Winter fishing on the White River

By Dennis Schule 

Wednesday was a typical winter day here in the Arkansas Ozarks.  Temps in the low to mid thirties,  cloudy and the slight breeze was calling me to go fishing.  I checked the generation schedule for the White River and they were running a little over 11,000cfs,  more water than I wanted but still very fishable.  Since December and January are usually slow months for guiding I have a chance to get caught up with my fly tying and to get in a little fishing.  I checked with my wife and she agreed, let’s fish.

My wife, Mary, is a very accomplished fly fisherperson.  She has fly fished for about 20 years and has wet a line in numerous states and fished with me in the Caribbean for bonefish.  She is a very good fly caster and requires very little assistance on the river.  Her only downfall is that she refuses to row the boat so I can concentrate on throwing streamers.  I think the term "princesses don't row boats" has been used more than once.  I think she picked up this term from my partner and fishing buddy, John Berry.

We arrived at the river at about 9AM and we were the only car in the parking lot.  I took a quick look at the river and yes, they were running a lot of water.  We launched the boat and headed up river a short distance.  We both started drifting two fly rigs and the fish weren't cooperative.  I suggested that we run down river a short distance and start drifting the shoreline.  After drifting about 100 yards Mary was into her first fish,  a feisty little rainbow about 14".  She landed that fish and immediately released it.  After covering another 200 yards of river Mary landed another five fish, all rainbows.  Mary was in the fishing zone and having a blast.  I was on the oars but having a great time watching her catch fish.  Then Mary started getting a lot of strikes but the fish outsmarted her and started spitting the hook.  She lost several nice fish and started to get a little frustrated. 

After not landing a fish for about 20 minutes she finally hit a good fish.  Once hooked, the fish started taking line running upstream.  I rowed the boat closer to the bank into some slack water and finally got a look at the fish as it jumped completely out of the water.  It was a nice brown with plenty of energy.  After that one jump the fish took her deep and stayed there until she got him closer to the boat.  I learned long ago to keep silent when Mary is fighting a fish.  As I said she is a really good fisherperson and knows what she is doing.  I only told her what side of the boat to bring the fish to.  Once she got the fish close to the boat, I slipped the net under it and brought it out of the water. Mary quickly removed the hook.  We got a couple of photos and the fish was released to fight another day. 

We continued to fish for another hour and Mary continued to bang rainbows.  Around 11AM the wind picked up and the temps dropped.  We called it a day and headed back to the ramp.  Overall it was a good day of winter fishing on the river, despite the cold temps. 

Hot flies for the day were Y2ks with a copper pheasant tail midge dropper, San Juan Worm with a black zebra midge dropper and two different scud patterns. 

Just because the temps have dropped and according to the calendar says it is winter doesn't mean you can't get out and fish.  Just dress in layers and give it a try.   Dennis is a full-time, licensed fly fishing guide with Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas.