White River Shindig 2013; A New Tradition?

February 1, 2013 by MattTucker

2013-02-01pic044800px What started out as a dare, as most good things do, ended up in myself and Jimmy “T” Traylor cooking biscuits & gravy, blueberry pancakes, hash browns, 10lbs of bacon, and scrambled eggs at a boat ramp on the White River in single digit temps for about 25 of our closest fly fishing bretheren. For anyone that has fished the White River, February 1 is a special date, where they open the C&R area to fishing again, after being closed for 3 months for the spawn. Big fish are always caught in this section in the first week, and it isn’t uncommon for a 10lb trout or two to be caught from this section during the first week. We fed the guys from Chasing the Dream out of Oklahoma, the guys from Fly Fishing Illinois, and several other friends that showed up just to see if we were stupid enough to cook breakfast……..we were, and it was damn good.

The fishing wasn’t bad either. That morning, I broke 20″ with one of my largest rainbows to date from the White River, and several other boats boated fish in excess of 20″. The only issue with the fishing this morning, was we ran out of beer by the time we got to 3 Chutes and needed more, if we were going to float to White Hold. But never fear, JimmyT to the rescue…….thanks to Jimmy, I now tend to favor Sweet Tea & Sailor Jerry (affectionately named “Jimmy Tea”) as my drink of choice on trips. Jimmy shuttled us around to get the trailer and yank the boat out early so we could gear up for the night’s festivities.

All in all, the booze flowed and the social weekend that is opening day on the White River was kicked off properly. But not to be outdone with breakfast, we also had plans to throw a small little shindig at Wild Cat Shoals Boat Ramp that evening. With the help of Jeff House (High Plains Fly Fisher) and Craig Peterson, we grilled up about 60 bacon wrapped brats and served up some other goodness to about 50 people that showed up. It was sort of the who’s who of White River winter fishing with the likes of Steve Dally, Chad Johnson, Alex Lafkas, Jamie Rouse, Ron Yarbourough, Jim Traylor, Davy Wotton, Dominic Zamotto, Larry Babbin, Steve Stinnett, the guys from Chasing the Dream, and two many other people to really remember. It was definitely a great evening with plenty of alcohol drank for everyone, with the party going way in to the night, until only a few were standing. Here are the photos.

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Long Overdue Dad & Daughter Trip; A Dry Run Creek Trip Report

November 11, 2012 by MattTucker

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It has been a few weeks since my most recent trip to Dry Run Creek with Hannah. I had worked out the details of a Dad/Daughter and Father/Son trip with my buddy Craig Peterson and his son Grahm Peterson and my favorite 10yo daughter, Hannah. It was Hannah’s first trip to Dry Run Creek of the fall, and Grahm’s first trip ever. We decided to head down for the weekend and mix it up a bit with a quick float on one of the tailwaters and some visits to some local fly shops in between time on Dry Run Creek. It was a good weekend and the kid’s caught lots of fish, but in keeping with OzarkChronicle’s tradition, Hannah’s fishing trips are always told….in her words…

My Fishing Story
By: Hannah Tucker
Friday:

Friday started out pretty slow. Craig and Grahm showed up later then me and dad thought they would. When they got to our house it was dark. We started our trip around 6:15. I was so tired so I went for a nap. We stopped for some food because the boys didn’t eat dinner. I tried to go to sleep but I couldn’t go to sleep so dad changed the music to some Jack Johnson. I finally got to sleep. I woke up and we were at Mountain Home. That means we are there. Dad and Craig got our room keys and we got to our rooms. We unpacked and I laid down on the bed. When dad was tying some flies he cut himself with some scissors. He was gushing blood. We didn’t have a first aid kit. So dad went over to Craig’s room to see if he had a first aid kit. He didn’t so they put some tissues and some duck-tape. After that I went to bed.

Saturday:

I woke up at 5:00 A.M. It was a early start but once I was a up I was awake. I had a nice breakfast of mini donuts. When we got to Dry Run Creek we were all wader-up so we could start our way down to the stream. Me and dad went upstream and Craig and Grahm went downstream. Me and dad started to look for big fish off the dock. Spotted one and guess what I caught it. We went up a little in the stream to a very nice spot. There was a bunch of nice looking browns. I caught a couple and even when I was going to cast again I hooked a fish. It wasn’t too big but a good size. We went even more upstream to my favorite spot ever. It was a pretty fast current. It didn’t have very big fish. So we went up a ways where there is a long island almost. It had some big browns. There was a 30” brown that was humongous.

I fished to it for a while, but I don’t think the fish was hungry. After that dad and I went down stream to find Craig and Grahm. When we found them I was done fishing I had wanted to go in the boat so bad. I had never been in the boat before. We had brought the boat to float down the river.

