Ed,
I was at the dam. I'm surprised to hear that about I-40 rest area, I stopped there, they have a parking lot specifically for anglers??? Something must have changed. I sort of explored the river a little, at least from the truck. I checked out Happy Hollow, the I-40 rest area and Betty's Island, they all seemed like good places to access the river to me. I looked at parking along highway 141 and Kirby Rd, but they both had some very steep banks down to the river, I'm not so sure how well a bib clumsy guy like me would make it down those banks. Well, on second thought, I'm pretty sure I could get down, back up on the other hand...

Jason