Clay Goforth

Thanks everybody...sorry to go on and on... I was super pumped about this fish. Biggest true river run rainbow I have caught and I have been fishing this river for 20 years. I'll stop now

One more picture.

Richline...I don't want to highjack your thread by any means. But I thought you should know, I fished Buffalo City this weekend and it was HOT. Including this 27" rainbow in the 75 yard stretch I described above.

Oh, a major thing I left out of the report...The fish is still swimming freely in the river. I put him in the live well just long enough to get pulled over and take a picture. Snapped about 6 pics and then turned it loose.

BFT, I fished a sculpin pattern jig that I tied almost all day and it was definitely the hot color. I mix two different sculpin colors, one is a lighter green and the other is the dark traditional green. This one jig also happened to have an extra feather in it that was a dark green/light green zebra pattern in it. I don't think that had any bearing on the fish though. As for the technique, in the deep holes I used a 1/16oz and let it fall for what felt like way too long each time. In the ripples and the shoals, I fished a 1/32oz and just fished the drift, letting it swing all the way down straight below me and picking up fish at all points in the drift. I finally got the picture to upload, I think. The picture doesn't do it justice necessarily. Keep in mind that I am a pretty big guy at 6'3" and 270lbs. And I'm not doing the ol' picture cheat of holding the fish way out toward the camera, either.

Yeah I'm having trouble getting the pic to attach from my phone. It may be tomorrow before I can get it up here. BFT, I am pretty used to fishing low water over here so we just found deep holes and hit those, which is the reason we ran down to Riley's.

Jig fishing and fly fishing, myself and two other gents just killed it today on the white between buffalo shoals and Riley's. I had 53 when we stopped for lunch. We fished on through the afternoon and the highlight of the day was this 27" rainbow on 2lb test on a marabou jig.

Richline, My family owned a cabin at Buffalo City for about 15 years. (For those familiar, it was the old Buffalo City store that sat in the round-a-bout just before you cross the tracks to go down to the White Buffalo and the ramp) The fishing there is fantastic. I guided many a group out of there. I suggest, if you can make it down, go just down river from the ramp where you get to the rock pile that sticks way out from the bank just below white buffalo resort. To the far right (facing downstream) is where the Buffalo river comes in. Stick to the left and run down that shoal. There is a small dock on the left that used to be Riley's resort (I say "used to" because I don't know if they are still there). Fish that stretch, which is only maybe 75 yards or so, down to where the river gets very shallow again. Stick to the right hand bank in the boat and cast toward the other bank. The river is pretty narrow there. There are great fish down there, especially in the choppy water. Sorry for spilling the beans on a spot, gentlemen!

The Monday after Christmas I took a friend of mine and his two boys to the White River and Dry Run for a quick day trip. We fished the morning on the White, just below Ranchette at Rough Hole. My friend and I, along with some help from the boys, boated 43 fish between 8am when we got over there and 10:30am when we pulled off the water. IT WAS COLD. They were mostly stock fish from what I could tell with a few 14-16 inchers mixed in. All were caught on marabou jigs, 3/32oz in black and a yellow-green/sculpin color I tied. I fired up the fryer and skillet and we had some delicious fried trout and skillet potatoes and onions. Then we packed up and headed over to Dry Run to give the boys some serious action. They are 10 and 7 years old and are fishing fanatics, especially the eldest. From the outset, they were amazed by the fish in the hatchery and I talked to them about the stocking programs in the rivers in Arkansas. Then we made our way down to the creek and basically had the place to ourselves due to it being a weekday and the fact that it was so cold. I promised them both that we would get them on big fish and sure enough, Dry Run didn't disappoint. We weren't able to hook any of the true monsters the creek holds, but both tied into some great fish that had their 3lb test line stretched to the max and the drag screaming on the reels. We fished 1/16oz jigs in various colors. The fish were SUPER aggressive, which was different than what I have seen on Dry Run a lot of the time. Most of the time the presentation is slow and steady, fishing drifts and letting the jig sit in the water a lot. These fish wanted ACTION and movement, the faster the better. Anyway, both boys had a great time and went away with memories that will hopefully last a lifetime and a hunger for fishing and the outdoors that will keep them coming back.

Thank you, Jim, but I really have my eyes set on that TFO rod. I'd still love to unload this Browning rod if anyone is interested. It's a good rod but doesn't fit what I was specifically looking for.

Daryk, that is the goal, my man. The plan is to use the horses (we actually got 3 so we could all ride) to teach the girls responsibility, how to work, and how to have fun. I would much rather invest in horses than a video game system and new games all the time. I thought my parents were so cruel growing up because we weren't allowed to have a gaming system, at least until I earned my own money in high school and bought one myself. But then, after about a month of playing it, I was back outside in the dirt. I am so thankful I got hooked on fishing, hunting, camping, survival stuff, nature photography, and a mess of other things. I am trying to facilitate that same exposure for my girls.

So, this has nothing to do with fishing, floating, hunting, trapping, etc. It is purely for the photographers out there that like looking at pictures. So, it was both of my little girls' dream to have horses. Yesterday it came to fruition and this one resulting picture was enough to make all the hassle worth it.

oh yea, the ol' pinkie tuscadero... who was that dude?

Ham, the loomis rod I jig fish with is the 6010. The rod I found that I like and want to get is a Temple Fork Outfitters ultralight.

Jamie, no idea what or who it was. We looked for a long time. JD, one of the 20+lb fish we saw was that one with the two leaches. It was running for its life in between all of the boats. I guess we should have gone on down river but I haven't fished the Norfork in so long, I don't know how to get around in low water anymore. Things are about to get really crazy for me too. Our third is due any time now. I was thinking maybe a late spring trip next year. Probably right after basketball season for you.

