re: N. Arkansas Trout Trip?

Fly fishing or spinning rig?

Thanks again all for the advice! I acted too late to lock in a guide (apparently October is busy season), but we did manage to find a boat to rent so we'll blindly give it a shot.

Anyone have advice on preferred setup for trout up there on the white river? We'll be using spinners not flys. Any tips are appreciated!

Will give a post-trip report

Its been said but Gaston’s or Cotter are the best from this old hillbilly. Ma used to schedule our summers around the dam releases. She’s such a badass with the fly rod while we were throwing corn.

We always use shrimp tails. Don’t touch with sunscreen hands. Keep the tip of your rod up or you will lose the fish.

Where are you leaving out of. Might be able to help a bit if you are on the norfork or near the confluence of the white

Can't help on much on locations but as far as tactics go I have a few suggestions that seem to have worked for my family over the last 60+ years on the river.

1st look at satellite imagery, find the deep holes and spend most of your time fishing there. Kill the motor at the head of the hole and drift down, sometimes the hole is a few hundred yards other times its a few miles. There are times they will move shallow but it is a lot less common.

2nd Drift fishing bait will put the most fish in the boat. Learn how to tie a river rig, basically a drop/carolina rig. Normally 24-36 inch leader with a 6-8 inch drop. I've recently gone to a three way swivel with 6# 36 inch leader and a drop about 2 inches using 2# test with a big split shot on the end. If you get hung normally its the weight that gets caught, if you don't over squeeze it will often slip off. For hooks look at #8 size.

3. Bait- I've had luck with everything from worm to corn to powerbait but I do better with small cooked shrimp than anything else. I will do some flavoring while cooking that seems to help.

4. You will find big fish directly downstream from cover, trout more so than any other fish I've found.

5. If you decide to use crankbaits look at trout, perch and crawfish patterns. Popular baits seem to be shadrap s5-s7, countdowns in size 5-7, rebel crawfish and stickbaits if targeting large browns.

6. Inline spinners and spoons have a big following and there are days they are hot and days they are worthless, you normally know within a few minutes which it will be.

7. Vary your retrieve speed until you find what works. Slight changes in speed can often produce huge results. Normally a steady retrieve is best but have had some days a bit of a pause triggered big bites.

I'll try to add more later but I have to run now.

Mountain Home area. The question is do you want to just fish or CATCH fish. If its just fish then use tied flies, if it's CATCH fish then get a couple cans of DelMonte corn.

If you decide to go again let me know. I'll get your contact info and put you on a mess