Last week I had a client, Ed, who wanted three days of guided fishing.
I had the first day available but was scheduled to guide Ron and Larry for a half day the next afternoon and another half day the next morning. I suggested to Ed that I could guide him on the first full day, the next morning on the second day and then the afternoon on the third day. He agreed.
The first day fishing with Ed at Rim Shoals went well, but the second day everything got interesting.
I fished at the catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam. The morning went well with Ed catching several trout with the largest being a fat, 23-inch rainbow. He wanted to fish there again the next day. Ron and Larry did well with several nice trout up to 20 inches. They said they enjoyed fishing the dam but wanted to fish some new water and preferred to fish at Rim Shoals.
That complicated my life a bit. It had been relatively easy to fish two half days at the same spot, but it got a bit busier when I had to fish two different areas that were 24 miles apart (those are river miles).
I met Ron and Larry at the McDonalds in Gassville. They followed me over to the Rim Shoals ramp. We were on the water by 8 a.m. It was a cool start but promised to warm up. We were fishing girdle bugs below cerise San Juan worms. We caught some nice trout.
Then, about mid-morning, Larry hooked a big trout. It took quite a while to land. It turned out to be a 26-inch, stout male brown trout. We took some photos and gently released him. A drift or two later Ron caught a big beautiful rainbow. We fished until noon and I headed for the ramp.
I left the ramp at 12:22 p.m. and was due to meet Ed at 1. That gave me 38 minutes to eat lunch and drive from Rim Shoals to the Bull Shoals Dam. About this time, I realized I had left the sandwich that my wife, Lori, had made for me, at home. I stopped at the Exxon station in Gassville and bought a package of crackers and headed for the dam.
I arrived at 1 p.m. and Ed was waiting for me. I quickly launched the boat. We were fishing a girdle bug below a cerise San Juan worm and a midge dropper. Fishing a three-fly rig is new to me, but it had worked well the previous afternoon.
On the first drift, we landed two nice rainbows. I thought I had it figured out. We went three hours without a bump. I was concerned and running out of time. At the end of the day, I announced this would be the last drift.
Halfway through it, Ed hit a big one. It was pulling line out at will. It took about 10 minutes to get it to the net. It was a stout, 24-inch brown. Ed was pleased. This is why he came here. We went back to the ramp and we both headed home.
What a day! I had two different clients catch trophy browns in two spots, 24 miles apart, on the same day. Life is good!
John Berry is a fly-fishing guide in Cotter and has fished our local streams for more than 35 years. He can be reached at 435-2169 or www.berrybrothersguides.com.
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