netboy

Can't beat an egg pattern tied on a jig head with a midge dropper this time of year.

I think he is big enough that they couldn't swallow him. They seem to like the stocker size trout that they can swallow whole.

Waded Roundhouse Shoals again this morning and had a good trip. Caught lots of rainbows, 1 brown and this nice Golden Rainbow. I saw him holding in a current seam and I worked my way upstream of him. I had an egg/midge combo on and he took the egg on the first cast. Fun thing about the Goldens is that all that I have caught in the last couple of years have been sight-casted to. They have zero camo.

Well, if you want a Tiger and a brookie... better head to the State Park just below the closed C&R area. That would be the best chance.

Edit... I forgot about Tiger trout. AGFC is making it really hard to get a true slam, which would be Rainbow, Golden rainbow, Brown, Fine spot Cutthroat, Bonneville Cutthroat, Brook and Tiger. Don't think that will ever happen in one day.

Wading has been good the last few weeks with minimum flow most mornings and some full days of minimum flow. I waded at Roundhouse this morning and had a good morning using a peach egg with a ruby midge dropper. Didn't catch anything big, but almost got a White river slam. Only thing missing was a brookie. That is not unusual as the only place I consistently catch brookies is up by the dam or on the Norfork. Hopefully these low flows will continue. Here's some pics....

Well, we are financially comfortable in retirement and I fish most every morning and my wife joins me sometimes and she also has fun doing her quilting and sewing crafts. I don't need any more fishing stuff. What I have is not top shelf stuff, but it works great. What we really miss is the freedom to travel since the Covid thing came up. We used to make a couple of trips to Europe or other destinations each year and now that has totally stopped. Last trip we made was a small ship cruise in February 2020 to the coast of Croatia and Montenegro just before Covid reared it's ugly head. We really miss the opportunity to travel.

The city had the lighting ceremony tonight. There was quite a crowd and the lights are pretty impressive. The colors constantly change and they can program different themes for the various holidays. Here's a couple of pics...

How did you lose the prop?

With the low flows there are just too many places to choose from. These have all been good for me the last couple of weeks; Ackerman on the Norfork, and on the White; Three Chutes, Wildcat, Cotter, Roundhouse and Rim. I think you will be good anywhere you go.

We have been getting minimum flow on the White every day for the last week or so. This morning I waited for it to warm up a bit and went to Roundhouse access around 9ish. Caught lots of rainbows and 1 decent cutthroat and then just before I was about to leave, I tried a small channel below a big root wad. I had a peach egg on and hooked a big rainbow. He took off and ran across the river and downstream taking me well into my backing. I followed him and got him close a couple times and then he would take off again. He was a big male with vivid red spawning colors. I would estimate he was around 8 pounds. After about 10 minutes of fighting him the size 16 hook pulled loose. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted and I know where he lives. Here's a pic of the cutthroat...

Wow, they did a little testing on a small section of the lights last night and they look great.

I am sorry to say I can't give you a good answer. When minimum flow is running, that is prime walk-in wading time for me. I have never run the river in my boat on minimum flow as there are so many great wade fishing areas and I enjoy fishing with my feet on the river bottom much more than fishing out of a boat. With that said, I do see guides running those shoals and just yesterday one came up Roundhouse Shoals where I was wading and found a pretty solid rock with his jet. Another one ran the same area with no problem. Guess you need to hit a few rocks to find out where not to go.

The Cotter/Gassville Chamber of Commerce recently raised funds to light up the old Cotter bridge using high-tech computer controlled lights. A crew is currently installing the lights and the lighting ceremony will be next Wednesday. Here is the invitation from the COC. Should be fun if you are in the area. Season's Greetings, Friends. Holiday magic is in the air, and we have the perfect way for you and your family to start the season. We are excited to announce the big reveal of the Cotter Bridge Relighting on Wednesday, December 1st at 5:30 pm at the Big Spring Park. Join us for the Relighting Celebration with music, refreshments, plus a cheerful stroll through our beautiful park that's been all dressed up for the holidays. Be sure to wear warm apparel since our party will be outdoors. The relighting project has been a long time in the making, and we are excited to share it with you. This picture is an example of what the lights will look like. They will be able to program different themes and color combinations.

That does bring back memories of hunts in north Mexico when we lived in Corpus Christi. We had a guy with good connections in San Fernando Mexico and he would meet us at the border in Matamoros and pay off the local border "General" and who knows who else to get our gun permits and places to hunt. Then we would hunt whitewing and mourning doves in the mornings and evenings and quail in the middle of the day. Many days you could easily shoot a case of shells each. That said, I don't think I would go back there with the stuff going on in Mexico these days.

I hope that pans out, but I have caught a dozen or so tigers here on the White and they were all long and skinny. They looked like this brown I caught this morning at Roundhouse Shoals. This was a 21" brown that couldn't have weighed much more than 2 and half pounds. Seems to me that the rainbows and cutthroats do better here on the White river. Most of them are fat and healthy.

SWPA ran some water on the Norfork this morning but shut it off around 10 am. I made a trip to Ackerman and arrived around noon when the water was back down to minimum flow. Fishing was good and I ended the day with a couple dozen, mostly rainbows along with a nice Golden rainbow and a decent Bonneville cutthroat. Best flies were an orange egg pattern with a P&P midge behind it. I saw the Golden rainbow in about a foot of water at the head of a riffle and he took the egg on the first cast. Those things look like a neon light in the water.

Funny one...

What more can we say...

I have never seen a hog up here around the White river. Soil may be too rocky for them to root for food??? I suspect most of the hogs are farther south and east in the farm lands.

Winter is my favorite time down here. Fewer people out and usually bigger fish.

Walked in at the Cotter access this morning and had a good morning. SWPA was running 1 full unit, which appears to be the new minimum flow for the White river. Best flies were a P&P midge behind a Y2K under an indicator. Ended the morning with a couple dozen rainbows and 2 browns. Here is a pic of a pretty male rainbow in his spawning colors... he took the Y2K.

That's a big ol' sucker....