Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 4 - White River, Arkansas

The Bull Shoals tailwater is about a 12-hour drive from my house, and there truly is no practical flying option for most travelers. (If you happen to own a small plane, you fly directly to Gaston's!) Despite the long drive, I've always visited the White River as often as have had the opportunity, and if such an opportunity were to arise, I'd happily hop in my car and make the trek as quickly as I could pack my bags and load appropriate gear!

The trout fishery below Bull Shoals Dam extends approximately 100 miles, and more than 1 million trout get stocked in these highly productive waters every year. Stocking efforts and excellent fishing continue 12 months a year, and the fishery is as diverse as it is large. It can be fished from the shore, from various kinds of boat, or by wading (dependent on water levels), and fly-fishing, lure fishing and bait fishing are all popular and productive on the White River. Rainbows far outnumber other species, but any given cast in this river could produce a rainbow, brown, brook or cutthroat trout (along with a few non-trout species, which become more plentiful as you move downriver).

Many anglers travel to the White primarily for fast action from stocked rainbows, with expectations of taking home a limit each day. Quite a few of those plan annual fishing vacations to riverside resorts like Gaston's White River Resort, going out in guide boats in the morning and spending the balance of each day simply enjoying the river. For some, it's the only fishing they do all year, but a trip they wouldn't miss for anything.

By far my favorite way to fish the White is from a boat with a jerkbait at the end of my line, casting to shoreline cover and over midriver gravel bars for hefty brown trout. Unlike the rainbows, browns in the White are river-bred, and a very restrictive limit makes it a virtual catch-and-release fishery. Average size is outstanding, and any given fish that hammers a jerkbait could turn out to be a genuine trophy.

Jerking for the big browns works best with at least a few generators running. Browns are pretty cautious by nature, but higher flows put them in ambush mode. On lower water, I like to wade the river with light spinning gear and small plugs like a Rebel Middle Wee-Crawfish or TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow. That approach produces mostly rainbows, with an occasional brown in the mix.

Because the river is so large, the rainbows spread out, and many don't get caught right away. Because stockings are spread through the year and fish grow quickly in the White's fertile waters, you don't catch all "cookie cutter" fish like you do in many stocked trout streams. Common rainbow catches range from about 10 to18 inches, and they vary substantially in fatness and coloration.

Of course, as good as the trout fishing is, the White River's appeals extend far beyond fishing action. It's a beautiful river bounded by high bluff banks and is thick in Ozarks culture and simply a great place to be. From fabulous shore lunches with good friends at Gaston's to riverside camping in Bull Shoals/White River State Park to days of catching jumbo browns with Donald Cranor and his team of trophy trout specialists, I've enjoyed so many extraordinary times at the White since my first visit, which was more than a dozen years ago.

Most of my experience on the White has been in the first 20 or so miles downstream of the dam, so I know I've only skimmed the surface of what this amazing river has to offer. You can trust that my intent is to continue White River exploration for many years!

Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 9 - Lake Ouachita, Arkansas

Largemouths, spotted bass, stripers, walleyes, crappie, bluegill... Lake Ouachita serves up excellent opportunities for catching a bunch of different kinds of fish, and over the past 20-plus years, I've gotten to enjoy many of Ouachita's bounties. Beyond offering excellent fishing, Ouachita is a beautiful lake, bounded by the Ouachita mountains and with clear water and mostly undeveloped, forested shores.

I've spent dozens of days on Ouachita and had fun doing everything from walking Spooks for largemouths, spots and stripers to jig-fishing for mixed catches of big bluegills and crappie. Arguably my single favorite day on Ouachita, though, was with Gary Roach of Minnesota, better known as Mr. Walleye, and Chris Gulstad. We were officially targeting walleyes, using light spinning tackle and jigs tipped with minnows, but instead found crazily good action from stripers up to about 15 pounds. More than once that day, we were tripled up with 8- or 10-pound stripers on our light tackle. Somehow we landed most fish that day. By day's we were happily exhausted.

