After several years of trying to attend, CTD finally made it over to the FFF Southern Council Conclave (think mini expo) in Mountain Home, AR this year. I was flying solo on this trip as the rest of the crew was bow hunting or on dad duty for the weekend. So on Friday evening, I hooked onto the Clacka and pointed the truck east for the White River tailwater...
The plan was to hook up with Matt Tucker of The Ozark Chronicles and guide Jim Traylor of Fly Fish Arkansas to float the White River on Saturday morning before heading to the Conclave around lunchtime at the fairgrounds. We decided on the Dam to White Hole section so we could get off the water early and make the short drive over to the fairgrounds. With the SWPA putting the screws to us, we only had a half-unit of generation on the river as we launched Matt's Hyde drifter for the mornings float.
The theme for the morning was to throw streamers even with the crappy flows so we rigged up to chuck meat. With the low water, I resorted to smaller articulated stuff and started picking up rainbows off the nice looking banks. Matt and JimmyT kept with the big stuff in hopes of turning a big fish but only got a few half hearted tugs.
The fishing for the morning wasn't lights out but the fellowship was good. Always cool to fish with new guys and make some new fishing buddies. JimmyT shared his knowledge of the river with us and I was making tons of mental notes of different spots on the river. I learned a lot, very cool. Matt's stories kept us entertained the entire float, most of them not being PG-rated so I can't go into detail about them. All I can say is my side was hurting from laughing so hard by the time the float was over.
As far as Conclave goes, it was...OK. Got to see some familiar friends and meet some new ones as well. There was the usual fly shop booths showcasin' what they have to offer with gear and guides. Big tying table with guys tying all kinds of bugs. Just ur typical gig, nothing special. It was what I expected so I wasn't disappointed.
Afterwards, Tucker and I rounded up Brian Wise of Fly Fishing The Ozarks to go hit the river for an afternoon float in hopes of sticking a pig. We had hoped to fish the Norfork tailwater but, once again, the SWPA put the pants on us with no generation. We decided on just hitting the Dam to White Hole section once again.
We had awesome weather for chucking meat but the water just wasn't there. BSD was just running a half unit of generation, which has been the norm of late. We hit all the good banks once where we was greeted with a couple of hook ups and follows from some good fish. Wise landed a decent brown and I put some dink rainbows in the boat.
Highlight of the day was a moment of sheer panic when Wise stuck a Gama B-10S in his cheek. Tucker and I had a sense of urgency about us as we started to head for the boat ramp.
Brian replied with a "I'm good, I got it." Luckily, the barb was pinched and it came right out. We laughed about it after the fact...
That night following our float trip, we met up with Larry Babin of Hogs on the Fly, Dominic Zametto of Two Rivers Fly Shop, and our very own Corey Dodson (The Professor) for some dinner and adult beverages. We were later joined by some of the crew from Dally's Ozark Fly Fisher. The evening was spent exchanging good stories and plenty of shenanigans, thanks mostly to Matt Tucker. That guy is a riot. What a night...
The next day, The Professor joined me for a double drifter float trip with Larry, Dominic and Matt on the White River. We decided on an old favorite, Wildcat Shoals to Cotter Bridge, even though the flows were low thanks again to the SWPA and Bull Shoals Dam. With blue bird skies, it was basically a stocker rainbow kind of day. Corey and I stuck with small streamers on our 6wts and plucked out rainbows the whole day. It was fun to see these aggressive little guys just hammering our bugs, made for a good day of fishing.
We saw a few HUGE brown trout that looked to be staging up for the upcoming spawn. It won't be long at all. Other than that, it was a typical rainbow day with some beautiful weather and good company on the water.
It was a great weekend meeting new people and catching some fish as well. Not a bad way to waste a weekend...
BTW...sorry for the lack of pics. The pictures provided were taken by Matt Tucker of The Ozark Chronicles. Check out his blog, it's legit...
Until next time, keep chasing the dream...
