It’s June Now, about 7 months since the last update. So let’s catch up.
December - March was hit and miss in Arkansas. Great streamer Fishing throughout followed by a polar vortex in Mid February that shut our fishery down until Mid March. Water temps at the Dam hit 39 degrees and the fish about Froze, At least our rods did. This is why it’s important as guides to fish all 100 miles of our tailwater system. After about a week of staring at Bobbers with some good fish in between on some perdigion nymphs and some other secret sauces we toured down South, way South. That’s Better, 30-50 days like usual from Ships to Calico Rock. If you’ve never fished that stretch it’s a must if you call the White River “your fishery.”
oh and the Shad Kill, it was there, just spotty at best. The River Gods owe it to us this/next year.
April - May. You probably know via the drowning of emails, social media posts, and buddy references how epic it was. I lost count of how many fish were caught, missed, broke off, etc. My favorite part was taking people who could sling a dry fly on a rope. If you can throw dries, these are the months to come. Big Fish 1” from the bank sipping caddis like it was going out of style Made up for those slow days this winter. Some of the most exciting fly fishing in the country happens on the White River believe it or not, and dates for 2022 are gonna be hard to come by.
During this time, I run the ONLY full time guide service on the Kings River. I used to live there. It’s home. I’ve been putting bronze boi’s in the boat for three years now on the most exciting fishery in the State. In 13 days (we had another 7 cancel for weather) we put over 124 Smallies in the bag. It can be a super technical fishery in the spring where every degree counts, but when it’s hot it’s HOTTTTTT. I even got to take some very special people there….. clients of course… but also Yellow Dog Fly Fishing
Thats right, we are now apart of Yellow Dog Fly Fishing, the largest fly fishing travel service in the Country. We will be offering multi day and multi boat trips on the White, Kings, Norfork, and Little Red River (that’s right, the Arkansas Grand Slam) with the goal of bringing anglers from around the world to experience the Ozarks on a whole new level. We are partnering with Riley’s Outfitters for big groups, corporations, and folks that like a in house chef with fine dining (The King of Beef, the Barron of Pizza, the Gourmet Gorilla, Nathan Buck). We are also offering Lodging at the Cotter Trout Lodge for those of you that don’t care about fancy feasts, run on redbulll, and your only desire is big fish and bent rods every waking moment… AKA my kind of people.
Anyways… we took them to the Little Red (25 Fish), the White (7 Browns over 20” on dries), and the Kings (two 20 Inch Smallmouth plus a bazillion others)…. it’s always a good time Fishing in the Ozarks… and if you’ve been on the river lately you know it’s getting popular.. which brings us to our next talking point.. Availability
These are the Dates we have open for bookings in the next 60 days on my boat (my Brand New Xtream With the Merc and the fancy seats), but we have plenty available dates with other guides we’ll be more than happy to take care of.. and if you want to fish Smallmouth book a Trout trip too.. Hoppers & Poppers.. just a thought. Oh and the hopper Fishing this year with high water…….. pack your bags and practice your cast.
July 7-9. July 11th. July 17-18. July 20-25th. July 29th-31st
August 3- 7th. August 10&11th. August 13-15th. August 21-22.
Just click on “Contact Us” or text me at 870-260-1976.
For June.. me and Jenny are sitting on the deck at one of the best lodges in Montana watching water temps, eating salmonflies, Drinking Twisted Tea and taking a break from the past week of clients and getting ready to host some more. Maybe you’ll join us next year on the Big Hole & Beaverhead.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Woodard
