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| r | Hello! If you're not familiar with the area, we know it can be a little overwhelming to find the place that's just right for you... So, what we'll try to do here is tell you a little bit about us, our stretch of the river, where we're at in relationship to other places you may want to visit, where local shopping is located, etc. Then, feel free to call or email with any questions... We look forward to serving you! Julie
We're located in Cotter, AR. Cotter is about 10 miles away from Mountain Home. Local maps show us as the Hurst / Chamberlain Bend in the river. We are 15 river miles down river from Bull Shoals Dam, 8 river miles down from White Hole Public Access, 4-1/2 river miles down from Wildcat Shoals Public Access, 3 river miles up from Cotter Public Access, 17 above the confluence of the White and Buffalo Rivers, and 29 above the confluence of the White and North Fork Rivers.
Our resort and river access is private. When dam generation is low, we have excellent wade access, and when the water's up we have an equally good location for boating. Wade access is available from our boat dock, our boat ramp, and over by Unit #11. Guests may use our boat ramp for their own boats, if they wish. Word of caution - Our boat ramp is not the easiest to get in and out of... 4WD recommended! :-) On the other side of the river from us is undeveloped land with a few cattle on it, part of the Wood estate, so not likely to be developed. On our side is a bluff behind the resort, and we are right on the water. (To give you the best experience possible, we do not allow public access to the river through our resort, as some do. Our facilities and access are for our guests only.)
OK, I could ramble on forever here, but I'll just give you the basics... :-) Our customers are a fairly diverse mixture of spin fishermen and fly fisherman. Probably about 1/3 do both frequently. The primary reason for that is our location, I think. As I mentioned earlier, when the water's low, we have great wade access. It's a great place to fish high or low. We're also a stocking point for the State and Federal Hatcheries, a nice bonus. We have boat and motor rentals on our new private boat dock. Our boats and motors are all newer models and are very reliable. The boats are the wide 42" models, safe and comfortable. Our fishing guides, spin and fly, have experience from all over the country, and are licensed, safe and courteous. (For more information, please click on the Fishing link above.)
We currently have 12 lodging units in various sizes that will hold from 2 to 11-12 persons. We also have 4 tent camping sites. We have a fully stocked fly & tackle shop, and carry seasonal bait. (For more detail, you can check the links at the top of the page.)
The nature trail that starts at our resort follows the river all the way down to Cotter Big Spring Park (used to be a railway for building the dam at Bull Shoals), a very popular attraction with it's spring creek fed swimming hole. We have our resident Bald Eagles, Isaac and Rebekah, whose nest is just across from our Wildlife Observation Deck, and many others. For example, we have a Great Blue Heron Rookery just across and down from the dock, green herons, king fishers, broad wing hawks, osprey, Canadian geese, mallard ducks, wild turkeys, beavers, minks, and even the occasional bob-cat, along with the racoons, armadillos, possum, and ground hogs. Our "younger guests" enjoy playing in our spring creek, trying to catch crawdads, sculpins, frogs and lizards, and searching for arrowheads, commonly found on the property. And on Saturday night, we have an evening Owl Prowl. We call them in with our electronic animal caller, and they will land in the trees right above us. And do they ever make a racket! It's a lot of fun - but let me warn you - the owls sometimes stay all night... and they're generally NOT quiet! :-) The kids get a real kick out of this...
Mountain Bike Rentals - You can ride here on the trail to the park, or take the bikes to nearby Pigeon Creek Trails, with over 20 miles of stacked loop trails. Cave Trips - Bull Shoals Caverns, Hurricane River Caves, Mystic Caverns and Blanchard Springs Caverns are all between 20 - 60 minutes from here. Houseboat Rentals, Pontoon Boat Rentals, Water Skiing, Tubing, and even Scuba Diving are all available on the nearby lakes. Scenic Drives - there are numerous driving tours of the area to enjoy - ask for a map in the office! Well, you have to eat! You have a variety of restaurants to choose from. Our guests like the Whitewater Grill, the 178 Club, The Steak House, The Chinese Palace, Letty's Mexican Restaurant, and numerous fast food restaurants all within 15 minutes. You'll probably also need to go grocery shopping at some point during your stay... Town & Country in Flippin is only 3 miles away with great meat and produce. The Super Wal Mart in Mountain Home is a little further, about 15 minutes, but is also has great meat and produce, and an excellent deli. There are quite a few places to go shopping and antiquing, too. In Cotter, you have Firehouse Antiques & Terra Cotter, and the new Rivertown Art Gallery. In Gassville - Country Charm, and Memories, Midway has Ozark Mountain Mall & Missing Horse Antique Mall, and in Mountain Home – Village Mall, Earl’s Antiques, Country Reflections, Walker Auction, Sally’s Antiques, The Wood Artisan, Ructicities, Country Treasures Antique Mall, Bagatelle, The Ox Yoke, Remember When, Chucks Outlet, Magnolia House, Dolls of Yesteryear, Ashley Rose, Thru the Grapevine, and the Back in Time Shop. Other Attractions - The Ozark Folk Center, Top O' The Ozarks Tower, Norfork National Fish Hatchery, Ranger Boats, Bull Shoals Dam, Bull Shoals Ferry, Bull Shoals Caverns, three 18 hole golf courses, 32 live music theaters in Branson MO., canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, Bass Pro Shop and Headquarters and Wonderful World of Wildlife in Springfield, MO., and scuba diving are some of the activities within two hours or less of His Place. (For more information, click the Activities link at the top of the page.)
