Brian Wise

Yeah Huz, he was pretty excited. Hooked that fish in a deeper hole dead on the bottom...it immediately came straight to the top and flew out of the water. It was cool. Brian

Jeff Saunders was his name. Brent Lawrence was the PR Brand Communications Specialist and Susan Wade from the Division of Tourism. Really cool people, had a blast with them. Brian

Took a writer from Bass Pro, the PR guy from Bass Pro, and a great gal from the Springfield Division of Tourism on the river. Basically the writer was the main fisherman--never fished with a fly rod in his life. After a little casting instruction at ROLF we hit the water. Fishing was quite a bit slower than it had been (imagine that...with a writer in the boat) but he did catch some fish and tangled with his first wild trout on the fly....or any fish on the fly for that matter. Pretty good fish for the first fish on the fly maybe a 16" rainbow that made a couple of insane runs on him. Rubber-legs, RFSN's, San Juans--period. The obligatory "cool guys" photo.. Brian

Hey Steve, I would be suprised to see anything less than 400 cfs this summer. Did you happen to see any of the springs on the river when you were here? They are for sure super-charged and thumping out some really nice water, and if they keep running a touch cloudy we 'may' have a little color to the river for a long while too. The river should be noticeably cooler this summer (not that we ever really have to worry about temps anyway though.) Looking forward to some night fishing! Brian

Saturday morning started off mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of rain and a 100% chance of lightning hitting within 1/8 of a mile from us. We put in just above Jack's Riffle at ROLF and fished Jack's from the boat (since wading that far out would have been a 'touch' tough ) and hooked a rainbow real quick on the swing after a drift. Couple of casts later hooked a nice rainbow that proceeded to release itself. Fishing super deep with a Rubber-Leg and a Red San Juan Worm. Drifted through the rest of the farm and switched to a streamer rod with a sink tip and a T&A (thanks Leonard ) and fished the hole directly below ROLF, rolled a decent fish and decided to wade into Cave Riffle. Cave has been pretty hit or miss for a long while now but with numbers of fish generally being lower than it used to be the average size has gone up...that'll work. No fish until the bottom of the riffle and landed a nice, deep 17" rainbow on the San Juan. The first island below ROLF is where it got a little freaky, saw some lightning so we got off the water (and put the rod down) and not long after that BOOM, lighting that actually boomed three times--it was weird and freaky all at once. There was really no solid pattern to the fish but fishing was good until the sun started beating down and pretty much shut them off. Very little canoe traffic, mostly because we put in early and got off the water at 2:30. Sunday I guess was opposite day. Mostly sunny for most of the day--wasn't expecting good fishing at all. Put in at the same spot, no fish at Jacks, no fish drifting the farm, no fish in the hole below. Cave riffle produce some of this years young of the year rainbows. In the dead sun a hole below the first island produced 5 fish in 6 or 7 drifts and one of those fish was nice but did not land it. Switched things up quite a bit Sunday, fished 3 different colored Rubber-Legs and several different droppers and all caught fish--San Juans, RFSN's, a new Prince pattern. Everything came off bwo's, caddis, a couple stones. Definitely what I would call a weird weekend of fishing but it was really good. Brian

Actually I really appreciate those photos!! I haven't had the opportunity to shoot any photos of water at different depths and I will for sure send people here to let them 'see' for themselves what the water is around that cfs. Very Cool. Actually the biggest fish I have ever had hooked at the Falls was on that same side, big brown. They do tend to hang on that side, especially on higher water. Brian

Hey Huz, Hope you don't mind I used the new "Fishing Report" icon on your post. Brian

Very cool! Sounds like a pretty good trip. Where did you fish? The shots under the falls are sweet! Brian

TroutBum4wt , Sounds like you may be looking for a Switch Rod. There are getting to be a ton of these rods around, 11-12'6" 5wts, 6wts, etc. They are a ton of fun and insanely practical--you can mend as much line as you can cast basically. The good thing is they can easily be cast overhead or with spey casting styles. Try one out! Brian