Before we floated in the boat we got in the car and went to Dominic’s fly shop. Dominic is a friend of my dad and Craig. Dominic has a beard and looks like he is from the show Duck Dynasty. When we got to the shop a cute dog came out, the dogs name was Elvis. The dog made me miss my dog. The guys stopped talking and found out where we were going to float. After that we got in the car and left for another long drive. When we got there, dad had to leave again to shuttle. That took 2 or 3 hours. When he got back he told us he got a ticket. Then finally we got on the water and began our mystical journey.

It was pretty slow but a cool experience. It was also a windy day. For lunch we had sausage, cheese, and crackers. It was pretty good. I also liked when I got to row. Craig even caught a fish when I was rowing. I didn’t catch a single fish on the boat. It’s hard to fish in the boat when it’s windy and your first time in the boat. It took like five hours, but it was fun. I helped unload the boat and put it on the ramp. We got into the car to take the long drive home. When we got back to the hotel we chilled out, but I couldn’t chill out cause I really wanted to go to dinner and get calamari. It took a couple hours but then we got to the restaurant. When we got there we sat at a table. It was their 2^nd year anniversary so there was a live, loud band. The Wise’s came and we ordered are food. It was good food. Later on Dominic came and convinced our waitress he was from Duck Dynasty. She believed him for a little then, she was said” Let me see your I-D” and he was mad. After that we went back to the hotel and I went to sleep.

Sunday:

When we got up on Sunday morning we got dressed, but not in our waders. For breakfast we all went to White Sands restaurant. My dad said it was a institution. It was ok. I didn’t think it was that great. When we got out of the restaurant the sun was just rising. When we got to the car we left for Dry Run Creek. It took a while cause we had to get our waders on. I also had to put on my pig hat. I have to wear it because I promised Brain Wise I would. Another reason is that I’m only catching pigs. Also I have to squeal like a pig. When we were ready dad and I went down to the spot where the 30” brown was. Sadly it wasn’t there, but there was some pretty good size fish. So I fished there for a little while. I was catching fish like crazy. We went upstream a little bit because we didn’t get too yesterday. I saw a big, huge fish. I fished for it. It didn’t budge. I cast a couple more times. Then finally the fish went for it. And let me tell you he was a fighter. Dad actually tried to net it. The fish kept going up and down stream. When the fish was going up-stream slack came out because I wasn’t reeling fast enough and the fish snapped off and the rod came flying back at me and hit me in the face. I told dad it broke off and he didn’t hear me. Finally he realized the fish had gotten off. After that I was done fishing for the day. Dad and I found Craig and Grahm and said we were going up to the car and you could meet us up there so we can pack up. When we got to the car I got out of my waders and in to good car cloths. And at that time Craig and Grahm came up and were ready to leave. When I got in the car I was so tired so I took a nap. When I woke up it was lunch time. We went to a Mexican place it was good. When I came out of the restaurant I went to sleep. When I woke up it was raining I listened to music and jammed out till we were home. When I got home we quickly unpacked cause it was still raining. That was my fishing story.

It is always funny what she remembers from our trips together. It isn’t always about the fishing, the catching, the food, or the laughs…..it is about a combination of it all. I am a lucky guy to have such memories of her on the stream with me. Until next time.

–Tucker

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Dead Low Water II; A White River Trip Report

October 27, 2012 by MattTucker

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After a long night hanging out with the locals at the house we rented, we were up fairly early the next morning wrestling with the same decision….water flows suck, where are we going to float on Saturday (2012-10-27). The White River was on its 4th day in a row of zero generation, and was representing a traveling wade fisherman’s wet dream. However, I have traded those low water wet dreams in for hopes of 4,000CFS or larger flows, but I digress. As we kicked back in the morning, it was apparent everyone had different ideas about where to fish.

Dan, Paul, and Jim had decided to tow their Hyde drift boat up to Lake Taneycomo to fish some higher flows, while Corey Dodson decided to stick close to the house and wade fished the Narrows area and Wildcat Shoals on the White, Ray Reidy and Jeff House decided to try their luck on the Norfork with the promise of the possibility of some midday increased flows (their gamble paid off and they were rewarded with full generation for a few hours), and Craig Peterson, Dan Ritter, and I decided to head in to Dally’s Ozark Fly Fisher shop for a shuttle from Cotter access to Rim Shoals (on dead low water). If anything, we had all the White River tailwaters covered.