Similar to what I mentioned about the Tennessee River, Lake Ouachita has been the site for quite a few media events over the years, which explains why I've spent far more time on a lake that's a dozen hours from home than on lakes Hartwell and Lanier combined (each about a half hour from me at the nearest point.) I've established many friendships on this lake and have spent countless enjoyable hours on the water, around a dinner table and in cabins with friends at Ouachita events.



And while it's not technically part of the lake, a bonus to Lake Ouachita is its convenience to the Ouachita River just upstream of the lake. The river, which is ideally suited for floating in a canoe or kayak or to wade-fishing, offers outstanding opportunities for smallmouths and mixed panfish, so I sometimes slip up to the river for some bonus moving water fun when I visit Lake Ouachita.

Good lodging options for Lake Ouachita include Shangri-La Resort and Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa. For guided fishing, contact Jason Lenderman, Hugh Albright or Ty Whisenhunt (870-490-1399)

Shangri-La Resort Experience

The morning view from my room at Shangri-La Resort on Lake Ouachita.

From the first look through my room's picture window, I knew I would like staying at Shangri-La Resort at Lake Ouachita, and that notion didn't change during my four-night stay last week. If anything, I enjoyed my visit even more than expected. I had eaten at Shangri-La's restaurant a few times before and knew how good the food was and had gone out with anglers out of the resort's boat docks. However, I had never before stayed at the resort's motel.

My room's view says a lot about this resort's location, from a fisherman's standpoint. It sits on a point on Lake Ouachita, with a large cove on one side, a small cove on the other and the point itself expending into the South Fork arm of the main lake. You can fish from the shore all around the resort, launch a boat from a public ramp 1/2 mile away and dock a boat at the resort. And while my days were filled with fishing from other people's boats, I could have easily launched my kayak right at the resort at any time.

The room itself was spacious and very comfortable for a modest prices, and had I wanted to cook any meals or had I been traveling with a group, Shangri-La also offers cabins. Of course, I can't imagine wanting to cook my own meals at Shangri-La. The resort's restaurant is legendary for it's down-home cooking (especially fried chicken and homemade pies, both of which I enjoyed during my stay!)

Beyond actual amenities, I appreciated the atmosphere and the "people aspect" at Shangri-La. Staff were unfailingly friendly, and guests all seem relaxed, providing a sense of visiting family or friends. Most Shangri-La guests are fellow fishermen or folks who simply enjoy being around Lake Ouachita, and the restaurant crowd always includes plenty of folks from the local community, who appreciate good food and simply enjoy hanging out at Shangri-La. I know I did, and I know I'll be back.

Fishy Start to Spring

Spring officially got underway last week, and I'm delighted to have gotten to start the season with four days of fishing (and catching!) I spent the first three days of the season on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, fishing mostly a bass and a bit for crappie to take photos for work. I then strayed farther west, to a small lake in the Oklahoma portion of the Ouachita National Forest, to do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak for videos.

It was definitely a spring bite on Ouachita. The largemouths were shallow and in a pre-spawn mode, and spinnerbaits produced the best action. We mostly caught males, so the bigger females were most likely staged nearby. We also got some good spotted bass atop rocky points and sunken islands that were close to deeper water by dragging Carolina rigs and by swimming a Flash Mob Jr..

The best crappie action occurred in less than 3 feet and around buckbrush. We caught them by suspending curly tail grubs a couple of feet beneath Thill floats, casting close to the buckbrush and twitching rod tip just enough to rock the float and make the jig dance. They were hitting the jigs hard, more like what I'd expect from a bass, ripping the float out of sight in an instant. Big fun!

I only managed a few bass at the little lake, which was pretty busy on the first Friday of spring and with beautiful weather leading into the weekend. However, two of three were way up the lake's most significant creek arm, on a very shallow flat, and hit a Rebel Bluegill, which is a shallow crankbait that looks like you would expect it to based on the name.

They're Not All Big

They can't all be big, right? That's OK. Sometimes I'm delighted to just get something to cooperate.

