The White and the Browns

 

Gaston's Resort guide, Frank Saksa

         

         Every year at this time I mention the great trout fishing found on the White River… where the brown trout reach gigantic sizes. Brown trout are more active in January and February because it is their spawning time in waters where they are native, mostly in Germany and Scandinavian countries.   Browns are not native to the United States. They have been stocked in the White and no one would think they could successfully spawn there, but when the water is high this time of the winter, they actually do to a lesser degree, but not to any great extent. To thrive there they must be raised and stocked.   

         They, and rainbow trout, have to be raised in hatcheries then   released into the White when they reach a certain size.  This year a disease devastated the trout in those hatcheries and so in January the stocking was limited to a fraction of what was normal. White River fishermen were not allowed to keep any trout at all because of it… catch and release only.

         I talked with Arkansas guide, Donald Cranor, who told me that in February the catch and release plan is still going to be in effect, but fishermen will be able to keep two trout only.  He says most of his clients this time of year are after big brown trout and they are a fish that are mostly released anyway.  Fishing with him, anglers often catch ten-to-twenty-pound browns and it is possible to land them in the thirty pound range.   Rainbows that are stocked    do not reach sizes often that are above 12 or 14 inches.

         I suspect the disease that has infiltrated the hatcheries is something called whirling disease, which causes trout to swim in circles on the surface of the water before dying.  There is no real   estimate as to when the white can be fully stocked again with trout.

         Guide, Frank Saksa, who guides fishermen out of Gaston’s Resort, told me that because of the brown trout, and even the diminishing numbers of rainbows, he hasn’t seen a big decrease in  winter fishermen, as catch and release fishing has never been a big problem in the winter with the type of fishermen that come to the White and seek guides.  But if the situation continues into the spring, I think it may really hurt the resorts along the river.  In a future article I will interview some Arkansas biologists to find out   more about the situation.

         In the winter I have fished for brown trout with Saksa, and once I landed an 8-pound brown.  I fished once with Cranor, and   wrote about his experience with another outdoor writer from Arkansas. They were using some horny-head chubs to try to catch a   big brown trout and the writer got confused. He wrote in his article that he and Cranor were using horned toads!           

         If you want to fish the White, I certainly recommend hiring a guide like Cranor.  Saksa too is a great guide for browns but he is now in semi-retirement.  If you want to hire Frank, you have to call Gaston’s Resort.  That resort has the distinguished honor of selling more of my books in the last twenty years than anyone else, including the big national bookstores.  To meet or talk with Frank Saksa, go to Gaston’s Resort sometime or call 870- 431-5202.  You can call Donald Cranor at 870-430-5484.  These two guys can tell you more about the situation on the White than anyone I know.

         I urge you to also read my website concerning a theft of valuable deer antlers… larrydablemontoutdoors.  My email address is lightninridge47@gmail.com