Getting ready to unload the SS250 in another fishy looking section of river. Notice my left foot and the pole where the camera is attached. My foot is holding the pole from rocking back and forth. I later would fix with electrical tape as gasket for a tighter fit.
Getting ready to unload the SS250 in another fishy looking section of river. Notice my left foot and the pole where the camera is attached. My foot is holding the pole from rocking back and forth. I later would fix with electrical tape as gasket for a tighter fit.

I’m aboard yet another SouthWest flight, this time, leaving Little Rock, heading to New Orleans.   I scrambled to get my stuff packed up.  All the sudden, my 2 week fishing adventure/holidays 2015/ New Year 2016 trip is over.   The first week I was here, the fish and the fishing was feeling right.  Then, we got hit with Winter Storm Goliath.  That sorta wrecked the second half of my trip.

Final tally –  1 bite (Huddleston), 3 BIG followers (1 Huddleton and 2 on the Slide Swimmer).    No catches.  Yay.  At least I got to feel the burn of sore wrists and forearms from lobbing the bigbaits around.

This is the confluence of the Cotter Spring and the White River.  It is usually crystal clear.  Winter Storm Goliath wants me to come back to AR again soon.  Sorta cramped the trout fishing!
This is the confluence of the Cotter Spring and the White River. It is usually crystal clear. Winter Storm Goliath wants me to come back to AR again soon. Sorta cramped the trout fishing!

Pole Cat –

I’ve been messing with better ways to shoot video.   GoPro cameras are awesome, but I find them a little challenging to get good footage with, when it comes to filming your day of fishing.   I use the heck out of my GoPros for underwater footage.  They rock for that.  I’m trying to get away from a camcorder style camera in the back of the boat on a tripod.  The GoPro tends to excel at up close, in your face type action.   I don’t particularly care for footage that is shot from a head or chest mounted camera.  You miss a lot of what is going on.

The GoPro, I've found, is great when suspended about 2-3 feet above and 1 foot behind your head.
The GoPro, I’ve found, is great when suspended about 2-3 feet above and 1 foot behind your head.

I ended up with a 10′ piece of 1/2″ conduit, purchased for $2.50 at Lowes.   It miraculously fit perfectly in the seat mount/pedestal mounts in my little Tracker Grizzly aluminum river rig.    I have some refining to do, but the POV (point of view) and accessibility of the camera while fishing was great.

 

You can use the web application to dial in your mounting.  I find myself going manual a lot. I sorta know where to aim it now.
You can use the web application to dial in your mounting. I find myself going manual a lot. I sorta know where to aim it now.
This is what I was looking for.  I want to see the bottom and have more of a bird's eye view.  Yes, I like to fish grass beds, whether I'm trout or bass fishing.  Big fishes like grass.
This is what I was looking for. I want to see the bottom and have more of a bird’s eye view. Yes, I like to fish grass beds, whether I’m trout or bass fishing. Big fishes like grass.

 

You get a much better feel for the river, the bottom, and how shallow it can be, even when there is water running.  I would love to show you what catching a big one from up here looks like!
You get a much better feel for the river, the bottom, and how shallow it can be, even when there is water running. I would love to show you what catching a big one from up here looks like!
I cannot believe how different I am than a few years ago.  It didn't phase me to not catch any fish, and didn't phase me the flood conditions pretty much messed up 50% of my trip.   I have better control of my emotions and expectations.  I am enjoying things and not getting all fussy about nothing.  Amazing.  Thank you yoga.
I cannot believe how different I am than a few years ago. It didn’t phase me to not catch any fish, and didn’t phase me the flood conditions pretty much messed up 50% of my trip. I have better control of my emotions and expectations. I am enjoying things and not getting all fussy about nothing. Amazing. Thank you yoga.
Wading, on a Tuesday afternoon.  Braid, Okuma Komodo 364 and a top hook Huddleston 68 with the barb pinched down.  Shallow water trophy hunting, White River, Arkansas.
Wading, on a Tuesday afternoon. Braid, Okuma Komodo 364 and a top hook Huddleston 68 with the barb pinched down. Shallow water trophy hunting, White River, Arkansas.

