Hello from Arkansas

[arkansastraveler]

I great big hello to all of you on the board.

I am from just southwest of Little Rock, Arkansas. I have flyfished (of sorts) since I was about 8 for smallmouth, and have the privilege of living about 400 yeards from that fabled stream of my youth. I am self taught, and the more I fish the more I consider myself a novice. Mainly lack of time on the water I think. We should all be able to quit work at noon for a bit of fishing. I also live a little over an hour from some great tailwater fishing.

My dad lived in Pittsburgh for about 12 years, and currently lives on the North Carolina coast. I also have cousins from Ashville. This has meant that since my married life, my wife and I have been comiong through the Smoky Mtn area for about the last 14 years at least once a year. Twice when my beloved Razorbacks meet the Vols.

My wife is quite the beach girl, and I am quite the opposite. I think our visits to the area have converted her though . We would also rather do some hiking, fishing, camping, or just prop our feet up on a rock and watch life go by. Therefore, it didn't take long to find a place to stay in Townsend. That naturally led to LRO. A fantastic and first rate shop!!

I wish I could say I fish every time we come through, but I can't . But one trip into the mountains, and I was hooked. I have met with limited success, but it gets better each time. Monday I caught four, and with my help, my 5 year old daughter, and 3 year old son were both able to catch their first fish. That makes six woooohooo!! Now I have to see about cutting down an old rod so she can have one more her size.

We have been talking for years about getting a place in the area, and finally my dad and I got a wild hair and did it. I am looking forward to being back up there more, and getting to know all of you guys better. Hopefully, I can glean some information to make my fishing more successfull.

This got a bit long winded, but just wanted to introduce myself and say hey to the gang.

[David Knapp]

Congrats on helping your kids catch fish and welcome to the board!

[tbryan]

I'm sure you have fished the Norfolk or the White River haven't you. I have fished the Norfolk and caught some big trout, nice clear river also.

[Griff]

Welcome to the board.

[arkansastraveler]

Thanks for the welcome. I am looking forward to learning from you guys.

I have fly fished the White below Bull Shoals a lot, and float fished it around Mountain View. Unfortunaltely the Norfork has never made it onto the itenerary except to take a friend and his kids up to Dry Run creek a few times.

Mostly I fish the Little Red because it is only about an hour from Little Rock, and about 20 minutes from one of my biggest customers. Not to mention a 40lb 4oz bad boy brown trout caught back in '92. Kind of like a lot machine, chnces of hitting again are slim, but once it pays off it is hard to resist. But there are a lot of nice fish in there.

If you guys are ever headed this way, I could always use some help getting my line untangled from around my head.