Thanks Giving: Catching is Incredible

Jim P.

Usually during a full moon the fishing is tough on the White River in Arkansas but for the past couple of days a full moon does not seem to matter as the catching is incredible.  With weak generation of less than a unit Jim and his brother in law John proceeded to clean up with numbers of fish hooked and landed and as you can see from this picture Jim hooked and landed this fat and sassy 19 inch 4 lb brown trout at the White Hole on sunday.  We caught a rise at the top of cane island and rode it all the way down to wildcat (9 miles).  We stopped for lunch there and ate hot burgers and continued fishing the rest of the day after running back upstream and fishing the State Park, Newlands Hole & Cane Island.

With weather that has been cooperating in the high 60’s and low 70’s it has allowed this guide to wear his croc flip flops for the past two days.  Yesterday Bill S from Illinois and I fished for the morning and once again the catching was outstanding although a bit more windy than the previous day but we were able to pretty much stay out of it.  If you watch the generation schedules and the flow charts I’m sure you have noticed the discrepancy between the two.  That is what the C.O.E. is saying they are going to generate verses what they actually do.  It is a bit frustrating but then it is becoming a bit comedic as well.  It also makes for some good government jokes.  It also just goes to prove that if you are coming to fish the White or Norfork rivers DO NOT TRUST predicted generation or even the info given to you over the phone by the Corps.  A front came through during the night and we did get some much needed rain.  It won’t affect the lake level or dirty up the river but it will protect us from any threats of wildfires.  We are of course a tender box after the ice storm left us with lots of trees and wood laying on the ground in our forest.  Today I will be fishing with a longtime regular fisherman from Texas Dr. Rick and it should be a good day.  Brats and beans for lunch today and perhaps even a good brown trout or two to boot.

Don’t forget to check out the fly shop page for some outstanding deals on hooks and tungsten beads.

Matt Tucker

My friend Matt Tucker of St. Louis with a brown trout he caught while fishing with Brian Wise on the North Fork of the White River in Missouri.  Sounds like they had a good day.  See you soon Matt.

Happy Thanks Giving and stay safe on the water.

Jimmy T.

One Reply to “Thanks Giving: Catching is Incredible”

  1. Just thought I would let you know, the Bass Pro Shop in my area in Ill. has fly tying lessons, I got the basics down, the flies they tie are for salmon fishing streams off Lake Michigan. Much more to learn about the flies we use down there. Anyway, I got the general priciples down look forward to tying after I receive a few early Christmas presents. We plan to come back down the week between Christmas and New Years, hopefully, you will be around and the shop open, I will stop in to pick up some needed items. I have been watching the river flow, with the lake dropping more and more, I don’t understand it. Are they now trying to protect the spawn eggs while hatching, or am I giving them too much credit? Have a Happy Thanksgiving & Christmas, see ya in about month,,,, Ron
    P.S.: Shot a four year old brute of a Doe with my bow two weeks ago in Southern Ill. I’ll bring you some sausage.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.