Troutjig.com

I made my first trip to Montauk on Saturday. What an awesome park! Great scenery and all kinds of places to fish. I can't wait to get back there. We started off at the buzzer standing on the concrete dam that created somewhat of a waterfall. We caught fish within the first hour, but it was nothing like Maramec Springs. As the sun slowly came up, we could see the fish better and better, which helped land a lot more fish. My father-in-law spotted a large rainbow from the bank and followed it to that grate that some guy cleans off every hour or so. After messing with it for 10 minutes, he hooked the 6lb 6oz. on a black rubber lig with gold head jig. We walked around to different parts of the park and then headed up to weight in Roy's fish and put it on ICE. We headed back out to fish near the back side of the store. There is a road that leads right down to an opening to get into the water. Just up-stream there was some rocky structure and a few logs in the water. We started fishing that and my wife spotted a nice rainbow. Her second cast at it, she had the 4lb 2oz. hooked using one of our gold tinsel jigs. Her and I went up to weight it in and put it on ICE as well, then headed back down to the same spot. After a few we decided to walk down stream. There was a pretty long stretch where we couldn't see a single fish in the water. Then we got to a point where the water made a left hand turn and started searching for a lunker in current. There was a log laying out above the water, and just behind it deep in the water we spotted another nice rainbow. I was to the left of Roy and couldn't really get a good cast at it. The water was too swift to drop the jig between the tree and the fish. I did get one shot at it, but just as he went for it, I jerked too soon. In front of the log on top of the water, there was another log in the water down at and angle. Roy put the same gold and black jig in between the two logs and the fish just nailed the jig like you wouldn't believe. It took awhile to get the 4lb 2oz. out from between the 2 logs and in the net, but we got it. This fish had an amazing set of teeth. We got down to the bridge and figured it was time to eat. After lunch we went to a totally different part of the park and spotted a couple more lunkers, but weren't able to get one to bite. All in all, we had a great time. We caught plenty of smaller fish, but the big ones kind of took precedence I don't think I'll miss a derby day from here on at Montauk. They put in a large amount of HUGE fish. We'll see how we fair at Bennett this weekend.

