Fishing White River With A Bass Boat

[yummysmokedham]

I fish taneycomo quite a bit and I am wondering if there are any places on the white river I would be able to fish using my bass boat. Most people I talk to that fish the white are using small flat bottom or john boats with small outboard motors. I have a 16 ft bass boat with a 115 HP outboard, are there any locations on the white that I could safely navigate with this large of a boat and be able to get to some decent holes? Thanks in advance!

[Danoinark]

I would say not!!!

Dano

[Thom]

I agree with Dano. The few times I have fished there when they turn on full bore you better know where the bottom is. Lots of shoals to tear up a bottom and logs to roll you over.

If you don't mind going up and back just a short distance White hole is where lots of guides start off in the morning. There is a gravel launch there and deep water on the far side and in the middle. There is a real nice bank on the far side and water deep enough to fish upstream to the second resort which has a jetty out into the water upstream from their dock. There is a shallow shoal above that jetty. I wouldn't go up any farther than the jetty. Good spot on the far side from the jetty holding lots of Trout. That is as far as I would venture upstream. Down stream from the launch you can fish about 200 yards before it gets shallow. I have caught lots of nice bows in that section of about 1/4 mile max.

[Danoinark]

A sixteen ft bass boat and that size motor is way overkill. The other issue is that if they cut generation you would not be able to get back upstream.

In all of my years I have never seen a bass boat on the White unless it was way down stream below Batesville to Newport. Like Thom I think there are just to many rocks, shoals and unknowns to ever safely operate a big boat on the upper river.

Dano

[Thom]

YSH:

Another possiblity would go the the state park or Gastons just down from the state park and rent a small boat there. It would give you a feel for the river at that point and they could give you advice on how to fish that area.

Lots of water to fish in that area before you get to the shallows down from Gastons. There are some good deep holes across the river from the state park that hold some monsters but are just out of reach of the waders even when there is no generation.

[RiverRunner]

I echo the statements from above, that boat is too big for the upper White. The only place I've seen bass boats on the river is at Guion (the end of the trout waters). The only times that the upper White would be safe for a boat that size is when they are running round the clock big time generation. Even then, they can shut it off at any time and the river becomes a creek again. Its a much better idea to rent a 20' fiberglass jon boat that's designed for the White River than to risk destroying your investment.

[Thom]

check out this post from Taxidermist for good info on the white river conditions for fishing from a boat.

click here: http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?s...ic=9107&hl=

Pretty well answers your question.

[yummysmokedham]

Thanks for the tips guys. Thats what I was kind of figuring from some of the pictures I have seen but just wanted to be for sure. Just gives me another excuse to buy another boat haha

[John Berry]

A few years ago I was guiding for Hooked On A Cure and saw a guy in a Bass Boat take out his transom when he hit a rock near Rim Shoals. There is a reason that we use a specialized boat here. There are lots of rocks and the water level is constantly changing.