Four Great Float Destinations for Smallmouth
Must-visit southeastern rivers offering easy canoe and kayak access, beautiful scenery and a plethora of hard-fitting bronzebacks
The biggest problem southern smallmouth bass fans face is deciding which section of which stream to try next. To help in that respect, I’ve compiled the following information on four great Southern smallmouth floats. Each offers easy access, superb scenery and quality smallmouth fishing.
The New River, North Carolina
The New River is North Carolina’s premier smallmouth stream. Located in the Appalachian Mountains in the state’s northwest corner, a 26.5-mile-long section of this stream has been granted National Scenic River status. Canoeing and smallmouth fishing are very popular there.
You probably won’t catch many trophy-class smallmouths in the New, but the river is bristling with 1- to 3-pounders, and some larger than that. Imitation minnow and crawdad plugs are good lures to try, but you can catch smallmouths using any tactic you might use elsewhere.
According to Jay Wild, retired superintendent of New River State Park (SP) near Jefferson, the section of the New from the Highway 163 bridge to the Highway 16 bridge is one of the most popular floats. “If you’re fishing hard, what you really want to do is split that trip in half,” he said. “The first float would start at the 163 bridge between West Jefferson and Glendale Springs. It’s about a four- to five-hour fishing trip from there to the first take-out at the Elk Shoals Methodist Church Camp.
“At Elk Shoals, there’s a public beach where you can enjoy some real good wade fishing for smallmouths. There’s also a public campground if you want to spend the night before making the next float.” Elk Shoals is reached via Secondary Road 1159, about three miles west of Glendale Springs on Highway 163.
The second float begins at the Elk Shoals camp, with a take-out at the Highway 16 bridge at the junction of highways 88 and 16, five miles north of Glendale Springs. “If you’re fishing hard, this float takes about five hours,” Wild said. “The next overnight camping spot is at New River SP, about 14 miles downstream from Elk Shoals, and we have two more park areas that are spaced 12 miles apart downstream from the first park access. There’s good smallmouth fishing along this entire section, and if you use public camping areas, it’s possible to have four or five overnight stopovers.”
Canoe rentals and shuttle service are available from several local outfitters. For more information, visit www.ncparks.gov/new-river-state-park.
The James River, Virginia
No story about great Southern smallmouth floats would be complete without mentioning Virginia’s James River. The James ranks high among smallmouth streams, at the top of all in Virginia, perhaps all in the nation. Each year this river produces hundreds of 4-pound-plus smallmouths.
According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, smallmouth fishing is excellent along the 212 river miles from Eagle Rock to Richmond, a cool stretch of water offering sweeping views of the Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountains. Autumn months serve up great smallmouth action, especially when casting small topwater plugs, and minnow- and crawfish-imitation crankbaits.
A nice stretch for a weekend fishing trip is the eight- to 10-hour float (paddle time) from Buchanan to Glasgow. The mountain vistas and smallmouth fishing are both spectacular. Begin your float in Buchanan, stopping for an overnight campout at one of the primitive U.S. Forest Service canoe-in campsites located on river right downstream.
For a leisurely one-day smallmouth trip, try the float from the river bridge at Columbia to the bridge at Cartersville. Paddle time is three to five hours, and since this stretch is fairly flat, it’s an easy float, even for beginning canoeists. If time permits, you can continue from Cartersville to West View, another two to three hours paddle time. This stretch is bounded by heavily wooded hillsides providing a nice backdrop to river vistas, and the smallmouth fishing is superb.
Before planning an excursion, check out the James River float map and trip information available here.
Greenbrier River, West Virginia
West Virginia encompasses many outstanding smallmouth streams: the New River, the South Branch of the Potomac, the Elk River, and others. If it’s trophy fish you’re after, though, few areas equal the lower reaches of the Greenbrier River in the state’s southeast corner.
“On the upper end of the Greenbrier, you don’t catch as many trophy-size smallmouths, but anglers go out sometimes and release 40, 50, 60 fish,” said Jim Reed who served many years as district fisheries biologist for the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources. “On the lower end, though, from Marlinton to the river’s mouth at Hinton, there are deeper holes and better habitat for larger fish. Many citation smallmouths, 3 pounds and better, are caught here each year.”
One excellent smallmouth float is the 6-mile stretch of river from Caldwell to Ronceverte in Greenbrier County. “This is a very safe stretch of water, about a half a day float, and there’s very little portaging,” Reed said. “You’ll run through long riffles, then hit a series of pools against the bank with quite a bit of rocks and rubble. There’s excellent habitat for smallmouths.
“Most of the common things people use for smallmouths will work on the Greenbrier,” Reed noted. “Jigs and small crawfish crankbaits are excellent. As far as live baits go, hellgrammites are good when they’re in season, but most Greenbrier anglers use artificial baits.”
Put-in access is beneath the U.S. Highway 60 bridge at Caldwell. The take-out is at the city park in Ronceverte, on river right just upstream from the U.S. Highway 219 bridge. Check out these websites for more information on the Greenbrier River: Pocahontas County Convention & Visitors Bureau: pocahontascountywv.com; Greenbrier County Convention & Visitors Bureau: greenbrierwv.com; and Monongahela National Forest: fs.usda.gov/mnf.
The Ouachita River, Arkansas
The Ozark and Ouachita mountains in Arkansas encompass dozens of outstanding smallmouth streams. One of the best, in terms of quality fishing opportunities, is the Ouachita River (pronounced Wash-i-taw) near Mount Ida in west-central Arkansas. Heavy smallmouth bass are caught in the upper reaches of this scenic stream year-round, but the best period for good float fishing is late fall to late spring.
Nearly 70 miles of the river above Lake Ouachita can floated when water conditions are right. For top-notch smallmouth fishing, zero in on the 10-mile trip from the Highway 379 bridge just south of Oden to the Rocky Shoals campground at the U.S. Highway 270 crossing. This stretch features some of the best scenery on the Ouachita, with lots of long, boulder-strewn pools and sparkling shoals to tempt the smallmouth angler. Three- to 4-pound bronzebacks aren’t uncommon, and during a good day of fishing, it’s not unusual to catch and release dozens of smaller bass.
One of the best enticements for Ouachita smallmouths is a 1/8-ounce brown leadhead jig with a brown No. 11 pork frog trailer. Work the lure past boulders, rocky ledges, fallen trees, and shale outcrops, trying to imitate the backward scurrying of a crayfish. Live crawfish work great, too, and can often be collected in shallow tributaries.
A major draw of the Ouachita River is its location within the Ouachita National Forest. The Forest Service provides campgrounds, picnic areas, and access points along the river, but with only sparse population along its banks, the Ouachita also offers a sense of solitude. A detailed river map showing access points is available on the Arkansas Dept. of Parks and Tourism website by clicking here.