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.

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.

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

Let it Rain

Rain was hitting the tent when we woke up this morning. It' raining outside our hotel room tonight. In between, well, it mostly rained. While I won't deny the rain putting somewhat of a damper on the day's plans, it sure didn't keep us from fishing. In truth, Nathaniel, Asher and I had fun fishing the White River in a steady downpour. We had the river basically to ourselves, and we even managed to catch a few trout.

Fishing in the rain also made us appreciate the Gaston's restaurant more than ever. I had a Gaston's Burger, which is huge and comes with avocado and seriously good bacon. No doubt I also really enjoyed my coffee today.

Plan had been to camp tonight, but with heavy storms projected and even a tornado warning, we decided that driving toward the Buffalo River (where we will fish tomorrow) and getting a hotel room would be prudent. That also gave us the chance to dry out some gear and reorganize the back of the truck a little better.

I'm really look forward to exploring the Buffalo River tomorrow. Then, it'll be about time to point it back toward Georgia.

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!

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.

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

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.

Arkansas Travelers

Nathaniel and I traversed 650 miles today, landing in Mountain Home, Arkansas. We'll spend the next few days in the Ozarks, with trout fishing as the main attraction. Tomorrow, Nathaniel will fish Dry Run Creek, a special youth-only stream that offers great fishing, with Hunter and Michael Taylor. Lawrence Taylor and I get to watch and take photos. It can be a little hard to not be allowed to make even a single cast, but it really is fun to watch the boys catch big fish and simply to watch all the fish in the creek. From a work standpoint, visiting Dry Run is always productive for me because of the big fish that Nathaniel invariably catches and holds for photos.

From Dry Run, we'll head straight to Gaston's White River Resort, where we'll spend three nights and fish two full days on the river, We may fish a bit tomorrow afternoon as well.

The character of the fishing on the White varies a lot according to water levels and other factors, but it is always good, and Gaston's is one of our favorite places to visit. I'm hoping for high water because that brings out the best opportunities to throw jerkbaits for big brown trout. I'll take whatever water we get, though!

Nathaniel and I actually will be back to the Arkansas Ozarks for more fishing in a little more than a month, but we'll talk about that when we get closer to that time!

Packing, Tracking, Writing & More

Today was one of those sorts of days where I stayed moving all day and I know I accomplished a lot, but it seemed like my wheels were spinning some of the time. Nathaniel and I leave early tomorrow morning to drive 12 hours or so to Arkansas. I needed to do a mix of packing, getting stuff in order at home, writing what I could, running errands and more. Packing, of course, included gathering trout gear for the White River.

Meanwhile, I've been keeping an eye on the FLW Tour event going on at Lake Hartwell. I'd have loved to have ridden out to the weigh-in to visit with folks and watch it live, since the site is only an hour from home, but I just couldn't make it work time-wise. I did notice that Casey Ashley expanded his lead to 9 pounds with only one day remaining. I'm happy for him. I've only met him briefly, but he seems very well-liked and respected by everyone who knows him, and it's always fun to see someone local bring it together well on home waters.

Tomorrow we'll drive to Mountain Home, Arkansas, and on Monday morning, Nathaniel will fish Dry Run creek, his favorite special regulations stream, which I've talked about quite a bit in blogs over the years. Then we'll gather in the afternoon for a couple of days trout fishing at Gaston's White River Resort. It's an annual trip with a group of writer friends and one of our favorite adventures of the year.

Suppose I ought to sleep soon!

Shifting Plans

Today's rain atop already full smallmouth streams has us changing gears, and the plan remains in flux because if lightning in the air. If the electrical stuff passes and allows us to fish, the plan is to visit a few different White River access points and fish from the banks, throwing jerkbaits with hopes of catching a big brown trout. We just saw a mighty big flash accompanied by a big crash, though, so it's time to visit the Flippin Pizza Hut while we wait to see what the weather does.

Three Days, Four Waterways, Seven Species

Our week-long three-state fishing trip is off to a fine start, with fish-catching success on the Chattahoochee River, Old Hickory Lake, a small private lake and Center Hill in the first three days. Nathaniel and I fished Center Hill today, and the smallmouths bit pretty well. We spent this morning taking photos and fishing for smallmouths and the rest of the day driving to Arkansas, where tomorrow we'll begin a few days of fishing in Ozark streams.

Thus far, the trip has produced seven different kinds of fish for me: rainbow trout, brown trout, bluegill, largemouth bass, black crappie, warmouth and smallmouth bass. The crappie and the smallmouth were new additions to my 2013 catch list.

