I'm lucky to have a fly fishing brother. John is his name. Though younger than I, he has been fly fishing longer than I have, and has been my teacher and mentor. He is also "in the business," so I have benefited from his connections and discounts more than once. So has he; he knows people. The following report is made possible by "my guy at Wapsi."
John lives in Maine, but a couple of weeks ago after some family business in Kansas (aging parents) he stopped off at the Norfork River in Arkansas. The Norfork is the North Fork of the White River, famed for its big tailwater trout. He sent me these photos and an emailed report. I certainly didn't get his permission to post them, but then that was implicit in my request. At least that's what my attorney says regarding a possible intellectual property lawsuit. And, as any judge would uphold, we're all one big happy family here, so these are for you, too.
Thanks, John. I'm jealous.
arkansas was great. did fish tuesday afternoon and most of the day wednesday. tues was beautiful and pleasant; wed was 40, windy, and rainy, and i was pretty much bone-chilled the whole time. but there are lots of fish in that river. pretty much used strike indicator and scud/swobugs the whole time, although did entice a few (missed) takes with little emergers in the film. best fish was female pushing 19-20" and ripe full of eggs, many of which she squirted into my net. so, plunked her quickly and unceremoniously back into the water without attempts at photo. most fish were 14-16" range, with couple in 17-18" range. caught browns, mostly rainbows, and one cutthroat. I did try to take some pictures. they suck, but i'll try to send along what i can at some point.
the key to that whole endeavor is that my guy at Wapsi gave me access to prime section of river via his private land, and on wednesday told me where to fish right up at the Norfork Dam since the rest of the river was pretty muddy from all the rain during the night. i'd have struck out completely otherwise, i think.
Beautiful river, with matching trout.
ReplyDeleteWhere in Maine does he live?
Thanks for checking in. He's in Bean Town: So. Freeport.
DeleteHi Jim
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and enjoyed the read about your brother fishing the Northfork. I retired four years ago and for my retirement gift my wife and traveled to Arkansas and fish the White and the Northfork, caught some 12 to 15 bows and browns, but nothing any larger. We were there for a couple of days. Good trip and your brothers post brought back some good memories. I am joining up with your blog, will look forward to reading more grest trips.
Glad to have you along, Bill. And glad this post brought back some good memories.
DeleteThe Norfork is a wonderful tailwater here in the Ozarks , one of my favorite to float in my pontoon. Sounds like your brother had a great trip. It's been since last year that I fished it (thought about hitting it last weekend when I was on the White but didn't) and after seeing your brothers report I want to get back down even more! That next to the last picture is one of my favorite stretches on the river , just upstream from the C&R area access point.
ReplyDeleteI thought about you when John said he was heading for that country. In fact I told him about your post from the White somewhere around the same time he was there. That photo was my favorite; looks like a sweet stretch.
DeleteIt's cool that you give him the "teacher" and "mentor", designation, even though he's younger. If I remember from past posts,you've kept a good relationship with all your brothers. That's cool too. It's something I hope for with my kids,that they stay close with their siblings. Pretty river and fish.
ReplyDeleteWe do get along well--heck, we love each other--and that is cool. And John is an excellent fly fisher and teacher.
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