Phil & Bill's White River Trip Report, December 22, 2011

[Phil Lilley]

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1732" title="White River on OzarkAnglers.com" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/white-river/files/2011/12/IMG_9999.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="255" />

Bill and I put in at Wildcat Shoal Access this morning at 7:15 a.m..  Generation was brisk and rising.  Schedule stated they would run 300 mw by 8 a.m. which should reach us by 10 a.m..  Then they would back down to 125 by mid afternoon which we weren't sticking around for.  It seemed like the water came early and stayed late.  This is the area Tom and I fished last Wednesday at low tide.  There was 9 feet of water over the shoal where there was 18 inches 7 days ago.<!--more-->

We boated up to the narrows and started there.  Drifted and fished the bluff bank down.  I was throwing a white 1/8th oz jig and Bill was working a brown trout style jerk bait (I'll have to have him report exactly what lure he was using).  We scored first and fairly often, catching browns between 14 and 18 inches.  White struck out so I went to olive- nothing, the sculpin/peach and they liked that better.  I caught a decent cutthroat (pic) plus  a few browns (up to 17 inches) and rainbows.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1729" title="White River on OzarkAnglers.com" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/white-river/files/2011/12/IMG_9993.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="208" />

We drifted down to below the 62 bridge before heading back up.  Bill also tried a chuck-n-duck rig and an egg fly and caught several rainbows and one brown.

I did try throw some articulated streamers but I didn't have a sink tip so I couldn't get down to the fish, so I'm told.  Makes sense though.

Cloudy and cold- never warmed up like we thought it would.  Wind switched a couple of times making it tough to jig fish.

We pulled out at 11:30 a.m. and headed for the Norfork Tailwater but first had to have some BBQ for lunch.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1731" title="White River on OzarkAnglers.com" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/white-river/files/2011/12/IMG_9995.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="270" />

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1730" title="White River on OzarkAnglers.com" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/white-river/files/2011/12/IMG_9994.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="248" />

[John Berry]

Nice photos. We have some great browns in the slot right now!

[bluebasser86]

Beautiful fish! Gives me a lot of hope for my first trip to the White that I have planned in early March. I'd love to catch one of those nice browns to get a replica made and just to say I've caught a brown.