I’m realizing where I’ve made miscalculations and misjudgements in my fishing at times.   I’m a huge fan of big fat round reels. I am born and raised on Don Iovino “doodling” where short Phenix Rods, w Excalibur Handles and round Abu-Garcia reels where how you caught fish in Southern California.   Now, at a macro level, understand that Iovino was both right and wrong.  At that same time, a guy like Dean Rojas was smashing fish with reaction baits, challenging the finesse only / shaking 4″ worms on 8 pound line in >20 feet of water to get a bit.    My point being, I’ve made mistakes in REEL SELECTION at times.  Low profile reels tend to be way more easy to fish.  They weigh ounces less than the big gold Shimano Calcutta TE or D Series.  Low profile reels have way better gears than they used to, they have quicker gear ratios and line pickup speeds, and can handle all your bigbaits. I like the slowness of the round TE 400 for specialized Huddleston fishing. I can’t see myself not having a few 400 TEs in the boat with me, but the 300 Series of low profile swimbait reels continues to grow on me.   Anywho, besides ergonomic and aesthetic advantages, they tend to have faster gear ratios.  I suppose I need to say, the Shimano Curado 300 is and will remain a sick ass low profile swimbait reel that can handle bigbaits and big fish.   However,  Shimano is no longer in the position they enjoyed historically.  Insert Okuma.

Okuma provides a great value product.  They have made outstanding rods in the bigbait fishing department for years.  The Guide Select Series has been what I and many other recommend to beginning swimbait fisherman.  I know Mark Rogers and Mike Bennett a little bit, and know these guys charge hard and do a lot of hardcore charging.   They keep hardcore swimbait fishing happy and treat them with respect and aloha.  Check out what Oliver Ngy (Big Bass Dreams)  and Kevin Mattson (Bass King)  fish with.   Okuma wisely has decided to engage subject matter experts and figure out ways to partner and team up with them.  The result is what can be seen and felt in the Okuma Komodo 364.   Let’s be honest., the Okuma reels couldn’t compete in the quality department years ago, but now they can.  They’ve proven it now for the last few years, and the work of buys in both salt and freshwater are all the validation you should need.

Slinging a Huddie 68 at a 45 degree upriver angle. Fishing it back down and across.  Sometimes stalling to a 45 degree downriver or more angle retrieve back.
Slinging a Huddie 68 at a 45 degree upriver angle. Fishing it back down and across. Sometimes stalling to a 45 degree downriver or more angle retrieve back.

You need a few 300 Series, low profile reels in your swimbait game.  Skipping 6″ Weedless Huddlestons under docks was a favorite past time of mine for years.  Low profile reels and dock skipping make a lot of sense.  A new trend in my Triple Trout fishing is fishing the 7-8″ Triple Trout on the Curado 300. The quicker gear ratio (vs the Calcutta 300 or 400) made fishing the Triple Trout way easier.   So, I find the mid range hardbaits to be an outstanding application of the 300 Series of reels.  What Kevin Mattson and Oliver Ngy have really opened my eyes to is the application of the 300 series, with the Komodo 364 to the megabaits, the bigger bigbaits like the Slide Swimmer 250.  The Slide Swimmer 250 and the magnum glide baits like the Roman Mades, Gan Craft and big Rago Glideaor, need to be a staple in your swimbait fishing, as are the Huddleston Deluxe, Triple Trout, MS Slammer and the rat baits of your choice.

The base of the Bull Shoals Dam, and the genesis of the White River trout fishery.  Big browns live here.  Don't fish here.  You might get your arm broke.
The base of the Bull Shoals Dam, and the genesis of the White River trout fishery. Big browns live here. Don’t fish here. You might get your arm broke.

