It isn't every day that a cookbook inspires a fishing trip. When a recipe calls for trout, you've got to go catch the main ingredient.
I'm a big fan of "America's Test Kitchen" heard Saturdays on National Public Radio. I've fixed some of the dishes they've talked about on the show and liked them enough to order one of their cookbooks, "Master of the Grill." It was a happy day when this excellent, nicely illustrated and informative book came to my mailbox.
I tried a smoked chicken recipe, then one for country style ribs. Both were dee-lish. I browsed for another tasty dish and a recipe for grilled stuffed trout caught my eye. I had some crappie in the freezer but no trout. The next day, a drizzly dawn found me on the way to the White River below Beaver Dam to catch dinner.
The game plan was to take the scenic canoe float from the dam three miles downriver to Bertrand Access. It's a short float, but fishermen can amuse themselves most of the day on three miles of trout-filled water.
At the dam, fog shrouded the tile-smooth stream this hour before sunrise. The water was low and still with no power generation taking place at the dam. The generators usually don't crank up until afternoon during summer.
Two other anglers relaxed in lawn chairs and fished from shore while I slid the canoe into the ice-cold water at the ramp. The fog was thick enough I couldn't see the bank fishermen when I paddled to the other side of the narrow river.
Most trips a small P.J.'s Finesse Jig, made in Fayetteville, is my go-to trout lure below Beaver Dam. Black, brown or gray are good colors. Five minutes into the trip, the day's first trout had my 4-pound test line pulled tight.
It's a rare occasion when an angler gripes because a fish is too big, but this beautiful rainbow trout was too long to keep. There's a 13- to 16-inch slot limit on the Beaver tailwater. All rainbow trout between 13 and 16 inches must be released. Fishermen may keep trout less than 13 inches long, or one trout 16 inches or longer. The daily limit is five. This beauty measured 14 inches even and went back into the water.
I eased my way downstream and felt another strike. I could tell by the rainbow's fight that this was a dinner fish smaller than 13 inches. The trout leaped three times before I swung it into the canoe and measured it. Twelve inches, perfect for the grill.
Morning crept toward lunch time. I beached the canoe on a long gravel bar at a bend in the river and got out the fly rod. I cast a peach-colored egg fly as drizzle turned to light rain. There were no takers on any of the flies I tried. Once the rain started I didn't see another person all day.
The river remained shrouded in fog and mist. The scene was gorgeous in an eerie way, an Edgar Allen Poe kind of day. I managed two more dinner-sized rainbow trout and was happy to have three for my recipe. The river was still low when I landed at Bertrand Access about 1:30 p.m.
A neat thing about this float is that it's an easy two mile walk back to the dam to get the truck. No shuttle required if you don't mind the walk. It may seem longer that two miles because it's a mile uphill and a mile down, but it's two miles on the nose.
It's a good idea to make sure your canoe is far up the bank before you walk to the dam. If generation starts and the river rises while you're away, your canoe could be swept downstream on its way to Table Rock Lake.
A fine feast that evening was the delicious result of a wet but wonderful trout fishing day.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAFlip
Sports on 09/13/2016