Beautiful brown and rainbow!
What tailwaters were you fishing?
What tailwaters were you fishing?
We were fishing below Bull shoals dam.
Love that area. Looks like the water was running pretty good. Was it generation or more flow from the rains upstream? I know in the past when fishing those tailwaters, it's pretty much just pools, and rock shoals that don't let any boats but jets by during normal, non-generation discharges.
Last time the wife and I fished that section the lake was at flood stage so they were dumping lots of water. What normally would be 5' was 15' deep. We had to drag sections of heavy chain during the drifts down river. It's legal in Arkansas, but not on the white in Missouri.
Beautiful trout!
Been up to the white river a couple times at Harrison AR. When they blow the horn it doesn't take long for the river to rise. You sure don't want to drop an anchor , the rising water will suck the boat under .
I lost a good friend and classmate at the bull shoals tailwaters just below the dam. He and a friend waded out to fly fish. When the horn goes off, you have 20 minutes I think it is before the second horn goes off which signals the water is coming up NOW.
Buddies friend started walking back after the second horn and was getting in trouble. He fought his way to the shore, but when looking back he saw my friend was nowhere to be seen. He was swept downstream. Found a day or two later in a brushpile.
He owned a funeral home in Ponca and was using my grandpa's split bamboo fly rod he left me as he had never thrown fly's with bamboo, wanting to try it.
Yeah the water was running pretty good. Was probably around 5’ - 15’ deep. We seen some people dragging, it looked sketchy.
Here’s some more pics.
Well the Neosho was a good bet again this weekend. We fished 10-5 and caught 39 total, mostly white bass. The ratio of females improved so the keepers were bigger on average (kept 19 total). We also increased variety with 9 species. My neighbor managed to catch a channel cat (small, not pictured), two blues and a flathead, which was a nice trifecta. He also caught a small walleye, but no big ones this time.
On the white bass, the females still had eggs. I'm not sure if they'll spawn this week with all the cold weather or not. If they don't do it soon, they might not do it at all? I'd be kinda on the fence about hitting it again next week except for the variety. While we were there they dropped it from 12,500 ft³/s, down to just 3,500, so always be careful out there. I make sure and check the flow rate every 30-60 minutes.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07191500/#parameterCode=00060&period=P7D
Unfortunately, we had a catastrophic equipment failure right at the end of the trip. Fortunately, my neighbor got video with his phone before the end, so we have a bit more than just a "wild fish story".
Watch closely at the 25 second mark, because a lot happens VERY fast!
And yes, that's a +- 40 pound class blue cat brought to the boat and netted, using a Zebco 33 spooled with 10# monofilament. Everyone make sure your drags are properly set and yeah, "You're gonna need a bigger net!"
On the white bass, the females still had eggs. I'm not sure if they'll spawn this week with all the cold weather or not. If they don't do it soon, they might not do it at all? I'd be kinda on the fence about hitting it again next week except for the variety. While we were there they dropped it from 12,500 ft³/s, down to just 3,500, so always be careful out there. I make sure and check the flow rate every 30-60 minutes.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07191500/#parameterCode=00060&period=P7D
Unfortunately, we had a catastrophic equipment failure right at the end of the trip. Fortunately, my neighbor got video with his phone before the end, so we have a bit more than just a "wild fish story".
Watch closely at the 25 second mark, because a lot happens VERY fast!
And yes, that's a +- 40 pound class blue cat brought to the boat and netted, using a Zebco 33 spooled with 10# monofilament. Everyone make sure your drags are properly set and yeah, "You're gonna need a bigger net!"
Well the Neosho was a good bet again this weekend. We fished 10-5 and caught 39 total, mostly white bass. The ratio of females improved so the keepers were bigger on average (kept 19 total). We also increased variety with 9 species. My neighbor managed to catch a channel cat (small, not pictured), two blues and a flathead, which was a nice trifecta. He also caught a small walleye, but no big ones this time.
On the white bass, the females still had eggs. I'm not sure if they'll spawn this week with all the cold weather or not. If they don't do it soon, they might not do it at all? I'd be kinda on the fence about hitting it again next week except for the variety. While we were there they dropped it from 12,500 ft³/s, down to just 3,500, so always be careful out there. I make sure and check the flow rate every 30-60 minutes.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07191500/#parameterCode=00060&period=P7D
Unfortunately, we had a catastrophic equipment failure right at the end of the trip. Fortunately, my neighbor got video with his phone before the end, so we have a bit more than just a "wild fish story".
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Watch closely at the 25 second mark, because a lot happens VERY fast!
And yes, that's a +- 40 pound class blue cat brought to the boat and netted, using a Zebco 33 spooled with 10# monofilament. Everyone make sure your drags are properly set and yeah, "You're gonna need a bigger net!"
We set drag at 1/3 the test rating. 10# test 3# drag. Just hope you have enough line capacity and don't get spooled.
Our best to date is a 72# spoonbill on 12# test. Took about 50 minutes to land that fish.
