10 days too early
Haven’t blogged much recently since i’ve been touring the deep south since early january. Fishing the gulf out of Ft. morgan , ala. was disappointing. Fishing Bussey Brake in Louisiana and Greer’s Ferry lake in northern Ark. not much better, only cuz my nephew Darrin–an up-and-coming bass tourney guy didn’t want to target hybrid stripers & walleyes–which are both about ready to make their spring spawning runs up into the Red river and other tribs on the north end of this sprawling highland reservoir–probably by the end of next week.
LMB & SMB will be moving to shoreline probably 2 weeks from now. Bigger fish are holding on main lake point brushpiles in 50-70 fow now–just a long cast from shore in this extremely deep, clear lake.
I’ll be back on the river catching walleyes , sauger and perch early next week. hanging up the guide shingle on March 1 this year.
The reason this blog is about Greer’s Ferry is all about opportunity. Haven’t fished it in years. But this lake gave up my PB walleye (13.2) and my Dad caught his PB LMB ( 10 lbs) at Greer’s Ferry, also my PB hybrid striper (17 lb) after 2 much bigger fish spooled me and broke a rod…so when Darrin wanted to take a road trip, i was all in.
Here are some things to ponder: Greer’s Ferry is just a long day’s drive away–about 12 hrs. from pool 9. We stayed at the Sportsman’s Lodge in Higden located at the Narrows–essentially the crossbar in a capital “H” of this 60K “H” shaped lake. The winter rate here is just $250 per WEEK –at essentially ground zero of an incredibly beautiful highland lake–Lotsa waterfalls framed by 100+ ton boulders.
You can find prime, multi-species action here in about 10-14 days. The PERFECT spring road trip!
Although modern electronics like 360 & Livescope are a definite advantage getting guide Tommy Cauley to mark up a fishing hotspots map is really all you need to be a serious player here. Tommy’s phone # 501 940 1318.
In two weeks deep cranks like #billlewis MR-12 will be killer. We caught most of our fish on drop shot rigs with #Yamamoto plastics and #ZMan TRD & craw Ned rigs, plus a few on #B-Fish-N Tackle Big Dude blades ( which will also be killer in 2 wks.
If you’ve got decent electronics 2 lb. class crappies are essentially sure thing, suspended over and out from deep brush.
Much as I crave fishin’ my beloved Mississippi, at least a couple trips to other venues is a good way to keep your mind right. Paid $60 for an ARk. annual non-resident license with plans to head back down there early Nov. when guide work around here pretty much shuts down for the year.
The only downside of fishin’ Greer’s Ferry is a lack of amenities like restaurants. Twice we ate at the best mexican restaurant in town–pretty much the only restaurant on Tuesday nite. Breakfast every morning was breakfast sandwiches from Sonic. Beer was a 20 minute drive away in Fairfield Bay.
A steady diet of this kind of cuisine is not good for 70 year old guts Oatmeal & toast for breakfast his morning. Fresh walleyes for supper tomorrow night.