Rocky

I take a dry bag for jacket/pullover, rain jacket and pants along with sun screen and that is about it. My wife may have some snacks squirreled away. The morning can be chilly running up the river, so layer up. Norfork is a short run though. I usually use the guide's rods because he will have multiple rods setup for different types of fishing. Guide rods are usually equal or better than mine and I get to test them out for a day. Most guides on the White don't or avoid wade fishing but fish areas that they can boat fish, especially if they have a jet motor. Norfork is more limited on boat access on minimum flow, so you might get to do some wade fishing. I would take my boots (no cleats) and waders along but the guide may want to leave them onshore and come back for them if needed. A lot depends on type of boat and/or motor. Boat space is limited, especially if you are in a drift boat. The guide should suggest what to expect when you meet up but you never know for sure what water they will actually run. Before you start fishing, tell the guide what you want out of the trip. It may be to catch a lot of fish (size doesn't matter), target big fish or the Caddis hatch or work on a new technique. Be honest with your skill level, he will see it soon enough. I usually tip about 20% depending on what you got out of trip, which is not necessarily determined by the fish count. Good luck.

Scott State Park & Lake is about 40 miles South of Oakley and is a nice spot. Clear water and somewhat protected from the infamous Kansas wind. I have only fished for trout, after the fall-winter stocking began, so I cannot attest to the summer fishing. http://www.kansas.com/sports/outdoors/michael-pearce/article1118251.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g39052-d546986-Reviews-Scott_State_Park-Scott_City_Kansas.html

I have a Zodiac style inflatable boat that weighs about 50 lbs. I want to put a small gas outboard motor on it and use it on the White River from Bull Shoals dam on down to Norfork. Will a 4 or 5 hp motor, with 2 people in the boat, be capable of going upstream at a decent rate when they are running 8 units?

I believe your tippet or leader size is too small for the size of fly and the fly is dropping down on the cast and getting tangled with the line. For instance, this would occur if you used a 6x tippet with size 8 fly. Try using a larger tippet size and see if the tippet "rolls" out the fly better.

I believe the Paddling forum would be beneficial to gather topics for paddling types of boats. The "Boat Review" forum seems to be dominated by power boats. I recently had a post about personal pontoon boats and struggled on which forum to post it. In my searches for paddling types of boats, I have found topics about kayaks, pontoons, etc. in many of the other forums. (For disclosure, this is already a forum name on a fly fishing forum I sometimes visit)

Check out His Place Resort: http://www.hisplaceresort.net/ They are primarily cabin rentals but have a few secluded camping spots that we stayed in about 5 years ago. They have a couple of fishing kayaks and a couple of SOT kayaks for rent and have a shuttle service. They are located just up-river of Cotter.

I have a LL Bean Wind Challenger jacket that is my all time favorite jacket and the price is very good. It is nearly wind-proof and is water resistant. It works very well. I have owned it for several years and the style has changed slightly from what is available now but pretty much looks the same. The new"Wind Challenger Fleece Jacket" sells for $69.00 + 7.95 shipping. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/56539?from=SR&feat=sr this link is to a great review of the "Wind Challenger Fleece" on Youtube. It is long and it takes a couple of minutes to get the the actual review but it is worth watching if you are in the market to buy one because it tells you what to look for: They now have a "Pocket Water Fleece Jacket" for fishing that I would probably buy today and it sells for $99.00 + 7.95 shipping. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63712?feat=sr&freeText=Pocket%20Water%20Fleece%20Jacket I like LL Bean products because you cannot beat them on customer service (see story below). They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which is basically a lifetime warranty. They have customer reviews of each product so you don't have to rely on just advertisement. They also have Tall sizes, which are a little longer in the body and sleeves. I recently sent back a LL Bean reel I had for 5 years that the drag was giving me some problems. I had bought a Sage 3wt rod w/ LL Bean reel & Scientific Anglers line combo package that I calculated the reel was costing me just $30 ($113 list price). I didn't really want that reel but I was spending a lot for the rod and figured for the price, I could live with the reel for a while before I upgraded to another Ross or Lamson. I ended up liking the reel. When I had some problems with the drag, I sent it back to them. They called and said they have had some problems with that model reel and gave me their new Mid-Arbor reel and a check for the difference in reel prices for about $13.

Billfo, I don’t have an answer for MO but in Kansas and Arkansas, you register the item by where it is on January 1st. I had boats in Kansas that were stored at a lake that was in a different County from the one I lived in and we paid taxes to the storage County and not the one we lived in. It was a hassle because every few years our home County would find out we had a boat registration but not paying taxes to them and send us a tax bill and we would have to file the paperwork to cancel the bill (assumed guilty until proven innocent). The County that the boat was stored in would send someone out on January 1st to take down registration numbers at the storage facility and send tax bills to the owners to make certain they got their dues. I just purchased a 5th wheel RV and storing it in Arkansas and we checked out with both Kansas and Arkansas and they both said it is where the RV is on January 1st. is where you register. I recommend calling your Nebraska county appraiser and the Missouri county appraiser and get their take (trust but verify).

I wade fish the White & Norfork tailwaters and like to explore and get away from the crowd. I would like to get a couple of 9' inflatable pontoon boats for my wife and myself that would be used primarily to float from one wading spot to another (not necessarily to fish from) and provide a safe down river exit if the water comes up. I am concerned how safe these boats are if they are generating four or more units on the White or full units on the Norfork. How difficult are they to maneuver and can you get to shore when need be? I appreciate everyone sharing their experience with these craft before I make a costly mistake.