The fishing from Cotter to Rim Shoals was pretty solid. We continued rolling dinks in the boat with ease on various nymph, eggs, worms, and midges throughout the river. We put in and rowed up to the railroad bridge above the Cotter ramp and spent entirely too much time fishing around the bridge and dock near the campground. Fish were caught, but we should have pushed on quicker. We ended up banging the bank with streamers from Cotter down to the top of Round House and picked up several fish (dinks) on a Cinnamon Colored Bottom’s Up near the Spring Branch. And this fly continued to be the ticket for the rest of the day.

The most interesting part of the day was floating through Round House Shoals. The river at dead low is still a learning experience, and this was the first time I rowed this section of river. Round House Shoals is just super sexy water and the low water brought out all the wader fisherman. It is amazing to me that they all flock to the river-right side of the island instead of fishing the fast pocket water on river-left (which coincidentally is also the boat channel we had to row / walk the boat through). The Hyde G4 bottom took a beating again today as we pinballed our way down some of the skinnier slots and when we hopped out to walk it through some of the super skinny stuff.

We ended up pulling off the river around 5pm or so and headed back to the rental house. Surprisingly, the guys that ran to Taneycomo had just beat us back to the house and had the BBQ pit going for a night filled with more beer, brats, and good bullshit. Corey got back from his wade fishing trip, and Ray and Jeff headed back after floating the Norfork and the conversations all confirmed that the fishing was still the same…..no big fish and lots of dinks.

With little promise for a change on Sunday morning, the conversation after dinner turned to where to fish on Sunday morning. It didn’t take long for consensus to be met, and on Sunday morning we would head out early for redemption on the Spring River.

More to follow.

–Matt Tucker

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Dead Low Water I; A White River Trip Report

October 26, 2012 by MattTucker

2012-10-26pic011(Edit001)(Resized-800px) The predicted generation for Friday (10/26/2012) wasn’t looking good at all, as the White River had ceased generation on Wednesday and now we were looking at dead low water. No one was in a hurry in the morning, given the low flows, high skies, and high winds, so I decided to get up a bit early and fix everyone breakfast. Biscuits & Sausage Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browns O’Brien, and some homemade coffee cake that Jim Held brought was the order of the morning. Breakfast was good and we took our time milling around the house trying to figure out what the hell each of us were going to do.

Craig, Dan, and I decided to take our chances on the White River and float from Gaston’s to Wildcat Shoals, which Paul, Dan, and Jim decided to put the kicker motor on their boat and work the pools and shoals near the access at Wildcat Shoals. If you ahve ever had one of those days where you should have stayed back at the cabin and drank, this was one of those days. The day started with me trying to catch my boat to slow it down as it slid down the trailer and into the water (non-existent low water ramps suck) only to be drug 5ft into the water (luckily I was able to catch myself and keep the top of my waders above water and from filling up…..but my shins and knees are still bruised up a week later). The day only got worse from there, from a boating standpoint.

Navigating the White River on dead low water is best left to kayaks and pontoons. The majority of the section was fine, but I had never seen the White River as low as it was and it was a great education……and workout. Between catching countless dink rainbows, we were in and out of the boat as we pushed and pulled it through skinny water and when it was floating us 3 big guys, we were abusing the hell out of the G4 bottom (that stuff is the real deal…..as we would have left a gel coat trail all the way down the river, this float without it). From a fish count standpoint, we caught a ton of fish on a variety of flies (eggs, worms, midges, little streamers), but there were none of the bigger fish that we had become accustomed to on our trips to the White River.

We did get a beer break when we bumped into Jeff House (High Plains Fly Fisher Blog) and Ray Reidy (Trout Journeys.com) as they came down for the shindig and were floating from Dam to Wildcat in Ray’s Clacka skiff. After catching up with them just above White Hole and comparing notes, we were both on our way. The fishing pretty much remained consistent the rest of the float, but near the end of the float we had to push through alot of water to get back to the house for a little shindig we were throwing for the locals that night.

Prior to the trip, Paul Chausse and I had cooked up a plan to throw a little BBQ shindig at the house we were staying at. We always like to eat well on trips, but what started as just a good steak dinner for the 6 of us morphed into a good old fashioned fish camp party, complete with pimped out drift boat, lots of beer, fire, and good food. We had sent out alot of invites to various friends that live down there, and those that could make it included Steve Stinnett (Seasons on the White Outfitters), Larry Babin (Hogs On The Fly), Dominic Zametto (Two Rivers Fly Shop), Bill Thorne (Dally’s Ozark Fly Fisher), Paul Port (AGFC), Corey Dodson (Chasing The Dream Blog), Ray Reidy (Trout Journeys Blog), Jeff House (High Plains Fly Fisher Blog). Combine those above, plus the six of us staying in the house, and that was the makings for a great evening around the fire.

