Fang - Brown Trout on the White River
Part 1: Introduction
It’s spring again! I’m ready for it… Already we’ve seen the normal variations in the flow of the White. It rains, they run more water… Bull Shoals Lake level drops to 654′… They shut the water off. Changing river conditions are a fact of life on any tailwater fishery, and the White River is no exception.
When we purchased the resort 8 years ago, we were several years into a drought cycle in this area. I’ve talked to many an established local, who has told me that the “wet & dry” cycles for this area come in 7 to 12 year stretches.
Enough folks have shared this with me that I’m pretty convinced it’s true. I’m also convinced that after last year, the drought cycle is pretty much over, and we’re coming in to a “wet cycle”, for lack of a better term.
This is incredibly good news for the river and the trout! Case in point: After the consistent heavy flows that we experienced in 2008, the river is in much better shape than it has been in years. And it was good to begin with.
It sounds kind of silly to say, but “water is good for fish”! Keep the bottom of the river covered, and the moss & plant life thrives. The undesirable Didymo moss (that ugly cotton-y looking stuff) is gone. (High water’s the only thing that can get rid of it, according to a U of A contact…) I’ve never seen as many scuds & sowbugs in the White River as I have this spring, either. And tons of sculpin. And thousands of various small bait fish…
And the trout themselves??? Well, if you’ve been here lately you already know… They’re as fat and healthy as I’ve ever seen them. The higher water keeps the temperature colder, and with the additional food supply, they just constantly gorge themselves!
With the addition of Minimum Flow, and the new 2009 regulations which specifically protect our trophy brown trout, the White River is going to become the most INSANELY GOOD trout fishing spot on the planet! And you know how good it is already…
Now, looking at this from a strictly “goin’ fishing” point of view, the fact that the drought cycle is most likely over may seem like good news, indifferent news, or not-so-good news, depending on your point of view… My guests run the gamut of their preferences for river levels, to be sure.
About 50% are fine with the water at any level. If it’s 0 to 2 generators, they’ll wade. If it’s more, they’ll take guides or boats. This group is primarily folks that have fished here long enough to have experienced all conditions, they’ve learned to fish it all, and they really don’t care what it’s doing.
I have about 25% of our guests that really want the water to be 0 to 2 generators. Most of these folks want to wade, or take a boat and be able to anchor up safely. The other 25% want at least 3 to 4 generators running, and some won’t come unless there are at least 6 generators going, but they would prefer all 8. Those are typically the guests more interested in trophy fishing.
At any rate, regardless of your preference for no generation, more generation, or “crank it up”, chances are you’ll experience all of it at one time or another. And you can catch fish in all of it; you just have to change your techniques.
How do I know? Living here 365 days per year, fishing whenever I can (not nearly often enough, though…), reading about fishing and talking to guides and guests every day about trout fishing does give me a pretty good idea of what it takes… But, mostly, I try to learn all I can to share with you because it’s very important to me that YOU have a good time while you’re here! And providing you with this kind of information is one way I can do that…
More to come — look for part 2 of Fishing The Changing Waters of the White River
Tight Lines & Good Fishin’ from your Trout Diva