WELL, we are back and we had a BLAST. Thank you all for your suggestions. We stayed at Patrick’s on the White the whole time and he let us hook his boat up to our car and take it with us wherever we went, just in case they started running water. He gave us a heck of a price for the entire trip as well. Very good to do business with. The first day we waded out in front of the cabin there and caught a bunch of trout using our green tinsel jigs. We were able to sight fish and the trout would just dive bomb the jig! After a couple hours, we drove up to the catch and release section just to look around. They were running water so we just walked the bank and Amy caught a pretty nice cutthroat. We pretty much spent the rest of the day driving around and checking different places out. We ate at Gaston’s. Pretty cool place, but way over-priced for the quality of the food. It looks like there is some major construction about to take place on the other hill side. Lots of trees pushed over, etc. The next day we got up late and went up to the Bull Shoals State Park and waded out and caught lots of rainbows on a few different jigs. I was using a pink and white rubber-leg jig, while Amy used a gold tinsel jig. We messed around there until they started running water. By that time, it was almost 2. We drove around for awhile again, checking out the area. We were going to take the boat out, but we decided to head to Mountain Home and get something to eat and watch a movie. We watched You, Me, and Dupree…not as funny as I thought it would be, but not horrible. The next day, we got another late start and they were already running water. We launched the boat and tried our luck from there. It was pretty disappointing. There was so much crap in the water that you couldn’t cast without getting something on your lure. We tried it for a couple hours and decided to take a boat ride instead and take pictures. We both enjoyed that a lot. They didn’t ever stop running water so we finally made it back to Patrick’s to clean up and head back to Mountain Home to eat and watch a better movie. Well, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was not as good as I expected either. Not sure if I’d rent that movie again when it comes out on DVD! Again, we got a late start the next day and they were running water…but not much. We put the boat in at Bull Shoals Park where we had luck a few days prior. We hammered them again. We would drift down to the end of the big rock structures near the bank and then motor back to where they start and do it all over again. After awhile we headed downstream where Patrick’s is located and drifted for awhile. We didn’t do as good as the first day that we fished there so we headed on down river. We went really far down and started making our way back. I noticed we were getting pretty empty on gas. After going for a long time, we could see Gaston’s dock. Then of course…we ran out of gas. We were lucky enough to have a father and son come by with a Gaston’s rental boat and pull us up to the dock to get fuel. The younger guy working was really nice. I only had a 10$ bill, but he went ahead and filled up the tank. We made our way back to the cabin and went to bed early because we were going to go to Norfork the next day. We didn’t make it to Norfork until 10am, so we went straight to McKellans (sp?). We paid our $5 per and head to the fishing hole. WOW…we caught so many fish. Small, but a LOT of them. For 90 minutes or so, we had a fish every 3 or 4 casts. The trout loved the gold tinsel jig there. They started running water after 2 hours or so. I could not believe how fast it came up. We saw the stick that we had been watching go under, so we headed for the bank. By the time we got up to the car, the island that we had just walked on was completely under. Pretty amazing. We headed down to where the Norfork dumps into the White and put the boat in there. We tried going up the Norfork, but the water was just too swift for my liking. We headed up the White instead and didn’t have much luck. We went down river for awhile as well, still no luck. So again, it was time for a relaxing boat ride. The next day, we planned to go to Buffalo City and check things out down that way. They were calling for rain ALL over, so we didn’t want to make the trip and not be able to fish. So we launched the boat at Bull Shoals Park where we had done well the entire time. We were catching plenty of fish and then the water started going down. It still looked like it was going to rain at any moment, but we loaded the boat and put our waders on. We got in the water for about 15 minutes and the water started coming back up. Instead of launching the boat, we decided to head towards Buffalo City, stopping at Wildcat Shoals on the way. We got to the public access at Wildcat and headed down river. One of the locals said the water was up a couple inches. We went past a small bend in the river and Amy tossed out a gold tinsel jig. As soon as it hit the water, she had a fish on. There was a pretty good rapid section of water just a little further down river. She quickly got the fish off and threw out again. Once again, as soon as it hit the water, bammm. So after 3 fish like that, we were at the fast moving section of the water, so we motored back up. We drifted back down slowly and the fish were still just as aggressive. We motored back up and put the anchor down and had all kinds of fun. Amy caught one every cast for 18 casts!!! We didn’t get a chance to try the fly rods much, so I just put one of our jigs one each fly rod and we got a little practice. Time went by really fast there, so we hurried back up to the access so we could see Buffalo City before dark. The White Buffalo Resort has some really sweet looking cabins. It looks like they spent a LOT of money there! For fishing, we could only go a little up and down river before it got too shallow for the boat. We caught 1 trout each, but that was about it. So after taking some pictures, we headed to Rim Shoals. Very beautiful view there as well. We didn’t have a lot of time there before it got dark. We tried a few spots with no luck until we got to the point where a small island in the middle and the water went left and right of it. On the right side, we started catching them, but we had to load the boat shortly after because it was getting dark FAST. It was raining pretty hard Friday morning when we woke up, so we packed up and headed to Stockton, MO to visit some friends before heading back to St. James that evening. All in all, we had a great trip. I can’t wait to go back. I saw a LOT of people using really large rapalas. I am guessing that is what you have to use to catch the big ones. I’d probably rather catch a lot of smaller fish rather than catch 1 bigger fish per day, but it would be nice to figure out how to find the bigger fish next time. Maybe I’ll have to get a guide. Good Day, Don

Thanks for the kind words Charley We did get married on the 22nd and headed straight for Arkansas to fish the White River. I've finally been able to get back online and back to normal. We had a blast in Arkansas. We didn't catch anything of any size, but we did catch a TON of trout. They liked the gold tinsel jig down there the most. We got back real late this past Friday and had to get up and go to the Springs Saturday morning to catch some of the BIG fish that we didn't find in Arkansas I left with a 10+ lb. stringer of 4! The fishing down there this year is excellent. Maybe we'll see you down there again soon.

