White River Trip 10/9-10/12

[Morgan F.]

Loaded up and headed to the White / Norfolk early on 10/9. Arrived and on the water by 12:00 noon.

Actually started on the Norfolk tailwater due to no generation until later that afternoon. Got a solid four hours in before the water reached us as we entered via the lower access with the dam parking lot being closed.

Gearing up we spoke to a few people in the parking lot who were just coming off the water. All reports indicated murky water coming downstream from some construction going on up above. While there was some tint to the water...it didn't seem to turn the fish off at all. I rigged a prince nymph under indicator with zebra midge dropper. My buddy fished prince w/ scud dropper. He also fished a couple of other droppers to included san juan worm, hares ear, etc. The fish seemed to prefer the prince/zebra combo though with about equal takes on prince/zebra (red and black). Scuds did well but we just fished the zebra midges more. Takes on the scuds were light and proved difficult to set at times.

I had never fished this tailwater before and was very pleased. Really neat water to fish. We only made it upstream from access about 200 yards at most...caught fish the entire time. We would loved to have explored further up, but with the generation looming and the fish biting where we were...we just didn't make the jump upstream...next time!

Generation started at 3pm and water got to us about 4pm...driving us off the water. WOW! That water comes on fast! Kind of neat to see...but glad I was standing near the access when it arrived!

It had been 20+ years for me being in the area and around 8 years for my buddy, so we took some time and drove around getting familiar with the area and access to the White while making our way to our lodging for the evening. So much water...so little time!

Stayed the first two nights at one of the Camper Cabins at Rainbow Drive Resort. Nice little campground and the camper cabin was a great blend of camping / lodging. The dew was SO heavy in the mornings that we were glad we had the cabin and not trying to dry all of our stuff out each morning!

Rented a boat from Rainbow Drive the next day. The dock hand there (I believe Gordon is his name) was great! Very helpful, personable, and accommodating. We fished all day running up to Wildcat Shoals and floating back down to Rainbow Hole. Fished the same Prince / Zebra set ups as we had the day before and did very well. Once we motored up to the shoal it was almost an automatic 2-3+ fish in that stretch every time. Wished we could have slowed our drift down just a bit to have more casting/catching time in that stretch each run. Had a great day of it though and caught fish all day. Nothing of any size. All rainbows except for one fish that possibly had some cut mixed in...a good deal of orange around the throat/gill plate...cutbow maybe? Not sure if this happens on the White or not. Either way...a very pretty fish with all the coloration!

Third day we wanted to inspect other areas of the river so we took some time to drive up to the dam and inspect the flow/ access/ crowds. We ended up back down at Rim Shoals and fished that for most of the day. Tougher fishing for us here as we were fishing middle of the day, but still managed a few fish. Same double nymph set up.

We ended up having to find a new place to stay friday as our original place was already booked for the weekend. Made the jump over to Copper Johns and stayed in one of their camper cabins. Great folks running the place who took care of us and even hung out around the fire ring with us for a bit.

Woke up to light rain that turned into a couple of short-ish bands of heavier rain on Saturday morning. Drove up to the dam and fished the first set of shoals until about 11am when our licenses were no longer valid. Fishing was slower...again on the double nymph rig but still managed some fish. Had another fish here with amazing color on it and again had the orange around the throat. Really dark rainbow coloring ...beauty of a fish!

We had a couple of guides come by and talk with us as they were motoring back up to the dam. They were kind enough to share with us that the hopper was the fly of the day. We didn't have any luck with it but we could see that it was clearly working for them as they drifted further out in the shoal.

A huge thank you to all who provided info on where to stay and fish! We will be back for sure!

[John W Kelly]

Sounds like you had a great time!

[Morgan F.]

We certainly did Mr. Flycaster! Got at least a little bit about fishing down there figured out. Now just for another 1000+ trips and I may get this fishing thing down yet!! Ready for the next trip down!