This was very productive and the current was not nearly as bad when fishing submerged wing dams. Anyways Im just trying to say there are many ways to fish that river at these conditions and it can be done safely. Good luck everybody.

The launch ramp at Bigelow would be very good for that. The ramp is at the very back of a 1/4 mile long cove. Totally calm water no matter what the river is doing.