On our exploration of northern Arkansas in advance of the solar eclipse, Carol gave me the go-ahead to spend the morning fishing one of the rivers for which Arkansas is famous. The White River and the North Fork of the White River (locally referred to as the Norfork) have year-round trout fisheries widely known for their bounty and trophy-size brown trout. It was an interesting experience, full of familiarity and strangeness.

As I met my guide, Paul Brown, at the put-in, the first difference I noticed was the boats used here. They are sleds with outboard motors but also with oars. While you can float a multi-mile stretch of river, it is not uncommon to fish a shorter stretch multiple times, motoring back up time and again. Once the motor is cut off, the guide switches to the oars and rows on the way down--though not so nimbly as in a drift boat.

Winter is the time of big brown trout. You throw streamers to the bank, and fish 25” to 30 pounds are your reward. Now it’s spring, and nymphing was the order of the day, but nymphing on steroids. The point fly was a midge or caddis. 18 inches above that was a salmon egg bead (like in Alaska). Above that a split shot. And finally, 13 feet above the point fly is the bobber. Trying to get all those parts moving in the same direction is a challenge to say the least. Just getting the cast started reminds me of chironomid fishing in our lakes. What the heck do you do with all that leader?! Oh, and did I mention the wind?

The portion of the Norfork we fished is a tailwater, wider than the Yakima, and deep (hence the 13-foot leader). It flows over broken bedrock, so there is lots of submerged structure to hold fish. You can reasonably expect to catch a fish anywhere between the banks. I had plenty of takes, but only managed to bring about a dozen fish to the net. The rest were complete misses or long releases because I just couldn’t quickly take up all the slack in that 13-foot leader with the flies being who-knows-where in relation to the bobber. Still, the dozen I landed included some nice rainbows, a cutthroat, and a splendid 26-inch brown.

All-in-all the newness of the experience made every minute worthwhile. The chance of catching a large brown didn’t hurt, either. If you get down this way, consider taking a little time to give it a try. I certainly endorse my guide, Paul Brown. His website is ozarktrophyflyfishing.com, and his phone is (913) 980-6196.