North Fork of the White, Trout for the Soul.

College Basketball is exciting but I prefer the kind of madness that comes from the reoccurring dreams of clear water and catching fish. It can only be cured by solitary hours casting to beautiful trout on a perfect river. This madness often occurs in March when the weather starts turning and the long winter nights break forth to the sweet sights and sounds of spring - the sights and sounds that include rising trout. I had the opportunity to fish the North Fork of the White River, Wild Trout Section, three times during the month of March, thanks to spending Spring Break with my family and doing some part-time consulting work in Ava. A fresh change from life as a Youth Pastor.

My first dose of the cure came on March 5. After driving for close to five hours, I arrived at the River of Life Farm (ROLF), guest of the ever gracious hosts of Myron and Ann McKee. After setting up in the Eagles Nest Cabin, I had just enough daylight for about 1 ½ hours of fishing. The weather was cloudy and cool, in the low 40s, and the river normal and slightly colored. I chose a rubber-legged black stonefly imitation that I tied and began to work my way from below Jack’s riffle, hitting the riffle and run-out completely. After about 15 minutes of work, I landed my first wild rainbow, approximately 12-13". In the next twenty minutes or so, I landed two more, the last pushing 14". Toward dark it was like someone turned the fish dinner sign off, and I spent the last 45 minutes in a cool breeze practicing my casting and having the fish laugh. Due to an early morning engagement, I was unable to take any more treatments for my madness.

I returned on March 8 and fished for about two hours in the evening and about an hour early the next morning in and around Jack’s riffle at the ROLF. The river was near normal and very clear, necessitating the use of light lines. Again in the evening, I landed three small rainbows on black and brown size 8 and 10 stonefly imitations. I was looking forward to the evening midge hatch but very few bugs were seen - probably due to the very cool temperatures. I did manage to find out that my waders leaked in the crotch!!!

Not being cured of my madness, I returned with my wife, children and in-laws the week of March 19 to enjoy a mini Spring Break vacation. Monday morning I fished for an hour with no luck, except for the fact that my father-in-law watched me do a head long dive into the river. Later in the day I floated the river with my two daughters Christina and Caroline, ages 13 and 10, from the ROLF to Patrick Bridge in the Trophy Trout Section. Again the river was normal and clear. Spending time and floating with my girls is an outstanding experience - one that I will cherish and hope to continue through the years. Fishing, however, was a little tough. I worked hard for five rainbows and one brown, all small, and my youngest daughter did manage to land one Brown Trout. Christina had several hookups but as happens, the good ones get away. Myron indicated that the river is tough at times and six fish in a day is a good day.

Myron invited me to guide a fisherman down the river on Tuesday. Now I do know most of the river pretty well and normally I do catch fish and Myron is a good friend, but lucky for me he has never seen my casting style or my ability to plunge headlong into the river. Any way, it is an opportunity for a few bucks and to work on my madness with a new partner. In this case, Steve from Springfield. Steve and I spent from 8:30 am to 6: pm on the river, floating from the ROLF to Patrick Bridge. Steve started at The Falls and we hit this section hard with stonefly imitations and woolly buggers. After an hour with no hook-ups, we moved downstream to Jack’s Riffle. Again, the water was clear so I advised Steve to go with a 5x or lighter tippet and high stick a nymph through the riffle, letting the fly tail out at the end of the drift. After some work at the new technique, Steve landed the first wild rainbow, and then took two more from the riffle on a black woolly bugger, including a 16+ inch hog. What a beautiful fish!!! We spent the day working the riffles hard and drifting slower sections. Steve landed a dozen fish, combination rainbows and browns, mostly on black woolly buggers and prince nymphs. I managed to land several, although I stuck with techniques and flies I had never tried on the river before as a ‘period of experimentation’. During the morning and evening, sporadic midge and small caddisfly hatches (along with a few small brown stoneflies and PDMs) occurred and I had some fun with emerger patterns. Small gold ribbed emergers brought several hits and fish in the late morning and the hour before dark

We had a special treat during the trip. About ½ mile above Blair Bridge, Steve and I were standing in a riffle and I was watching him nymph a section. Suddenly we heard splashing, turned upstream to see four deer running at full speed across the head of the riffle - only about 50yards away. They never saw us until they were climbing their way up the steep hillside. They didn’t miss a step.

The odd thing about this trip is that several of the runs and riffles that I have produced well in the past, including one section where I took six rainbows in one riffle the year before, produced very little. The river and the fish still have many lessons to give - just when you think you have it figured out.

As always, Myron and Ann were wonderful hosts. I highly recommend the ROLF with it’s 3/4 mile of river access, great accommodations (I recommend the Tree House - what a cabin! Check it out on the riveroflifefarm.com web site) and superb fishing for Wild Fish. After all the fishing and time on the river, I discovered that my madness continues, and there is no real cure, only prevention through application of water, fish, line and fly. Sometimes you hope a cure never comes.