Photo Essay: North Fork Of The White River

[Matt Tucker]

November 19 and 20th I found myself on the North Fork of the White River with a couple of fishing buddies (Brian Wise; head guide at River of Life Farm and Evan Muskopff of Feather-Craft), in an attempt to get some relaxation in before the thanksgiving holiday.

After a late night around a campfire, we hit the sack around 1:00am or so, to rise at 5:30am for breakfast at a Gainesville, Missouri staple: Skeeter's Cafe.

We had sunny and clear conditions, albeit cold, but much of the day was spent in weather like this:

We caught plenty yearlings like this on stonefly / dropper rigs

I even managed to hook up with a couple that were a little bigger, and fight harder than an arkansas tailwater rainbow by a longshot.

After a long day on the river, we enjoyed the evening at another Gainesville, Missouri staple...."The Antler Bar" which now has Blue Moon on tap. It was another late night, but we got to catch up with Kyle Kosovich and Randy Hanner, who were going to float with us on Saturday. Needless to say it was another late night, ending around a fire in Brian's backyard.

We launched the drift boat the next morning with heavy cloud cover and fog.

Much of the day looked like this, with more wind than Friday.

Evan managed to coax a nice rainbow to chase about 15ft on a Sex Dungeon and was rewarded with this nice rainbow.

After which, he quickly assumed the conqueror position:

We did manage a couple of Brown trout on the trip as well, including this one caught by Evan on a stone/dropper rig.

I managed to hook-up with a nice brown at the end of the trip and was rewarded with my biggest brown to date out of the NFOW.

We ran out of beer at that point, so we finished the float out in a hurry, but Evan was rewarded with one more fish on a pattern that was submitted to Feather-Craft's Fly Tying Contest site; the pattern did quite well actually.

It was a great trip, as usual, anytime I fish with Brian or Evan. For those that have never fished the North Fork of the White River, you might do yourself a favor and check it out if you are ever on the White River tailwaters (White River or Norfork) and generation has got you down. From the dam, we were an easy hour drive and didn't have to worry about generation schedules all day.

There is a longer write-up and more photos from the trip on my blog as well; by clicking here.

--Matt Tucker

[ness]

Nice report and photos. Lots of cool angles. Lots of good fish.

[ozark trout fisher]

Nice. I have to get down there soon.

[gotmuddy]

You cannot beat the scenery on the NFoW, I have floated from hammond to dawt and its all beautiful. If I ever get good at casting my fly rod I am going to start fishing out there more.

[Bman]

Matt,

Thanks for your “Photo Essay: North Fork Of The White River”. It’s been too many years for me since I floated and fished that water. I’m due for a trip.

It looks like you were in very good company too! I haven’t had the pleasure to meet Brian yet, but when I stop by Feather-Craft I always look for Evan Muskopff. Evan’s a great guy, and a valuable asset to the store. With Evan’s help, I’ve been able to improve my fly fishing a notch or two!

Tight Lines, Bruce

[Phil Lilley]

Thanks, Matt, for thinking of OAF and posting your pictures. I don't think anyone can take a bad picture on the NFOW. What a wonderful place!!