Shoreline access with room to launch canoes is at the U.S. Forest Service's Shirley Creek, Rocky Shoals, Fulton Branch, Dragover and River Bluff access points in Montgomery County. Every tributary that holds even a few inches of water is apt to hold some feisty smallmouths, so check out Brushy Creek, Hackberry Creek and House Creek while you're in the area.

In addition to crossing them on the Ouachita River, you'll see them from state Highway 88, which parallels the river. You may keep two smallmouths at least 12 inches in length per day. A bit farther south in the county, you'll find the South Fork of the Ouachita River, which also feeds into Lake Ouachita. Warm Creek and Woods Creek are interesting tributaries.

You can purchase topographic maps of the forest -- your most valuable hunting and fishing tool -- from the Forest Service for $6.51 per quad plus handling fees (by mail). Call the Forest Service's district office in Hot Springs at (501) 321-5202 for details or follow links to the Maps section of the Ouachita National Forest web site, www.fs.fed.us/r8/ouachita/.

CROOKED CREEK
One of the state's finest smallmouth destinations, Crooked Creek flows 80 miles in north-central Arkansas from Newton County across Boone and Marion Counties until it empties into the upper White River. This unique confluence is one of the few places where you might catch a trout on one cast and a smallmouth or largemouth on the next. You'll want to canoe most of Crooked Creek because most of the bank is private property, but the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission offers outstanding shoreline access near its Fred Berry Conservation and Education Center at Yellville.

"Our property actually covers two and three-quarter miles of the creek," said Marilyn Ply, the center's manager. "We have a trail on the property that goes up the creek close to a mile, and people are welcome to fish there." While locals tend to stick close to Kelley's Slab, a well-known fishing hotspot on Marion County Road 4002, other anglers have told Ply they caught as many as 40 fish while walking along the trail.

The center is open only on weekdays and vehicle access is shut down on weekends, but anglers on foot or hikers are welcome to access the property seven days a week from sunrise to sunset, Ply confirmed. On the AGFC's property, smallmouth fishing is strictly a catch-and-release affair, but you may keep two 14-inch smallmouths per day on most of the rest of the Creek. The river also includes two zones with a limit of one fish, minimum length 18 inches.

KINGS RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES
The Kings River begins in the Boston Mountains of Madison County and flows northward through Carroll County into Table Rock Lake in northwest Arkansas. The 90-mile stream is best fished from a canoe, but there's plenty of room for wading or shorebound anglers at the river's many public accesses, including those at Marble, Marshal Ford, Trigger Gap, below the U.S. Highway 62 bridge and Summer's Ford.