His Place Monthly Fishing Report - August 2002

Hello! No Surprise that I'm late updating the newsletter page! (I need to start about 2 weeks earlier than the 2 weeks early I'm trying to start now!)

August has been a great month so far!  It's been a little hot, but it's always much cooler out on the water!  The fishing's been great.  Seems to be a lot of big fish as well as just a lot of fish being caught lately.  

If you haven't been able to get away to come see us - once you read the newsletter this month you'll probably be thinking to yourself,

 "I Should Be There!" 

Welcome to the Newsletter page, and we hope to see you soon!

(above left) - on the back row, we have Tim Hunt with Big John, and on the front - Collin, Lisa & Kody.  As usual, they had a wonderful day fishing on the White.  They had a nice brown in their bunch, about 18"...  And No, the grown ups didn't catch it - that was Collin's fish!

(above center) - Shelta & Jim Ivins had themselves a great day on the river with Big John, too!  Not pictured here is their gorgeous little baby girl, Alley, who is 2.  Once I showed little Miss Alley how to open the crawdad tank on the dock - it was all over.  I showed her how to pick up crawdads, and let me tell you - 2 year olds are completely fearless!  She reached into the net and grabbed some BIG ones that I would have thought twice about grabbing!  We finally told her that the crawdads had to take a nap... :-)

(above right) - Here we have Bruce McMillian, Courtney & Ron Baker with Big John.  Once again, they had a great day with Big John.  Courtney caught her share of fish - but for some reason, she didn't particularly want to clean them...  Big John took care of that for her!

(above) - Here's Bob Ditto with another one of our wonderful guides, Greg.  This was Bob's second trip to see us this year, and this is just another example of great fishing on big water!  The first time Bob was down with his wife, Jean, Steve took them out for an Evening Special, and they BOTH hooked into the same fish!  The fish pictured here was released, unharmed, right after this picture was taken.  Thanks for being such a good sportsman, Bob!

(above) - Here's Greg again with Larry Burrell.  Larry had a wonderful day, fishing with his wife, Nancy, and friends Jackie & Mona Matlock.  One big fish just wasn't enough for Larry this day - he caught 2 really nice browns on their trip.  He had a 4 lb. 5 oz AND a 3 lb. 11 oz brown to make his day!  And being another great sportsman, Larry opted for 2 fiberglass mounts of his fish.

(above) - and of course, when trips are over, and chores are done, the guides sometimes get to do a little bit of "Product Research" themselves...  Greg and my husband Steve went out for a couple of hours before dark and Greg got this one.  (This fish was actually caught in the daylight, but spent about an hour in the aerated live well before having it's picture taken and being released unharmed.  It was VERY revived - right after I snapped this picture, the fish made it known that it wanted to go RIGHT NOW - and we obliged it. (OK, I'll admit, this really is a gratuitous "big fish picture", but I couldn't resist!)

Well, I have a doosie of a story for you this month.  This story is about conservation and education.  It is up to all of us to help educate each other about our precious river and the wonderful creatures in it.  I've learned just enough to figure out that I don't know much - and I'm on the river all day, every day.  We often take it for granted that people are as familiar with the river as we are - for instance, the fact that we have Browns, Rainbows, Cutthroats, and even the occasional Brook.  

With that thought in mind, I'll begin my story...

As usual, I was sitting one night with some of my customers - wonderful, intelligent people, and as you might imagine, we were talking about fishing. 

Fred (no, that's not his real name) started telling me about his fishing trip here last year - and about this really nice fish he caught...

He started, "I was up toward the dam.  I knew I had a good one on.  I fought it for quite some time and finally brought it into the boat.  I didn't have a tape with me - but with my tennis shoes on, my feet are exactly 12" each.  So I laid the fish by my feet, standing toe to heel, and I had to move my feet about 4 inches apart to reach the head and tail of this fish.  It was about 28", and really fat!"

I said, "Sounds like you had a nice Brown, there, Fred".

Fred said, "No, it definitely wasn't a Brown - wasn't a Rainbow either, I don't think".

I started to get this sinking feeling in my stomach, as I asked the next logical question, "Well, Fred, just exactly what did it look like?"

