Best Time To Fish North Fork

[Johnsfolly]

I have been on a mision to catch a trout in every recognized trout stream/river in Missouri. I am now down to the North Fork of the white river and the eleven point. Should I target fishing this river in mid- to late October when the brown trout may be active prior to their attempted spawning in early winter? Wait until January/February after they recover from their spawining attempts or would anytime be a good time to catch browns and rainbows on this river?

[Scott Heiser]

Anytime is a good time on the North Fork really. But especially after a nice rain brings the river up and puts a little color to it. It's low and clear right now but it still fished pretty good this past weekend. Mixed bag of rainbows and browns up to 19" and a couple of smallmouths thrown in to boot. Good luck!

[MattS]

I went for the first time in late June and did pretty good despite the pretty bad conditions (low, clear and hot) so I can imagine it would fish good anytime.

[Chris Gates]

March, April, May is prime but you can fish there all year long. Best trout river in Missouri in my opinion. As a smallmouth river it is avg. at best

[Johnsfolly]

thanks for the information. Any lure selections that you would suggest? I typically fish streamers or minnow baits for browns and smallmouth.

[OKFlyFisher44]

As Gates stated, March-May is very prime time but don't overlook late fall and winter as well. You will have the river to yourself most days minus those of us with drift boats who sneak down there for same reason you are : ) I love this river but didn't get to fish it very much this year. It is my favorite trout water in the Ozarks, even over the "famous" rivers to the south in Arkansas. You will need some kind of boat to really take advantage of what the NFOW has to offer whether it is a drift boat, canoe, kayak, or pontoon.

As far as bugs go, just depends on what you are doing. If you wanna throw streamers, just pick one and go for it. If you are fishing with a bobber...there are numerous nymphs that are effective. Pats rubberlegs, egg patterns, prince variations, RFSNs, and soft hackles have always been good to me.

Be sure and check the regulations if you are gonna toss lures....

[Justin Spencer]

If all you are wanting to do is catch a fish here and move on come by the campground here and within an hour or two you should have it marked off no problem no matter what time of year. Wait until winter and put on an egg with an egg dropper and catch plenty of rainbows. Pat's with some sort of small nymph dropper and you should have plenty of action from browns and bows alike. I would go ahead and land a fish on nymphs before switching to streamers to make sure you get the NFoW off your list. I suggest waiting until November because the algae should be gone by then which makes fishing much nicer. Bring plenty of weight to get down and you shouldn't have any problem catching a few.

[Johnsfolly]

Thanks for the tips. I let you know later this year on how I did.

[John Haps]

I'm thinking of heading down to the NFoW from Columbia on Friday or Saturday. I'll mostly be using a nymph stick, but I might through the two-hander with a scandi head if the location allows. Does anyone have any suggestions for wade access in the blue ribbon area? Much appreciated.

[Gavin]

Call Justin get a boat, gotta cover water there. Not great on foot.