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!

Big Brown Kind of Day

We couldn't have scripted it better for what we wanted to do. Late winter is prime time for big browns on Arkansas' White River, and we had heavy cloud cover and plenty of current, with four of eight turbines in Bull Shoals Dam turning. We wanted to throw Rogues and had an excellent jerkbait flow. We also were fishing with Cranor's Guide Service, which specializes in targeting big trout on the White and Norfork rivers.

Jumping straight to the outcome, nothing about the day disappointed. Throwing nothing but Smithwick Rogues, we caught at least a dozen browns in the 16- to 24-inch range, plus two that would have stretched past the 25-inch mark on a measuring tape. The two biggest fish, which both came late in the day, probably weighed 5 and 6 pounds, and both were males with beautiful color and big crazy-looking hookjaws. We also caught a couple dozen stocker rainbows and smaller browns.

The top-producing color, without question, was Avocado Shad, which, as the name suggests, is sort of an avocado green on the back with opaque white sides. It looks an awful lot like a stocker rainbow in the rainbow, which certainly might help explain the appeal to the big brown trout.

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.

Arkansas Trout Awaiting!

Long drive today, but that's OK. Arkansas' White & Norfork rivers are at the other end, and three days on these fabulous trout river easily warrant a 24-hour roundtrip drive. Last I heard the White was running hard and the big browns were biting.

Big browns are the primary targets, in my mind anyway, but last year about this time I fished the Norfork with Donald Cranor (the guide who is leading the charge), and we managed a Norfork slam, catching browns, rainbows, brook trout and cutthroats in a single day. The catch included several browns like the one Donald is holding in the photo above, and we caught them all on Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnows.

Watch the Rebel Lures Facebook page and rebellures.com for reports, photos and more.

#WinterTroutSlam

First Month of Fishing

Guide Donald Cranor with a pretty cutthroat, which was part of Norfork River
trout slam (brown, rainbow, brook, cutthroat) and species No. 9 for my 2015 tally.

Sometimes the fishing year starts sort of slowly, with limited angling opportunities during January. This was not one of those years. My first fish of year, bluegill and bass from a pond near home, came only a couple of days into the new year, and last week, while trout fishing on the Norfork River with guide Donald Cranor, I tallied species No. 9 (a cutthroat trout) for January. Looking back, it looks like I got to spend at least part of about 10 days fishing during January, and all except for a couple a short pond outings were full days on the water.

Fish listed came from four states: Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Arkansas. I also got to spend a couple of days at Lake Taneycomo in Missouri and caught a bunch of rainbows and browns, but those species were already on the list from a fun day on the Chattooga River earlier in the month. Three species (pumpkinseed, yellow perch, black crappie) came to me courtesy of holes in the ice in Pennsylvania while fishing with Dave Lefebre.

From a fish species list standpoint, the cutthroat might be my favorite January fish because that's not a species I get the opportunity to even fish for every year. I do anticipate more opportunities to fish for cutters this summer, when Asher and I head west on the #RebelTroutTrek, but I'm happy to already have one on the list.

I wonder what February will bring!

Brown Trout 401

Spending a day on the White River in Donald Cranor's boat is like taking a 400 level class in brown trout behavior, and Nathaniel and I sure enjoyed our day in Cranor's classroom. Many anglers consider low water one of the most challenging levels for White River browns, but Cranor has learned what the fish do on every water level, and he devises his plan according to whatever water will be flowing, along with other conditions that can impact the fish's locations and behavior. High skies and water that was dropping during the morning also impacted Cranor's planning for today. Whatever he figured, he figured right because we caught a bunch of high-quality brown trout. We also caught more than our share of rainbows, including some fat and beautiful fish, but Cranor sort of likes to pretend the stocker rainbows don't exist.

Arkansas Trout Schemes

Any time my travel path swings close to the Ozarks, it's a pretty safe bet that at least a little trout fishing will fall into my plans. Next week is no different, and some plans are already in place. Nathaniel will spend an afternoon plying the trout-loaded waters of Dry Run Creek, and we'll spend a day together on the White chasing brown trout with veteran guide Donald Cranor.

I don't get to wet a line at Dry Run, a youth-only trout stream and an absolute Arkansas treasure. I just walk behind Nathaniel with a camera in my hand and gawk at all the trout. I don't mind. It's fun watching him catch so many nice fish, and I always get a bunch of great photos. And if we need a change of scenery at any point, the upper Norfork tailwater (where I can fish) is only footsteps from the Dry Run access. I'm also really looking forward spending a day on the White with Donald. He is one of the best fishermen on the river, and I have not been in his boat for several years.

Now I just need to figure out  whether I can realistically squeeze any other trout adventures into the same stop. If the water will low, maybe a little night fishing below Norfork or Bull Shoals Dam? Both the White and the Norfork yield jumbo browns on summer nights. Major considerations -- beyond water levels -- are exactly when we leave home and the need to sleep some at the front end of an 8-day trip that involves a 2,000 or so miles of driving.

By this time next week, Nataniel and I will be settled in Kansas at a music festival, which is actually our primary destination and the reason for the trip, and whatever we accomplished with the trout will be all memories. We won't have to live long on just the memories, though, because we're stopping to do more Arkansas fishing on the way home!