Day 3
After an outstanding dinner at the restaurant at Gaston’s, we both
slept pretty good but we both still woke up before our alarms too. I was up because I was looking forward to fly
fishing with my old high school basketball coach from a drift boat and doing some
wading. I have no idea why my dad was
up. He informed me that he had enough of
the cold yesterday and would be sitting this one out. Instead, some coffee and a newspaper were in
his future. Maybe a donut, maybe not,
he’s a wildcard and I stopped trying to calculate his movements a long time
ago.
We packed up our stuff, bid farewell to Gaston’s, loaded up the
truck, and HAD to stop by the bird menagerie on the way out. It was worth the 3 minutes and the pictures
don’t do it justice.
We arrived at Rim Shoals to meet coach and got there a little early. There was NO WAY I was going to show up late
to meeting coach to go fishing. I showed
up late for practice once. ONCE! It didn’t happen again and it wasn’t going to
happen today. I was NOT going to run sprints
up and down river. Rim Shoals was also
the spot where we stopped our drift with Pete the previous day. Coach worked it out to meet us here so we
could fish the catch and release area located there and so we could see a
little more of the river downstream.
Coach showed up on time and quickly started getting his drift boat
assembled. I was extremely excited to
fish out of a drift boat for the first time.
I have seen them on fishing shows and on other rivers but never had the chance
to actually experience fishing out of one.
We went upstream a ways from the boat ramp to the start of the
catch and release area and anchored up.
Just like yesterday, I failed to see the allure or defining qualities of
this particular spot and again, I put full faith in my guide. I never would have guessed that fish were
holding in the shallow, fast water we were fishing. I guess I have come to favor deep, slow pools
with long drifts but this was to be a learning experience.
Coach has become pretty partial to fishing soft hackles and has
been passing some of his knowledge along to me.
He helped me catch my first soft hackle fish at Bennett during catch and
release season and on this particular day, he continued to teach me the ways of
the soft hackle.
So there we were, anchored up in fast, shallow water in a boat
that I had never fished out of with a fly I was still a little unfamiliar
with. The stars had aligned (sarcasm). In all actuality, I started getting bites
pretty quick. Coach pointed out the
spots to hit and how to retrieve the fly and while the bites came pretty
frequent, the landing of fish was something that I struggled with. Another factor that I failed to mention that
might or might not have played a factor with my low landing percentage was that
we were fishing with barbless hooks.
Since this was a catch and release area, barbless hooks were
required. Again, I have been spoiled
with barbed hooks and was learning another lesson. After landing a few 10-12 inch rainbows and
missing a bunch more, we drifted down to an island.
Coach said that the dam had been generating water for a while and
that it would arrive sometime soon and make the fly fishing more difficult so
we were on a little of a time table.
Also, my dad was wanting to get on the road around 1:00, so we didn’t
have much time left in our morning together.
We anchored the boat at the point of the island on the upstream
side and started to fish one side.
Coach, with his expertise and knowledge of the river, was getting a
strike on what seemed like every third cast.
I was struggling mightily to get hits but my casting had gotten better
after getting out of the boat and I was just enjoying the smell of the water
and the sun on my face. I caught another
rainbow or two before we moved to the other side of the island. We noticed the water was starting to come up
and coach suggested I let my fly swing down near the bank of the island since
it would be offering sanctuary to fish trying to find slower water. Again, I missed a few but finally hooked a
fish and landed it. To my delight and
shock, it was a pretty little brown that I would have traded all the rainbows
for. It was about that time we noticed
the boat.
Now I remember seeing coach anchor the boat in shallow water, but
with the rising water level, that water wasn’t shallow anymore. Subsequently, that boat wasn’t anchored
anymore. Now it sounds worse than what
it actually was. The boat was lazily
floating down the river near the side of the river we were standing on. Coach caught it without needing any help and
disaster was averted. We fished the same
side of the island where I caught the brown and I missed a couple more
fish. At this point, the water was
REALLY moving and coming up quick. Coach
had a five horsepower motor that he was a little worried about having the strength
to run upstream if the current increased.
We had about 15 minutes before we had to take out so we found a wide
stretch of water near the boat ramp where the current was less worrisome. We drifted along the far bank of the boat
ramp. I think I missed one more fish but
right before we were ready to call it quits, I had one last bite and actually
landed the little fella and he WAS little.
He was probably 7-8 inches long and both coach and I thought it was a
brown when it was in the water but when I got it in the boat I could not
believe my eyes. It took a minute to set
in, but I actually managed to land an Arkansas cutthroat trout. Now I knew there were a few cutthroat (and
fewer brook trout) in the White River, but I never thought I had a chance to
actually land one in the short amount of time that we were fishing the
river. That, and I missed more than half
of the strikes I got on this particular day.
Regardless, this was a great way to end the trip and coach congratulated
me on completing the “mini slam” by catching a rainbow, brown, and cutthroat in
the same day.
This trip was more than I ever could have asked for and surpassed
all of my expectations. It took over a
year to plan and a lot of things had to work out just right to even make this
trip possible. I owe a huge amount of
thanks to a lot of people that helped me have the experience of a lifetime and
some amazing memories. I cannot thank
Cranor’s Guide Service and specifically Pete Cobb for all of his knowledge and
guidance. My dad and I already talked
about having him take us out again in the future now that we know he is a
genuinely nice guy with an amazing wealth of knowledge about the river. Gaston’s Resort is an amazing place and my
dad and I were THROUGHLY impressed by the accommodations. I don’t think we could bring ourselves to
stay anywhere else if/when we come back. I want to thank coach for being my fly
fishing guide and helping me fish out of a drift boat for the first time and
helping me land my first cutthroat. Most
of all, I want to thank my dad. Without
him, I couldn’t have afforded this trip and might not have actually followed
through on making this trip for a long time.
We don’t get to spend enough time as father and son together because of
busy schedules (actually, it is MY busy schedule because he’s retired and can’t
remember what day of the week it is), so the time we were able to hang out was
extremely meaningful. Thank you dad, I
love you, and thank you for all of your kindness and generosity. You’re a great dad and I am proud to be your
son!
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