Plans for the morning were laid out and it was gonna be game on for the 2nd day of our trip to the Ozarks. Turns out, all cheap, tight-wad fly fisherman enjoy the same greasy breakfast spots as we met for some morning grub at the White Sands Restaurant in Cotter, Arkansas. Just an FYI for you readers, if you haven't ate at White Sands on a trip to the White River...you are missing out. The food is good, the waitresses are cute, and its pretty dang cheap as well. The only cause for concern is you will want to have a toilet close by or at least have some toilet paper in the boat when it decides to hit bottom.
Anyways, after breakfast, we made the normal shuttle runs for our vehicles and then headed for the boat ramp to dump Brock's skiff in the river to get the float started. As we arrived at the ramp, we were all pretty stoked to see that BSD was bumping some really nice water out of the dam. Hopes were high for a decent streamer bite as we rigged up 8wts again with big nasty bugs. Then the inevitable happened just as we launched the boat...the water shut off and started to drop. This is where I'd like to point out that the COE and the SWPA are a bunch of douche bags, whats the point of broadcasting a proposed generation schedule if you don't stick to it even the least little bit?? Ok, off the soap box now, we made the best of it and fished some good banks with the streamer rods till the water fell out on us. We had a couple of bumps and a few follows from some decent fish but they were super spooky and not aggressive at all when chasing the bugs.
After the water dropped out, we dug out the 5wts, slipped on a thingamabobber, and dropped a couple of caddis-ish bugs off the back end. Brock had some new bugs that he had been wanting to try out and we volunteered our services as fly guinea pigs. From there, we just stuck with the bobber rigs and fished all the fishy seams and runs, pulling out stocker rainbows and a couple of decent browns as we went about our merry way. We took turns swapping out on the sticks and made Brock do some fishing so we could keep him out of "guide mode". It was a learning experience for us too as we got to pick Brock's brain about the fishery and learned a few new tricks. BS was swapped back and forth, crap was given to each other when the time called, and we just had a pretty good time. Also got a sneak peek of things to come as the day warmed up, big fluffy Caddis started to pop and buzz around. The fish really weren't keying in on them yet but its only a matter of time if we keep getting some warm weather. Although, as I'm writing this, its snowing outside...
I also did some filming with the GoPro throughout the day but the footage is nothing special like what I mentioned in the post before with our NFOW trip. You're not gonna be amazed by the footage but I hate to see footage go to waste so here is another quick video smasher of the day's fishing. Hope you enjoy....
If you're looking for an outfitter or guide to use on the White River system. Be sure and give Brock a call at North Arkansas Troutfitters or check him out on the Book of Face. The dude has a whole bag of tricks when it comes to catching trout on the White and Norfork Rivers. He is one fishy dude...
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