Here’s the deal, you can spend $250 on a Curado 300 and be happy. Shimano is not a company that can be engaged if you are interested in fishing for a living and want to partner with them in any shape or form.  Just leave it at that.  Fish their stuff, and be stoked, it’s awesome. Or you could spend $ 220, buy an Okuma Komodo 364, and align yourself with a company and group of guys the welcomes and engages the swimbait fishing community and subject matter experts. When there are alternatives out there, like Okuma and Abu Garcia that are making great value products that are high quality,  capitalism and free markets take their course.   I would definitely recommend the Okuma Komodo 364 now after fishing it hard. I haven’t caught the uber giants with it yet, but I did fish the gamut of my favorite mid size and magnum sized baits, and have wipped some nice fish.  I keep a pulse on what reels guys are really catching their fish with, and the Komodo 364 across both salt and freshwater continues to impress and amaze.   Check out Okuma’s facebook page to get a pulse on their community and O’hana HERE.

Blazing July Heat, 50 degree White River, and the Slide Swimmer 250.  The Okuma Komodo 364 has the guts to lob megabaits.  And the gearing and quality to do it 50B times in your lifetime.  Low profile, quicker, and easier on your wrists.   Talk about putting english into a Slide Swimmer and cutting current.
Blazing July Heat, 50 degree White River, and the Slide Swimmer 250. The Okuma Komodo 364 has the guts to lob megabaits. And the gearing and quality to do it 50B times in your lifetime. Low profile, quicker, and easier on your wrists. Talk about putting English into a Slide Swimmer and cutting current.  Notice the fish’s mouth got a little tore up, but Karma came around quick, notice my thumb bleeding on my right hand. She gouged me good as I tried to pick her up at one point.

 

The Promar Net is my livewell and definitely served it's purpose in spades this day.
The Promar Net is my livewell and definitely served it’s purpose in spades this day.

 

2nd Slide Swimmer fish. Notice how gold and orange this fish is vs. the above fish.  This one was way smaller, like a 23" fish.  The above fish was >30" and my biggest brown ever.  I love the GoPro.  Shots like this are random and just fun.
2nd Slide Swimmer fish. Notice how gold and orange this fish is vs. the above fish. This one was way smaller, like a 23″ fish. The above fish was >30″ and my biggest brown ever. I love the GoPro. Shots like this are random and just fun.

For what it’s worth, I highly recommend you invest in a Komodo 364, a spool of 65 or 80# braid, and pair it with the swimbait rod of your choice and application.  Braid and the low profile bigbait reel with the faster gear ratio have changed my fishing.  It works and is my system for many baits now with the exception of slow rolling Huddlestons , fishing for the ‘one’ in some super clear / super pressured situation.   I use florocarbon leaders where applicable.  Braid gives you WAY MORE control and play with your hardbaits.  You can make turns and stalls and cut water WAY BETTER than with mono or floro.  There is only usually a foot or two of line actually in the water ahead of the bait, because you tend to ‘high stick’ your rod tip on your retrieve with braid.   You don’t have the line sag and drag challenges you do with mono or floro.

Click HERE to purchase the Okuma 364 Komodo.

 

 

Fishing for trophy brown trout on the White River in Cotter, Arkansas, is making me a better swimbait fisherman. There are new challenges of current, water fluctuation, baits, rigging, and access. This fish went 29.5 Inches and ate a 3 Dot Olive 10″ Triple Trout at the base of a shoal.

 

I haul a lot of water, with swimbaits, hunting trophy brown trout….but it’s all about learning. I’m still rigging my modified jon boat into a better river boat. I’m still learning the river, how to control the boat, and what angles the fish seem to prefer. The bait selection is easy: Huddleston and Triple Trout for the most part. Duh.

 

Above the Narrows, White River, Arkansas

 

The quiver of boats you need in the Ozarks. I love my Ranger Boat, but goddam I’m tired of burning fuel. Drift boats are awesome, and Honda 4 Strokes, are incredibly efficient.

 

River fishing, current, and the orientation of the fish makes casting angles and how you line and position yourself up so much different than I’d do in lakes, but it’s still very similar.

 

It’s safe to say Simms Fishing Products rock, and fit perfectly into the ‘cross over’ conversation. Love their products, their company and style.

