White River Fishing Report 10/17

[Clay Goforth]

I fished the White all day Saturday with a men's retreat from Fellowship Church. There were 5 boats on the water all day. 2 Boats were strictly fly fishing. 1 boat was fishing jigs and power bait, one boat was throwing rogues and other jerk baits, and my boat was fishing jigs and jerk baits.  The flow was above 17,000CFS all day, most of the time above 17.5.  There was A LOT of water.  None of the boats faired very well. One fly boat was fishing hoppers and netted out 1 21" brown and 2 small rainbows and the other fly boat netted out 4 small rainbows. The boat fishing jigs and power bait had three guys in it and they collectively netted around 20 rainbows, all small. The rogue and jerk bait boat netted 7 fish, all rainbows, all small. My boat netted 11 trout in 6 hours of fishing but included a 20" rainbow and 2 18" rainbows. I also caught a really decent brown on a rogue that was the heaviest fish of the day.  All in all, very very tough fishing and the other reports I'm hearing from the guides is that the White is fishing really difficult right now. The two things that saved the day for me was the brown trout and a great 18" - 19" walleye that went in the fryer that evening.  I did also catch the grand slam with a very small brook and a very small cutthroat in the list of species.  If it is any indication to how strange the river is fishing right now, the species that were caught on this trip were rainbow trout, brown trout, brooke trout, cutthroat trout, walleye, largemouth bass, and a BIG yellow perch that weighed just over a pound.  All the non-trout species were caught at the dam area. 

[JestersHK]

Thats a dandy Brown, sporting the lipstick look .  Nice report.  The White is on my list to finally get down there and fish it.  Thanks for sharing.

[Ccox1982]

Nice report. Sounds like you guys had to work for the fish. I'm hoping to hit the river next month for a few days. Hoping the bite will be better. 

[Ham]

I'm so ready for the > 15K generation to STOP. I have to think that is going to happen soon.

It is iinteresting that walleye continue to show up. I have not heard of any walleye being caught in the lower Buffalo, but I have some interest in seeing if they establish themselves in the Buffalo.

The Yeollow perch is another interesting thing. I caughht one down river miles below where the Buffalo dumps in. I also tried to sight fish one at White Hole. He was nose down on my jig, but then he did not bite. I lost sight of him when current pushed me away, but I know it was a perch. Now you have that big one by the dam. I wonder if they have or will establish themselves in the White or CC or the Buffalo. It does not seem like the White River ends up being a tough enviroment for them.

I'm not happy that you are struggling by your normal standards, but I am happy that I am not the only one havng to work a LOT harder to catch fish with the extra water.

 

[Quillback]

Having lived in yellow perch country for part of my life, I can't remember them ever being very populous in the rivers, at least in fast flowing trout type rivers.  Very tasty fish, I would've fried that perch with the walleye.

[Ham]

Having lived in yellow perch country for part of my life, I can't remember them ever being very populous in the rivers, at least in fast flowing trout type rivers.  Very tasty fish, I would've fried that perch with the walleye.

The area I would expect them to stick and stay in is the lower Buffalo.

[Slowtime]

Noticed generation was slowing down for a few days. Beginning of the end or just a blip in the schedule?  

[Clay Goforth]

Ham, it was T.O.U.G.H.   The variety was the only thing that kept it interesting and the brown smashing the jerk bait, essentially on top of the water and going full airborne, made my day. But all that water was, quite honestly, pretty intimidating. 

The generation has slowed to a GREAT level but with Hurricane Olaf sending weather our direction, I don't know for how long. Hopefully they were making room for the fall rain and won't run anymore. 

[joeD]

The fish have been gorging on natural baits all summer, due to constant high water and flows. They just aren't interested in anything remotely fake or anything they have to expend a lot of energy to get. Jerkbait bite will suffer until next year. Bull Shoals is about normal now, so, hopefully they'll start to ratchet it down, and go back to their normal, inconsistent winter pattern. 

Rogues are junk and not worth your time. There are better options.

[Clay Goforth]

14 hours ago, joeD said:

The fish have been gorging on natural baits all summer, due to constant high water and flows. They just aren't interested in anything remotely fake or anything they have to expend a lot of energy to get. Jerkbait bite will suffer until next year. Bull Shoals is about normal now, so, hopefully they'll start to ratchet it down, and go back to their normal, inconsistent winter pattern. 

Rogues are junk and not worth your time. There are better options.

I refer to everything jerk bait for trout as a rogue because that was the first type of jerk I threw for them. Its just a habit. I actually haven't thrown a rogue in years. My favorite is the Rapala X-Rap suspending jerk. And I agree with you on every other front as well. I'm going back over a week from today and will hopefully have better luck. I'll post another update then. At least the water should be better.