O A F Winter White River Trip 2013

[Terrierman]

Sorry if I offended anyone, it was an attempt at humor.

I have ridden the waves on Bull Shoals when a seat belt was needed to stay in the boat "because the fish are biting".

From the results it is clear you are a group of experienced boatmen and anglers. I would never question your judgment.

Joe

None taken here Joe. I was looking for humor in all the weather related stuff too. And honestly, it wasn't that bad at all.

[hoglaw]

10-4 Joe. The weather made it an experience for all of us.

[LittleRedFisherman]

I'll echo everyone's comments here. It was great to meet everyone. Very glad Phil could make it down to join us. The one comment that kept echoing was how we need to make this an annual deal. I completely agree. Someone posted earlier about the advisability of planning a fishing trip during a blizzard or something like that. This trip was planned a long time ago. Everyone could have made the decision to back out on account of the weather, but we all made an informed decision to head out there and I feel like we were well prepared for the conditions we faced, and we didn't push the safety envelope at any time aside perhaps from the drive down the hill into rim shoals. That was a little hairy, but we could have bailed out into the grass on the uphill side at any time if it got too bad. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone as safety-conscious as I am when operating a boat. As everyone who rode with me can attest, I don't come close to pushing my jet to its capabilities when I have other souls on board. On Sunday Muddy convinced me to push a little harder and we ran through some shallow water on the Norfork at full plane.

We did not see a single angler on the White River the entire trip. I believe we have the weather to thank for that. It's extremely rare when you can float 25 miles of the White and not see another fisherman. This was one of my favorite trips I've taken over there and I really appreciate everyone who made it. There's no doubt in my mind that we'll make this an annual deal. A couple of weekends before Christmas really seems to work well with everyone's schedule. I really feel like you catch more quality fish in the winter months and you're likely to encounter higher flows which I really enjoy fishing. We didn't get any high flows this weekend, just moderate generation that I think was ideal for the float-fishing we did.

It's neat to get to meet folks with such varied backgrounds and experiences, but it's a real tribute to this forum and community that folks who've never met eachother before can get together and share a cabin and boats and have a great time like we'd known eachother all of our lives. Can't wait to do it again and I hope some more of our community can join us.

Muddy - I'm trying to send your fish pics but can't get them to attach on my phone. I'll try to get it figured out at some point today.

Well said Hoglaw, that pretty much sums it up for me!!

I've fished in colder weather, but never a long float that far from the truck before, but like Hoglaw said we were well prepared, extra clothes, Ham had an on board heater, etc. Hoglaws boat was big enough you could fall out of it and still be in it.. This for sure makes for better story telling. I just left my local cotton gin and was telling them some about the trip, they loved the one when I said when I picked a fish up out of the water it warmed my hands...lol, which it did.. They also asked me about the rod eyes freezing up, I told them the sleet bounced off, that was an advantage.

Muddy and Hoglaw, hope ya'll get the pictures lines out, like to see some of the Norfork!!.

Also, thought i'd add that I downloaded some video off the gopro awhile ago, may take a bit, but gonna try to throw a video together of the trip!

[Ham]

A buddy made a trip today. He had a 22 inch hen Brown on a Zig Jig and a little later a 24 1/2 Brown on a jerk bait. I was @ work.

[gotmuddy]

boo! pics or it didnt happen

[LittleRedFisherman]

Putting the finishing touches on a short video of our trip!! Wish I had videoed more of us guys round the cabin to put in this.

Ham, I bet I know where your heading the first chance you get now...lol

[Ham]

Oh there's pics, but they're sooo bad that I guessed he had Helen Keller take them for him.

[Quillback]

A buddy made a trip today. He had a 22 inch hen Brown on a Zig Jig and a little later a 24 1/2 Brown on a jerk bait. I was @ work.

Dang, he got a couple of nice ones!

[Ham]

Heck with the fishing Brett, I'm getting the popcorn ready for your video. My next trip will likely be Bull Shoals. Depending on how things shake out, I might get to make another White river trip prior to the New Year. It depends on the arrival of I law's and the weather. I only like to fish when it's warm and sunny.