Rim Shoals ~ White River, Arkansas October 7-9, 2016
We transferred Jake's gear from his Passat wagon into the GL at my office parking lot, it was around 1PM. As we headed east toward Missouri with the kayaks on the little trailer behind, the roads were clear except for those folks heading back to their offices after lunch. We stopped off in Clinton, Missouri to get provisions for the trip, Country Mart, a small town grocery with narrow isles and poor lighting, reminds me of the way things were growing up in Eastern Washington State in the 70's.
As evening set and darkness overtook the Arkansas landscape, we could see the glimmer of the White as we crossed the bridge at Cotter. We decided on some wings in Mountain Home before we rolled into Rim Shoals Resort to discover that an intruder had occupied the cabin we had reserved. It was a long night with Jake in the passenger seat rolled all the way back and I on folded down seats in the back of the GL. After some sleep, 5AM rolled arond and we repacked and made out way to Cotter for breakfast at the Warrior Cafe, promptly at 6AM with its outside kitchen camp stove sizzling with bacon and buffet line fully stocked for hungry fishermen ready to be on the water. These are friendly folks who know what they are doing to meet the needs of their customers.
As the sun came up and we checked in with the flyshop, who apologized for the mishap with the reservation from the night before, gladly showed us to another cabin free of charge for the second night. We put up our rods and unloaded the kayaks, soon we were paddling our way downstream in the fog of the morning. We reached the first island and beached the kayaks in the tall grass and rocks above the high water mark and began working our way down the runs on both sides.
I got the first fish, a 12" rainbow swinging an olive cone-head bugger at the tailout where both currents met, Jake fished the other side and eventually got the combo right and started to catch fish, it was a banner day for the Midwest, 74 degrees and sunny, light breeze and no humidity, perfection in October. We paddled back upstream and went to our cabin at the north end of the complex. The 3 bedroom, 2 bath cabin was more like a house, very nice and more than we needed. We grilled some sausages and burgers, ate and took an hour rest to catch up on sleep, lost the night before.
We geared up and drove the kayaks to the public access at the south end of the resort. We launched and paddled across to the lower island, picked up a few fish in the lower section and were resting when a small whitetail buck walked up on us, drank and then swam the river and climbed out among the boulders on the east bank. We moved back up to the head of the big island, as darkness set in we were both catching fish swinging big streamers, they were feeding hard in the riffle at the upper end. It was exciting as the fish would strike hard or hit and miss. The sedges were hatching and fish were rising in the broken water, as dark set in we paddled back to the parking area and loaded the kayaks again. Sleep was on us quickly after Jake pan-fried some steaks with melted horseradish cheese and butter melted over. A good start and much anticipation for morning.
A pound of bacon and coffee in a press were waiting when Jake rolled out, the remains of the bacon and a fresh thermos went into the pack for later when we would be thinking about paddling back for lunch, but would not want to sacrifice precious time on the water. We worked the east side of the big island and had luck nymping and Jake on streamers further down. As the day closed out and we packed up to go, Jake had 18 fish to my 16, a great trip and memory. The drive home was safe and we were reunited with the family.
