We have some pretty tough fishing conditions here in the Twin Lakes Area. The lakes are unseasonably high. In an effort to bring Bull Shoals and Norfork under control, the Corps of Engineers are running both dams at near maximum levels and have opened several flood gates at each dam to increase the flows further. As a result, both the White and Norfork rivers are extremely high and treacherous to boating. Wading is out of the question. We have had some very cold temperatures that have put the smallmouth down on the Buffalo River and Crooked Creek. It is time to consider alternatives. One inviting nearby option is the Spring River.

The Spring River (click here for more info) is formed by the outflow of Mammoth Spring in North Central Arkansas and is the second largest spring fed river in the world. It is just an hour and a half from my house in Cotter and makes for a great day trip. Although there are two dams on the Spring, they are relics of the Rural Electrification Program and are no longer used to generate electricity. Therefore this is a free flowing river and is not subject to the fluctuations of our tail waters. It is very popular with canoeists, particularly novices. It can get quite congested during the summer but the boating crowd thins significantly as soon as the temperatures drop. You will few if any canoes this time of year.

 The trout water runs from Mammoth Spring State Park to Many Islands Campground a distance of eleven miles. In addition to brown and rainbow trout, I have also caught walleye, bream and smallmouth. The Spring also has chain pickerel but I have never caught one.

The Spring River is bigger water than the Norfork but smaller than the White. It is quite wadable but a lot of the best water has a bedrock bottom that is pretty slick and treacherous to wade. I recommend that you wear studded boots and carry a wading staff.  

If you want to avoid bedrock, I would recommend fishing at Lassiters, a public access in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas. To get to the Lassiter Access  turn south from SR 9, Main Street in Mammoth Springs, (the last corner before 9 intersects US 63) onto 2nd Street and following 2nd St. and then River View Drive for about .75 miles until you see the access parking area on your left. It is directly behind the Riverview Motel (which is located on US Highway 63).

This is the spot where I learned to fly fish. It is also where I met my wife, Lori. I was teaching a fly fishing school there for my fly fishing club, the Mid South Fly Fishers, and she was my student. That class worked out very well for me and it is a spot I will never forget. It is a broad area of the river with no deep holes but plenty of easy wading. There are a lot of weed beds that hold trout. My favorite flies here are red San Juan worms, pheasant tail nymphs and olive woolly buggers. It is a great place for novices.

My favorite place to fish is the Dam 3 access. This is where the State Trout Hatchery is located. Turn west onto CR 342 from US Highway 63 two and one tenth miles South of Mammoth Springs. Cross the railroad tracks and park in the parking lot across from the Hatchery. The Trout Hatchery is located on an island with a dam running across it on the upper end of it. The channel running in front of the parking lot is productive and easy to wade. This is where Lori filmed her sequence for the television show, Adventure Guides. The section at the end of the island is laden with big rocks and bedrock and is more difficult to negotiate. The top flies for this access are gold ribbed hares ears, pheasant tails, red San Juan worms, egg patterns and olive woolly buggers.

For the adventurous angler that wants to get into some bigger fish, I recommend walking the tracks down stream. About a half mile downstream is a productive section that does not get nearly as much pressure as the area near the accesses. You must scramble the bank and the wading is much more treacherous. This is where I have caught my biggest fish on the Spring, a twenty seven inch bruiser of a rainbow. I prefer to fish this section with woolly buggers or Clouser minnows on a sink tip line.

For more accesses or additional information on restaurants, lodging and canoe rentals, I recommend that you obtain a copy of the Home Waters at any local fly shop. This book also has a great map of the area.

I have fished and guided on the Spring River for over twenty five years and I love it! It is a great place to fish when they are running a lot of water here. Give it a try.

John Berry