Stories About Fishin' The White And James Before Tr Dam...

[ness]

Good stuff fellers.

[ollie]

Love those old pics! That longer Jon sure was the bomb back then.

[Greasy B]

Love those old pics! That longer Jon sure was the bomb back then.

Still is.

[Mitch f]

Yes, without a jet prop the long john is really a good choice for a river. With a jet, the wider flat bottom is the better choice, especially if the water is very shallow. My buddy was infatuated with the long john for his jet, and although his ability to turn is much better than mine (my back end slides) he can't go near as shallow as I can.....so it's a trade off.

[Greasy B]

Yeah, I love to see the old pictures too. When I'm on the tail waters I often daydream and try to imagine what the river was like before.

[moguy1973]

I've been looking for a map of the pre-dams White for a while now. Anyone have any others??

[Wayne SW/MO]

I've been looking for a map of the pre-dams White for a while now. Anyone have any others??

Have you checked to see if any of the USGS topos are before the dams, or still available in older printings?

[KCRIVERRAT]

If by any chance there are any YouTube vids concerning the old days down there, I have no idea how to post'em on OAF. I'm gonna check it out but if any of you guys wanna check it out please go for it. And thanks for the posts so far. Those would've been the days! Loved the map...

[Al Agnew]

Yes, you might check to see if the older topo maps are still available. I have USGS 7.5 minute topos of the lower half of Table Rock, made in the mid- to late-1950s, that show where the lake levels were going to be as dotted lines, but showing the river, topography, and forest cover as they were before the lake. I have the same sort of maps for all of Beaver Lake, also made in the late 1950s. My topo maps covering much of Bull Shoals were also made in that same time period, but Bull Shoals was already full by that time. However, although they show the lake in blue, they also show the old river outlined in solid dark blue lines just as it must have been on an earlier version, and the topo lines beneath the lake in dotted dark blue. They cover much of the lake from Powersite down. My topos of Norfork were made a little later, and show nothing but the lake.

However, my most prized topos of that area are the old Shell Knob 15 minute topo, made in 1950, that shows the river as it was from about Hwy. 86 down to below Baxter, including all the Kings River arm, and also a good portion of the James River arm; the Thornfield 15 minute topo, which was made in 1943 and shows the entire Little North Fork arm of Bull Shoals to the MO state line--it was revised to show the lake as a dotted blue area; the Protem 15 minute map, also made in 1943, showing the loops of the White now under Bull Shoals that came back up into MO in the middle portion of the lake, though this one doesn't show forest cover; and the Gainesville 15 minute map, made in 1934, which shows the Missouri portion of Norfork before the lake. It's really interesting to look at these topos and see things like fords and ferries on the rivers, along with the river courses and bluffs.

[Fishslayer88]

I've been looking for a map of the pre-dams White for a while now. Anyone have any others??

Gary the owner of James River Outfitters probly has some old maps his grandfather was the owner of James river boat co.