netboy

This was my first time to experience the caddis hatches on the White and Norfork and from what I have heard this was a better than normal year. Dry fly fishing is my favorite way to catch trout. The hatches are getting slimmer with more sulphurs, a few caddis and the usual midges, although we did have a good hatch at Rim Shoals on Saturday before the water came up.

The Okuma might be a little sporty for those 22+ inchers, although it handles 1/8 and 3/32 jigs just fine.

I bought an Okuma Celilo 6'6" 2 piece that works great with jigs. 35 bucks also. Here is a link.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Okuma-Celilo-Ultralight-Spinning-Rod-6-6-2-Pc-Ultra-Light-Action-CE-S-662UL-1/162503552029?epid=79624402&hash=item25d5f76c1d:g:OpEAAOSw3v5YuESj:sc:USPSPriority!72634!US!-1

Wow Duane, you got it figured out. Way to go... that is what makes fishing so much fun.

Release pic...

Talk about dumb luck...caught this guy today just upriver from Cotter. He was 23.75". Water was pretty high so I went back to the Y2K. Think I need to go buy some lottery tickets later today.

Green Crackleback stripped just under the surface. There were very few caddis coming off on the White this morning. Caddis were thick on the Norfork yesterday, but they ran water over there this morning.

I made a quick trip to the Cotter walk-in access this morning and lucked into this guy. He was 23" and put up quite a fight, He took me down to the backing twice and made 4 nice jumps.

Enjoyed reading about your trip. The floods last spring really hurt the river. Still a beautiful place.

Wow, that's a fatty! Congrats on the PB.

Well not so much this morning... We went back this morning and with the cool temps and spotty rain there was not much of a caddis hatch. We did catch some using ruby midges under an indicator but nothing picture worthy. I made a quick trip to Rim Shoals this afternoon and caught some on a crackleback. Probably ended with a dozen.

Better pic of the brown. He had a deformity in his backbone towards the tail. Still fought like a champ with many "clear the water" jumps.

My wife and I fished Bull Shoals Dam area this morning and lots of caddis were hatching along with some sulphurs and midges. The trout were popping everywhere. Didn't seem to matter which dry fly as long as it had a green body. They started coming off around 8:00 and it lasted until 11:00. I was really surprised to see this big of a hatch this late in the year. Here's a couple of pics... This post has been promoted to an article

Great trip Ham. You are gonna love the Venice redfish trip. Be sure to take an 8 wt fly rod along. Nothing better than a 10 lb red on the fly. Also might want to check out an offshore trip for some tunas, snappers or a ling or two. That area is the best saltwater fishing this side of the world.

I see many of the local fly fishing guides on the White river using Topwater boats and 40 hp Mercury Jet engines. They seem to run very shallow and look very well made. Most of them are rigged with a rowing station in the middle and are very maneuverable. I have a 17/48 Blazer Sport with a 25 Merc Jet and it works great for me, but you don't see many down here in Arkansas. They are made for the Missouri spring fed rivers like the Current, Eleven Point and North Fork of the White. I basically use it as a taxi to access wade fishing areas. The Xstream boats look great also. Don't think you would go wrong with either of these.

Went to the Norfork this morning and had a few midges hatching early and then more caddis and a few Sulphur mayflies around mid morning. Caught some nice rainbows and this brown and a few snake river cutties, no Bonnevilles today.

Went back to Ackerman this morning and the caddis hatch was pretty slim. I think it is about over for the year at least on the Norfork. Caught a few on caddis dries and a crackleback stripped back. Finally went back to the egg/ruby midge combo and caught this pretty Bonneville.

Snake river cut..

Decent rainbow...

Went to Ackerman access this morning and the caddis were coming up, but not as much as the last couple of weeks. Still had a decent day with a good number of rainbows and this nice Bonneville and a couple of Snake River cutts. They were hitting caddis dries mid morning and then a green body crackleback on the swing and stripped back.

Great trip Ham! I've got to try some lake fishing, if I can break away from the trout. Just too many things to do up here.

They were yesterday.

Here's one more that apparently has a good appetite ...