2/18/19 trout Smackdown

[Ham]

Pretty chilly Morning to the day. I waited until it got to 32 degrees to start my day. I fished from 1100 to 1600.

it was pretty breezy and cloudy. I should have had more layers. I opted to fish up below the dam in the Catch and Release zone. I launched at the Golf course side.

My first fish came while the boat was still on the trailer. The motor was warming up and I made a couple of casts. Bang ! Above average Rainbow. 

A few minutes after actually launching the boat, I caught a 18 inch Brown. It was strong and jumped and made some runs. 

Bites were not rapid fire, but the fish were all quality. Water was dropping out. And wind was blowing upstream pretty hard. Not optimal, but I kept grinding. 

I ran up to the bottom of the Restricted Zone, but I never got a bite up there. I did locate several areas that were holding fish. I cycled around through them. I was able to fine tune as the water dropped out. It was probably running 6K and dropped to 3500 CFS by the time I left. 

1/8 oz Zig Jig on 6 lb Nano with 6 lb co-poly leader. Olive/Ginger ; Olive/Orange ; Tri Olive. 

I kept catching quality fish. I got a 20 inch Brown that really cut up. I was actually surprised it was only 20 inches. 

Biggest Rainbow was only 17 inches, but really pulled. 

I caught a couple of walleye 15 and 17 inches. 

I had one 13 inch Cuttie , but it’s color was drab so no pic. 

I ended up with 5 quality Browns. 2 x 20 ; 2 X 18 , and a 17 incher. 

I fished with 41 fish altogether. I left cold, but Happy. 

[Ham]

First 18 inch Brown

[Ham]

I can’t add photos as quickly as I would like

[Ham]

I was Solo and trying not to hurt the fish so not the best Hero Shots. 

[Ham]

Slobosaurus

[Quillback]

Awesome!  Jigfest, less than 2 weeks away...

[BilletHead]

            Well done my friend!

  I am so glad you are catching while scouting the river so you can point the White River novices who only get down there once a year for Jig Fest where they might start fishing. That Reminds me I should get down there more,

  BilletHead

[Ham]

Yeah, yeah I was scouting see

[Ham]

In all honesty, I’ve had pretty good fishing from just Below the dam all the way down to Mountain View, Arkansas

[BilletHead]

56 minutes ago, Ham said:

In all honesty, I’ve had pretty good fishing from just Below the dam all the way down to Mountain View, Arkansas

         Hey it is a fact if it rains enough and a mud puddle in the Sahara desert forms you could find and catch a fish in that puddle. .

BilletHead