It has been tough but like you said good things are to come for sure. Late next week might offer some possibilities for some fishing--it'll probably be tough but if you get 'em deep you might do ok. Brian

Steve, It is about like choclate milk right now. I cancelled trips for this weekend. It is falling nicely but it's gonna take a while. Brian

Majaraja, Like I said, the list was made by the guy who writes TU's Top 100 Trout Streams book.....I doubt he is that much of a backpacking writer. I see what you are talking about but still think it is cool. Brian

Hey guys, It is getting time for me to fix the Gel-Coat on the chines of my Clacka. I was wondering if you guys had any tips or techniques for this and what kind of Gel-Coat do you prefer? Thanks!! Brian

Hey all, Thought I would let you know that the North Fork of the White is listed in the June edition of Backpacker Magazine as #6 of the top 12 back-country trout streams in the U.S. This list was made by John Ross, the same guy that listed the NFOW in Trout Unlimited's Top 100 Trout Streams in the US. Very Cool! Brian

Hey all, Thought I would let you know that the North Fork of the White is listed in the June edition of Backpacker Magazine as #6 of the top 12 back-country trout streams in the U.S. This list was made by John Ross, the same guy that listed the NFOW in Trout Unlimited's Top 100 Trout Streams in the US. Very Cool! Brian

HAHAHA, Nice Gavin!! Mr. Nickens, all sorts of water in the area you are coming to. Let us know how we can help. Brian

USGS North Fork of the White River flow charts. You can also find it at the top of the NFOW page on the forum under "Looky Here! River Levels " Your friends were exactly right Aaron....it IS lake just below James Bridge. Brian

Yeah Don, wading is a little rough at the moment. Prime time to wade the river is 700 cfs or below. Glad you caught some fish though man! Brian

Also see this thread.... Bryant Creek Mining Thread (Bryant Creek Page) Brian

I just got back from the Ozark County Times office. I have the legal notice in hand and yes, the operation could start as early as 1-31-08 and continue until 1-31-2050. The sec. twn. and range is equalling the water just downstream of Horshoe Bend. It is never too late for letters and again the address is: Land Reclamation Program Department of Natural Resources PO Box 176 Jefferson City, MO 65102 Phone: 573-751-4041 Fax: 573-751-0534 E-mail: larry.coen@dnr.mo.gov

Kyle, I usually try to keep the Bryant as my "getaway" for fishing myself. This HAS been VERY hush hush. Living within 15 minutes of where I have heard they are applying to put this mine and I only heard one thing several months back...and that is in a SMALL county--we all know those small city, small county deals everyone knows everything about everything. I am going to be in touch with the local newspaper today. At least people need to know about it. Brian

Amen! That water insanely lends itself to czech nymphing. Glad you had a good time! Brian

Thanks for the report huz001, I haven't been up to Kelly since the high water--can't get my boat under McKee Bridge yet. Wading there on average water is tough enough, 1200 cfs would be rough...nice work! Brian

Well Don, the lake water is still over the Dawt Mill dam so basically the whole Tecumseh Park is still below water. Are you looking for the Whites and Stripers? I only got into the whites once on Norfork lake and that was before the flood. There are a few wadeable spots on Bull Shoals in the Wasola area where the whites were pretty thick but with this chilly weather they probably moved deeper. Did catch some BIG females last week though. Brian

Hey guys, Took a father-son on the river Saturday 26th. Floated from ROLF to Blair on water around 1400 cfs. Takes were steady pretty much all day until we hit an afternoon lull that really slowed the fishing. No big fish but fairly steady fishing. Rubber-Legs, San Juan Worms, RFSN, and a Wire RL Caddis were the main flies. Sunday March 27th brought a pretty cloudy day and VERY steady fishing. Same float, different guys...same flies. Really good numbers of fish with a couple of real nice rainbows. Fish DEEP and watch your step in the higher water. Brian