Such was the case a week or so ago in Arkansas. Storms were rolling through the area, and rivers were swelling and turning chocolatey. A little lake with public access beside the highway I was traveling caught my eye, and the rain had paused for the moment. I decided to stop and walk the bank a bit, toting nothing to the water but a single rod and the lure that was already tied to the line.

Nothing happened for the first 10 minutes, and I wasn't far from turning back toward the car when I saw a flash behind my lure at the end of a presentation. I repeated the cast, and sure enough the fish swiped again and this time connected. I only caught that one bass, and it wasn't very large, but in my mind one is far better than none, and it certainly justified a quick stop to make a few casts from an unfamiliar stretch of bank!

Rain & More Rain

Rain is falling steadily outside my North Georgia home, as it did most of yesterday and is forecast to do all of today and part of tomorrow. That's not bad. While enough remain has fallen that most streams are apt blown out and many lakes and ponds are muddied up, the big surge will settle fairly quickly, and the rain will serve as a nice recharge for our streams and the lakes.

I'm supposed to do some photo work on Lake Lanier on Tuesday. As of today, the forecast looks good. Only a 20 percent chance of scattered rain. A couple of days ago it said 60 percent, though, so hopefully it stays at 20 or gets better. The lake's far upper end might get dirty from all this rain, but Lanier is so deep and rocky that the lower main body normally stays in good shape. Therefore, I'm guessing we won't have a problem finding good water.

Later in the week, I hope to do some small-water fishing farther south in Georgia. This rain has been fairly warm, and the week's temperatures look warmer, so small-water bass fishing should be waking up. I'm not sure just how plans will shape up, but I have several ideas that offer good promise.

This year has started slowly, fishing wise. I've fished a handful of days in Arkansas and North Carolina and have caught some trout, but I've yet to make a cast in Georgia or to catch any warm-water fish. Hopefully by this time next week the report will be much different. One way or the other, I'll be on my way to Oklahoma next week around this time, and fishing prospects look good on that trip. I suppose that's getting a little ahead of the story, though!

Fishing Licenses

Recent mail delivered the hard copy of a North Carolina fishing license and trout permit that I'd bought online a week or so earlier, and as I slipped it into my wallet I realized that I have half a dozen current annual licenses for different states. I get to fish in a lot of different places, so I buy a lot of licenses, but I think that's more active annual licenses than I am normally carrying.

The annual vs. short-term question is one I face frequently, and I often find myself comparing costs, looking at expiration dates and pondering possible fishing plans. In some states it's easy. I pretty much always get an annual for Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama because I know I'll be back often enough, and I get them at least semi-often in several other states. It's a bit of a guessing game, though, and I often guess wrong. Either I opt for annual and fail to make it back before it expires, or I buy a short-term, and then end up returning and needing another, and another, and another...Trout and saltwater licenses add another level of complications.

I don't mind fishing licenses. Much of the money goes where it should, and I'm very thankful for all that state fisheries departments do to provide access and create the best possible fishing opportunities. I'm admittedly no crazy about the structure in some states, and sometimes picking the best license seems like more of a game than it should be. For the moment, there are half a dozen states where I can fish without giving the license any thought!

Little Red Trout Stop

Remnants from overnight rains and an approaching bigger system caused me to question my idea of a travel detour to the Little Red River on the way home from Fort Smith last week. However, a window of only sprinkles appeared that it would last through the morning, and the swing wasn't that far off my travel path.

Upon arriving, I found completely low water. That makes for easy wading it but can make the fishing tougher, especially with artificial lures. A bit more flow definitely makes tailwater trout more aggressive and causes them to hold in predictable positions. The low flows eliminated ideas I'd had about throwing large minnow bait for the Little Red's famous big browns, but I remained hopeful that stocker rainbows (and maybe a brown or two) would show interest in smaller hard-bait offerings.

Story shortened, they did. It took a bit of looking to find the best spot, and I experimented a bit with lures and colors before finding what they wanted most on that morning, but once I figured it out, the action was good. I lost count, but I'd guess I ended up catching between 15 and 20 trout in a few hours before beginning my travel toward home. All except one were rainbows. Most were fresh stocker size. A few were a bit longer and stouter and looked like they'd been in the river longer. I also caught one brown trout and had one slightly bigger brown (maybe 16 inches) roll on top and throw the hook.