Tomorrow we may do some trout fishing in the White River in the Bull Shoals tailwater, and I'll most likely take Nathaniel to Dry Run Creek, the "youth only" catch-and-release stream that he likes so much and that I've often discussed in blogs. Thursday and Friday we'll float the Buffalo National Scenic River! We always enjoy fishing in the Ozarks.

The Wonderful White

The dam that harnesses the White River to form Bull Shoals Lake in Northern Arkansas also fuels one of the nation's most prolific trout fisheries. Beginning just below the dam, trout waters extend more than 80 miles and get stocked annually with more than 1.6 million trout. For most visiting anglers, the White is a place to find fast action and bring home a limit of rainbows. For others it's a place to target quality browns and possibly catch a fish of a lifetime.
I just wrapped up a couple of days at the White, fishing out of Gaston's White River Resort. We caught a mix of rainbows and browns, mostly throwing jerkbaits. We did the bulk of our fishing out of johnboats with guides, but one of my favorite things about the White is that there is also an enormous amount if opportunity to wade, float in a small boat or fish from the bank.
In fact, before we left town, Nathaniel and I visited the state park access immediately downstream of the dam, and I'm already scheming the wade-fishing I want to do next tome I am in that part of Arkansas!

White River Trout Update

I've been slow with reports, but it sure hasn't been for a lack of good things to report. Days have been full, and I've hit the room ready to sleep.
We fished a day and a half in the White out of Gaston's White River Resort, catching a blend of rainbows and browns. Although the water was low yesterday and falling both days, Nathaniel and I still got to throw some jerkbaits and to catch a few.
Of course Nathaniel did his best jerkbait work this afternoon at Dry Run Creek, fooling a big cutthroat with an Xcalibur Twitch Bait (with a barbless single hook) .
Tomorrow morning we'll visit the Jim Gaston Visitor Center at Bull Shoals Dam State Park before we begin driving east.

White River Trout, Here we Come

Truck is mostly loaded and filled with fuel, and the rooster is set for three bells. Nathaniel and I plan to leave dark and early in part to stay way ahead of Atlanta Monday morning traffic and to get a headstart on a very long (12 hours or so) drive to Arkansas. More so, though, we hope to have at least a little bit of time to explore at the other end, possibly bank-fishing or wading the White River (depending on afternoon water levels) and most likely visting the pond at Gaston's. The bass in the pond would offer a nice warm-up for a couple of days of fishing in guides' boats on the White.

Gaston's White River Resort is without question one of my favorite places to visit. The river is beautiful, the trout always seem to bite and the resort, with its famous row of pink cabins, truly is first class. And the shore lunches defy description!

I'm hoping for high water flows. Lots of water translates to aggressive trout and great opportunities to throw jerkbaits for browns, which is my favorite way to fish on the White. We're equipped for and excited about whatever the river offers, though, and the great guides at Gaston's always know the best approaches.

Better try sleeping a bit soon, I suppose!

Start Looking Shallow

The 10-day forecast for my hometown in North Georgia shows highs in the 60s every day! Given strings of sunny days, bass, crappie and bluegill should be moving onto shallow flats in big numbers during that time. Much is spawn related, but the fish also find food in the shallow water as the water warms and move into ambush positions around shallow cover. The best places to find the earliest shallow bite in major reservoirs tend to be big cover-rich flats that are close to deeper water and where the water is somewhat stained -- often close to a main lake. As spring progresses more fish will move well up the creeks. I'm ready for warm weather and for the shallow bite.

My next fishing stop actually is the White River in Arkansas. As a tailwater, the White is always cold, and the fish are much more impacted by water levels than water temperatures. By the time I get home, though, I expect the fish in the ponds around home to be shallow and aggressive and for the fishing action to make it seem more like spring.

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New Rogue in Town

Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue

Word's out that Smithwick has introduced a new Rogue. I haven't seen one of the new Perfect 10 Rogues in action yet, but here's the scoop, as I understand it. Unchanged are the Rogue's body shape, trademark roll and suspending design. New are a tungsten rattle, which creates a different sound than is found in any other jerkbait, and a new material and lip design that allow the Perfect 10 Rogue to get down faster and to respond quickly to every twitch of the rod. The Perfect 10 Rogue comes in eight color patterns, all somewhat translucent and reflective.

I'm looking forward to introducing Perfect 10 Rogues to brown trout in the White River in a few weeks, and I suspect that those salmon, steelhead and walleyes guys who have learned about the new Rogues are already envisioning how they will put them to work. However, I'm guessing the first glowing reports will come from bass fishermen, as we are just moving into the prime jerkbait season for bass. In fact, it's very possible that a Perfect 10 Rogue could plan an important part in Tulsa this weekend. The only bad part about that would be skyrocketing demand of a brand new bait, which might make them harder to get ahold of for trout fishing on the White!

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.