Gettin? Hooked: Lure of Trout Fishing Can be Addictive

Every hard-working executive needs a release.

Some prefer catch-and-release.

Bob Still, a senior partner and trial attorney with Bassett Law Firm in Fayetteville, takes trout fishing as seriously as winning courtroom battles.

“We live in a world of constant conflicts and disagreements,” Still said. “But when I go fishing, I’m concentrated on only that, and those worries back at my office kind of slip my mind.”

Still has been chasing trout most of his life and is among the many who consider it a perfect outlet for casting away troubles. While there are hundreds of ways to do it, once someone catches that first trout — they’re hooked.

The best thing about the hobby, which most everyone involved calls a sport, is its proximity to Northwest Arkansas.

In fact, trout-filled waters below Beaver Dam are less than a one-hour drive up Highway 72 East from Rogers while the Bull Shoals and Norfork tailwaters near Mountain Home are about three hours away.

It makes trout fishing a popular retreat for entertaining clients, rewarding employees or the executive who simply needs a weekend away.

More than 80 percent of the trout caught in the state come out of those three tailwaters, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. A 2003 trout angler survey said trout fishing in Arkansas generated more than $182 million in revenue.

“Tailwaters” refers to the rivers that result below dammed lakes.

Trout can be caught from the riverbank, but most use a boat while fishing by either conventional (a short, stiff rod and light-tackle spinning reel) or fly-fishing methods. They catch four different types of trout: rainbow, brown, brook and cutthroat.

Rainbows are the most plentiful in all three tailwaters, but the deceptive, bigger browns are usually what enthusiasts mount for wall-hangers.

Guides are almost a necessity for the novice since rising and falling water levels require knowledge of the river in order to keep from dragging bottom in commonly used 20-foot Jon boats.

And no one wants to fall in.

Water temperatures are usually in the 50s and can be bone-chilling thanks to the regular — and sometimes erratic — generation schedules at hydroelectric power stations at each dam.

Guides can be booked through their Web sites, area bait and tackle stores, or one of the many resorts that offer everything from classes to package weekends. Most guided trips average between $175 to $366 per day.

Gaston’s White River Resort — which grossed about $6 million in revenue last year — below Bull Shoals Dam has a 3,200-foot, Bermuda grass landing strip for those with the means to fly in for a river retreat.

But landing a fish seems to be the main focus, according to Gaston’s owner, Jim Gaston.

“Some golf while a few play tennis, but most are here for the fishing,” Gaston said.

That, and getting away from a ringing phone — most of the time.

“Unfortunately, your cell phone actually does work on the river,” said Still, who occasionally takes clients fishing.

“But I’ll only use it to answer my wife’s phone calls,” he joked.

(Click here for a PDF chart on fish stock.)

Another Day in Paradise

Gaston has lived a stone’s throw from what he calls paradise most of his life. His father, Al Gaston, purchased 20 acres of White River frontage in 1958.

What began as six cottages and six boats has grown to 79 cottages and more than 70 boats with a massive state-of-the-art deck to hold them all.

“I can say without any reservations that we are the largest trout fishing resort in the United States,” Gaston said.

The resort now covers more than 400 acres with two miles of river frontage. There’s also a restaurant, private club, gift shop, tennis court, playground, swimming pool, duck pond, game room, two nature trails and a conference center that seats 125.

Regulars include employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc., as well as groups from companies such as Allen Canning Co. in Siloam Springs, Post Familie Winery of Altus and Producers Rice Mill Inc. of Stuttgart.

Gaston said most of the companies are repeat customers and some have been coming “since the beginning.” There are three golf courses within a 30-minute drive from the resort that are frequented by customers, but most enjoy fishing, either on guided trips or on their own in a rented boat or off the riverbank.

For those who work between casts, high-speed Internet is even available.

“Our philosophy is, tell us what you want and what your goals are and we’ll custom design the trip to your needs,” Gaston said. “We don’t work on a cookie-cutter type thing, because everybody’s needs are different.”

Gaston said folks fly in from all over for a meal at the restaurant that features several trout recipes, such as Trout Almondine.

Guided fishing trips through Gaston’s range from $270 to $366 (including lunch) per day. Boat rentals are available from $43 for a half day to $70 for a full day.

