I'm thinking about taking a long weekend to fish the white river in Arkansas the first weekend in March. Hopefully it will still be cold enough to have the shad kills. Anyone have a recommendation for a guide? I can spin or fly fish, honestly don't care which just want to have a shot at big trout.

We have used this guy for about six years when we would go up there. He does all spin cast.

http://www.whiteriverfamilyfishing.com/index.htm

Recently I've been fly fishing the North Fork River in Norfolk and it is equally as fun. Just not as large of fish but plenty there. Rented at house down river where we could walk to the river. It was fly fishing and catch and release but very convenient. If you want to keep some fish then go by the dam or just down river.

Check out Gastons White River Resort. Really a nice place and they can recommend good guides.
Carter Arkansas is the hub of the trout fishing on the White River. If you google that and look at guides you will have quite a few to choose from.

I would personally recommend Jesse Brison
At White River Nation.
All the boat manufacturers up there recommend him highly.
870-706-7316.

Gunny456 said:

---

I would personally recommend Jesse Brison
At White River Nation.
All the boat manufacturers up there recommend him highly.
870-706-7316.

---

Jesse is a great guide and the very best if you want to spin fish and not use bait.

For fly fishing the guide team at Dally's Ozark Fly Fishers is top notch.

For spin fishing using bait and lure's and group trips Cranor's is great and they have a nice lodge.

Shad kills have been very inconsistent so far because of short cold snaps followed by warm days.

87Flyfisher said:

---

Gunny456 said:

---

I would personally recommend Jesse Brison
At White River Nation.
All the boat manufacturers up there recommend him highly.
870-706-7316.

---

Jesse is a great guide and the very best if you want to spin fish and not use bait.

For fly fishing the guide team at Dally's Ozark Fly Fishers is top notch.

For spin fishing using bait and lure's and group trips Cranor's is great and they have a nice lodge.

Shad kills have been very inconsistent so far because of short cold snaps followed by warm days.

---

Any idea what the fly fishing would be like? I don't know that I'm up to double hauling massive streamers all day long.

Cranor's is great…. Been fishing with him for a decade or so. He does have a great lodge, but Gaston's has become my new favorite lodge.

Pro tip: have a big fish pool. We have always thrown ~ $20/man in per day for big fish of the day. Winner takes the pot and splits with the guide. If that guide knows half the pot is on the line, they'll pull out all the stops! Makes it fun too.

When the Shad are really coming through the dams you can either throw streamers or you can fish dead Shad pattens under an indicator, which is a lot easier from a casting standpoint.

MIAGD said:

---

Recently I've been fly fishing the North Fork River in Norfolk and it is equally as fun. Just not as large of fish but plenty there. Rented at house down river where we could walk to the river. It was fly fishing and catch and release but very convenient. If you want to keep some fish then go by the dam or just down river.

---

When you come back to Norfork; look me up and we can meet for a beer at Norfork Brewery.

That would be an enjoyable meet up and one to look forward to. One of my friend was a W/F major from A&M and started Aggie Anglers. The other is a Naval Academy grad (Marines) and CO of a helicopter unit.

Stetsons on the white is a great place to stay and they have guides that work out of their lodge. They also rent boats for a second day of fishing. Unfortunately I don't remember my guides name but he was local HS baseball coach. Good guy and put me on some nice browns.

I don't know any guides but my family has stayed at Rainbow Drive Resort many a time. It's a great spot and my brother in law, also class of '94, caught a trophy brown wading in at the boat ramp 5 minutes after we arrived one year. They have boats for rent and can recommend guides.

What are some recommendations on when to go?

You can catch fish almost any time of year. The challenge is getting/finding some low water conditions if you are wading. They have been dumping water out of Bull Shoals so the wade fishing hasn't been as good as it use to be. Friend who has a place up there sent a picture the other day with only 4 gates on, which is an improvement. Years ago, if you got out early you were likely fishing in 0-1 gates which made a lot of the river very accessible via wading and difficult to navigate via boat. We use to get really nice conditions this time of year both weather and water.

