Barkley and Henry checked stomach contents of about 400 Eleven Point smallmouths during the study. Almost 40 percent had empty tanks, but we can make some intriguing assumptions from those with grub in their bellies. For example, about 27 percent of the sampled smallies had ingested fish-only dinners, but few had dined on small sunfishes. So you might want to choose silvery lures that imitate minnows -- or net native baitfish for live presentation -- instead of chunky artificials that represent sunfish. A higher incidence of insects in smallmouth stomachs during the summer suggests that you might want to pack some fly-fishing gear now, too.

Study results suggest that you can rely on crayfish imitations because "during the summer, smallmouth bass utilized crayfish more often than they did any other item." One-third of the sampled smallmouths had only crayfish in their stomachs, and 70 percent of those with more than one food in their guts had downed at least one crayfish. If that doesn't have you stocking your box with fake crawdads, this study fact will: "Adult smallmouth bass . . . consumed about equal numbers of crayfish and fish, but smallmouths over 12 inches selected crayfish 2 to 1 over fish."

Henry is anxious to try a live-bait trick a local fisherman may have borrowed from Ozark trout anglers: fishing a red worm, inflated with air from a hypodermic needle, slowly along the bottom on a Carolina rig. "It's new to me, and it's supposed to be the best new technique for catching smallmouths and everything else on the Eleven Point," he said.

RIVER REGULATIONS
The AGFC designated the Spring River as an Ozark Zone Quality Stream about a decade ago, and the Eleven Point received the same rating last year. Both rivers now carry a 14-inch minimum length limit on all smallmouths and a two-fish daily limit. State law limits motors to no more than 25 horsepower on the Eleven Point from the Missouri line to the Spring River.

Reflecting on his district's outstanding smallmouth fishing, Henry admitted that publicity about the studies on these rivers might attract even more anglers to them. When asked whether the Spring and Eleven Point deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Arkansas classics such as Crooked Creek and the Buffalo National River, he said, "Yes -- but the locals aren't going to be very happy to hear that!"