River Rats

Water boiled as a 14-inch rainbow attacked guide Lisa Mullins’ bright pink, floating crank bait. Leaning back with her rod high, she turned the fish over on its side, revealing a white flash and pink streak.

She played the trout a little more (you don’t want to jerk too hard when using only 4-pound test line) to tire it out before pulling the colorful, slippery fish out of the crystal clear stream below Beaver Dam.

“It’s not always that easy,” Mullins said.

Mullins enjoys her job even though she doesn’t fish on the trips she guides. She wants her customers to make that precious first cast into a honey hole. That results in “about 99 percent” of her clients catching their daily, five-trout limit.

Fishing with Mullins ranges from $200 to $275 per day.

One of the few female guides below Beaver Dam, Mullins also is the manager of the The Dam Store, which was recently purchased by the Spider Creek Resort nearby, owned by Peter Godfrey.

Mullins, whose 18-year-old son, Junior, has followed in her footsteps as a guide, is available as often as three days per week for guide trips. Her techniques include casting or trolling any rainbow trout or bright colored Rapala crank bait, which mimics the action of a minnow, or a variety of shiny spoons or jigs.

There’s also “still” fishing, which means the boat is anchored. That’s when guides will use anything from crawdads and corn to Power Bait and worms that are injected with air so the bait will float.

Power Bait is a popular artificial ingredient.

“If they haven’t got their limit or haven’t been real successful casting and trolling in the early afternoon, then we’ll break out the Power Bait or something,” Mullins said.

While Mullins catches quantity, Bill Tuggle of White River Guide Service in Rogers stresses quality. He motors up and down the river below Beaver while usually staying south of Houseman’s Access in hopes of landing a bigger catch, be it a trout, walleye or striper bass.

The 64-pound state record striper was landed in the Beaver tailwaters. Locals figure the beast was getting fat eating the thousands of trout that are stocked in the river on a monthly basis.

“I want my clients knowing that when they set the hook, anything could be on the other end,” said Tuggle, who averages two or three guided trips a week and six per week during the busier months.

Trips with Tuggle range from $175 to $250.

Fly Guys

While Tuggle and Mullins strictly guide using conventional methods, guided fly-fishing trips also are available around every river bend.

Brian Harris works with companies such as Arvest Bank on a monthly basis. He guides on all three tailwaters out of White River Angler in Fayetteville. He prefers the North Fork River because it’s the most fly-fisherman friendly due to fewer boats. The store is a full-service fly-fishing shop that sells everything a fly fisherman needs while also offering classes.

Fly-fishing requires more sight fishing than what is used with conventional methods. By all accounts, the “rush” that comes with spotting a trout and actually catching that specific fish is what makes fly-fishing so alluring.

“It requires a higher level of concentration on the fish and what you are doing, so therefore it is a wonderful distraction,” said Harris, who guides about 100 days per year and charges between $250 to $275 per trip.

There is no exact science to fly-fishing. Some use line that sinks while others use line that floats. The more experienced even tie their own flies and have techniques for casting they believe causes more trout to rise to the surface to strike their fly that can be made from anything from elk hair to turkey feathers.

Fly-fishing requires a much different breed than those who use conventional methods. There’s even a lingo — using words like “dibble” and “dabbing.”

Dennis McCarty, owner of Kwik Kar Lube & Auto Repair in Fayetteville, is a die-hard. He rarely leaves the house without his fly-fishing gear in the back of his Chevy SUV. He makes at least two trips a month to his 2,000-SF cabin (which features 12 beds) on the White River below Bull Shoals Dam.

McCarty also is the Arkansas Council Chair of Trout Unlimited, a volunteer organization that builds and develops chapters all over the country.

“I think fly fishing is just a bigger challenge,” said McCarty, who hauled in more than $1 million in revenue at his lube shop last year. “You’re trying to match the food sources that the fish eat: the bugs, the flies, or whatever.”

Like Still and the other trout chasers, McCarty believes the real lure of the sport is due to the escape it offers only a short drive away.

“It’s not as much the fishing, it’s just that trout live in beautiful places,” McCarty said. “To me, there’s really no other release like it.”

And everyone needs a release.