We were in the right place at the right time this weekend. Showed up at the hole between the bathroom hole and the bridge. Amy caught a few real quick on the green and white rubber leg, while I caught a few on the green tinsel. A teenage boy asked what was working. He was casting over by Amy so I gave him a green and white rubber leg and the first cast he landed a nice one. I saw the trout take it and told him to set the hook. It was right at 9:30 and he said it was the first fish they caught all morning. He was having problems seeing the fish, so I let him use my glasses for a little bit to see how much better you could see. He was amazed. After a bit I told them they'd do good down at the bridge because you can see without glasses and keep the jig in front of the fish a lot longer. When we made our way down to the bridge he was down there all excited that he had caught more fish. We had a good time on a REALLY HOT day!

very true When is the next time you are going to be at Maramec Springs? If it is before next Sunday the 23rd, we'll have to meet up so you can give me any last minute info I need for the White River. My buddy and I tied up a bunch of flies to use down there. Can't wait!

jrbhc8 - it sounds like you have mastered fishing with a jig. Some people have a tough time picking it up. There are still plenty of people out there that don't know about the rubber-leg jigs. I give at least one away every time I'm at the Springs to someone that's not catching anything and show them how to use it. It's awesome to see their eyes light up when they hook one. The bigger fish are usually a lot more challenging.

Brian, for some reason I'm getting an error when trying to post a picture on here. Try this link for the ever so popular green and white rubber-leg jig: http://www.troutjig.com/green_and_white.jpg Here is a picture of the jig I use the most, the green tinsel jig: http://www.troutjig.com/green_tinsel.jpg Here is a link to all of the jigs on our site: Rubber-Leg: http://www.troutjig.com/rprod.asp Tinsel: http://www.troutjig.com/tprod.asp shawncat's description above is correct. all of the jig heads on the internet are hand dipped in powder paint. shawncat - I'm not sure if I should increase the quality of the pics on the site or not. We tried to make it so that the pics would load quickly if someone was on dial-up. I've thought about breaking it up and having better quality pics if the user has a high-speed connection. decisions, decisions

shawncat - We are going to stay at Patrick's on the White. It is real close to Gastons. Very nice guy on the phone. He's going to let me rent the boat for the week for a good price with the option to leave it hooked onto our vehicle and take it down to North Fork, etc. when we want. Pretty sweet deal. So when they start running water, you are saying I should try to make my way up to the cable, which I assume is the end point of the C&R section, then drift down (with motor on), then motor back up and repeat? I guess the rope and chain is used to help drift down in a straight line? And you are saying if that happens to get caught up, it could possibly hold down the boat while the water is rising. Thanks for the tip and we'll be sure to be ready. Is there a fee for putting in a boat at the different public accesses? Don

I think it is for that reason that you don't see a lot of people using fly rods. If the Park was bigger, they could break it down into zones. If we want to use the fly rods, we make our way down later in the day. There are some pretty good spots that hold fish from the bathroom hole on down to the bridge along the bank opposite of the road that usually don't get fished much.

I got to the Park around 8am on Saturday. Started at the bathroom hole with a gold tinsel jig. Caught 3 pretty quick, but they were all small. Didn't seem any big fish, so went down to the next hole. Caught a few more there on a green tinsel jig. The fishing was a little tougher than normal. Made my way down to the bridge and found where all the fish were hiding gold tinsel was working from down in the water, then I started fishing off the bridge with a black and white rubber-leg jig and wore myself out going up and down to release the fish. A guy next to me was using a green and white jig and doing pretty good as well. If you can get a good cast on the fish when standing on the bridge, the rubber-leg jigs never fail. There was a group of about 7 or 8 down at the bridge hole snagging trout like crazy. It was pretty disappointing to watch. A few of them had only a large trebel hook on. Sad! Sunday, we got down to the bridge about 5 minutes after the morning buzzer. Right off the bat I landed 15 or 16 fish on the gold tinsel jig, but they were all the exact same size. They must have stocked that area the night before. Went up to stand on the bridge to see if I could spot any large fish. Some of our friends that were still down in the water already had 2 or 3 really nice trout on their stringers. My fiance and I caught a couple more from the bridge and then headed back up stream on the wooded side. We spotted a nice sized fish on the walk up and Amy (my fiance) caught it on a green tinsel jig. It weighed in at 2lb 12oz. We went up to the bathroom hole and had pretty good luck. Amy had the silver tinsel jig working really good. I started with a black and white rubber-leg jig, then switched over to a all brown rubber-leg. Although hard to see, the trout love this jig. I netted a nice 2.25 - 2.5 lb fish, but for some dumb reason, I pulled the jig out of its mouth before putting it on my stringer and bye-bye it went. DOH!!! Rookie mistake. Just to see how it was up front at the Step hole, we drove up there and checked it out. We caught a few each on the green tinsel and gold tinsel, but there just didn't seem to be many fish in that area. It was really crowded there when we drove by earlier in the morning, so maybe a lot of anglers did very well One of our friends that started down at the bridge had the largest out of our group. 3lbs 1oz. Pretty nice fish. All in all, a good, fun weekend of fishing.

