On a rainy day, the fishing can be better than you’d expect
This was Frank Saksa’s idea of a beautiful day.
It was raining on the White River. Hard.
Fog shrouded the water, blending with the dark, low-hanging clouds.
And the water was moving, thanks to power generation at the dam.
A beautiful day? Only in the eyes of a die-hard brown-trout fisherman.
“These are perfect conditions for fishing these stickbaits,” said Saksa, 62, as water dripped off his red rain suit. “You want an overcast day like this when the water’s moving. The big browns can get wary. They notice anything that’s out of place in their world.
“When it’s cloudy, the rain is hitting the surface and the water’s moving, they can’t sense the splash of the bait or the boat. They don’t get a good look at that bait. They just see the flash.
“It’s easier to fool them.”
Seconds later, Saksa, a longtime guide for Gaston’s White River Resort, proved his point. He instructed a customer to make a long cast with a white stickbait to a stretch of water near a rocky bank.
The fisherman jerked the bait several times, then paused and let it suspend in the clear water. When the retrieve was resumed, a brown trout flashed at the lure and pulled hard when it felt the sting of the hooks.
The trout flew into the air in an angry fit, then resumed its fight once it landed. But the battle was short-lived and Saksa soon had the 18-inch brown trout in the net.
“These stickbaits will get them when the conditions are right,” Saksa said as he unhooked the fish and eased it back into the water.
This day was living proof. On a morning that only a brown-trout fisherman could view as beautiful, Saksa’s two fishing partners (Bill Cooksey and me) caught and released seven big brown trout, all fooled by the suspending stickbaits.
Saksa wasn’t surprised. He was a pioneer in the use of the big baits on the White River in northern Arkansas, tearing a page out of the bass fishermen’s book.
Like many, Saksa had found success on the lures on Bull Shoals Lake, catching big largemouth bass. He followed a trend in which fishermen experimented with different ways to get the baits to suspend when paused.
“They didn’t come that way out of the box in those days,” he said. “We would take the baits, drill holes and put weights in them and get them to suspend.”
In the early days, countdown Rapalas were a popular lure for catching brown trout on the White River. But Saksa reasoned, “If the stickbaits work on bass, why not trout?”
He began using Rogues and found great success on the White. But there were limitations.
“When I first started using stickbaits, there was only the Rogue and not very many colors,” he said. “As the word got out, the fish got used to those baits and they got harder to catch.”
Luckily for Saksa, that’s when many other companies flooded the market with their versions of the stickbaits. And suddenly, he had plenty of options.
“I can open my tackle box and show you 25 types of stickbaits that I have caught big browns on,” Saksa said. “Today, the baits are 10 times better than they used to be, and there so man color options.
“I can match a bait for the conditions.”
Saksa has lured brown trout as big as 14 pounds on the stickbaits, and a customer caught one that was 2 pounds larger. Saksa calls it “bass fishing for trout.” And in a river such as the White, which offers nationally known fishing for brown trout, it can pay off big time.
“We have a lot of brown from 3 to 5 pounds right now,” Saksa said. “And there’s always a shot at one bigger.”
The conditions have to be right, though. The suspending stickbaits generally are not effective in calm water, where the big fish can get a good look at the imitation. Saksa likes to see at least three generators running before he will even instruct his customers to start casting the baits.
“The biggest fish come on six or seven generators,” Saksa said. “The fish are generally pushed toward the banks, where they don’t have to fight the current as much, and they’re feeding.
“That’s when it can get fun.”
To reach outdoors editor Brent Frazee, call 816-234-4319 or send email to bfrazee@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @fishboybrent.
The mighty White
▪ PATH: The White River follows a fascinating, winding path. It originates in the Boston Mountains in northwest Arkansas. From there, it flows northward into Missouri, where it becomes Lake Taneycomo for a stretch. It then flows through other impoundments such as Table Rock and Bull Shoals lakes before it heads southeast through Arkansas to its mouth with the Mississippi River.
▪ LENGTH: 722 miles.
▪ HISTORY: The White River was once known for its excellent float fishing before dams were constructed and reservoirs were built. It had outstanding fishing for smallmouth bass, and guides would take customers for multi-day trips down the Ozark float stream. The changed when reservoirs were built and cold water was sent from the bottom of reservoirs into sections of the river. Today, the portion of the White that flows through northwest Arkansas and Lake Taneycomo in southwest Missouri are nationally known trout fisheries.
▪ RESERVOIRS: Eight dams, six in Arkansas and two in Missouri, now impound portions of the White. Reservoirs such as Table Rock, Taneycomo, Bull Shoals and Beaver are nationally known for their warm-water fishing.
▪ LUXURY ON THE WATER: Gaston’s White River Resort near Lakeview, Ark., is known nationally for its amenities. It started in 1958 when Al Gaston purchased 20 acres of river frontage that had six small cabins and six boats. Today, the resort covers more than 400 acres, and has almost 80 cottages, a highly rated restaurant, an airstrip and 80 boats.
▪ MORE INFORMATION: For more information on the trout fishing on the White River, call Gaston’s White River Resort at 870-431-5202.
| Brent Frazee, bfrazee@kcstar.com
This story was originally published June 5, 2015 at 1:34 PM with the headline "On a rainy day, the fishing can be better than you’d expect."