For a dress rehearsal, Tuesday's jaunt on the Caddo River was a rousing success.
I was preparing for the smallmouth bass fishing trip of a lifetime on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with my son Matthew and daughter Amy when U.S. Magistrate Joe Volpe texted an invitation to join him for a short float on the Caddo River.
We had so much to do, but that kind of invitation is hard to refuse. Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," would consider it an opportunity to "sharpen the saw," so Matt and I eagerly accepted.
Joining us were Volpe's son John, 13, and John's friend Jack Forrest, 12, and Chris West of Memphis, a health care professional and, like me, a cancer combatant.
The river was very low when we arrived at Lucky's Canoe Rental in Glenwood. The fishing was probably better from Glenwood down, but Thomas Kerberskey, the outfitter, warned us that stretch would be crowded. Floating conditions weren't as good from Caddo Gap to Glenwood, but there would be fewer people, and fishing would probably be better, Kerberskey said.
When I last fished the Caddo, a lawn mowing incident had shattered one of the big window's on Kerberskey's shuttle bus.
"I see you haven't fixed that window yet," I said.
"No, and I ain't going to, neither," Kerberskey said. "I'm thinking I need to bust out another one and get a little airflow going through there. That thing gets awfully hot in the summertime."
As predicted, few people were on the middle section, but we did share the near constant company of a colorful group with a prodigious capacity for adult beverages.
Rarely have we seen the Caddo so clear, and its water was lukewarm.
"The first mile or so looks really good, but we seldom catch anything here," I said. "I suggest we blow on through to the mouth of the South Fork and start doing the serious fishing there."
We all used light-action spinning gear rigged Texas style with 1/8-ounce bullet sinkers and soft plastic baits that imitate small lizards. Zoom is my brand of choice, but Volpe was unable to find them in the watermelon candy color that I recommended. I was delightfully surprised to see that he found them in the Yum brand. Not only is Yum a Fort Smith-based PRADCO brand, but its soft plastics are more durable than the delicate Zoom baits.
From what I saw Tuesday, smallmouths like Yum better than Zoom, too.
Forrest asked how to fish them.
"Look for dark water because it's deeper than the rest," I said. "Even better if it's in the shade. See those little seams where eddy water meets current? Cast close to that and just let it sit there. A smallmouth will pick it up. When you do move the lure, move it an inch or so at a time."
Forrest and John Volpe were quick studies. After a few missed hooksets early, they figured it out and didn't miss many others.
We hastened to the South Fork of the Caddo when I suggested we stop and fish.
"The fish aren't real active right now, so let's wade and take it real slow," I said.
Everyone started catching fish right away, including several in the 12- to 14-inch range.
Originally I thought bass would be feeding above and below the pools, but the activity in those areas was inconsistent. We only got strikes in areas that had big rocks, which suggested that bass were hunkered in shade and dashed out to grab baits that came near.
Near the middle of the float, Matthew and I rounded a bend into swift, narrow, tree-shaded rill. Noticing small pockets of dark eddy water, I beached the canoe on gravel to fish water that I've always ignored before. The pockets were so small that it was almost like stalking native brook trout in tight quarters in the Appalachians, but the hunch proved correct.
Smallmouths and Kentucky bass were stacked in those little spots. After catching a few little smallmouths, I called for Forrest and John Volpe to fish them, too. They caught more and bigger fish, and there was still enough for Judge Volpe and West, who brought up the rear.
Upstream from the Flag Hole, as we drifted through a long rocky stretch, I saw something alarming. Feeding in the shallows were dozens of deep-bodied, silvery fish that I had never seen before. They were all about 14-18 inches long, and at first I thought they were giant gizzard shad. That is until one rocketed over my canoe. It almost whacked me in the head. Matthew faced me when it happened, and the two boys saw it, too.
I spent the rest of the evening researching silver carp on the Internet, and the photos of young silver carp I saw online looked identical to the fish I saw in the river.
The aria of this opera occurred at the bottom of the Flag Hole, where the rest of the group stopped to fish in the shallows while Matthew and I fished the deep water below. They caught fish after fish, including a double by John Volpe and Forrest that crossed lines when they jumped.
What was supposed to be a four-hour trip lasted seven. We were spent and beat when we finally arrived a Lucky's, but it was a good kind of sore.
Sports on 06/25/2017