Remembering Jim Gaston

For starters I'll acknowledge that I should just call him Jim. That's how Jim Gaston introduced himself, and whether he was the honored guest at a grand conservation event or roaming Gaston's Resort to chat with guests, he said he was "just Jim." I always had trouble just calling him Jim, though, and I suppose I still do. As the gracious host of the events I attended and a man who did so much for conservation, his area's economy and the people around him, he deserved respect, and I have always thought of him as Mr. Gaston.

Mr. Gaston died a little more than month ago, while I was at the ICAST show in Orlando. He's been on my mind for the past couple of days, maybe because I've been thinking about possible Arkansas travel plans, and I wanted to take a moment to recognize him. I didn't know Mr. Gaston very well, but you wouldn't have known that if you'd ever seen him greet me -- always with the welcoming smile and the demeanor of an old family friend. But then again, if you were to have kept watching, you'd have seen that he welcomed everyone that way and that he gave every individual he spoke with his full attention.

My time with Mr. Gaston was all at Gaston's White River Resort, and mostly at a writers' gathering that the resort puts on each spring. He always asked if I was enjoying my visit, and it was obvious by his tone and facial expression that he wasn't just asking the question he was supposed to ask. He really wanted to know if I was enjoying my stay, and if there was anything he could have done to make a visit better, he'd have done it himself.

I remember Mr. Gaston talking about photography with a friend, Glenn Wheeler, and the conversation turning to a certain super-zoom lens that Mr. Gaston really liked and that Glenn had not tried. Mr. Gaston excused himself without explanation, disappeared for a moment, and returned carrying a five-digit-cost lens, which he handed over to Glenn to take out in the boat and try on his own cameras that afternoon.

I won't attempt to list Jim Gaston's achievements. Others are much better qualified for that and have done so in other forms. Suffice to say that the beautiful visitor's center that overlooks the White River at Bull Shoals Dam carries his name for good reason. I only knew "just Jim" and his warmth and graciousness, and I miss him already.

Gaston's Shore Lunch

As spectacular as the trout fishing can be on the White River, neither plentiful rainbows nor big browns are what I hear the most talk about from friends I fish there with each spring. As folks anticipate the annual Gaston's media event, arrive at the resort, head out each morning, and look back on the trip, the thing I hear about the most is the shore lunch.

That's understandable, and in truth it may be the thing I talk about the most. Anyone who is part of our group for the first time probably hears, "Just wait for the shore lunch!" from a dozen people before the first day's lunch occurs.

The food itself is spectacular and includes a portion of the morning's trout catch, fried chicken or the best pork tenderloins anyone has ever cooked, plus and amazing spread of sides a couple of varieties of cobbler to top off the meal. The event goes way past the meal itself though and includes seeing the guides clean the trout boatside, watching the chefs fry the fish over coals to a perfect golden brown, and then walking down the buffet, which is served in a White River style johnboat under a big riverside pavilion and filling plates.

The shore lunch is also about trading stories and passing around cameras and cell phones to share photos as everyone recharges a bit and anticipates the afternoon's fishing session. There's something spectacularly fun about sitting at picnic table and enjoying the morning catch while exchanging stories about fish caught, big ones that got a way and usually an amusing mishap or two -- and all with the river right there, offering a reminder of what awaits after lunch.

Eventually everyone finds their way down the boats, refueled for round two. Though almost too stuffed to move, pretty much everyone is already looking forward to the next day's (or next year's) shore lunch, and most are likely talking about how good it always is, even as they begin fishing again.

To learn more, visit the website for Gaston's White River Resort.

Bank-Fishing Day

Expected high water made Nathaniel and I think we'd be doing all of today's fishing from the shore, casting to any eddies we could reach, and that was indeed the morning plan. Water releases were cut back just before lunchtime, though, so we actually got to wade this afternoon.

Our best fishing was directly out from Gaston's White River Lodge, where we are staying. We caught a dozen trout, all of which were rainbows.

Tomorrow's approach will be substantially different as we are going out with a Gaston's guide instead of going on our own. I'm actually hoping the water will be high again so we can throw jerkbaits, but we'll see in the morning!

posted from Bloggeroid

Banking on the White

Nathaniel and I arrived today at Gaston's White River Resort in the Arkansas Ozarks and are looking forward to a couple of days of fishing on the White River.