Fred said, "It was colorful.  It had red spots with some blue around it, I think, and and some yellow.  And the belly was bright orange - I think the fins had white on them, too.  It was the most beautiful fish I think I've ever seen...  But, I haven't seen another one like it since I've been here.  Do you have any idea what it was?"

Not sure whether I was going to pass out, or become violently ill, I asked the only remaining question of any significance, "Well, Fred - Just exactly what did you DO with that fish?"

Fred said, "Well, I ate it."  I said, "You ate it?"  Fred said, "Yeah, I ate it.  Even with it's head cut off, it stuck out of the frying pan on both ends about 3 or 4 inches on each side.  I had to keep flipping it in the pan and moving it back and forth...  Uh, Julie - why are you LOOKING at me like THAT?"

Struggling to remain conscious, with dizzying images of a State Record Brook laying in a frying pan flashing through my mind - I calmly stated, "I think what you may have had is a Brook Trout, Fred.  Not only was it probably a Brook Trout, but would have most likely been a State Record.  The Brooks don't thrive here like the Browns, and aren't stocked heavily like the Rainbows.  They are more delicate, and sort of rare in the White.  And at that size - that was an extremely RARE fish!  So, what I'm telling you is - you probably ATE the state record.  And the reason you've never seen another fish like that is because there probably ISN'T another fish like that in the whole river."

Fred looked at me with kind of a blank stare, his face becoming slightly paler as we sat there for a few moments in silence...  He said, "Oh...  Please tell me you're kidding.  I've eaten the State record?  I feel terrible!  Why did you have to TELL me that?"  (Actually, that isn't exactly what Fred said - the translation however is now suitable for polite company.)

I said, "I'm telling you so you won't do it again!  If you want something to eat - eat a Rainbow about 11 to 14 inches or so.  That's why they're stocked in such quantity here - that's what they're for.  Good rule of thumb - if it's not a Rainbow - just give it a quick kiss, take a picture, make sure it's revived and let it go."

Fred said, "Don't tell your husband - oh, man, why did you have to tell me that?"

Fred caught a nice 7 lb brown drifting in front of the dock that day.  He'd spent some time with one of our guides and my husband - they handled it correctly, got a photo, and let it go - revived and unharmed.  Fred won't keep anything other than eating size Rainbow from now on.  The fish are glad, and I'm glad too.

As do all the dock owners in the area, we have trout identification sheets provided by AGFC that will help you correctly identify the trout in the river.  And, if you release any fish 17" or larger, we'll take your picture, give you a really nice catch and release pin, courtesy of the White & North Fork River Outfitter's Association, and a Catch & Release Certificate suitable for framing.  

Nowadays, you can have a fiberglass mount of your fish made, and come back next year and he'll be even bigger!  The fiberglass mounts are much more realistic looking than in days past, they'll last a lifetime, and you'll be doing your part to ensure that these kinds of fishing experiences will be enjoyed for generations to come.

Water Level & River Conditions

Well, as of today, the water is down in Bull Shoals to about 676.  Highest was close to 690.  As the lake comes down, running the same amount of water takes the lake down faster, as it is shaped kind of like a "V".  Originally, my understanding was that the Corps would try to get it down by Labor Day, but with at least 16 feet to go, and about 16 days to get there, I doubt they will make it all the way by then.

Generation patterns are about the same as they were last month.  0 to 3 generators at night and rising to usually 7 to 8 generators during the day, some days a little more, some days a little less.  There have been a few exceptions over the last few weeks - whenever the water gauge at Newport rises above 11 or 12 feet, they shut the generation down, as they've done a couple of times.

July & August so far have been really good fishing months.  Not only a lot of fish, but big fish have been caught as well - see picture of "Fang" above.  (Of course, Fang was safely released just after his picture was taken.)

Even with the 8 generators, the moss beds are holding up well because they got so thick this spring, and there is plenty of food for the fish.  Just like last month, they are fat and happy!

In closing for this month, I want to thank all our customers whose pictures I've used, and stories I've told, for letting me share a little piece of your life with our readers, and for making this resort one of the best experiences possible for Steve & I.  We look forward to serving you all again!

Until next month!!!   Good Fishing!

Julie