I had an enjoyable four hour trip today with a family of three from Ohio. David and his two teenage sons Ben and Jake are all experienced fishermen. In his younger days David used to fish for smallies in the streams and rivers in the Ozark region of Arkansas. The Little Pigeon River was running a little high and was still stained from the rain that had made it unfishable the week before. The fish were scattered due to the reduced current flow in the lower regions of the Little Pigeon from the heavy generation at Douglas Dam. David spent the majority of the trip watching Ben and Jake fish. They fished hard and managed to catch thirteen smallies. They were a variety of sizes with a few in the 17-18 ½” range. With about an hour left in the trip the youngest son Jake held the lead with the big fish of the day that was 18″ long and weighed in at an even three pounds. At that point Dad decided to jump into the fray and try his hand at catching a Little Pigeon River smallie before we had to head back to the ramp. It wasn’t long before he hung a nice fish. And to his sons surprise and dismay that fourth quarter smallie came in at 18 ½” and weighed 3 lbs. 3 oz. The angler that fished the least amount of time caught the biggest fish. A picture of David with that dandy smallie is included in this report. After some good natured ribbing that the “old man still has it” we made our way back to the ramp on this beautiful spring day. David, Ben, and Jake were a pleasure to have in the boat and I was happy to see that got the opportunity to catch some of those hard fighting Little Pigeon River smallies.
River Smallie Adventures Fishing Report April 6, 2021