My best lure, by far, was a Rebel TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow in a Brown Trout color pattern, worked steadily with just an occasional twitch to trigger strikes. That's not surprising. The Ghost Minnow has a slender profile creates a subtlety that's good for fussy fish and it can be swam close to the bottom. The Brown Trout color and tends to produce well on dark days.

It was a fun few hours in the stream, and the 2018 fish list is officially underway, with rainbow trout and brown trout being the first two listings. I'd actually done a bit fishing in bass waters the day before I visited the Little Red, but I didn't catch anything that day. My next stop is also to a trout stream, so maybe I can add brook trout!

Fishless Week One

I was tempted to sneak out on New Year's morning to visit our nearest Delayed Harvest trout stream, just to see if I could coax a trout into biting. However, the new year brought the start of a mighty cold snap (here and almost everywhere, it seems). With a morning low in the teens on Jan. 1, such an outing truly would have been only for the novelty of a quick first catch, and I wasn't really convinced the fish would want to bite.

So I stayed home, and such has been the basic story for the entire first week of the 2018. We've had temperatures as low as 9 degrees, which is getting down there pretty good for Georgia, and it has only been creeping above freezing for a few hours at a time most days. It's 15 degrees right now. Consequently, it has seemed like a good week to work in the computer.

Thankfully, the current nationwide cold snap seems to be nearing its end. Plus, my plans for next week look like they should include some time on the water. I'm Arkansas-bound and have assorted fishing gear packed. The main purpose for my travel is to visit my company's main office in Fort Smith, but the plan as of now is to combine my travels with a content-collection outing (which means fishing). Basically, when my office visit is done, I'll start fishing my way home. No specific plans, but plenty of ideas, so I have stuff for various kinds of fishing crammed into my car and I'll most likely tote the kayak.

So my hope is definitely that by the end of week two, I'll no longer be fishless in 2018!

Week of Bass Fun

Last week's travels landed me in Fort Smith, Arkansas, which was the jumping off point for fishing trips to Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, an Oklahoma stretch of the Arkansas River and Lake Tenkiller. My company's office is also in Fort Smith, so I slipped in an office visit between fishing days.

At Ouachita we spent a bit of time crappie fishing because of some photos I'd hoped to get. The crappie bite wasn't really happening, though. So we mostly fished for bass, and that was fun. I hadn't done a lot of dedicated bass fishing for a while.

At Ouachita, the fish were looking up, so we caught quite a few spots and largemouths on Spooks and other surface lures. When they wouldn't come up, we went down after them with dropshots, C.C. Spoons and live crawfish, with the of those being a locally popular and extremely effective approach during the fall.

The Arkansas River fishing was all up tributaries and all about cranking. We tried a bit of spinnerbait fishing and a little topwater, but crankbaits were the ticket. Our top producer was a Bandit prototype that I can't show a photo of... Yet!

Tenkiller, which is deep, clear and rocky, offered a nice blend of topwater fishing and cranking opportunities with Bandits and Normans, with a nice mix of smallmouths adding to the fun. I had a big time for a while throwing a small BOOYAH Boss Pop, which is probably my single favorite topwater lure.

Next stop is Santee Cooper, where it'll be back to mixed-species fun!

Lots of Rain

My most recent blog post spoke of upcoming back-to-back-to-back photo trips, and right now I should be between rounds 1 and 2. However, extensive rain in Tennessee blew out the first trip. The lakes where Jim Duckworth fishes are 20 feet above normal pool, knocking the fishing way out of whack, and it was supposed to rain throughout the window he and I had carved out for doing photo work. Although neither of us wanted to do so, we agreed that we had to pull the plug on that trip.

My Arkansas/Oklahoma plans also take me into flood conditions, with plenty more rain falling over the weekend. In fact, tomorrow's forecast where I'll be is for heavy storms and 3 to 5 inches of rain. That trip is built around a plane ticket and affects more people's plans, though, so we'll just plug ahead and do the best we can between the biggest storms. I should get good content about fishing in high muddy water, on dark days and in poor conditions!