So, I have been searching for a new fishing rod series to replace the Loomis GL2 series I used to fish with, since I can't find them anymore. I bought a couple of different rods, trying to find one I like. One of those, I need to unload now because it doesn't fit my style and preference now that I have fished with it. It is a Browning (from Bass Pro) Medallion Rod, UL 5'6" Fast Action. It has exposed blank around the reel seat, which I do really like, but compared to the other rod I tested out, I just much prefer the other. Here is the link to BassPro.com that has all the specs. http://www.basspro.com/Browning-Fishing-Medallion-Spinning-Rods/product/1301300551215/ It retails for $79.99. I have fished this rod three times since I bought it in February. I would like to get $40. Let me know if you are interested. Thank you, Clay

Add BLACK to that color mix, Dan. Black is a staple. That is all I have to add. Ham covered it perfectly.

Jamie those are awesome fish. Chris and I fished the Norfork on Saturday morning, along with the majority of Baxter County I assume, and did not have the same good fortune you did. They had min flow and from the access at the dam to the bottom of the hole in front of all the docks, there were no fewer than 50 people either in boats or fly fishing from the shore. A literal truck load of fly fishermen pulled up and bailed out of the cab and bed of the truck and started wading out to various parts of the river. No surprise the big fish had lockjaw. We caught 37 rainbows and 1 cutthroat before just not being able to take it any more with all the people crowding and trying to low-hole us. I know people say this a lot, but we were literally the only boat I saw catching fish. Everyone around us was bait fishing. We had a boat troll up to us and ask us what we were using to catch them because we were ripping fish out of the water around everybody's boats. (it was a 1/32oz peach/olive jig) We also had what sounded like a .22 shot in our general direction from the bank, hitting in the water about 5 yards from the boat. We never could see exactly where it came from which is probably good because the 9mm in my concealed holster was feeling a bit itchy at that point. We did get to see some MONSTER fish in that low water though. We saw two browns that would have crested the 20lb mark, two others running together that would have gone 15lbs, and around a dozen more that were in the 8-10lb range, so that was really awesome to see. If we go back to the Norfork, it will be during the week sometime for sure. We packed up and went to Rough Hole on the White and dinked around, catching another 40 fish, waiting for Bull Shoals to turn on more than 1 unit. At about 2 we loaded up and ran to Bull Shoals Dam, hoping that they would turn the water on. Sure enough, we got there and they had turned on a couple more units so we ran up river and made about 5 drifts from the dam back to the first shoal before a thunderhead rolled over the top of the dam bringing ridiculous wind gusts that spun us in circles, pelting rain, and plummeting temperatures. So we packed up and headed to the house. Overall, we bagged 120 fish on Saturday, so, a good day overall but not what I consider to be stellar fishing over there by any means. We need to get together one of these days when you come up from the farm and go over there. I'd really like to get you, Chris Martin, JD and Drew, and maybe a couple other guys over there for a killer weekend. ALMOST Fatigue style. I say almost because I don't know if anything can live up to Fatigue weekends.

Just going to say that I am heading to the White and Norfork Rivers this weekend with a friend. The plan, right now, is to hit the Norfork Dam area early on Saturday morning in search of something trophy size, then maybe head to Bull Shoals Dam in the afternoon. If anyone is planning on being on the water, be sure to say hello. We will be in a white Ford F-150 with a Supreme 2000 boat. I have a 30 horse Yamaha Jet Drive on the back, so you can usually hear me coming... Will post a report when we get back, hopefully with pics of a big fish or two.

personally, a 6' Loomis GL2 with pflueger president reel is the ticket for me...

So, you guys mostly understand the obligatory holiday weekend with the in-laws scenario. Every summer, this time rolls around and I am required by my wife to attend a mini-family reunion of sorts in Mena, Arkansas. I have a crazy family (none of them would argue differently) but I love em' so it isn't so bad. Plus the food is incredible, we always have a good front-porch pickin' and grinnin' session that usually ends up as a gospel hour, and there happens to be a farm pond on the property of the family members we stay with. This is no normal farm pond. It gets fished one time per year...the weekend when I am there. This thing is LOADED. Catfish from 3lb - 15lbs, loads of bream as a food source, and it is STACKED with big largemouth. So on Saturday, I got up before everyone else, borrowed the farm truck, and headed out to the pond for some early morning action. I was not disappointed. I caught 17 largemouth, all in the range of the ones below. After a couple of hours, I went back to the house, ate a quick breakfast, then loaded up the kids in the back of the truck and, with the help of another one of the Husband-in-laws, took the group fishing. We fished mostly for bream and catfish with the kids, landing fish after fish after fish. The biggest was an 8.5lb catfish. At the end of the morning as we were getting ready to load up and go back to the house for lunch, I wanted one more largemouth. So, I rigged up a Senko, wacky style (which is the way that I had caught all the other bass) and pitched it into one of the corners of this pond. A couple of twitches on the rod later, and I was crossing this fish's eyes. I had one of my nephews hold it up for a picture to give frame of reference on size. All in all, a wonderful time with family, hopefully turning a new generation onto the joys and relaxation of time spent on the water. Can't wait for next year when I get to go back and see how big the fish have gotten, enjoying no pressure throughout the year.

My wife and I are in Charleston SC for our 10 year anniversary trip. Yesterday, we made our way down to Savannah GA for the day to take in some sights. My favorite, by far, was Bonaventure Cemetery. Made famous by the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," which is an awesome read, by the way, Bonaventure Cemetery is home to some of the most picturesque scenery in the low country. As a photographer, I was absolutely in heaven. Here are some of the shots from the day.

Nice. That looks pretty cool.