Winter rainbows: Annual trout outing produces non-stop action

Josh Wilson of Great Falls, Va., admires one of the rainbow trout he caught Jan. 17 on the White River near Ranchette. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)
Josh Wilson of Great Falls, Va., admires one of the rainbow trout he caught Jan. 17 on the White River near Ranchette. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)

BUFFALO CITY -- I've said it about other White River trips, but last Sunday was one of the greatest fishing days of my life.

For the last four or five years, we have fished out of the White Buffalo Resort, just upstream from the White River's confluence with the Buffalo River. That stretch of the White River is lightly fished compared to the section from Cotter to Bull Shoals Dam, and we like it that way. There are no crowds, and the fishing is always very good.

The group consisted of Bill Eldridge and Ed Kubler, both of Benton, and Rusty Pruitt of Bryant. Joining us for a day were Josh Wilson of Great Falls, Va., and his son Lucas Wilson, 10, who came to Arkansas for a father-son weekend.

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This annual trip is about more than fishing. We respectfully honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King in an atmosphere of jovial fellowship. It's about good food and professional football. Traditionally, the weekend coincided with the AFC and NFC championship games, but this year it coincided with the conference semifinals. It didn't matter. Kubler and I are huge Tom Brady fans who appreciate the significance of his career.

Kubler, a Pittsburgh native, is a lifelong Steelers fan who is very proud of his team's legacy, especially the Terry Bradshaw era and its four Super Bowl titles. I loved Joe Montana and still hold a grudge against Leonard Marshall for his vicious (but clean) hit in the 1990 NFC Championship Game that ended Montana's last best chance at a fifth Super Bowl ring. Kubler and I are both grateful to have lived through those eras, and we appreciate a level of greatness that will never come again.

Privileged to have grown up watching Alabama football under Coach Bryant in the 1970s and 80s, I feel the same way about Alabama's Nick Saban era. Appreciate it while it lasts, because his level of dominance won't come again either, thank goodness.

We arrived early on Jan. 16. After stowing our gear in our cabin, we took to the river in two johnboats we rented from the resort. Both were powered by 15-horsepower Mercury four-stroke outboards which provide plenty of power to get around in heavy current. We prefer these boats to our own because they are more stable and more comfortable than our aluminum boats.

"The recording at Bull Shoals Dam said they're running eight generators, but it doesn't look like eight-generator current," I said as Matthew Leiboult, owner of White Buffalo Resort, started our motors.

"You can't really put too much stock in the number of generators they're running," Leiboult said. "Eight generators at 15-percent capacity, like what's running now, doesn't really put out that much current compared to, say, two or three generators at 85- or 90-percent capacity. This is really about perfect for fishing."

A lot of other people thought so, too. Far more anglers were on the river than usual, including a large group from Columbia, Mo., that rented the cabin beside ours. They were meat hunters that had a big fish fry every night with the trout they caught. Leiboult said that 2020 had been extremely busy, largely because the coronavirus pandemic had prompted a lot more people to seek respite in the outdoors. Kyla Leiboult, Matthew's wife, said that demand is so intense from recreational vehicle campers that the Leiboults are planning to build new RV sites in the big field in front of the cabins.

"We're just waiting for the state to approve our septic system," Kyla Leiboult said.

It snowed in the area the previous day, and the weather was still dark, windy and cold. All of us felt strangely unenthusiastic as we motored into the current, and frankly, I had misgivings about coming. I just wasn't into it. I believe we transmit those negative vibes into the environment, and I am convinced that our lack of enthusiasm contributed to our lack of fishing success. Lack of fishing success fueled our lack of enthusiasm, which threatened to perpetuate a cycle that the ever-optimistic Kubler snapped. He and Eldridge always fish together, and they always tie up to a certain tree in a certain eddy at Buffalo Shoal. Kubler caught 11 trout, and he was elated.

"Usually Bill gets all the fish, and I just get cold," Kubler said.

Pruitt and I beached on our usual rock on the other side of the river, but we didn't get a bite.

Our moods improved immeasurably at supper, which consisted of thick ribeye steaks marinated in Kubler's secret recipe, corn on the cob, salad, baked potatoes and a cake to celebrate Eldridge's birthday. We spent the rest of the night around a roaring campfire, and my my spirit soared at the sight of a meteor streaking across the sky to the north. It was low and very bright, bursting into flaming shrapnel at the end of its arc. Whenever I see a big meteor, good things seem to happen.

Immediately after leaving the dock the next morning, I caught a fat rainbow trout when I threw a stickbait behind the boat. Trolling stickbaits, Pruitt and I caught and released about 15 trout before we got within sight of Kubler and Eldridge at their spot at Buffalo Shoal.

The bite ebbed as the sky cleared and the sun emerged. At about 11 a.m., Wilson texted his arrival to Pruitt. We picked them up and dropped off Pruitt to fly fish below the Buffalo River confluence. I took the Wilsons on a trolling expedition below the island, where they caught a succession of rainbows.

After lunch, Pruitt and Lucas Wilson stayed ashore while I took Josh Wilson to my big-fish spot near the Ranchette Access. A rainbow hit my stickbait as soon as it got wet. Wilson's first strike was a big fish that streaked downstream, squealing the drag as it took line. Wilson fought it for about seven seconds before it got loose.

"That's my fault," I said as Wilson grieved. "I should have put the motor in neutral and followed that fish. In this current, you were fighting the fish and the boat. When I saw your rod bow over and that spool spinning, I kind of froze for a minute, and that's all it took."

We continued catching fish at a torrid pace until 5:30 p.m.

"The big browns will come out to feed at dusk," I said. "I don't want to leave, but the boat has to be in the dock at six, and I don't want to dodge rocks in the dark."

Downriver, Eldridge finally found success late in the day with a Vibrax Blue Fox inline spinnerbait, and Kubler caught as many trout as he did on Saturday. Young Lucas delighted in stoking another roaring campfire, and Tom Brady prevailed one more time.

Kubler and I dearly hope he wins a seventh Super Bowl ring. Sports fans in the future will read about it. We're living it, and we want it to be as grand as it can be.

Kind of like our fishing trips.

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Rusty Pruitt of Bryant braved cold weather last Sunday to catch a mess of rainbow trout with trolled stickbaits on the White River near Buffalo Shoals. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)

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Skies cleared at sunset Jan. 16 to bathe the hills in soft golden sunlight at the con uence of the White and Buffalo rivers. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)

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Hungry anglers feasted on grilled ribeyes Jan. 16 at a cabin on the White River. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)

CORRECTION: Lucas Wilson of Great Falls, Va., was part of a trout-fishing trip on the White River on Jan. 16-17. His first name was misspelled in a previous version of this story.

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