Great Time on the North Fork of the White
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Hey guys –
I spent last weekend floating the North Fork of the White River with Kyle Kosovich’s Longboat Outfitters. I am doing an article on the river/on the local longboat tradition for Fly Fisherman, but since they usually take about a year to get an article placed in the magazine, I wanted to take a quick moment to thank Kyle and the guys who helped with the article.
Randy “The Rusty Hammer” Hanner is one of the most effective fishermen I have ever seen; even in pretty turbid conditions, where I thought I was doing pretty good to land a half dozen trout, Randy was still sticking fish after fish. He’s one of the competitive anglers who has learned from Polish, French and probably Swazili masters. He nymphs unlike anyone I have ever seen and ultimately produced both the most and the biggest fish of the trip.
Brian Wise was a pleasure to meet and hang out with after seeing his name on the internet a great many times. He would be a real blast to have as a guide I can tell. I really appreciate being taught the crab stroke and getting a chance to row his Clacka and pick his brain for another article I’m also working on.
Bryan Yates is a former flats guide in the Keys and had the same soft-spoken authority and razorblade sharp loops I have come to associate with former Keys guides. Super nice guy.
All of the guys Kyle recruited to help produce fish for our photos left me feeling outclassed as a fisherman the whole weekend. Southern Missouri is a surprising place; the level of fishing expertise there is truly second to no other place, including the West.
Kyle’s “Commissary Man” Bob Ranney was a super nice gentleman with excellent culinary skills and a surprising amount of skill with the guitar. Finally, Kyle himself was a pleasure to fish with. I can tell you his boats are absolutely awesome and his service is a truly first class, professional outfit. It is the opposite of “rednecks cooking hotdogs for you.” We had beautiful campsites both days, high end gear, great food, fires, solar lights, music, awesome dessert and generally excellent fishing given the conditions (they had received four inches of rain right before I got into town).
Kyle did everything he could and pulled out all the stops to really expose me to the North Fork of the White in getting ready to put together this article and I just wanted to say thank you. I highly recommend his guide service, longboatoutfitters.com, and I can’t say enough about how much fun all of these guys were to fish with.
Zach
PS I will post a few photos later that I know will not be in the article, but as you understand, most of this stuff has to be held back for publication.
Great timing Zach. My in-laws are going to be in Branson at the end of the month and while there will do some fishing at Taneycomo. Do you have any contact info. or suggested guides for that water which I could pass along?
Thanks,
D.Zach, I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to the NFoW. Its one of my favorites but a tough place to fish….The Current and 11pt offer better fishing if you ever get up this way again.
Dusty, check out OzarkAnglers.com and ask your questions on the Taneycomo forum. I’m sure that you will get plenty of help.
You probably wont need a guide on Taney if the water is off…If its off, head below the dam…Its stoopid with fish down there, but it will probably be crowded. Fish a small midge, scud, or nymph on light tippet and you can usually catch fish until your sick of it.
Watch the water level…and if you hear the horn, get the heck out quick. It can come up 5′ or more in a matter of minutes. If they are running water, hire a guide. Cheers.
Thanks Zach!
Dusty, depending on what your in-laws have in mind for a their fishing trip there are many options from Branson.
Thanks, guys, for the info. As it turns out, the wife and I will be joining them in Branson. I did not think we were going to be able to swing this trip, but some things have changed. So, I will be in Branson from Aug 3rd-9th. I will have one day of fishing with the family, and I will likely take them to Taney, but afterward, I would love to explore some other rivers.
Kyle- Is there any piece of water we could go to to hunt cutthroats & brookies specifically, or some monster browns?
Many thanks,
D.The White River or Norfork tail waters in Arkansas are the only water I know of with all species of trout. They have bookies and big browns. No doubt there is a world record swimming around in there.
This water is BIG and has big fish.
I feel the need to defend Taneycomo a bit. The idea that it is a fishbowl is fairly prevalent. I live in Kansas City and it is the closest trout water outside the trout parks that is available to me. It is still a 4 hour drive from my door to the dam.
Taney is heavily stocked, it is also heavily fished. If you can get past the outlets and away from the dam there are areas that are less crowded and still produce the opportunity to hook into a quality brown or rainbow. I routinely catch rainbows and browns over 20 inches. These are not fresh stockers and it requires more skill than catching fish in a barrel.
Taney is a tailwater and does not offer the beautiful, picturesque natural experience that you may find when hiking into a remote mountain stream. You may get the opportunity to watch a bald eagle land and watch you fish. There are still opportunities for an amazing experience.
Taney does offer the ability to wade and fish assuming the generation levels cooperate. Most days will have a window of several hours at least. While I would generally choose to fish the White below Bull Shoals or the NFOTW, those rivers are not forgiving when it comes to wading access. I need to spend more time on the Current River but it is very intimidating when it comes to just driving down there and getting a line wet.
I have had a chance to meet Brian Wise although haven’t had a chance to fish with him.
Kyle and I were talking the other day about Taney, so I thought I’d throw my two cents in.
I’ve fished Taney more than anywhere else in my short angling career, and I have something of a love-hate relationship with it. Sure, it’s a lot of fun, and it’s not usually not hard to catch fish there, but the only thing that separates it from one of Missouri’s trout parks (Bennett Springs SP, Roaring River SP, etc.) is the $3 day tag.
Now, if you are in the area and plan on fishing Taney and want a challenge, I’d suggest going at night. It’s the best time for zero or low generation (IMO, wading in the “trophy” area at Taney becomes dangerous when generation is greater than 1 unit – especially at night) and the big fish will be more active at night. Plus, there’s nothing like a heron sneaking up on you in the middle of the pitch-black night!
If you do plan on fishing Taney and aren’t familiar with it, check these sites (along with the aforementioned OzarkAnglers.com forum):
http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx (TRD is the column for the Table Rock Dam tailwater release schedule)
http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/plots/Web/tab.htm (real-time lake-level, precip and generation charts for TRD)However, if you’re looking for real challenge and truly beautiful fish, head over to the North Fork. Call up Kyle if you really want to see the river and get into some incredible fish. The coloring of the rainbows and the browns there is spectacular. A lot more color – and a lot more scenic beauty and solitude – than you’ll ever find at Taney. I spent the whole day on the Fork on Tuesday and, while I saw a handful of floaters, didn’t see one other angler on the water. Yeah, it was tough, but it was still gorgeous.
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