Dawn patrol for trout
Trial and error is a great teacher, especially when it comes to learning the ways of trout in the White River below Beaver Dam.
Gary Henderson of Bella Vista is a willing student. He ventures to the stream twice a week all year with his fly rod and flies he ties himself. Henderson aced the final exam on a trip to the water in early October by catching and releasing a few dozen trout during his morning of fishing. He was happy to share information learned.
Trout fishing has been good below the dam this fall, especially for anglers who like to wade. Power generation at Beaver Dam has been mainly in the afternoon. That means low-water conditions in the morning, which are ideal for fly fishing. Henderson likes to start casting in the gray light of dawn in the fog that shrouds the river many autumn mornings.
Trout aren't everywhere. Sometimes it takes some hunting to find areas where rainbow and brown trout prowl the clear, cold water. Henderson started his morning at a pool about one-half mile downstream from the dam. It's been a hot spot since fall began.
“You see where the current swirls around toward that bank? There have been fish in there. But you can't catch them from this side of the river, so we'll wade over to the opposite bank,” he coached.
A bead-head hare's ear has been one of his best flies this fall. Henderson started with that, but the trout evidently had vacated the pool. Henderson vacated it, too, and walked to hot spot No. 2 a hundred yards upstream. There was less current here, so Henderson switched flies to a black zebra midge.
Henderson is a longtime member of the Bella Vista Fly-Tyers and an expert at crafting his own flies. Black zebra midges were among the wide selection of flies he's tied, arranged row by row inside his fly box.
It was easy to see why he likes fishing here so much. Sycamore trees along the stream bank sported fall colors of yellow and orange. Not another angler was in sight. Trout can be eager to bite. It took maybe 20 minutes for Henderson to catch his first trout of the day, but definitely not the last.
More trout bit his black zebra midge and the size improved. Henderson slipped his net under a 12inch rainbow trout.
“When I'm keeping fish to eat, this is the size I like,” he said. On this trip, Henderson released all the trout he caught.
A 20-fish day is a good day in Henderson's view.
“I've had some 30 fish days and a few in the 50s. One trip with my son-inlaw, we caught over 100.”
There was another spot downstream Henderson wanted to try, especially after he bumped into another angler who's learned the tailwater by trial and error. That's Bob Mills of Garnett, Kan., near Kansas City. Mills comes to the stream frequently. He and his wife camp in their RV for a week or more each visit.
Mills told Henderson he'd caught and released 50 trout already that morning, including a 23-inch brown trout, by fishing with a red Copper John.
The two friends wadefished together, up to their hips in cold water, near the Bertrand access, two miles downstream from Beaver Dam. Brown micro jigs were the hot lure here. The little jigs weigh about one-100th of an ounce, light enough for fly fishing.
More often than not, Henderson and Mills had doubles, each battling a trout at the same time.