Very good info guys. THANKS! I can't wait to see how these jigs do on the White River!

Ya, sometimes it is amazing how many rubber-legs you see broke off hooked in the fish. Something I am sometimes guilty of is not re-tying on my jig after catching lots of trout. I get so caught up in the fishing and forget until I hook a big one. I caught a 4lber down at the bridge 3 weeks ago. Before I made that cast I said, "Next fish, I'm going to re-tie." Luckily I landed the fish. What a blast! I bet you are talking about my cousin Brad. He's a big boy and uses the green tinsel exclusively. He has lived in Cuba almost all his life and never had any luck at the Springs. I kept telling him about our jigs and how much fun I was having…of course he was very skeptical. I finally got him to go with us one morning and he has been hooked ever since. He was going 4 days a week for awhile! : ) He is a big bass fisherman, so I’ve yet to get that instinct out of him. A lot of times he really horses them in. : ) That’s a good tip on using a cork. When I just can’t see the fish at all, I sometimes throw on a brown rubber-leg and watch the cork. We’ve been told a million different things at Bennett Springs when we go in the main store about the rubber-leg jig. Most of the workers we ask in the store say, “Now that’s a good question…I’m not sure about that jig.” We usually just use a tinsel jig with a white head and red thread anyway. The candy-cane rubber leg jig works great there. My fiancé and I go to Maramec Springs at least once a weekend, so if you see us, stop and say hi. We’ll have www.troutjig.com on the back of our fishing vests.

RSBreth – that’s what I like to hear! Sounds like we just keep moving down stream and we’ll be good to go. I think I’m going to be staying at Patrick’s on the White. His prices are good for the cabin as well as boat rental. I think we’ll work something out to have the boat all week. I will be able to haul it down to Northfork if I feel the need and use it down there. I hope the fishing is good enough that we can just wade out in the mornings, then when the water comes up hop in the boat and head downstream. That would be perfect. Shawncat – I’ll be sure to check out McCellans! It sounds like it is kind of a pain to figure out when the water is going to be high. Why isn’t there a set schedule? I’m sure there is a reason for it. We’ll be sure to take a large supply of our jigs. When my fiancé stayed at Gaston’s 6 or 7 years ago, they caught SOOO many fish with the rubber-leg jigs. I hope our trip is a repeat of theirs Is the White at Bull Shoals up real close to the dam? OR are you talking about the White Hole? Thanks!

Thanks for the replies! We searched the net for a couple more hours last night and I think we came up with a list of places to stay: Patrick's on the White White Hole Resort Fulton's Wildcat Shoals Norfork Trout Dock Gene's Unlimited Sportsman's Cabin Patrick replied to my post on another site and it sounds like he could give us a pretty good deal. I plan on calling him later today. It would be nice to drive down the Escape and not have to haul anything. Better gas milage then the truck as well. RSBreth - Do you usually bring a boat along, or just drive to different access points and wade out? It seems like we could start fishing up close to the dam, then pack up and drive down to another access point when they start running water. We plan to pack both fly rods and spinning rods. I've been reading on the different forums on the net to see what flies everyone uses. We'll be sure to have plenty of each tied up before we come. I have had a lot of luck catching Brown Trout here on the Maramec River using a Rebel Ghost Minnow in the ripples. I'll be sure to bring a good supply of them. I guess I'm wondering if we should split up the trip and spend a couple days up close to the dam, then a couple down where the norfork comes into the white...or just stay in one place and drive to those places, then back to the resort at night. Decisions Decisions Can you sight fish very many places on the River? Thanks again for the replies!

Don, What did you think about the "His Place Resort" ? It sounds like you've visited the White River plenty of times. I think I've narrowed my choices down to 7 or so places to stay. I assume when I call a few, it may narrow down my choices even more with such a late notice (going to be there 7/22 - 7/28). Have you stayed at any of the following? Patrick's on the White White Hole Resort Fulton's Norfork Trout Dock Wildcat Shoals Gene's Unlimited Sportsman's Cabin Do you take a boat with you when you go? or...do you just take your waders and stop at different access points along the river and fish?