Dinner included some jalapeno poppers stuffed with 4 different kinds of cheddar cheese and bacon, bacon wrapped asparagus bacon wrapped 6oz steaks, roasted potatoes, marinated Italian salad, and biscuits. It was damn good…..I mean ridiculous The whole house was silent as everyone was eating (the food was just that good).

After dinner, we hung out at the house for awhile and then headed out to check out Paul Chausse and Dan Held’s pimped out Hyde drift boat. They have rigged their boats with various LED lights and control panels, and pimped out wheels. It is something to see. So we headed down to the river to get some photos of it on the water, at night. Once we were down at the ramp, no one grabbed a pair of waders, so it was interesting watching the boat get loaded and unloaded into the low water without waders on a cold, windy night.

The night was filled with plenty of laughs and stories and was a hella good time, and the reason we look forward to this first fall trip every year. The night wore on, and people came and went at will. I think we finally shut the lights out around 1am or so, dead tired from a long……good day.

–Matt Tucker

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Making New Friends And Influencing People; A White River Trip Report

October 18, 2012 by MattTucker

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After a long day and an even longer night at The Arena bar in Mountain Home the night before, the 6am wake-up call could have come later in the morning but there was breakfast to be had and fish to be caught. Up and packed away, we stowed away gear out of my Jeep into Chance Maxville’s rig from the float the day before as he and Corey Dodson were going to float in his skiff while I was going to fish out of Dominic’s boat. After a few minutes, plans were had and we took off for Cotter, Arkansas and the White Sands Restaurant (an institution for traveling fly fisherman….and a really good breakfast); after all I had time to kill while waiting for Dominic Zametto to drop his boat in and for us to run shuttle.

Today was a few months in the making, as I finally got to spend some time on the water with Larry Babin (Hogs On The Fly) and Dominic Zametto (Two Rivers Fly Shop) in Dominic’s Boulder Boat Works drifter. Chance Maxville and Corey Dodson from the Chasin’ The Dream Blog floated the same stretch, in Chance’s skiff. Words can’t even describe the stories told in the boat with Larry Babin (Hogs On The Fly) and Dominic Zametto (Two Rivers Fly Shop). This weekend was my first time hanging with both these guys; and if first impressions mean a shit, it was the first of many good times. Larry has been guiding on the White River for about 5 or 6 years now (maybe more) and is one of the few full-time drift boat guides on the river (guiding out of an Adipose Skiff); his knowledge of the river showed through a few times throughout the day as he would slip in and out of guide mode. Over the years, Larry has gotten alot of “guilt by association” wrap in my opinion, but the guy has always been an uber friendly guy when i would run into him on the ramp and would go out of his way to say hello or to pass a friendly tip or two and after trading messages back and forth on the book of face, a plan was hatched to meet up and fish a bit. Larry is a joker and a blast to fish with. Ask him about the whizinator…..holy shit it is a great application of a wiffle ball bat (that is all i can say).

The other guy in the boat, was Dominic…..eventually that is all his name will be in Mountain Home. Dominic, man what to say. If I could figure out a way to tell my stripper stories with his Mississippi drawl…..holy shit. There is a certain mystique about a 35yo guy that moves to a small Arkansas town and buys a fly shop, and wears a beard well. Well, after spending a day on the water with him, I can tell this wasn’t just a hopped up plan or mommy’s money. The guy sounds like he is going to pull his heart and soul into Two Rivers Fly Shop on the Norfork and make it what it should be. He was a blast to spend a day in the boat with, and the bastard even caught the biggest brown (a nice 18″ brown on a streamer) and hopped on the oars right after.

Even though it was weak generation again, we opted for a different float and fished Wildcat Shoals to Cotter. Fish were picked up with some regularity on streamers in the morning, but the water levels were not as conducive to it, so Larry switched out to some small dry flies and stockers were caught at will. We each took turns rowing (although….I wasn’t on the sticks that long, apparently my rowing lacks something to be desired…even though I avoided the 360’s), but I spent most of the time throwing streamers in the bow and when i wasn’t it was good just to kick back and enjoy the float.

It is tough to find a bad day on the river, and today was one of those days…that didn’t suck. The sun was shining, the Champagne of Beers were on board, and fish were caught, god only knows what other boats were thinking as they overhead our conversations as we floated down river. We pulled off the river around 4pm and headed back up to Wildcat Shoals to finish our shuttle, where we ran into Bill Thorne and his wife from Dally’s Ozark Fly Fisher, Corey Dodson (Chasin’ The Dream), we ended up bullshittin’ at the access until about 4:30pm or so but I had to jet and drive back to St. Louis. I didn’t end up getting back home until about 10pm on Sunday night. Yeah it was a long weekend, but damn I would do it again in a heartbeat. Looking forward to hanging with these guys again in the not so distant future.

–Matt Tucker

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