Winter White River Flyfishing Report – January 15 & 16, 2022

Reports From The Field - Lisa Bellue

January 28, 2022

Kelly and Bryan made it down to the White River for the first time. The couple from Missouri had a few wade fishing opportunities thus far visiting a few of the trout parks in the area.

The massive expanse of the White River can be a bit overwhelming for a first timer and also for one that has not took on fly fishing from a boat in constantly changing water.

On this trip Kelly decided to learn the sport alongside her husband Bryan who over the last few years has slowly become more and more interested in the sport of fly fishing all together.

The couple landed themselves on the banks of the White River after finding Kelly Neuman of Michigan Streamside on the internet.

The couple did the research, and the lodging, meals, and fishing that Mr. Neuman provides during his stay in Arkansas, was just what they were looking for out of a short winter weekend getaway.

As with many vacations you do not always get to pick the weather.

So for Kelly’s first time casting a rod Mother Nature greeted her with heavy rains turning to snow and sleet throughout the day.

bryan1 1 square
bryan2 square

Anyone that has fished in the snow knows the bite is percentage wise always going to be good and despite the wet and cold fingertips it was exactly that.

The White River served up around 2800cfs water throughout the day with minimal fluctuations which kept the fish happy and in place for the most part.  With that came Bryan’s personal best brown trout to date.

With the precipitation and to make the basics of casting not overwhelming I decided to go for the lighter flies with weight already built into the fly and to get away from split shot all together.

The 35-megawatt water is a great depth and flow for this particular presentation.

White and snowfall go hand and hand so the majority for the day we fished the 1/80th White Megaworm under a pinch on float.   The abundance of eggs that are in the water column in the winter Miracle Flies are always a staple to have in the box fished either alone or with a dropper.

Throughout the weekend we used various colors of mega worms in white and chartreuse.  The Miracle flies ranged from Oregon cheese, light roe, and Golden Nugget.

On Sunday the couple was finally able to enjoy a dry day on the water and was faced with slightly heavier water flows in the 6500 cfs range.  We resorted to fishing two flies for most of the morning picking up several rainbows and when the flows dropped back down in the afternoon, we went back the single fly setups.

winter2 225x300
winter 225x300

When dropping off the eggs we used several variations of the new Euro Jigs that are in stock at the shop along with zibra midges in Root beer, Ruby, and black and nickel.

Jeremy has been continuing to load up on more fly patterns with closer to 200,000 flies and more patterns than any other shop in the area.

High water has been fairly consistent in the mornings on the White and with that brings anglers ready for some streamer action.

The new meat locker is up and running with several new and or different streamer patterns that are sure to entice a disgruntled brown trout this winter.

As always, we welcome everyone to just stop in and say Hello and if you have any questions at all do not hesitate to ask.

Kelly and Bryan made it down to the White River for the first time.  The couple from Missouri had a few wade fishing opportunities thus far visiting a few of the trout parks in the area.

The massive expanse of the White River can be a bit overwhelming for a first timer and also for one that has not took on fly fishing from a boat in constantly changing water.

On this trip Kelly decided to learn the sport alongside her husband Bryan who over the last few years has slowly become more and more interested in the sport of fly fishing all together.

bryan1 1 square

The couple landed themselves on the banks of the White River after finding Kelly Neuman of Michigan Streamside on the internet.

The couple did the research, and the lodging, meals, and fishing that Mr. Neuman provides during his stay in Arkansas, was just what they were looking for out of a short winter weekend getaway.

As with many vacations you do not always get to pick the weather.

So for Kelly’s first time casting a rod Mother Nature greeted her with heavy rains turning to snow and sleet throughout the day.

Anyone that has fished in the snow knows the bite is percentage wise always going to be good and despite the wet and cold fingertips it was exactly that.

The White River served up around 2800cfs water throughout the day with minimal fluctuations which kept the fish happy and in place for the most part.  With that came Bryan’s personal best brown trout to date.

bryan2 square

With the precipitation and to make the basics of casting not overwhelming I decided to go for the lighter flies with weight already built into the fly and to get away from split shot all together.

The 35-megawatt water is a great depth and flow for this particular presentation.

White and snowfall go hand and hand so the majority for the day we fished the 1/80th White Megaworm under a pinch on float.   The abundance of eggs that are in the water column in the winter Miracle Flies are always a staple to have in the box fished either alone or with a dropper.

bryan 298x300

Throughout the weekend we used various colors of mega worms in white and chartreuse.  The Miracle flies ranged from Oregon cheese, light roe, and Golden Nugget.

On Sunday the couple was finally able to enjoy a dry day on the water and was faced with slightly heavier water flows in the 6500 cfs range.  We resorted to fishing two flies for most of the morning picking up several rainbows and when the flows dropped back down in the afternoon, we went back the single fly setups.

When dropping off the eggs we used several variations of the new Euro Jigs that are in stock at the shop along with zibra midges in Root beer, Ruby, and black and nickel.

winter2 225x300

Jeremy has been continuing to load up on more fly patterns with closer to 200,000 flies and more patterns than any other shop in the area.

High water has been fairly consistent in the mornings on the White and with that brings anglers ready for some streamer action.

The new meat locker is up and running with several new and or different streamer patterns that are sure to entice a disgruntled brown trout this winter.

As always, we welcome everyone to just stop in and say Hello and if you have any questions at all do not hesitate to ask.

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