I have done all kinds of professional planning in radically different settings and have come to the conclusion plans are no more than a fictional portrayal of what would be expected to occur if the planner were fully informed; if all variables were correctly considered; and if the world cooperated exactly with the planner’s vision.

For months now my brother Lewis and I have been planning a fishing/floating trip on the Buffalo and White Rivers in north central Arkansas. Without ever visiting the area we planned on using Buffalo City as the base and motoring miles up the White River, fishing in Crooked Creek, drifting back down the White River, then motoring miles up the Buffalo and drifting back – with some wilderness camping in between. A major problem with the plan was I could not get reliable information about camping sites, etc – we did not even know if it was feasible. I tried calling some of the trout docks and outfitters – they were cordial enough until it got to the point about asking specific camping locations and other details – then they clammed up on anything not related to boat rental and room rates. That meant I would have to reconnoiter the area in person prior to our arrival with a load of gear.

We found a chocolate brown Buffalo River that was swollen with ugly fast water. (click images to enlarge)

The day after the washed out messabout in Russellville, Jenny and I made the three hour drive from our house to Buffalo City. We found a chocolate brown Buffalo River that was swollen with ugly fast water from the same rains that hit the messabout the day before.

The White River was up too, but still fairly clear above the merge with the Buffalo. We launched Hawbuck and headed upriver with the intent to explore up to Crooked Creek. Well, that was the plan, only there were river wide shoals with large underwater boulders a mile up from Buffalo City that I could not cross in the dingy water – uh oh – scratch that half of the plan!

I launched Hawbuck and made the ¼ mile run to where the rivers merged.

The next weekend, the last before the scheduled trip, I went back to Buffalo City and was amazed to see the White and Buffalo Rivers flowing clear and peacefully! I launched Hawbuck and made the ¼ mile run to where the rivers merged. It was shallow but doable. I slowly motored up the Buffalo River’s current – hoping to go about 15 miles to where Big Creek joined the Buffalo. I made it about three miles – and ran into shoals you could walk across!

I need eight inches of water to fully operate Hawbuck under power – there might have been three inches over the shoals. I could get out and drag (had waders in the boat) but doubted I could make the crossing with a load of camping gear. So, I drifted back down – catching five or six nice smallmouth bass in the process. On the way I pondered the fact that none of our planned “mountain man” mission was doable. We could rent canoes from Wild Bill’s outfitter and drift from Hwy 14 bridge to Buffalo City – 30 miles with national forest wilderness camping on either river bank. For $66 Wild Bill’s would shuttle our vehicle and pick up the canoes. But I did not build Hawbuck so I could rent a dang canoe!

We could camp and fish only on the White River! Like I said, the trout docks and outfitters get pretty evasive when you start talking about camping outside their property – some will even tell you it is all private property! But, a map will show much of the south bank from Buffalo City down to Mountain View is Ozark National Forest. Problem is they are both right as there is private property scattered throughout the National Forest and at least some of the property owners “pretend” the public land is theirs. So without a reliable map you just might end up camping on private property – which I would try to avoid, considering even the kids are armed in those parts!

We were running out of time! On the drive home I considered camping on Buck Island, a few miles below Mountain View. At home I pulled up Google Maps, typed in Mountain View, and zoomed the satellite view to the river. About four miles south of where Sylamore Creek and the White River merge you can make out the narrow strip of land they call Buck Island. I have fished both sides of the island – it is plenty high to offer safe camping and there is a new boat ramp at Round Bottom Access – just a mile south.

OK, that would have to do; we would camp on Buck Island and fish around Mountain View Area, in waters we know well. Before I left the website I viewed the river north of Sylamore – just to see what was there and spied a large island about six miles upriver. It looked interesting. We rarely went up that way as there is a three mile trophy area where you use single barbless hooks and there are other restrictive rules – like no dynamite, etc. A review of the county map for Stone County showed an Arkansas Game and Fish boat launch right across the river from the island!

I called Lewis – told him of the failed plans and the proposed change and we agreed to blindly go to the island just across the river from Mt Olive boat launch. After months of planning we would still be heading into an unknown area and arriving just before dark Thursday night! If that failed we would end up in a hotel in town – Plan F, for failure!