 

Not lots of room to work with up on the deck, but shoot, room enough. Love how jon boats fish, and just love getting on the river and having access. Forgot to put the spare trailer tire in the truck, I don’t usually bring spare tires in the boat!

 

Fishing with 2 Fly Fisherman this day, out of a drift boat, you have to understand how different they fish. You have 3 people in a small boat. You have shuttles to run so you have a truck at the end of your drift, and maybe a trailer too. You need someone to row, and 2 guys to fish and you rotate. I can cast 4 X further than these guys, so I am rarely at a disadvantage, even from the back of the boat.

 

You don’t grip a brown trout by the jaw. Their mouth and teeth could probably eat a tin can. Trout fisherman are super careful about fish care and handling fish. These big White River brown trout are healthy and hearty, and this one was released unharmed.

 

The Trophy Brown Trout in the White River are eating the stocked rainbow trout. The browns are wild fish, and savvy fly fishermen are using streamers to get big browns. For a guy like me, swimbaits and bigbaits are a no brainer.

 

BigBaits, Simms Fishing Products, Drift Boats and a slowed down pace of fishing. This isn’t tournament fishing. This is trophy hunting, and brown trout are an excellent cross over opportunity. The White River in Arkansas is accessible to most of the MidWest and South very easily.
You could say I was stoked. Look how black that fish is. Really dark brown trout, up around the bend, Cotter, Arkansas White River.

Just wanted to share some more pics of the ‘big catch’.  I’m still undecided how big the fish is.  Bummed I was an idiot and didn’t measure the thing officially.   I don’t typically measure or weigh fish unless they are giant, which is weird I suppose, but you sorta just go cool, I got a good one, and enjoy it for a while and keep planning more trips and well timed assaults.

 

The White River in Arkansas is a trophy brown trout fishery. Quite possibly the best brown trout fishery in the United States.  Anytime you have a legit shot at a >24″ brown trout, you are trophy hunting, and in the White River, you have a legit shot at >30″ brown trout.   The above fish is approx. 27″ long, but doesn’t weigh that much.  Long and thin, but don’t get me wrong, one of the finest catches I’ve made in a while.  8″ Huddleston Deluxe Rainbow Trout swimbait with the Southern Trout Eaters trap rig setup with gills added.  The brown trout fishery that exists here is a wonderful story, and includes the names of people like Dave Whitlock and Forrest Wood as well as bunch of agencies, volunteers, State and Federal fisheries, and the Corp of Engineers…all working together and compromising.  The White River has many secrets, many bends, many shoals, many miles and many fish.  You need at least 2 probably 3 different boats to fish it properly, not including wade fishing.    Brown trout are just an amazingly fun fish to hunt and catch.  They are very gamey and eat moving baits, and definitely eat bigbaits.  They are known to attack rats and birds and other terrestrials as well as other trout.   Hmmm, that breaks my heart to hear!

Leviathan. The mouth of a brown trout from this angle can look like some crazy eel or serpent mouth. Very different mouth, tongue, teeth and bite than a largemouth, but still trout eatin’ lips!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzOzCu4A_To]

We first broke the ice on the swimbait bite on the White River in what was documented in our film Southern Trout Eaters.  Now, two summers later, we are living on the White and spending a whole lot more time and energy to really dial in the fish.  We have a long way to go.  Fishing in current is a new challenge in itself.   The above is a short clip of an approx. 26-27″ trophy brown trout caught near Cotter, Arkansas,  on the 8″ Huddleston Deluxe Rainbow Trout swimbait, using our Southern Trout Eaters Huddleston Rig, with the added gill modification, ROF 12.   We got some nice footage of the release and just wanted to share our ‘personal best’ with you.  It isn’t often you wake up at 5am with swimbait fishing on your mind when the calendar tells you it’s July and the forecast is well into the 100+ degree mark.   But that is what happens when you understand some of the nuances of Southern swimbait fishing.   Trout Eaters are where you find them.

