(White River, Spring River, Montauk)

                  Al Harper and Bob Hassett went to Gassville, Arkansas to bunk with Mike Enger and chase the Rainbows and Browns of the White River.  We arrived at Mike’s Tuesday, March 11 in the afternoon.

                  Flows and water levels were very key.  Mike has excellent knowledge of the flows and levels that allow productive fishing. With this, he can also predict when any increased flow will reach a certain access point.

                  Another benefit of Mike’s location is easy access to multiple areas:  White River (75 miles are fishable for trout), North Fork River, Spring River, Lake Taneycomo, below Table Rock Dam, and Crooked Creek (for smallmouth).  So, if there are high flows or levels in one area or river, there are other options to take advantage of.

                  A final advantage Mike has is knowing which guides are most productive and worthwhile.  This is handy if you want to go after larger fish or larger numbers.

                  We started Tuesday afternoon at the White Hole Access on the White River and used Mike’s boat to drift through various sections.  The weather was great, the scenery was great, fishing was great, but the catching was really tough.  Bob got a nice brown on a Blowtorch, however, other than a few strikes, that was about it.  Fellowship dinner was soup, salad, and cookies at Mike’s house, and we had some laughs and solved all the world’s problems.

                  The forecasted flows for Wednesday were not good at all.  The dams were running too much water.  So, Bob and Al headed to the Lassiter Access on the Spring River.  Bob got skunked.  However, Al did great netting 12 fish stripping his secret brown streamer.

                  People had enough of Bob’s cooking (too healthy), so we had fellowship dinner at Little B’s Grill in Mountain Home.  It was a great little Tex-Mex place.  Al drew “FATC Artwork” on the large paper placemats.

                  After dinner, we watched SEC basketball and Mike tied three imitations of Al’s Secret Weapon Woolly Bugger for Bob to practice stripping.

Thursday was a day when flows were pretty high everywhere, so we headed to Montauk where Steve Baker had organized a “Short Notice Trip”.  We met up with the guys and chatted, ate lunch, and headed out to fish.  Al caught a few and Bob caught a couple.

Overall, it was a great trip – fine weather, friendship, and some catching!