FISHING WITH FORREST - 2012

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    This was our 3rd year to enjoy some great fly fishing in Arkansas with our guide/friend Forrest Smith, principal of Trout & Timber (www.troutandtimber.com). He does a terrific job of maximizing our opportunities to catch some gorgeous trout - rainbows, browns and cutthroats.  Imagine landing eleven (11) trout which were 20 inches or more in length in five days of fishing!  Wow!!  This included Lindy's largest brown trout landed to date - a beautiful 24 incher!!  Read the details below about another great fly fishing adventure.  

Monday, May 21:  After exchanging hellos and hugs, it was time to begin our 3rd Arkansas fishing trip with Forrest Smith, a great angler, a great guide & a wonderful angling coach.  Today we went to the White River and put in beneath the Bull Shoals Dam.  It was a totally different experience from our previous years.  We had always seen the White with lots of water whereas this trip the water was extremely low due to a lack of rain and limited flow from the Bull Shoals Lake.

We enjoyed a great day catching an amazing amount of rainbow trout in the 12 inch to 14 inch range.  It was basically a fish a cast or at least a “hit” each cast because it was difficult to hook the fish in the very still water.  We were using a dry flies and a no. 16 dropper (a nymph or similar “secret” weapon).  We fished and enjoyed non-stop action till lunch at 1:00PM.  Afterwards we found some pods of brown trout.  Thanks to great coaching from Forrest, we each were able to land some of these huge guys.  Lindy got a 20 inch brown and a 21 inch brown and Ed capped off the day with a huge 23 inch brown trout.  

It was truly an amazing day and a great way to start another week of fishing with Forrest!

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The first rainbow of the trip
Lindy releasing a tiny trout
Forrest holding one of  our
many "Doubles" (i.e., we each
landed a fish at the same time)
Lindy with Forrest holding
her 21 inch brown trout
Another beauty!  This is
Lindy's 20 inch brown trout
Ed and Forrest with Ed's
beautiful 23 inch brown
trout; what a beauty!
Forrest releasing Ed's 23 inch
brown trout
The brown trout is recovering
after being released; can you find it?
It's amazing how well the trout
blends with its surroundings.

[T O P]

Tuesday, May 22:  Well, we had such a great day yesterday that we decided to once again fish the same stretch of the White River.  We started off with a bang with lots of rainbows including several doubles.  Then, we decided to do sight-fishing for larger brown trout.  We did so again on small flies and 5x or 6x tippet.  Needless to say, you have to be a bit careful in that it’s easy to break off a fish and/or lose it during the fight.  Again, we had a great day.  Ed landed a 20 inch brown and then Lindy was able to land a 24 inch brown.  This was Lindy’s largest brown trout to date.  Thanks Forrest!!! 

We capped off the day with Ed landing a beautiful 21 inch brown which jumped five times.  That was really neat in that we typically expect jumps from rainbows but usually not so much from browns.  We enjoyed another day of amazing fishing, especially considering the low water and the fish being a bit spooky as a result.

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Ed with a small rainbow
Forrest holding another
beauty caught by Ed - a
20 inch brown trout
Forrest with a "giant"
(hey, these guys are fun too!)
A Great Blue Heron taking in the action

Lindy's 24 inch brown trout - the
largest she's landed to date
while fly fishing

Ed's beautiful 21 inch brown
trout that put on a show
by jumping five times before
posing for this picture

[T O P]

Wednesday, May 23:  Today we decided to try another stretch of the White River.  We had lots of fish although it was a bit slower than the two previous days.  However, Ed did manage to hook and land another big brown – a 20 inch beauty.  We caught so many rainbows we lost count and we each had several nice browns over 15 inches.  Again, it was another great day on the water.

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A beautiful brown trout - great colors!
One of today's rainbow trout
Forrest holding a really nice brown
(Check out his shirt....
"In Guide we Trust"
Trout & Timber Outfitters"
Forrest holding another beautiful
20 inch brown trout caught by Ed

[T O P]

Thursday, May 24:  We once again returned to the White River and Forrest suggested we try another stretch of the river.  Again, water levels continued to be very low and, as a result, the fish were even spookier.  Thankfully, however, Forrest could navigate the water and put us on spots that had not been hammered by other anglers and we were both able to catch lots of rainbows and some browns.  We didn’t break the 20 inch measure today but we still had lots of fun and lots of fish.  Unfortunately, by about 12:00 noon, the winds were up to 30MPH.  Yikes!  While there were some sheltered spots, we all had to battle the blowing conditions (us during casting – trying to get the fly in the correct spot without hitting ourselves or one another – and Forrest while positioning the boat and/or while rowing us from one spot to another).  Near the end of the day Forrest took us to a spot where he thought some big rainbows might be holding.  He was right and Lindy caught a couple of really beautiful rainbows.  Needless to say, we were all tired at the end of the day but grateful for still being able to enjoy some great Arkansas fishing. 

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Ed and Forrest with an early
morning brown trout
Lindy with her own brown
Forrest and Ed with a really
nice rainbow trout
Lindy and Forrest with a nice rainbow
Lindy with a really nice rainbow
that Forrest thought might be at home

[T O P]

Friday, May 25:  On our final day of fishing (for this trip), we returned to a previous stretch of the White River.  Instead of fishing the entire beat, at Forrest’s suggestion, we decided to focus on possibilities for big trout.  And guest what…. Success!  We enjoyed fishing for some smaller trout (the “warm up” for the day) and then we were each able to land a 20 inch brown trout by sight-casting to them holding in riffles.  Wow!  After that fun, we caught and released a lot of smaller trout before stopping for a streamside lunch.   

Then, we decided to once again focus on larger trout and did so while doing some wet wading (i.e., wading wearing sun pants and sandals rather than wearing waders).  We drove to a favorite spot of Forrest’s which is located near the Bull Shoals dam.  After crossing the low water areas, we began to fish and it was non-stop action.  On Ed’s first cast, he hooked and landed a 20 inch rainbow, the largest rainbow of the trip.  Then, we both continued catching fish in the 16 to 18 inch range.  Ed then caught a 19 inch beautiful brown.  Shortly afterwards, Lindy was able to land another brown – a 21 inch beauty.  Talk about some great fishing!  We had planned on continuing to fish after letting the spot “rest” for about 10 minutes.  We had just gotten in place again and then the sirens sounded meaning water was going to be released from the dam.  So, we had to hightail it back to the shore as the water began rising rapidly.  At this point, it was time to call an end of a wonderful five days of fishing!

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Ed begins the day with another
brown trout - a 20 inch fatty!
Forrest holding a nice rainbow
caught by Lindy
Lindy with her own 20 inch
brown trout
Ed and Forrest with Ed's 20 inch
rainbow - the largest rainbow of this trip
Us with Bull Shoals Dam
in the background
Ed holding his own
19 inch brown trout
Forrest holding Lindy's
21 inch brown trout - another beauty!
Forrest releasing Lindy's
21 inch brown trout - bye guy!

    In summary, another amazing week of great fishing – this trip being only on the White River due to low water conditions in the region.   It shows you can catch fish and really nice fish – under any conditions if you’re with the right guide and you follow his advice.  So, once again, THANKS FORREST!!! We’re already looking forward to 2013!

[T O P]

If you're interested in exploring our other adventures with Forrest, just click on a link below to go to that year's trip

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