Trout Fishing on the White River

Last week we did the much anticipated fishing trip to the White River in far North Arkansas. I hated to leave the office since we were right before code cut, but I couldn't pass up a chance to fish with my Dad. The drive was fine except for the usual hour delay outside of Little Rock. During the drive we all kicked in $10 for the big fish pot. We're such big gamblers. The winner is announced below. We stayed at Sportsmans again and met the new owners. They were nice and plan lots of improvement. Here's hoping they follow through. 1st thing is 1st... must have a beer. We brought two cases and bought another five cases while on the trip. We brought back about a case. No drunk driving, not even boating. This is Jim Wheeler, one of the new owners from Colorado. Odd fellow.



The sunset the 1st night was amazing.



This is Bentley with his rod on the dock. There are signs that plainly say NO FISHING, but we just decided to ignore them this year. The new owners didn't seem to mind. The old owner Charley spent more on signs than anything else I think. I used a flash and lit him up. Should have lowered ISO, but it turned out ok.



The other guide Buzz, Dad and our guide Scott Hendon preparing to head out the 1st day. Turns out we had most of the river south of the 1st shoals to ourselves. Only Buzz & Scott could get down there... every other guide stayed above Sportsmans. I've been out there when I could count 20 boats visible. Most of the time we split up and didn't see anyone else for an hour at a time. Very nice.



Chris did something to his foot and this trip just made it worse. But he fished anyway.



Chris & Buzz getting ready to head out. His ugliness is frightening.



The guides are never in a hurry to get started on a full day trip. At this point I was ready to push Jim Wheeler off the boat dock and start the motor myself. But we finally got started.



This year the trip was only four of us. This was my Dad's 1st trip. Normally there are around 25, but the group we normally go with had a big argument and everyone dropped out. Except us... and I'm glad we didn't miss it. I've been out with a guide 10 times on that river counting this trip & these were the best 2 days by far ever. Friday was great, but Saturday was just amazing. We caught a limit of rainbows both days & more brown trout than ever. I caught my personal best 3 fish on Saturday in consecutive order. The biggest was the last fish and measured 22 3/4 inches. Not a beast, but pretty darn big for a hack like me. You're finally gonna get a chance to put a face with the blogger. Hope it's not too much of a disappointment. You'll have to scroll down for that one. This is Friday morning on the way to the 1st fishing spot.



Here's Chris, Bentley and Buzz anchored and working on some Rainbow trout. Gotta fill that live well before you can start on browns. Well, at least the 1st day.



And some Canadian Geese... they ended up by the dock later that evening.



Herons were everywhere. My 1st year I shot a whole roll of them. I'm not so fascinated anymore, but this guy flew right in front, so I figured what the heck.



I think he asked for supersize on this one.



We fished near the other boat for a while and Chris was in the Rainbows. It was hard not to be honestly.



I was worried this trip wouldn't live up to the expectations of my dad. Luckily the fishing gods did not disappoint. Here's one of Dad's brown trout.



Up close and personal... so beautiful. All of these were released.



Chris caught this brown and Buzz was demonstrating how not to hold them. Buzz is an outlaw from the word around the fish camp. I call it a fish camp... resort is a stretch beyond belief.



A brown caught by Bentley. I like the water dripping off this one.



And finally my biggest ever.



A 22 3/4" brown that fought hard and was released immediately. Well, after the quick measure. This one got me a "trophy" pin from the State of Arkansas. My dad got one too for his 20" brown. He got his, mine's in the mail.



And Bentley with Buzz holding his pot winning 24" brown trout. If we had went by weight, I would have won... but somehow we went with length. My life story. ;) This fish is or has been sick in my opinion.



That's enough for now. I still have a few more pictures to process. I also have another code delivery on Friday that I'm behind on due to taking this trip. I worked over 30 hrs in 2 days after returning from this trip to make a code delivery on Tuesday. We all worked late... most of us all night including myself.

Enjoy the weekend my friends. Hopefully I won't have to work too much.