Lewis arrived from Texas three days later and we quickly loaded his stuff into my truck and head just north of Mountain View where Hwy 5 crosses Sylamore Creek. You turn right off Hwy 5 on to Hwy 9 and drive about ten miles on a winding road that sometimes hugs cliffs hundreds of feet high. Follow the brown Game and Fish Sign and turn left onto an even smaller road for the five mile drive to the Mt Olive river access. The whole area is stunning! It was 5pm when we arrived; we had an hour and a half before dark to make camp on the island across the river. Only it has a house on it!

They call it an island and it looks like an island and it may be an island – but it is not, as assumed, a deserted island! Just as I was backing the trailer to turn around to head back to town Lewis spied a large flat rock ledge back in the trees overlooking the river. Interesting! We drove up a 50 yard path and surveyed the site. There were a couple old campfire burn spots, a nice sandy area for the tent, a huge flat area that was solid rock, a easy trail down to the river with a good place to tie the boat, and there were no signs that said “No Camping”. We were home!

The area was also home to plenty of mosquitoes too! But I had one of those little Deep Wood Off spray bottles in my tackle box. Lewis declined the spray, years of living on the Texas Gulf coast has left him immune to the puny inland skeeters we have in Arkansas. We still had about 30 minutes of daylight left when we started looking for firewood – there was not much to be had around the campsite, so we dropped the boat trailer and in five minutes was filling the back of the truck with very nice mixture of hard and softwood that we found along the Mt. Olive road.

As the sun dipped below the horizon Lewis was putting together a nice campfire and I was breaking out eggs, sausage, and tortillas for supper.

As the sun dipped below the horizon Lewis was putting together a nice campfire and I was breaking out eggs, sausage, and tortillas for supper. (note: try tortillas instead of bread for camping, the bread gets flattened anyways!) We had a good supper, and a pleasant evening sitting about ten feet from a nice campfire – the mosquitoes all left as soon as the fire was lit. About ten that night we turned in – “roughing it” on two queen size air mattresses with queen size sleeping bags in a 18x10 dome tent.

The morning was cool as we launched the Hawbuck after a hardy breakfast and spent a perfect day exploring the White River. It took a few hours at “piddling speed”, but we made our way north 18 miles to Calico Rock. As soon as we got to the bridge in Calico Rock we were in familiar water as we have boated and fished that area several times.

As soon as we got to the bridge in Calico Rock we were in familiar water as we have boated and fished that area several times.

We bought a couple sodas at Ramsey’s Trout Dock, used the public facilities, and talked awhile with Mr. Ramsey about the old days on the river – back when they were catching monster size trout almost daily.

About seven miles down from Calico Rock is a place where Millwood creek merges with the White – a very shallow area where we tested Hawbuck’s capabilities. I saw Lewis brace several times for bottom drags that never came – I estimate we can drift in three inches, start in eight inches, and run in six inch water. I am happy with that.

Across from Millwood Creek was the Optimus walk in area (also called Bowers Access Area). A nice sandy beach area with wilderness camping that is open to the public. We saw a couple of families camping there. I did not take a picture which is a shame as it was very scenic and I glimpsed a wooden canoe in one of the camps. All through the day we caught and released rainbow trout and every now and then a brown trout.

All through the day we caught and released rainbow trout and every now and then a brown trout.

We saw one canoe on the water with two people and even spoke to them several times as they were drifting and paddling down to Mountain View. We passed them several times as we stopped to fish and they caught up and passed us under paddle power. I saw them one last time that evening as I was checking Hawbuck’s mooring lines back at camp. The lady in the back seemed a little discouraged when I told her it was still six miles to town!

I have been making spinner baits for a few years now and make at least one new design each year. Lewis preferred the chartreuse and hematite lure from last year and I preferred the red and gold from this year. It seems as thought they all work – true, some better than others. In the evening we both used hematite and gold – many times both catching fish at the same time. It varies each trip – this time a 16 inch trout was a big one.

I am happy to report the Coleman oven works fine for brownies, cornbread, and biscuits.