Fly fishing guides - you can't beat the guides that work for Steve Dally and he's a hell of a nice Aussie bloke. There are some very reasonable AirBnB places down Denton Ferry road. Wildcat Shoals is a great area for access and there's several houses for rent right there. It's definitely one of our favorite places to go and relax.

Fishing is good all year round if you have access to a boat and can fish high or low water.

For fly fishing the peaks on the calendar are:

January-March- big streamers and hope there is a Shad kill going on.

April- Caddis, Caddis, Caddis . As good a hatch as I've seen anywhere and some really big trout are caught on nymphs and pupa patterns.

May- early June- Sulphur Mayfly hatch.

Mid-June-September- Hoppers and terrestrials. Really fun time to fish.

October to January- Brown spawn time. Big Browns are aggressive to streamers and 'Bows, Cutthroats, Brookies and Tiger trout are looking for eggs.

Hmm, so need own boat or guide with boat.

shiftyandquick said:

---

Hmm, so need own boat or guide with boat.

---

lots of places rent boats at very reasonable prices including the state park

AgDad121619 said:

---

shiftyandquick said:

---

Hmm, so need own boat or guide with boat.

---

lots of places rent boats at very reasonable prices including the state park

---

What kind of boat?

White river boats. They are specific to the river - long thin Jon boats (20') usually with a 25 HP motor - ideal for drifting with the current while dunking your bait/lure - fish up to 4 folks comfortably

AgDad121619 said:

---

White river boats. They are specific to the river - long thin Jon boats (20') usually with a 25 HP motor - ideal for drifting with the current while dunking your bait/lure - fish up to 4 folks comfortably

---

You think an 18' bass boat would be fine on the river?

WestTexAg12 said:

---

AgDad121619 said:

---

White river boats. They are specific to the river - long thin Jon boats (20') usually with a 25 HP motor - ideal for drifting with the current while dunking your bait/lure - fish up to 4 folks comfortably

---

You think an 18' bass boat would be fine on the river?

---

depends on how well your boat drafts. There are some shoal areas that can be rough depending on the water release. I think the biggest motor I've seen is a 50hp but that is just a small sample set.

AgDad121619 said:

---

WestTexAg12 said:

---

AgDad121619 said:

---

White river boats. They are specific to the river - long thin Jon boats (20') usually with a 25 HP motor - ideal for drifting with the current while dunking your bait/lure - fish up to 4 folks comfortably

---

You think an 18' bass boat would be fine on the river?

---

depends on how well your boat drafts. There are some shoal areas that can be rough depending on the water release. I think the biggest motor I've seen is a 50hp but that is just a small sample set.

---

So my 150hp is overkill? Lol

In all seriousness, I wanted to take my boat up to Cotter and put in mostly for drifting the white river for me, my wife, and our dog. I think my draft is 1.5ft ish.

do you motor back up the river to return the boat?

Yes - you generally float 400-600 yard stretch , motor back up and float again. Boat rentals for the day range from $135 at state park to $180 or so at the lodges. Money well spent.

WestTexAg12 said:

---

AgDad121619 said:

---

WestTexAg12 said:

---

AgDad121619 said:

---

White river boats. They are specific to the river - long thin Jon boats (20') usually with a 25 HP motor - ideal for drifting with the current while dunking your bait/lure - fish up to 4 folks comfortably

---

You think an 18' bass boat would be fine on the river?

---

depends on how well your boat drafts. There are some shoal areas that can be rough depending on the water release. I think the biggest motor I've seen is a 50hp but that is just a small sample set.

---

So my 150hp is overkill? Lol

In all seriousness, I wanted to take my boat up to Cotter and put in mostly for drifting the white river for me, my wife, and our dog. I think my draft is 1.5ft ish.

---

you could probably be just fine if you run when the water is up - but tbh, I wouldn't run my 18' aluminum bay boat there.