I’m Al Harper. I’ve been making pilgrimages to Bull Shoals White River State Park in Arkansas for a few years now. The White enjoys an almost legendary reputation among fly fishermen across the country. I’ve enjoyed enough success here to keep me coming back, but my efforts on 7/19/23 were truly memorable.
For those who haven’t been to the White, it is about a 5 or 6-hour drive from West County St. Louis and about an hour and a half on down from the Arkansas border. Nearby towns include Mountain Home, Gassville and Cotter. Much has been written about the creation of the White River system of lakes and tailwaters resulting from the construction of five major dams there from 1941 to 1964.
Prior to the dams, the White and its North Fork (originating in Missouri) were reputed to be the finest smallmouth fisheries in the south. Now days the resulting tailwaters (Beaver Lake, Table Rock Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, Norfork Lake and Greer’s Ferry Lake) form tremendous trout habitat and flooding in the region is mostly a thing of the past because of the way water release can be managed.
Streamer fishing from drift boats here holds a somewhat glamorous image among fly fishers but one sees plenty of people spin casting as well. Fishing related businesses and the many guides that make a living here are very prevalent.
I was to fish from an inflatable drift boat mostly but there are places to wade fish as well and I tried some of them. Mike Enger is a FATC member living in the area and he related a couple of hot spots and techniques to try. One involved jigging a sculpin fly along a rocky bottom in low water as if that poorly swimming bait fish were hiding from big trout.
My success this trip began early one morning in the drift boat. I was solo but fortunately, the water release from the nearby dam was minimal and I was able to maneuver the boat while fishing. Not long after putting in, I noticed trout rising. The river was shrouded in fog. That happens a lot as a result of the cold water from the bottom of Bull Shoals Lake meeting the warmer ambient temps downstream. Those fortunate enough to snag a camp spot along the river welcome this effect.
However, because of the decreased visibility, I was unable to discern what the fish were rising to eat. I’d played a frustrating game of not being able to match the hatch on previous trips here as well. So as an alternative, I decided to cast an emerger and started hooking trout right away. It was a fun and interesting way to interact with the trout and a light weight rod and a thin tippet really made landing them challenging. It was a little like stripping streamers yet in a more controlled manner. Those who fish emergers realize they must allow the fish to hook themselves and forego the forceful hook set so useful in streamer fishing.
It was an exercise in restraint and nuance as I missed many strikes along with the successful hook sets as the morning went on. But thankfully I seemed to have anchored just upstream from a large pod of trout gorging themselves. The fly landed delicately on the water surface and that sometimes resulted in a solid strike, but I found if I could strip my fly just below the surface, and often work it on the swing, strikes came more reliably.
When I had caught 20 trout I phoned Mike, who was serving as an unpaid guide, to friends who had come down to fish with him to share the intel. I had planned to take out 7 miles downstream but with this unplanned success early in the float I got on the phone to switch to a takeout spot much closer.
Often I’d consider weighing anchor and drifting on down river but catching another one would make me reconsider. Finally, I decided to settle in and see just how long the streak I was having could continue. I concentrated on the particular technique required and an accurate counting of catches. To my amazement, about 3 and a half hours after the first strikes I had caught 55 bows and had only repositioned my drift boat about 15 yards the whole time. I have profound respect for whoever tied the green crackleback fly I used because besides being badly chewed up and my having sharpened the hook a couple of times, it was still bringing them in when the fun ended.
And what finally put an end to my memorable morning was the scheduled release of water from the massive dam a couple of miles upstream. The surge of a much stronger current and a bigger volume of water completely changed the dynamic of what was happening with the trout and the game I enjoyed was suddenly over. Time to drift to the takeout. But it was fun while it lasted and the trout were respectable in size and fighting ability. I didn’t land a really large trout this trip. The kind featured so prominently on the brochures the guides leave at local fly shops, restaurants and visitor centers, but about four or five were in the 16” range and only a few were less than 10 or 11”.
As mentioned, the degree of fishing success one has on this and other tailwaters in the White River System is very dependent upon the water release. Guides and good local angers closely study the online water release schedules. As a result, daily catch totals of a guided float often match or exceed what I experienced, however; my reading of blogs indicates the higher numbers more often occur with those using power bait, worms or other live bait and spinning rods.
For instance, I spoke to a local who was turning over rocks at low water to find crawfish. He related that days ago a live crawfish was responsible for his landing a 4 pound trout (at a location on the river he chose not to disclose). Flyfishers in drift boats are often focused on big browns prowling near the banks. And in July and August, they often enjoy success casting big, carefully tied hoppers in addition to gaudy streamers. That’s a scenario requiring teamwork between anglers and the person on the oars. On this day I was happy with a solo effort that resulted in my largest single day catch on a world class river.
