Fishermen aiming to catch a mess of white bass at Twin Bridges near Goshen might go see the Crawdad Man.
He's been selling crawdads at the Arkansas 45 bridge access at the White River for 40 years, "maybe more," Crawdad man said. When the white bass are spawning, Twin Bridges is the hot spot. It's named for the White River bridge and another bridge due east over Richland Creek.
Crawdad Man, 73, prefers not to give his real name. He doesn't want his picture taken. But he's known far and wide, said Bill Walker, Crawdad Man's son-in-law.
"You can just put 'The Crawdad Man at Twin Bridges' and 95 out of a hundred people will know who it is," Walker said. "We'll be out somewhere like at Academy and someone will holler, 'Hey, Crawdad Man.'"
Walker keeps his father-in-law company on many of the long days spent selling crawdads.
Crawdad Man raises mud bugs in ponds on his place in Madison County. He rears crawdads for the sole purpose of selling them to fishermen during the white bass run. His white pickup, with a tub of crawdads in the bed, will be parked under the Arkansas 45 bridge through April, Crawdad Man said.
He and Walker relaxed in the cab of Crawdad Man's pickup. Walker wore a camo jacket while Crawdad Man sported crisp denim overalls and ball cap. It was a sunny Saturday, March 26.
Customers get a red plastic cup with a dozen crawdads for $3. Fishermen may be surprised at their size. These crawdads are little bitty things, no longer than an adult's thumbnail. That's the perfect size, Crawdad Man said.
"You see 'em catch white bass with artificials, but nothing like you're going to catch with live bait," Walker testified. "They'll catch anything that swims in the river. They've caught walleye, perch, anything in the water."
Each spring Crawdad Man goes to his ponds and sorts the bait-size mud bugs from the crawdads that have grown too big. The bigger crawdads become the breeders that produce more crawdads to sell in another spring or two. Crawdads eggs are the size of a gnat, Crawdad Man said.
Walker explained how to thread a hook through a tiny crawdad. It's best to use a small hook like a fisherman might use for bluegill, he said. Thread the hook point through the tail of the crawdad and up the tail, but stop before the hook point is exposed. It's best for the point to be inside of the crawdad.
Add a weight, such as a split shot, on the line 10 inches above the hook and get the skillet ready.
"You cast it out, and, if the fish are there, one will take it right away," Walker said. "If you don't get a bite, crawl it real slow along the bottom, maybe with just one crank of the reel, then stop."
Days are long in the crawdad business.
"I stayed 12 hours the other day. That's hard on a young man," Crawdad Man said. He sets up shop under the bridge about sunrise each day during the white bass run.
Fishermen were out in force while Crawdad Man sold bait that Saturday. The parking lot was full. The overflow of vehicles and boat trailers stretched clear up to the highway.
White bass time is like Christmas for fishermen, and the Crawdad Man can help with the catching.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAFlip
Sports on 04/05/2016