About the time winter slows the catching of warm-water fish, trout bite with more enthusiasm than most anglers show for getting out and catching them.
A stretch of frigid, teeth-chattering days in December finally gave way to a string of mild weather with sunshine. The warmth brought on a case of float-fishing fever that gripped Ron Duncan of Springdale and me. A canoe trip down the White River below Beaver Dam was the sure cure.
The seven-mile float from the dam to Houseman Access is a delight for paddling, fishing or both. Seasons of extremes are our favorite time to visit. When it’s 95 in the shade during August, the tailwater stream is a cool oasis. Water comes from deep down in Beaver Lake and emerges from the base of the dam at a chilly 50 to 55 degrees, even in summer.
During winter, the river is the epitome of peaceful fishing. Trout seem more eager to bite in the winter. Duncan and I had the river mostly to ourselves when we floated it just before Christmas.
Duncan is chairman of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission panel of commissioners and has visited the river’s access areas plenty of times. Our trip was his first to float all seven miles. By the end of the day, his smile showed that he just might return.
FALLING WATER
The river bank was soaking wet when we launched the canoe at the ramp 100 yards downstream from Beaver Dam. That meant the dam’s two hydro-power generators had cranked out electricity during the night. Now the river level was falling.
We floated a fishless hour, waiting for the sun to top a high ridge and bring some warmth. When it did, gloves came off and the trout started to bite.
Duncan set the hook first, catching a 10-inch rainbow trout on a sinking Rapala, silver with a black back. Trout took a shine to black on this winter day. Fish No. 2 bit my black jig made by PJ’s Finesse Baits of Fayetteville. I was on my way to a limit of five trout I hoped to take home to the smoker.
At Parker Bend fishing access, we beached the canoe on an inviting gravel bar and got out for a leg stretch. The tallest bluff on the river was a scene of majesty rising high on the opposite bank. Crags and rock walls were bathed in sunshine under blue sky.
“To me this is what floating is all about right here,” Duncan said, admiring the bluff. “Any fish you catch is just a bonus.”
The river gave us our Christmas bonus where Spider Creek enters the White River about midway through the float. Three more rainbow trout bit our black jigs. Duncan normally puts the spank on me in the catching department. I got the jump on him this day. Could be because I was using 4-pound test line and Duncan fished with 6.
GOOD FISHING
At noon, we stopped at a gravel island downstream from the U.S. 62 bridge, far enough downstream that we didn’t hear traffic. Lawn chairs were unfolded and set up in the sun. Here we relaxed beside a beautiful river and munched thick sandwiches on a sunny 45-degree afternoon. Ah, winter in Arkansas.
Our fishing proved what many anglers say, that trout fishing has improved. The upturn started in 2006 when the Game & Fish trout management plan for the Beaver tailwater took effect. It’s still followed today.
Part of the plan calls for Game & Fish to stock fewer rainbow trout. Trout aren’t native to Arkansas. Most all are stocked.
Before 2006, too many trout were being stocked for the amount of aquatic insects and other food available, said Christy Graham, trout management biologist with Game & Fish.
Now trout have more to eat, and more are released to bite another day. Regulations require anglers to release all rainbow trout that are 13 to 16 inches long. Only one over 16 may be kept.
“The population samples we do in the fall have been consistent the last couple of years as far as numbers go,” she said. The number of trout is at a healthy level for the available food.
Our last trout of the day was a dandy 17-inch rainbow that hit my black jig. I had to brag on the fish to Graham when we chatted last week.
“That’s consistent with what we see in our electrofishing surveys, that the largest trout are downstream from the ’62 bridge. Numbers aren’t as high, but the fish are bigger,” she said.
Anglers also have a better chance of catching brown trout. Annual stocking of brown trout resumed in 2011, Graham said. Before that browns were stocked every other year.
It’d be an understatement to say Duncan was impressed with his first Beaver tailwater float trip. There’s plenty of winter left, with mild days ideal for floating and trout fishing.
Trout float
Short and long float trips can be made on the White River below Beaver Dam. A trip from Beaver Dam to Bertrand Access, or Bertrand to Houseman Access, are each about three miles. The float from the dam to Houseman Access is seven miles. There is little or no current downstream from U.S. 62 unless power is being generated at the dam. Check Game & Fish regulations before trout fishing.
— Staff Report
Flip Putthoff can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter