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Home › Waters › Oklahoma › Mountain Fork
River · Southeast Oklahoma, in the Ouachita Mountains above Broken Bow, running south through McCurtain County past Smithville · Oklahoma

Mountain Fork Fishing Guides

The upper Mountain Fork above the reservoir, a clear Ouachita Mountain smallmouth stream that most anglers drive past on their way downstream.

Warm light on a slow river running through heavy timber
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Mountain Fork

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About the Mountain Fork

Most people who know the Mountain Fork by name are thinking of the trout water far downstream. The upper river above the reservoir is an entirely different proposition and, for anglers who like moving water and solitude, a more interesting one. It drains the Ouachita Mountains in southeastern Oklahoma, running clear over gravel and bedrock through pine and hardwood country, and the reach around Smithville is a proper mountain smallmouth stream.

Smallmouth bass are the fish worth planning around. The Ouachita uplands hold them in the kind of clear, rocky, moderate-gradient water they are built for, and the upper Mountain Fork produces them consistently on small crankbaits, tubes and topwater through the warm months. Spotted bass share the water. Longear sunfish are abundant and spectacularly colored, and they make a light fly rod worth carrying. Channel catfish hold in the deeper holes and flatheads work the log jams.

The river floats well in a kayak or canoe at moderate water and becomes a walk-and-wade proposition when it drops in late summer. That low clear water is actually the best sight fishing of the year if approached carefully, because the smallmouth are visible and catchable but they see everything. The country around Smithville is national forest and timber land, remote enough that a weekday float can pass without seeing another boat.

Anglers should note the distinction between this water and the well-known tailwater below the reservoir, which carries entirely different regulations and a completely different fishery. The upper river is managed under Oklahoma’s general statewide rules for black bass and catfish, but check current limits before a trip. Flows here are rain-driven and the river rises fast after Ouachita storms, so watch the gauge and the forecast together.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Mountain Fork.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Smithville - the gauge reach and the main access on the upper river.
Highway 4 crossings near Smithville - bridge access at several points.
Ouachita National Forest access points - scattered public access through the corridor.
Big Cedar area - upper drainage access on the headwater reaches.
Bethel area crossings - access on the middle upper river.
Ouachita National Recreation Trail crossings - walk-in access to remote water.
Upper end of the reservoir - the bottom of the free-flowing reach.

Seasons

Spring: highest and best flows for floating, with strong smallmouth fishing as it warms.
Summer: low clear water, excellent sight fishing and wading, best early and late.
Fall: cooling water, aggressive smallmouth and the quietest conditions of the year.
Winter: cold and slow, with fish holding deep in the larger pools.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Mountain Fork?

As of Sep 17, 6:30 am, the USGS gauge Mountain Fork at Smithville, OK reads 8 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Mountain Fork?

Anglers target Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass on the Mountain Fork in Oklahoma.

Where can you access the Mountain Fork?

Smithville - the gauge reach and the main access on the upper river. Highway 4 crossings near Smithville - bridge access at several points. Ouachita National Forest access points - scattered public access through the corridor. Big Cedar area - upper drainage access on the headwater reaches. Bethel area crossings - access on the middle upper river. Ouachita National Recreation Trail crossings - walk-in access to remote water. Upper end of the reservoir - the bottom of the free-flowing reach.

When is the best time to fish the Mountain Fork?

Spring: highest and best flows for floating, with strong smallmouth fishing as it warms. Summer: low clear water, excellent sight fishing and wading, best early and late. Fall: cooling water, aggressive smallmouth and the quietest conditions of the year. Winter: cold and slow, with fish holding deep in the larger pools.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Mountain Fork?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Oklahoma agency site: https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/regs