Trip 3 only looks to be in the way of scattered storms, but that's next week, so we'll worry about the trip to Arkansas, which begin this morning, first!

As many challenges as the rain brings for fishing and photo plans, it also refreshes the rivers and the lakes and is especially welcome in Southern trout waters just before summer, when low water and high temperatures can really stress the fish. So while all the rain alters some fishing plans, I'm thankful for it.

Here, There & Everywhere

It's sort of like a fishing/photo tour. Between Wednesday and Friday of next week, I'll spend time on the water in at least four (maybe five or six states). The difference is that there's no real flow to the path. Instead of a tour, so to speak, it's a series of quick-turn around trips in different direction.

Tomorrow night or Wednesday morning, I' drive north toward Center Hill Lake in Tennessee to do a quick photo shoot for Bandit Lures with legendary guide Jim Duckworth. Depending on when I go, what I get done between now and then and water conditions, I might do other fishing in Georgia or North Carolina along the way, which is where states five and six could come into play.

I'll be home by Thursday evening and on Friday I drive to Atlanta to fly to Arkansas to spend a couple of days bass fishing and shooting Norman Lures photos in Oklahoma with Eric Porterfield and a day in Arkansas with Chad Warner.

I fly home from Arkansas next Tuesday and leave the next day for Mississippi to spend a couple of days fishing and doing Bandit photo work with Pete Ponds.

That's a lot of running in a different directions for nine days, but I expect there will be some good fishing action mixed in, and I have no doubt I'll gather loads of fine material because all the guys I'm fishing with are great at what they do.

I suppose I'd better start going on stuff around here so I'll be ready to go when I need to later this week!

White River Return

First of the week, I'm loading up the fishing car and pointing it toward the Ozarks for a few days of chasing trout in the White River region. It's a bit of a haul -- 11 or 12 hours -- but a very familiar route. There's no practical flying option to the region, so I almost always drive, and I'm sure I've driven there at least 20 times. Predictably good fishing and very good services for anglers make this area a chosen destination for many media events, and it's somewhere I gladly drive to on my own because the fishing is outstanding and simply because I like the rivers, the people and the culture.

I fished the White last year around this time with a team of guides headed up by Donald Cranor, who I'm fishing with next week, but conditions were radically different. Last year's weather was classic January. Next week, highs are forecast to be in the mid-60s. We also had flood conditions last year, with eight spill gates at Bull Shoals Dam running around the clock, forcing some innovative drifting tactics. This year it's more likely to be unusually low for the season, based on what they have been doing with the water and on the mild forecast, so I'm guessing we might be casting Rebel Tracdown Minnows.

I don't actually know whether we'll fish the White, the Norfork or both from the boat, but I'm certain Donald will pick the best section for conditions. I'm also to plan a little fishing on my own the day I get to town and the morning before I start toward home, so I'd be surprised if I don't spend a little time on both rivers (plus maybe the Spring River, along the way).

What I do know is that I'm look forward to getting back to the White River area and catching some trout! I don't leave for a couple of days, but my gear is already gathered and ready to toss in the car.

Ozarks in Autumn, Round 2

Having taken the same basic trip at the same time with the same group (two of my boys, a friend and me) two years in a row, I supposed it could have been dubbed our second annual Autumn Ozarks Adventure. Whatever the name, we made the trip a week or so ago, and much like last year, enjoyed some excellent fishing and had a bunch of fun.

We spent most of this year's fishing time working the Buffalo and White rivers, hitting both rivers in several spots. My 12-year-old son Asher also got to spend a delightful day catching trout from Dry Run Creek, which is a wonderful youth- and handicapped-only, catch-and-release trout stream. The other two explored a bit on the Norfork River during part of that day, but didn't find much to their liking. I just followed Asher and stayed busy taking photos.