Pleasantly tired, we cooked strip steaks, tatters, cornbread, and beans for supper. I am happy to report the Coleman oven works fine for brownies, cornbread, and biscuits – although why they don’t make the oven fit the single burner stove and why there is no pot warmer on top of the oven – I cannot say. I will be making both those modifications before going out again.

Neither of us noticed the cool front that came in during the day. But that night we were setting four feet from the fire instead of ten feet like the night before. I was still in short pants and tee shirt around the fire and failed to notice it was “cool” until sometime that night when I woke up shivering! Queen size sleeping bags are comfy for stretching out – but when the temperature drops you kind of roll into a little ball. Nobody wanted to get up the next morning – would you believe we laid in bed like to old dogs until way after seven!

It was foggy on the river that morning so we took our time cooking breakfast, cleaning dishes, tying on new lures, etc. We made a little fire and drank an extra cup of coffee and told a few more stories as we made plans to go south 15 miles or so. It was about 8:30 and still a little foggy when we finally made our way down to Hawbuck and headed out for morning fishing. By 10:30 we were in full sun shine and it felt hot after the long cold night!

I just grinned and waved back at them. “Howdy, good morning. Y’all catching any good ‘uns?”

By the time we drifted passed Jack’s Trout Dock Lewis and I both were barefoot and only wearing short pants and tee shirts. I noticed the people we saw in other boats were grinning when we drifted by – I just grinned and waved back at them. “Howdy, good morning. Y’all catching any good ‘uns?”

After a while it finally dawned on us everyone else was wearing coats, scarves, and gloves and were all bundled up! They were grinning because we were clearly a couple of mountain men fresh out of the hills! I am very sure you could smell the camp fire on us twenty feet away.

We caught well over 100 fish during the trip and all but three were paroled. We fried those three with Uncle Buck’s fish fry along with some canned diced potatoes, and onion chili beans, and corn bread – mmmmm. (note: it is hard to cook French fries on a Coleman stove, but canned diced potatoes do well and you don’t have to peel them). Stuff tastes a lot better out there on the river but you better eat it fast as it gets cold in about five minutes.

Another 10 or 12 trout tested our tackle – most were 14 or 15 inches and gave a good fight in the swift water near the shoals.

Sooner than we wanted it was Sunday morning. We fished one last time just upriver from the camp until mid morning. Another 10 or 12 trout tested our tackle – most were 14 or 15 inches and gave a good fight in the swift water near the shoals. Then we spent a busy hour packing and cleaning up our campsite, leaving only a night’s supply of firewood as a bonus to the next campers and some flattened grass where the tent stood to mark our passage.

It was back to people noise – radio, TV, trains, planes, cars…I already missed the soothing sounds of the water running over the shoals, the cool wind blowing softly through the early fall leaves, the coyotes’ strange chirping and yapping late in the night and even those damned crows that screamed at us “Caw!, Caw!, Caw!” every morning while we ate breakfast.

I learned that the Coleman camping oven can make good biscuits, cornbread, and brownies

I learned Hawbuck was a real boat. I left her on the river three days straight, beached her on rocks, treated her fairly harsh, just to prove she was a boat and not a coffee table. Like all the worthy boats I have owned, we are well on our way to becoming good friends - a friendship that I hope lasts a long time. Other people like her too and want me to stop what I’m doing to talk boats - something I never refuse!

I learned the Mt. Olive access is a perfect five star wilderness camping area – period. I learned that the Coleman camping oven can make good biscuits, cornbread, and brownies – even if it does not have a pot warmer on top and is not made to fit a single burner stove. I learned that sometime when it appears people are grinning AT you - they might REALLY be grinning AT you! And I learned one more time – there really is nothing ever so wonderful as messing about in boats!

More articles by Larry Pullon:

• Hawbuck
  • Update1
  • Update2
  • Update3
• Extreme Makeover (for boats)
• Tentboat
• The Dream
• Holey Whaler!
• Long John
• The Sailing People of Conroe
• Jetfish
• A Trip to Calico Rock
• Bass Fishing
• LongJon
• Stripper Troutboat - Part 1
• Stripper Troutboat - Part 2
• A Fishing We Will Go!