Many of you who know me know of my passion for smallmouth bass in Ozark streams. I come by it honestly. Being born and reared in some very rural areas of Boone and Newton counties in north Arkansas, my addiction to smallmouth water came easy. In fact, the very water we drank, bathed, cooked with and washed clothes in came from a pure cold spring that feeds Crooked Creek. My father was the minister of a small country church that regularly held its baptizing, singings, and dinner on the grounds in some pretty fine Brownie holes. What great memories!

My childhood days were filled with wading the cool bluff-lined streams casting for Brownies. I can't think of a better way to have channeled my youthful energies and fueled my creative desires. I never tire of the peace, beauty and tranquility of jade-green spring-fed waters flowing over a dappled sunlit bed of limestone.

The native smallmouth are to me one of the true symbols of the wild Ozarks. Their requirements for survival are not unlike my own, a clean and pristine environment that showcases more of nature than of man.

I can't honestly say that my first catches of the brown bass were fly caught. A seine and quick hands filled buckets with the likes of river-slick chubs and soft-shell crawfish and hellgrammites.

Though these tactics turn the noses of pure fly fishers, they serve as a base and keep understanding of the smallmouth's ways and whims for me today. This translation into the fly patterns and techniques from my years of stomping around the wildest places in the Ozarks is the foundation for the success I've had with these wonderful fish.

Many fly fishers who have limited themselves only to trout may have a whole new world awaiting them in the natural streams. These are some adjustments you must make in order to have the most success on stream smallmouth.

The rod you currently use for trout will probably suffice for most of our stream fishing. My personal favorite is an 8 1/2 ft. rod for a 5 or 6 wt. line. I find it to be light and sporty, yet it provides enough butt power to turn over some of the lead-eyed flies that are so productive. A bass bug taper line really helps to punch flies accurately on target with a minimal amount of effort - very critical especially when float fishing. The 8 1/2 foot length I find provides more accuracy and the ability to drive a fly back into the root wads and boulders. A 5 ft. fast sink tip at times can be the line of choice, especially in early spring for keeping bottom-bouncing flies in the strike zone. As far as fly selection goes, you'll find for the most part flies that imitate crawfish and minnows are top choices. Round out the selection with a good hellgrammite nymph and a summertime hopper pattern and you're prepared for smallmouth on all Ozark streams.

As for your minnow imitations, let me recommend two that have proven themselves time and again. On the surface I fish a floating pattern with a deer-hair head and marabou tail. This fly gives the dipping and darting action of a chased top-water minnow. I tie it in color combinations to match the native minnows - golden brown top with a white underbelly - just like the chubs and slicks you find in the stream.

The other minnow I often rely on is a clouser which, as you know, has probably become the standard stream smallmouth fly across the country. The original is tied with bucktail. I have found in our clear streams that tying the fly with a synthetic craft fur and a sparse amount of wing and flash makes a very breathable, translucent minnow that really comes to life.

Arkansas Department  of Parks and Tourism	Arkansas Game and  Fish Commission	Cotter, Arkansas, and the Cotter Area Chamber of Commerce