The Buffalo was mighty low and a bit slow. We did catch some fish, though, and the Buffalo is such a beautiful river that wading along its edges or floating it is always delightful. We started fairly far up the river and hopped from access to access, walking river banks and wading. The White yielded plenty of trout, including a few truly fabulous flurries.

This year's trip also include stops at a handful of disc golf courses, including one in Mississippi that we visited along the way and four in Arkansas.

We split our nights between camping and cabins and enjoyed both in different ways. Best meal, by my take any way, featured cheap steaks cooked over coals beside the White River.

Ouachita Variety

Last week's travel to the Ouachita Mountains delivered wonderful variety, not only in species caught but in the types of fishing experiences I got to enjoy in short order.

The species variety would be hard to argue. I added green sunfish, spotted bass, smallmouths, walleyes, pumpkinseeds and both black and white crappie to this year's catch list in three days of fishing. Experience-wise, I got to spend an afternoon and a morning on Lake Ouachita bass fishing, an afternoon wading the Ouachita River for stream bass, and a full day on the lake fishing Lindy's new Livebait Jig with crawlers and minnows for walleyes, crappie, bluegills and whatever else bit.

The bass fishing was made extra fun by the fact that I got to spend time in the boat with Alton Jones. That always equates to a lot of learning and great opportunities for gathering photos and story material. Far beyond that, I simply enjoy spending time with Alton and he invariably encourages me in many ways.

The jig/bait fishing was similarly fun because I got to spend a day with longtime Minnesota guide Jeff Sundin. I've spent several days fishing with Jeff, but mostly on the ice. He taught me a new approach, and based on all the fish we caught, you'd sure never know that he'd never been to Lake Ouachita before last week. I look forward to experimenting more with the Lindy Livebait Jig.

The highlight of the river outing had to be standing in a single spot and catching three species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spot) on the same Rebel Crawfish. None were big, but all were big fun!

31 Species in 2015

I may be getting ahead of myself. After all, nearly two weeks remain in 2015, and who knows what kind of fishing I might end up doing. I don't really think I'll likely tally any new species in that time, though, and if I were to, I could always post an update, so here we go:

As of now, my 2015 species list is at 31. That's my largest tally in the few years I've been keeping a list, and a pretty fair number, I think, considering that I didn't do any coastal fishing this year. Next year's fishing plans look like they'll include a decent amount of saltwater, so the list could be longer and look a lot different.

The way I keep my list, which has no purpose beyond my own journaling, is to record the first fish of any given kind I catch in a year and list the species, water body, state and month.

The top contributing state this year was a tie between my home state of Georgia and neighboring Alabama, with six listings apiece. A dozen states accounted produced at least one.

Top month, quite easily, was January, with nine. That doesn't mean I catch the most fish during January. It gets first crack, though, so it easily grabs the first pond bluegill and bass and stuff like that. Plus, I did an Arkansas trout trip and a Pennsylvania ice trip in January this year, and both offered completely different species. Nine months yielded at least one listing (all except March, August and December).

The most geographically distant species this year was a whitefish, which came from a little stream in Olympic National Park in Washington. Closest to home were bluegill and largemouth bass, which came from the same pond, which is about 4 miles form my house.

Banking on the Buffalo

I had only floated Arkansas' Buffalo National River in the past, but given low water that would have dictated a lot of canoe dragging, Glenn Wheeler suggested a wading approach for our day on the Buffalo last week. I'm glad he did, and I'm intrigued by the notion of a multi-day trip with a similar approach some time in the future. The many National Parks Service access points provide a tremendous amount of river access, and I think it would be really fun to hop from access to access, working down the river, for a three or four days, camping by the river each evening.

The Buffalo is ever-winding, with gravel bars on long inside bends and bluffs across the river. Access points naturally are on the inside bends, so from just about any one, you can cover a lot of territory without any kind of boat. And when the water is low, like it is now, before you reach a point where the river changes directions, it's easy to wade across to stay on the shallow side.

