ducktape April 13th, 2010
On Sunday, April 18th, the best Junior Anglers in Arkansas will compete to earn the crown of state champion in the 11 to 14 age group and the 15 to 18 age group. Beaver Lake will host this year’s Arkansas Bassmaster Junior State Championship tournament at Prairie Creek . The Arkansas fishing tournament takes place from 7am to 2pm.
The twelve participants in each age group had to qualify through local tournaments throughout Arkansas during the past year and finish in the top three in points within their respective age group and club to be eligible to compete in the Arkansas Bassmaster Junior State Championship.
Not only will this tournament crown the best Junior Angler in each of these two age groups, the winners will represent Arkansas in the Bassmaster Federation Nation Central Division Championship on Table Rock Lake May 10th -14th — a competition that will feature the very best Junior Anglers from seven other states and Mexico.
Check out the full website here: Arkansas Bassmaster, Casting Kids
kevin April 6th, 2010
Nothing ruins an otherwise perfect day of fly fishing faster than a strong wind.
Wind knots, inaccurate casts, and hours of fist-raising cursing of the skies can lead you to ask “Is this really worth it?”
I know the feeling. Many a spring days I’ve had flies selected, rods rigged, lines cleaned, lunch-packed and truck gassed ready for a full day on the river only to walk outside and get punched in the nose by 25 mph gusts.
Unfortunately, this is typical for spring in Arkansas. However, by no means does this mean you have to stay home.
Just a few simple tips can remedy the frustrations of fly fishing on windy days and lead to success on your favorite trout fishing waterway. Today, I’ll cover casting with pesky crosswinds.
Crosswinds
Crosswinds consist of any wind that is blowing from your left or right side, as opposed to in your face or at your back. If you’re a right-handed caster, the easiest way to cast with crosswind conditions is to position yourself so the wind is hitting you opposite of your rod side.
Come inside the Arkansas Fishing Forum to read tips and tricks for fly fishing in the wind.
kevin March 23rd, 2010
One of the least talked about, but most important, subjects in the world of fishing is proper care and use of your tackle. To 
me, there is nothing more essential than the care and proper use of your fishing tools … and that applies to expensive and cheap tackle alike.
Since there are many different kinds of equipment involved in everyday fishing, this discussion will feature rods and reels. I have thousands of dollars invested in rod and reels and to ensure I don’t invest another thousands of dollars, I always do my very best to ensure that they are well cared for and properly used.
Rod Care & Storage - It doesn’t take a genius to understand that a rod is made for hooking and fighting fish and doesn’t double as a boat paddle or a samurai sword. Follow these simple rules and your rod may outlive you.
I cringe every time I see someone lay a rod down in a boat or on the ground. There should never be an instance when this should occur; it’s the number one way for damage to occur. Before you know it, you have stepped on the rod and broken it or smashed an eyelet. I have rod tubes mounted all over my boat to insure that mishaps such as these are avoided.
As far as rod storage goes, I have cedar rod racks at home that have sturdy and padded areas for each of my rod and reel set-ups and these also match the furniture in the room.
Come inside the Arkansas Fishing Forum to read more helpful fishing rod and reel care tips.
kevin March 1st, 2010
Choosing a new fly line can be a challenging job when you consider all of the options. The fly line is that piece of gear 
that we all take for granted. It is the one thing that can actually improve your casting.
Back in the day, when everyone fished with bamboo rods, the fly line of choice was made of silk. They had to be dressed with a waterproofing paste before each use. These lines were tapered at each end (the taper allowed for a delicate presentation). After fishing the line for a few hours, it began to absorb water would start to sink. The angler would remove the line from the reel and turn it around. He would then fish the dry half for the remainder of the day. These lines are still available for $150.00 to $175.00.
Today, one of the most interesting new,modern fly lines is Scientific Angler’s (3M) Sharkskin line. This line has a textured finish like sharkskin that has a reduced drag on the rod guides. This reduced drag allows you to cast this line further, all for only $100.00. I have had several clients absolutely swear by this line. I found that it makes a whirring sound when you cast it, which I found distracting. I had one client that had to use band aids on his finger, because the line abraded it.
Come inside to discover more tips on how to choose a fly line.
kevin February 22nd, 2010
I guide or fish on my own almost every day. Before I go out, I check water conditions. To accomplish this I have a morning ritual of checking several generation prediction websites.
The first website I visit is South West Power Administration’s generation prediction website. This tells what the 
generation will be for a given day. I choose the day of the week I want to study. The information for the next day is posted every afternoon around 5:00 PM. On Friday, the prediction for Saturday, Sunday and the next Monday is posted.(You can also conveniently find river and lake levels right here at ArkansasOutdoorsOnline.com)
There are nineteen tail waters posted, including Bull Shoals, Norfork, etc. The prediction is in columnar form and is listed as megawatts generated by hour. On the White, it takes about forty eight megawatts to equal one full generator and on the Norfork it is about forty six megawatts. If the prediction per hour is ninety megawatts, that would be about two full generators. I find this site to be accurate about six days out of seven.
Next I go to the Corps of Engineers current flow website . There are twelve tail waters listed.
Take all of these tools and you can enhance your understanding of water conditions. This can help you predict the best place and time to go fishing. Read all of the tools for determining water conditions in the Arkansas fishing forum.
kevin February 8th, 2010
When it comes to choosing the best fishing rod for bass fishing, it all depends on the type of bass fishing you will be doing.
Because all bassing techniques are not created equal, you must first determine the advantages and disadvantages of rod action, rod length, etc. based on if you’re pitching or flipping, throwing spinnerbaits or buzz baits, fishing topwater or crankbaits, etc. 
For some situations, a 7 foot rod is ideal, for others, a shorter 6 foot rod works best, such as if accuracy is your main objective.
Believe it or not, spring bass fishing is right around the corner, so now is a great time for a refresher course on choosing a bass rod.
Come inside and take a look at suggestions for the best bass fishing rods to use in a variety of situations, from determining the correct “action” to choosing the rod length.
Choose the Best Fishing Rod for Bass
kevin January 31st, 2010
The highlight of the winter fishing season is the shad kill. As the surface temperatures on the lakes in the White River 
System drop, threadfin shad move down through the various lake layers or thermo clines in an effort to find more comfortable water temperatures.
When the water surface temperatures reach forty two degrees or lower, the shad end up near the bottom of the lakes. Once they are there, they are vulnerable to being drawn through the turbines, when there is generation.
What makes the shad kill such a spectacular fishing event? Well it is mid winter and bitterly cold. In addition there is a lot of generation. These conditions tend to turn off a lot of anglers. What makes this a big deal is that it takes place below Bull Shoals Dam where the big browns have been spawning. Brown trout do not eat during the spawn. So you have large hungry fish that are ready to feed aggressively.
Couple that with the fact that most of these fish are located in the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam which has been closed for three months. These fish haven’t seen a fly during that time. Then we get cold temperatures and high levels of generation which creates the shad kill and all of a sudden huge amounts of food are blown through the generators creating a feeding frenzy.
Check out the full article in the Arkansas Fishing Forum.
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