On Wednesday, we'll spend the day in a boat with a Gaston's guide, but for tomorrow, we're going it alone. My original hope had been that we could wade-fish tomorrow, but they've been running four generators all week, so wading will likely be out of the question. That's OK. That makes the big fish more aggressive and will allow us to fish jerkbaits from the shore, and I look forward to exploring the state park, the Gaston's shore and other areas to see what we're able to accomplish.

We did cast just long enough get out lures wet upon arriving today, but that was about it. I missed one rainbow trout during that time.

Here, There & Everywhere

Fishing travel is getting ready to kick into high gear for me, so I hope you'll keep an eye my blog and Facebook fishing page. I've been home mostly for a while and have done most of my fishing in ponds near home or trout streams within day-trip distance in North Carolina or North Georgia. However, over the next few weeks I'll spend time fishing for bass in Alabama with friends from Hobie-Fishing, fishing for trout in Arkansas out of Gaston's White River Resort and fishing for a mix of species between the canyon walls of Utah's Lake Powell with the folks from St. Croix Rods. Each adventure has unique appeals and all will offer great photo and story opportunities. I suspect there also should be pretty good potential to get back to building this year's species list, which currently stands at 12.

Overzealous Rainbows

With the water low and the area we were casting to being a known stocker hole, I traded my "bass size" jerkbait for a 2 1/2-inch Rebel Tracdown Minnow, which I believed the rainbows would gladly nab.
I was right -- kind of. I did catch a bunch of White River rainbows that morning, but in truth Nathaniel, who stuck with a larger jerkbait, caught just as many fish as I did -- if not more.  One thing our guide Richie Hays noticed that struck us all as odd was that my smaller lure seemed to catch a little larger grade of rainbow overall.
To learn more about fishing on the White River, visit www.gastons.com.

Chasing Rainbows

Nathaniel's first cast of the morning had barely landed when a brown trout nabbed his jerkbait. That fish, which got off boatside, was the only brown we saw today. Rainbows were seriously cooperative, though, and I'd guess between a morning in a guide boat and a couple of hours of afternoon wading, we caught about 50 rainbow trout.
We fished this morning with Gaston's guide Richie Hayes, who did an amazing job of handling the boat in seriously strong winds. We mostly threw jerkbaits and caught the bulk of our fish on an XCalibur XT3 Twitch Bait or a Rebel minnow.
After lunch we waded a shoal just downstream of the cabins at Gadton's and found fish stacked up ina few places. We caught fish on a handful of baits, including a Rebel Minnow and Wee Craw, but the No.1 producer was one of my Ugly Bugs - a little white and pink one.
Adding an extra element of fun, eight of our trout came in four separate rainbow doubles.

Beyond the Fishing

A big part of the fun of many fishing trips surrounds the folks who assemble in a place. During many of my travels, such as the recent trip to Gastons White River Lodge (http://www.gastons.com/) the circle of friends, new and old, includes mostly writers and guides or fishing pros who take the writers out to work together on magazine stories, photos, TV shows and such. On other trips, it's a group of friends who plan an outing together or possibly the people who happen to gather at the same lodge or lakeside grill any given day. Whatever the mix, most trips involve a collection of folks who have a strong common interest in fishing or in a particular destination but often little else in common, and the result is an abundance of interesting stories told and fun times shared both on and off the water. Some of the best fun at Gaston's, as awesome as the fishing was, occurred during the evenings, when everyone had put down there fishing rods and those who played guitars or other instruments picked them up.

The Wonderful White

Frank Saksa knows Rattlin' Rogues and brown trout.

A guide on Arkansas White River for the past two decade, Saksa was a pioneer of fishing jerkbaits on the celebrated tailwater. Time has taught him how to approach the river's hefty browns at various water levels and the kinds of casts, jerks and pauses that trigger strikes.

I've spend the past two days in the boat with Saksa, who guides out of Gaston's White River Resort (www.gastons.com), and I've seen first-hand what the browns think about an XCalibur Stick Bait or a Smithwick Rattlin' Rogue. Good casts, erratic jerks and long pauses are among the keys to success, but there's no substitute for a guide who knows where to drift, how to position the boat and how to direct you at any water level.

Of course, a river that's loaded with hefty browns doesn't hurt either. White River veterans consider 2- to 4-pound browns average on the White, and 6- or 7-pound fish aren't uncommon when the bite is on. When he turbines are turning (the more water the better), Saska likes nothing better than throwing big jerkbatis for heavyweight brown trout. I agree!