Have you ever wondered why the fish hang out in certain places and not others? What are they thinking??? Well, we'll never figure it out completely, but we sit on a very interesting stretch of the White that has practically every conceivable type of river bottom in about a one mile stretch. And before we figure out where the fish are, we have to first identify their "neighborhood". :-) So, this article is about "reading" the stretch starting above us near Hurst, down below us just past the 62 bridge - a distance of about one mile. This article will attempt to define this stretch for you, using common river terminology. Begin at the beginning - the waterfall. OK, so it's not a very big waterfall, but the river does actually drop a little bit - you can see it (and feel it) as you go through either way. This is just across and down from Hurst. Even at low / no generation, this is still not a stretch you'd ever want to wade into! The water is so fast, the fish don't generally hang in it anyway - takes too much energy. However, waterfalls tend to make little pools directly underneath themselves, where fish can hang out sometimes... getting your fly down there - or anything for that matter - would be the real trick! Just below that, a small stretch that would be considered rapids, maybe only 15 - 20 yards long. This water looks just like the name implies. It's fast and noisy. Fish may hang out behind larger rocks in a rapid area, but you're going to really have to entice them to come out. Then, a very short stretch of riffles just below that - approximately 50 yards. The look of the surface water is very distinctive - choppy and bubbly. Lots of O2 here, and critters to eat. This is often a good place for the trout to look for dinner. This leads immediately into a nice run that comes down past the RV park, just to the point where the current turns towards our dock (east) from the Marion County (west) side of the river. (This ends where, at about 1 generator, you can still walk out from the gas pipeline on the Baxter County side (our side) and still stand on the grass.) The run is about 200 yards or so. The run is a little deeper, and a little slower than the riffles. It's a little harder to see the bottom, and the fish seem to like it this way. They have plenty of O2 and food, and often feel a little safer. Normally, you'd think a pool would be next, right? Well, most of the time you'd be right, except not here. :-) Mother Nature had another idea when a huge (150' plus) Sycamore tree fell from the river bank on the west side, and created a pretty big gravel bar over time. (The huge limb you see that still sticks out is only a small part of the entire tree.) I have guests that have been coming here forever, who saw this tree fall many years ago, and have watched the gravel bar form. This gravel bar is what interrupts that water from the run just above it, and aims the flow back over to our side of the river. So, what do we have here? It's actually another section of riffles running almost west - east across the river nearly perpendicular to the bank. Then, about 50 yards above our dock, the run (previously interrupted by the gravel bar and diverted to our side of the river) continues on down to approximately the dock. It's relatively deep here. Even at low water, it's about 3 - 4 feet deep, but only about 15 feet wide. Now finally, the pool. It's an odd shaped pool that extends from just below the dock and goes down past the boat ramp, where once again, Mother Nature has interfered. The pool would have continued pretty much unhindered for several hundred more yards, except for the mouth of the spring creek that runs down just below the boat ramp. You may think, "That little spring creek shallowed out the (east) side of the pool?" Well, you've never seen it in a heavy rain. It's gets up to 6 feet deep with an incredible amount of flow - probably 12 MPH! That creek just recently came up like I'm describing, and moved huge boulders and a bunch of gravel and dirt out into the river. Over time, it's runoff has made the shape of the pool like a lopsided figure 8. This creek's runoff has created a small section of flats on the east side of the pool. It's pretty much defined as the three sections of rock that runs perpendicular to the shore, that can be seen at 1 or less generators. The deepest part of the channel through these "flats" is back on the west side. (the middle of the lop-sided figure 8) When there's a little more water, the fish will come out of the pool to feed here. There are typically lots of sculpins and other fish muchies here. However, be more stealthy - they can see you! And, they can get right back into the pool either above you, or below you, depending on where you're standing. The pool continues after the short section of flats for another 300 yards or so. Once again, it's deeper on the west side, but on the east side of the pool, there is a ledge that often holds fish. The pools will often hold plenty of fish, but they may be a little more wary. The water is slower and they don't have to rush to get their food. Then, another section of flats, as the pool shallows out toward the bridge. These flats also have enough food that the fish will often feed in them. You just have to be a little more stealthy... Finally, just after the 62 bridge, the water is kind of tunnels, creating a tail-out section. The fish don't often hold here, but will often spawn in these areas. So, now that you know what makes up the fish "neighborhood", see if you can't put that to good use next time you come! I've given you a few hints to go by... :-) Good Fishing! Julie |
