White River Trip: Step 3,Fishing

“Welcome to Arkansas!”

The trout dock employee exclaimed. That was morning of White River Trip Day Two, The Snow Day.








1. Tim fighting a White River trout.
2. Tim with a cut throat.
3. Fish due bite at 16 degrees.
4. Bull Shoals Dam
5. White River with no water being run
6. The “Razorback” Rod
7. Southern Snow Storm

Day one started out by my brother, Tim Hall and I pulling up to Mr. Bernard’s cabin at 5:00 o’clock in the morning after driving 9 hours. Map Quest got us close, I got us lost. Only to redeem myself my finding our way back to found through various unmarked dirt roads.

Patrick of, “Patrick’s on the White” was our host and greeted us that morning as we began to stir. Patrick and Brenda run the small set of cabins and are great host, here the lodging was simple but I felt accommodated and right at home. After going over a few local options and patterns we dressed for the mild temperatures and slid right out of Patrick’s back yard, great access he has there for both boating and wading. The water was down and fish where on the bite. We caught cut throat, brown and rainbow that first day. Just missed my grand slam. Some even coming on a dry fly! Number 24 gnat attractor I can up with to catch those fish that seem to be rising on nothing. 12 foot leaders and staying low really helped.

So this is when the weather report we hoped would be wrong, was not. The northern part of Arkansas that houses the White River averages 43 degrees in the winter. They have had no accumulation of snow this year, being that they are in a drought as is Illinois and Iowa. Our timing could not have been worse. That night 6 inches of snow feel. That is like ten feet to an area that has no salt or snow removal equipment. That little slice of the middle south froze shut for the rest of the weekend. We made the best of it. Barbara was nice enough to twice bring us unexpected hot meals that two growing mid west twenty something’s really appreciated. At one point Sunday the air temp before the wind chill was 16. Churches and all events that some one would drive where closed. The number of anglers dropped to less than a third. That state park was full of empty lots with reserved signs that one came to claim. We caught fish all three days and as you can see no giants where brought to hand, we heard no reports of large fish at all, the bite slowed as the weather got colder.

It was a memorable trip and it was time that I had with my brother that I will never forget. We broke in the “Razor Back” and “Tim Hall” rods, used up a bunch of flies and got to catch up our now vastly separate lives. On Monday we headed back to my home and on Tuesday we parted ways. All good things must come to end and the real world quickly takes over my thoughts again. Thank you to those that helped with this trip, The Bernard’s of Patrick’s on the White, if your are going to the Norfolk or White call them first, they are great people! All the posters that gave us fly and tippet info, MP for keeping me in the sport to begin with and my brother for putting up with my overly anal fishing habits.

And of course, thank you mom for sending your youngest out here for his graduation for college. I love you.

http://www.patricksonthewhite.com/

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com