The Southern Trout Eaters rig works well with brown trout I’m finding. Like bass, big brown trout don’t always inhale the bait or eat it head first. Lots of swipes, kisses and short bites by those super smart brownies. ST-66 treble hooks are perfect for the rock hard bone razor teeth laden mouths of trophy brown trout.

 

Trophy Trout are not easy to catch or hold onto for a picture. Notice the size of the head and jaws vs. the rest of the body. A cool 104 degree July afternoon in Arkansas, contrasted by 58 degree water temps in the mighty White River.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOb03lrPJD8]

I’m not a great trout fisherman, and I haven’t spent as much time with the Huddle-Bug as I’d like to speak with any super authority on the bait, but let me tell you, I’m learning in hurry.  Brown trout are notoriously tough fish to catch.   They are very smart and very spooky and very well in tuned with their natural environment.  They are easily spooked and require an excellent presentation to catch.   It’s been said, catching a 10 pound brown trout is much more difficult than catching a 10 pound bass.  All I know is, I really like crossing over, cross over fishing intrigues me.  Taking swimbait and freshwater applications and applying them to other species and salty waters.

The Huddle Bug by Ken Huddleston
You know what they say: "Huddle-Bugs of a feather..." Ken Huddleston's Huddle-Bug, realism in the crustacean kind

So, here is the Huddle-Bug in a nut-shell.  Very very real.  Very real movement and look in the water.   The Huddle Bug Jig Head fits the bait perfectly and is a combo ‘pea’ and skakey head with a screw lock to make sure your bait rigs and fishes true.  If a man knew where a bunch of big smallmouth and spotted bass lived (not to excluded largemouth at all!) I think he could get well in a hurry with these baits.  Deep fish that eat small jigs, or shallow water, river fish that you have to use finesse jigs and craw presentations.   Not the ‘stroking a jig’ style of fish, but the slowly creep, and pop/hop  style of fish.  The fish that are eating by sight, by realism and by instinct.

White River Ozarks Brown Trout on the Huddle-bug
Brown Trout are a litmus test of sorts, because browns are often said to be one of the most difficult fish to fool. Just ask a fly fisherman. Catching a brown and the other looks I had in 2 separate "stalking sessions" is all I needed to see to say, "yep, this bait is legit".

This brown trout is NOT a bedding brown or a ‘red’ as they call them.    This is a pre-spawn brown trout, and if you really want to try some really cool fishing, you walk softly along the banks of the White River near Cotter, Arkansas and you look for browns hunkered down, just sitting and occassionally feeding, but sitting really calmly, hardly moving or giving themselves away. If you can spot them, and you make a good presentation, you can catch these fish.  The Huddle-Bug catches them.  The browns showed immediate interest and well, this is just the beginning of this game too.   You’ll notice in the above photo montage/animation the “stalk up on them” cast, throw upstream, and drift of the bait into the fish’s feeding lane and getting the fish to eat with a natural presentation/hop/slide.

My setup:

Bait:  The Huddle Bug  (match whatever color of crawfish you believe the fish are eating, where ever you happen to be fishing)

Jig Head:  The Huddleston Jig Head

Rod:  Shimano Cumara 7’2″ M Action Spinning Rod  (CUS72M)

Reel:   Shimano Stradic C14 Spinning Reel (STC142500F)

Main Line:   Power Pro, 15#

Leader:   Yamamoto Sugoi Florocarbon 10#  (double uni knot to Main Line/braid)

The rigged Huddle-bug
The rigged Huddle-Bug on the Huddle-bug Jig Head, built to fit perfectly and compliment the bait. Screw lock holds the bait secure and make sure your bait fishes and trackes true. I like to 'texpose' and come out like the picture above, then tuck the hook point back under a little skin and cover it, but make it really easy to expose. In some cases, just leave it exposed even.
White River Brown Trout Sight Fishing with a Huddle-Bug
18 inches of Joy. The White River, near Cotter, Arkansas, the "new" new proving grounds. Truth in fishing. Cross over fishing proves truths that transcend species and fresh and salt boundaries.
Undeside of the Huddle-bug
Underside Huddle-Bug Etouffee