Beta

GuidedFloats is in beta. The full site launches March 1, 2027. The mobile app follows.

Guides: claim before March 1, 2027 and your first full season of Premium is free. Claim your founding spot →

Log in List your guide serviceFor guides
Home › Waters › Arkansas › Bayou Bartholomew
Bayou · Southeast Arkansas, Drew and Lincoln counties, the Delta lowlands between Pine Bluff and the Louisiana line · Arkansas

Bayou Bartholomew Fishing Guides

The longest bayou in the world, running three hundred miles from Pine Bluff to the Ouachita with one of the richest fish faunas in the Delta.

A boat idling past a stand of cypress on open bayou water
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Bayou Bartholomew

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

No guides listed yet

Guide or outfit this water? Create your profile. Listing is free, the commission is 10% or 7% with a premium profile, and premium profiles list first on this water.

About the Bayou Bartholomew

Bayou Bartholomew is generally described as the longest bayou in the world, running roughly three hundred and sixty miles from near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, down through the Delta to join the Ouachita River in Louisiana. It is an old channel of the Arkansas River, and it keeps the shape of one, a narrow meandering watercourse with deep outside bends, cypress at the edges and a steady tea-colored flow. The gauge at Garrett Bridge sits on the Arkansas reach above Monticello.

The bayou is best known among biologists for its diversity. More than a hundred fish species have been recorded in it, one of the highest counts of any stream in the region, and that variety is obvious from a boat. Largemouth and spotted bass hold along the laydowns and cypress knees, crappie stack in the deeper bends and around any structure the current has piled up, and channel, blue and flathead catfish use the holes. Bluegill, redear sunfish and warmouth fill the shallow margins, and gar, bowfin and drum are common enough that they turn up on almost any bait.

Fishing it is a matter of working small water carefully. The bayou is rarely wide, and a boat that draws much is the wrong tool. Jon boats, kayaks and canoes are the standard, and much of the best fishing happens within a few feet of the bank. Water level drives everything. When the Delta is wet the bayou spreads into the surrounding timber and the fish scatter, and when it drops they concentrate in the bends and the fishing sharpens up considerably.

Much of the land along the bayou is private farm ground, so access is a matter of knowing the public bridges and landings. A long-running conservation effort has improved several of these over the last two decades, and the bayou is in better shape now than it was a generation ago.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Bayou Bartholomew.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

Add a photo of this water See the badges

Pioneer badgeUnclaimed

Add a photo of this water

Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.

Never published. It is how the badge is held for you until member accounts open.

Posting to Bayou Bartholomew.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. Landscape orientation looks best at the top of the page. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name printed under the photo and on your badge. 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.

Fished this water? Add a photo

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 Bayou Bartholomew.

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

Garrett Bridge - the gauge reach, with a county road crossing and bank access.
Monticello - the nearest town of size, with supplies and lodging east of the bayou.
Pine Bluff - the upper end of the bayou near its head on the old Arkansas channel.
Highway 35 crossing - a mid-bayou road bridge with room to launch a small boat.
Wilmot - the lower Arkansas reach above the state line.
Highway 278 crossing - roadside access to the reach below Monticello.
Ouachita River confluence - the downstream end, reached by boat from Louisiana landings.

Seasons

Spring: the strongest fishing of the year, with crappie in the bends and bass on the cypress.
Summer: catfish in the deep holes and bream along the shaded edges as the bayou drops.
Fall: falling water concentrates fish and the crappie bite returns in the cooler weeks.
Winter: slow but workable, with crappie and catfish in the deepest bends.

From the water

No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.

Log this water

Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.

Questions

What is the current flow on the Bayou Bartholomew?

As of Sep 17, 5:15 am, the USGS gauge Bayou Bartholomew at Garrett Bridge, AR reads 3 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Bayou Bartholomew?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bowfin, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Redear Sunfish, Spotted Bass, Spotted Gar, Warmouth, White Crappie on the Bayou Bartholomew in Arkansas.

Where can you access the Bayou Bartholomew?

Garrett Bridge - the gauge reach, with a county road crossing and bank access. Monticello - the nearest town of size, with supplies and lodging east of the bayou. Pine Bluff - the upper end of the bayou near its head on the old Arkansas channel. Highway 35 crossing - a mid-bayou road bridge with room to launch a small boat. Wilmot - the lower Arkansas reach above the state line. Highway 278 crossing - roadside access to the reach below Monticello. Ouachita River confluence - the downstream end, reached by boat from Louisiana landings.

When is the best time to fish the Bayou Bartholomew?

Spring: the strongest fishing of the year, with crappie in the bends and bass on the cypress. Summer: catfish in the deep holes and bream along the shaded edges as the bayou drops. Fall: falling water concentrates fish and the crappie bite returns in the cooler weeks. Winter: slow but workable, with crappie and catfish in the deepest bends.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Bayou Bartholomew?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Arkansas agency site: https://www.agfc.com/regulations/general-fishing-regulations/