The North Fork of the White River- Part 1

My buddy Cris, whom I work with and is an VERY accomplished fisherman, got an idea back last fall that we (myself and some other coworkers) should go on a fishing trip over spring break.  This particular group has traveled and fished together so there was no doubt that we would all get along.  It also helped that we could all handle ourselves on a river.  We fished the Eleven Point River a couple summers ago and Bennett/the Niangua over a spring break recently as well.  We settled on fishing the North Fork of the White River because of its good reputation, claim of wild trout, and offering of other species.  Smallmouth, brown trout, wipers, and stripers all inhabit the river.  The thought of catching ANY of those species intrigued the group and we settled on this particular river. 

While planning where to stay (we decided on 3 days and 2 nights of fishing), Cris found Sunburst Ranch.  It was located on the water, offered float trips, and was able to accommodate a group of our size (5 guys).  Let me just say that Justin and Amy, the owners, are as nice of folks as you could ever meet.  They were extremely nice and available during our entire stay, not to mention enthusiastic.  They did everything they could to ensure that we had a good float and caught fish.  Justin had great advice on fly selection and Amy knows the river like the back of her hand.  If you ever decide to visit the North Fork, you'll be in good hands with these folks!

The drive from Kansas City wasn't bad and we completed the trek in about four-and-a-half hours.  There were plenty of small towns to stop in for forgotten supplies and the scenery in southern Missouri is full of timber and hills.  It's great to view from a car if you don't get carsick.  If you do, you might want to plan ahead because there's more turns on highway H than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. 

We arrived at mid afternoon last Saturday and hit the river as soon as we dropped off our stuff at "The Hangar".  This was where we were crashing for the next couple of nights but we were much more interested in the fishing.  The section of river that we fished was right along the campground of the ranch.  The water was a little fast in most stretches and a little hard to read for some noobs like us.  However, my buddy Steve was able to hook a nice rainbow and our collective confidence elevated as a result.  We called it quits around sundown and decided a good night's rest was what we needed prior to our seven mile float the next day.