Updated Report for 10-28-10

A productive day exclusively fishing streamers on the White River

Another satisfied Jeremy Hunt guided client with a large brown trout at Bull Shoals.

I just wanted to post a brief report regarding the day of guiding I had yesterday floating the White River from Bull Shoals Dam to Cotter. My clients were Bill Sergeant and Jim Kelly; frequent Ozark anglers who have fished with virtually every guide on the White over the years. They are also annual visitors and tiers at the fall Conclave in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

Our options for the day were to either wade the Norfork using dry flies and nymphs in an effort to catch numbers of fish with the hopes of finding a big boy or to drift the White on moderately high water (three to four units running) with streamers in search of that one perfect bite. It was their call, and after they saw my streamer talk at the Sow Bug Roundup last March, they were committed to giving this technique a try.

It was cloudy all day, which is definitely a plus when going after browns, and both anglers had multiple shots at fish over 20-inches. Fishing is fishing, and we only got one large female brown trout to the boat, but the action on smaller rainbows and browns kept things fun and interesting. White patterns were definitely the best color, and we stuck with shad-imitations pretty much all day long. The highlight of the float was when Bill landed a beautiful female brown that was well over 20 inches – his biggest trout ever caught on the White or Norfork after multiple tries with other guides and while fishing on his own.

Yesterday was a perfect example of the fact that you don’t have to catch ridiculous numbers of fish or a bunch of trophies to have a great day. We pulled out at Cotter an hour after dark, and although the guys were tired, they were also thrilled with what they had seen and learned. Considering that there will probably be quite a bit of moderately high-water days over the course of November, next month is going to be perfect for those interested in giving streamer fishing a try. Don’t worry if you are not equipped with heavy rods and all the other tackle needed to be successful for throwing big flies; I am more than willing to let my clients use the gear that I have, if necessary.

As always, drop me a line if you have any detailed questions, and I would love to show anyone interested how effective and enjoyable this type of fishing can be. When white streamers are the ticket, anglers have the chance to see almost every strike, so even missing a fish can get the adrenaline flowing. I’m off to fun-fish the White for a few days, so look for a detailed report early next week. This will be a blast, and it’s hard for many people to believe that I would head out for a marathon fishing session after all the guiding I’ve been doing of late. Passion for the sport will do that to a guy like me.

Feel free to visit us on Facebook, If you really liked this article, +1 above – check us out at +flysandguides (Google+) or send us a tweet with a question or just to say hi. Check out the Fly of the Month! You can also learn more about fly fishing Taneycomo and other fly fishing tips by subscribing to our newsletter!