The Spring River
The Spring River are our home waters. A natural freestone stream, the headwaters begin at Mammoth Spring - Arkansas’s largest spring and the second largest spring in the Ozark Mountains. The spring produces 9 million gallons of water hourly at a constant 58 degrees - prime habitat for trout!
The Spring River flows south through Fulton County, across the northeast tip of Sharp County and into Lawrence County to its confluence with the Eleven Point River just above SH 361. The river then continues a few miles south to its confluence with the Black River near Old Davidsonville State Historical Park.
The Fishery
The Spring River is home many species of fish. From warm water fish; largemouth, smallmouth and rock bass, bluegill, and carp to cold water fish; walleye,grass pickerel, brown trout, cutthroat and rainbow trout. Sometimes it can be difficult to know whats biting on the other end. In 1889 a powerful storm moved thru the area that devastated the natural fish population in the Spring River so badly that the federal goverment began a mountain trout restocking program in Mammoth Spring. The federal hatchery opened in 1904 and is still open today. The Spring River is one of, if not the oldest continually stocked trout rivers in America. Today, the Arkansas Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Federal Government operate regular stocking schedules - primarily of rainbow trout, but occasionally brown trout and cutthroat trout are introduced.
Food sources for the trout and other game fish in the river include ten species of bait fish, Sculpin, shad, dace minnows,leeches, crawfish, snails, and numerous caddis and mayfly hatches thru out the year provide a smorgasbord for the resident trout.
Fishing the River
With the abundance of available food in the river choices in techniques vary. For fly fishing on the river a simple nymph rig can produce plenty of trout. Streamer techniques work well for bass and going after bigger brown and rainbow trout.