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Home › Waters › Arkansas › Illinois Bayou
Bayou · North-central Arkansas, Pope County, the Ozark foothills above Lake Dardanelle near Russellville · Arkansas

Illinois Bayou Fishing Guides

An Ozark stream despite the name, running clear over gravel out of the Boston Mountains into the upper end of Lake Dardanelle.

Still bayou water ringed by moss-draped cypress at golden hour
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Illinois Bayou

Illinois Bayou is a bayou in name only. It drains the southern face of the Boston Mountains in Pope County and runs south through the Ozark foothills to the upper end of Lake Dardanelle near Russellville, and along most of that course it behaves like an Ozark creek rather than a Delta bayou. The water runs clear over gravel and bedrock, the banks are bluff and hardwood rather than cypress, and the fish community reflects it. The gauge near Scottsville sits on the middle reach above the lake backwater.

Smallmouth bass are the reason most anglers fish it. The upper and middle reaches hold a good population of stream smallmouth that take topwater and small crankbaits through the warm months, and they fight considerably harder than their size suggests in the swift water. Ozark bass and rock bass share the same riffles and pools, longear sunfish and bluegill are everywhere, and spotted and largemouth bass become more common as the stream slows toward the lake.

The lower end is a different fishery entirely. Where Illinois Bayou enters the Dardanelle backwater it widens and deepens, and crappie, channel and flathead catfish and walleye move up out of the lake seasonally. That transition reach gets the most boat traffic; the upper stream is float and wade water best suited to a kayak or canoe.

Flow is the constant variable. The four forks above the gauge drain steep ground, and the bayou rises fast after a Boston Mountain rain and drops nearly as fast. Spring floats are the most reliable, and by late summer much of the upper stream is reduced to a chain of pools connected by thin riffles, which concentrates the smallmouth but makes for a good deal of dragging.

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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 Illinois Bayou.

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

Scottsville - the gauge reach, with a county road crossing and gravel bar access.
Highway 27 crossing - the common upper put-in for a float through the middle reach.
Lake Dardanelle backwater - the lower end, with ramps reaching the slack water.
Russellville - the nearest town of size, with supplies, lodging and guides.
Ozark National Forest - public ground on the upper forks with walk-in access.
Hickey Crossing - a mid-stream gravel crossing used as a take-out.
East Fork confluence - the upper limit of dependable float water.

Seasons

Spring: the best float conditions of the year, with smallmouth active as the water warms.
Summer: low clear water, topwater at dawn and dusk, and a good deal of walking between pools.
Fall: cooling water brings the smallmouth back on and the crappie move in the lower reach.
Winter: slow in the stream, with the Dardanelle backwater holding the better winter fishing.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Illinois Bayou?

As of Sep 17, 5:30 am, the USGS gauge Illinois Bayou near Scottsville, AR reads 16 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Illinois Bayou?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Ozark Bass, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Walleye, White Crappie on the Illinois Bayou in Arkansas.

Where can you access the Illinois Bayou?

Scottsville - the gauge reach, with a county road crossing and gravel bar access. Highway 27 crossing - the common upper put-in for a float through the middle reach. Lake Dardanelle backwater - the lower end, with ramps reaching the slack water. Russellville - the nearest town of size, with supplies, lodging and guides. Ozark National Forest - public ground on the upper forks with walk-in access. Hickey Crossing - a mid-stream gravel crossing used as a take-out. East Fork confluence - the upper limit of dependable float water.

When is the best time to fish the Illinois Bayou?

Spring: the best float conditions of the year, with smallmouth active as the water warms. Summer: low clear water, topwater at dawn and dusk, and a good deal of walking between pools. Fall: cooling water brings the smallmouth back on and the crappie move in the lower reach. Winter: slow in the stream, with the Dardanelle backwater holding the better winter fishing.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Illinois Bayou?

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