Fly-fishing for trout on the North Fork of the White River is never easy; and June and July may be the toughest month of all. A combination of abundant available food, warmer water temperatures and the inevitable "aluminum hatch," make the wild trout of the North Fork develop lockjaw at worst and become skittish at best. Does that mean that you shouldn’t make the trip to the River of Life Farm during the heat of the southern Missouri summer? Absolutely not. In fact, if you follow a few simple steps you might just catch the biggest fish of the summer like I did this year.

Before I continue, let me tell you that I am not an expert fly fisherman. I consider myself to be either an advanced beginner or on the cusp of becoming a neophyte intermediate. There are many people who can better help your fly-fishing success while at ROLF, but here are the steps I try to take to have fun.

1. Timing is everything. The time of day and the time of the week that you fish can make an incredible difference in whether you have a little success or do more fishing than catching.

   The best time of the day to get out is either the early morning or the early evening hours. At these times, the sun is off the water and the trout seem to be more mobile. On June 24^, 2002, I caught an impressive 14" rainbow trout right off Pescador’s Point between 7:30 and 8:00 PM. Although I arrived at the Farm at about 4:00 PM, I didn’t even enter the water until 7:00. On this same trip, I was able to catch a number of 7 – 9 inch brown trout at Kelly’s Ford at about 7:30 in the morning. Additionally, I was able to enjoy the impressive sight of the fog coming off the cooler river water coming from the springs upstream of Kelly’s.

   As far as time of the week, weekdays are the best if you can schedule them. The North Fork is a very popular float stream and receives most of its canoe population during Saturday and Sunday afternoons. 95% of the floaters are great people who are having a fun time, the other 5% are idiots but that’s a better ratio than you’ll see in real life. However, even the good people do not realize the impact of noise on the psyche of a trout. Save yourself the trouble of fighting the "aluminum hatch," get up early, fish hard in the morning and relax in the afternoon. The trout may be a bit spookier after the last floater goes through, so be patient in the evening. Eventually they’ll calm down.

2. Watch the weather. A cloudy day can make a huge difference in your summer fishing success.

   In July 2001, my friends Jeff, Craig and I made a trip to the Farm. Although we endured a thundershower on our arrival Thursday night, we also benefited from a cloudy Friday morning. Craig, who had never fly-fished before, caught a nice little brown right above the Falls on his first cast that morning. Jeff caught the biggest brown trout he’s ever caught on the North Fork. In addition, I was fortunate enough to pull off an individual double by catching an 8-inch smallmouth on a stonefly nymph and a 6-inch brown trout on a prince nymph dropper on the same cast! Between the three of us, we caught and released probably 40 fish before 2:00 PM. At that time, the overcast lifted and the fishing turned off. So watch the weather, clouds are good!

3. Pay attention to your environment. This fly-fishing tip applies any time you’re on the water, but applies particularly to the North Fork.

On my trip this June, I immediately began to nymph. The reputation of, and my previous experience on, the North Fork had showed me that this is the best method of catching fish on this river. As the sun settled closer to the hilltops of the Ozarks, I began to notice a number of smaller fish leaping out of the water. I couldn’t see any hatch coming off, but figured that they were either feeding on midges or emerging Caddis. I switched to my 4-weight bamboo rod and began to search the runs with a number 18 Elk Hair Caddis. On my fourth cast, I landed the 14" rainbow I spoke of earlier.

Overall, my summer trips to ROLF have been good. I used to paraphrase Jimmy Buffett and say that I’ve had good days, and bad days, and going half-mad days on the North Fork. Anymore, I just think that any day on this delightful stream cannot be bad.

Remember these hints the next time you call Myron to find out how the fishing is in the summer and hear him say "Tough." You just might have the same luck as I have had in the past.