Post by dainw on Feb 10, 2019 17:13:12 GMT -6
Last time my buddy Travis and I were on the white river with guide Nathaneal Ferguson in September, he told us that the first two weeks in February are the time to be there if you want a big brown. So we went ahead and booked this weekend in September, not knowing that it would be 10 degrees the first morning. We kept the reservation wanting a shot at a big brown and knowing that you’d have to make some sacrifices to catch a good fish.
We started out friday below the dam at bull shoals. There was a big push of water (18,000 cfs) that the SWPA would taper down to min flow until about 1:00. Hit the river early at 7 am. Rods were frozen and so were we. Wasn’t a lot of fun fishing eggs 15 ft deep with a ton of shot. Several tangles and missed fish marked the first day, but my buddy Travis did get a nearly 20 inch brown to the boat. I caught a nice brown and a bunch of rainbows, but the big bite I was looking for eluded me. I briefly hooked what I am told was a big fish in the afternoon, but I never saw it.
Day 2 dawned a bit warmer than Friday with more consistent flows. Another big push in the morning backing off to 3 units for the remainder of the day. I landed a nice brown early on and then the bite slowed as the water fell. Once the water had stabilized about 10:30, fishing picked back up. We were running the top riffle below the dam and my indicator goes down. I know it was a good fish but didn’t know how good. It makes a hard run to the bank before circling back to the boat. As it’s running off the bow of the boat the fish gave a lazy leap and I caught my first glimpse of the largest thing I had ever had on the end of my line. After almost peeing myself, I settled into a battle with the massive brown trout I was connected to. The fish was like a submarine that went where it wanted to and I was fishing 4x so there was know horsing this fish. Even with 20lb like I would have had a hard time turning this fish and pulling it off the bottom. It towed the boat around for what seemed like an eternity. I did my best to stay tight to and not let it go under the boat. After the longest 10 minutes of my life, the fish finally came to the surface and we were able to get a net under him. The fish measured just shy of 31 inches and guessing somewhere around 12 lbs. Its easily the largest fish I’ve ever touched and I’m still shaking thinking about it. After celebrating with beers in the boat for about an hour, we fished the remainder of the day, bringing another 5 nice brown trout to the net. One of the best fishing trips I’ve ever had. We’re already booked for next year.
We started out friday below the dam at bull shoals. There was a big push of water (18,000 cfs) that the SWPA would taper down to min flow until about 1:00. Hit the river early at 7 am. Rods were frozen and so were we. Wasn’t a lot of fun fishing eggs 15 ft deep with a ton of shot. Several tangles and missed fish marked the first day, but my buddy Travis did get a nearly 20 inch brown to the boat. I caught a nice brown and a bunch of rainbows, but the big bite I was looking for eluded me. I briefly hooked what I am told was a big fish in the afternoon, but I never saw it.
Day 2 dawned a bit warmer than Friday with more consistent flows. Another big push in the morning backing off to 3 units for the remainder of the day. I landed a nice brown early on and then the bite slowed as the water fell. Once the water had stabilized about 10:30, fishing picked back up. We were running the top riffle below the dam and my indicator goes down. I know it was a good fish but didn’t know how good. It makes a hard run to the bank before circling back to the boat. As it’s running off the bow of the boat the fish gave a lazy leap and I caught my first glimpse of the largest thing I had ever had on the end of my line. After almost peeing myself, I settled into a battle with the massive brown trout I was connected to. The fish was like a submarine that went where it wanted to and I was fishing 4x so there was know horsing this fish. Even with 20lb like I would have had a hard time turning this fish and pulling it off the bottom. It towed the boat around for what seemed like an eternity. I did my best to stay tight to and not let it go under the boat. After the longest 10 minutes of my life, the fish finally came to the surface and we were able to get a net under him. The fish measured just shy of 31 inches and guessing somewhere around 12 lbs. Its easily the largest fish I’ve ever touched and I’m still shaking thinking about it. After celebrating with beers in the boat for about an hour, we fished the remainder of the day, bringing another 5 nice brown trout to the net. One of the best fishing trips I’ve ever had. We’re already booked for next year.
