RON AND MIKE HAVE A STELLAR DAY ON THE WHITE RIVER

The month of May is turning out to be a very busy time for the Blue Ribbon Guides.  We have had numerous guide trips and both John and I have been very busy.

On May 8th I had the pleasure of fishing with Ron and Mike.  They have been close friends for over fifty years and became friends when both attended Penn State University.  I picked both Ron and Mike up at 7:30 and we headed to a spot several miles downstream from the Bull Shoals Dam.  We were to have around 1,000 CFS that day so I expected good fishing water. 

The morning started out drifting a two-fly nymph rig and the fish immediately started keying in on that fly selection. Mike doesn't fish as often as Ron so he struggled a little at first.  In fact, Mike lost his first six fish before figuring it out and then he was a fish-catching machine.  Ron was consistent all day catching numerous nice rainbows.  After fishing the same section for a couple of hours we moved downstream where Ron hooked into a very nice brown trout.  We continued to catch rainbows up until lunch time.

After having lunch we headed back out to the river.  The rainbows were still very active.  The weather decided to take a turn for the worse and rain showers started with a sight wind.  Ron and Mike left their rain gear in the Suburban but chose to continue fishing through the rain. 

I noticed that there was some surface activity starting along the bank so, I had Ron and Mike put down the nymph rods and handed them dry fly rods that I had already rigged with caddis dry flies and dropper rigs.   I rowed the boat in near the bank and they started sight casting to rising fish.  They were immediately into fish and the top water action continued for several hours.  As we approached the boat ramp I told the guys that our day had come to an end.  Mike said he wanted to make one last cast.  We were right in front of the boat ramp when Mike made his last cast.  We drifted about five feet then a large fish inhaled Mike’s caddis fly.  The fish took off upstream, then downstream and every other direction.  As Mike got the fish close to the boat I could see that he had a very large rainbow.  All I could think about was the barbless hook not coming loose.  Mike did an excellent job fighting the fish and he got it close enough for me to slide the net under it.  We removed the big rainbow from the net, took a couple of pictures and gently slid the fish back into the water.  I looked at our location and we were almost sitting on the ramp. 

Needless to say, Mike and Ron had a great day of fishing with around 50 fish brought to the net and a nice brown and large rainbow thrown in as a bonus.  Two great fishermen who are lifetime friends.  It was an honor spending the day with them on the river.