In truth, for our trip, with limited time and a desire to hit a few different access points, we didn't even have to wade. An enormous amount of really good water could be reached from the bank. I ended up wading some, mostly because I like getting in the river, but two of our in our group stayed dry, and I didn't catch any more fish then they did. Together, I'd guess we caught a bout 40 fish (mostly smallmouths) in half a day of hopping from one access point to the next.

Just as it has when I've floated it in the past, the beautiful Buffalo River left me longing for more and I'm already mentally planning "next time." When exactly that next time will happen, I don't know, but I know I'm looking forward to it!

Dry Run Delight

I spent today at my favorite creek to NOT catch fish. You see, I don't get to fish at Dry Run Creek. It's a youth-only stream. That's exactly why I like it to much, though. This little Ozarks creek is a gem for young anglers, and it's incredibly fun for me to watch my boys catch fish.

And boy did Asher catch them today. He landed 25 trout, with fish up to about 4 pounds, and he got at least 10 almost in before they shook free. Since it was a November weekday, Asher had the whole creek to himself.

I had heard that late fall was prime time to visit Dry Run because fish from the Norfork River would pile up in the creek. Was that ever true! I've probably been there a dozen times (all but the two most recent with my older son, Nathaniel), and I've never seen more fish in the creek.

While Asher fished Dry Run and I watched, Nathaniel and our friend Caleb fished the Norfork. Tomorrow's plan is for all of us to fish the White River, but it looks like we might get a bunch of rain. We'll see!

Autumn Ozarks Adventure

Objective are simple: Explore rivers, enjoy autumn in the Ozarks and catch fish. Agenda is lightly defined. Likely stops include the Spring, Norfork, White  and Buffalo rivers (plus Dry Run Creek for Asher). Little Red is a possibility, too. How and exactly where we fish and where we put up the tent each night will depend on river conditions, weather, results and simply what we feel like.

That's a nicety of November. Campgrounds are uncrowded, so no reservations are necessary.

We leave tonight and should be in Arkansas by daylight and fishing by mid-morning or so. Crew includes my 17- and 11-year-old sons and one other friend. Trout and smallmouths are the primary targets, but I'd be surprised if we don't catch some rock bass, misc. other panfish and who knows what else.

We'll likely float the Spring River with help from a friend. Everything else will be wading or bank-fishing, so river conditions will dictate quite a bit, especially in the tailwaters.

I'll certainly pack several cameras, and truth be known, gathering work photos, video clips and other content has to be also part of my objectives list. This one is a little different from normal media trips I take, though. We're just going fishing and letting the photos opportunities happen. Of course, I don't think good material will be hard to come by while as we fish four or five Ozarks streams during the first week of November.

I supposed I'd better get back to packing and to getting stuff done so I can travel tonight!

Firing Up Autumn Fishing

I haven't fished an enormous amount over the past few weeks, but that's about to change in a large way. Plans for the next month or so include quite a bit of time on the water in various places and fishing for a nice mix of species. The leaves are also changing, and that change usually correlates with cooler temperatures and hotter fishing action.

First in line is the Tennessee River, where I'll spend a couple of days at Lake Guntersville and a few at Pickwick. Autumn is when the grass mats typically come alive and the best frog bite of the year often develops, so I'm hopeful for some explosive fun. Stop one may actually involve more interviewing, filming and photographing than fishing because TH-Marine has a great group of pros assembled, and it will be a fabulous time to learn and gather videos and story material. Pickwick will likely involve a lot more fishing.

Soon after the Tennessee River run, I'll be going back in the same direction, but farther, on an Ozarks adventure with two of my boys and another friend. We'll focus on rivers and target smallmouth bass and trout, including big tailwater brown trout. Other autumn plans include visits to Oklahoma's Fort Gibson and Tenkiller lakes for bass, crappie and white bass and South Carolina's Santee Cooper lakes for big cats, crappie and more. Much to look forward to, for sure!

My hope is that I'll post regular reports, tips and product information from the travels ahead. I won't promise, though, because I've learned too many times how days can disappear and how a lack of wifi or decent phone service can make such things nearly impossible. I'll only say that I'll try and that I'll try and that I hope you'll check in to see how the fall fishing is going!