Great pic!

Well the fog was so thick last night you turn on your head lamp to a blur. But on the good note it compleatly blocked out the moon it was pitch black. They were running one unit so I stuck with the scuds it payed off. I was scared after the first night it wouldn't he any better. Here are a few from last night it's not blurry jus heavy fog loli am pretty sur the fish by my reel could have eaten it and spit it out. All I can say is it's been two nights and wow.

Amazing.

What's the technique for night fishing? And how do they see the flies? I've always good the night fishing is great on the White River and also the Little Red, but I always assumed it was during a full moon only. Do you do anything different from daylight?

AWESOME!

^^^

I'm very curious too. I bass fish conventional tackle all the time in the summer and the solitude of the night fly fishing strikes my interest as well.

My question - do you leave your headlamp on while fishing? One guy I spoke too said it spooks the fish. I just figure you need a little light to see line arch/cast, trees behind you, tangles, mends in fly line, ect. Fly fishing seems so visual to me....

We never used lights bass fishing at night, only to switch baits or once a fish had been hooked.

If there is any moon light at all it will be mostly rainbows no moon pitch black mostly browns they are very nocturnal. I'll post some pics of the rig on return. Hope some more of those beast along the way as well.

And no don't put your head lamp on the water at all it will shut them down for a while.

Hell, I'm going to Moutain Fork this weekend and I'm going to be flat embarrassed to post pictures of anything I might catch. You are the man Robert.

Robert,
Great fish. I am going to be going to the white next month and was wondering where you suggest staying and any fishing info you would be willing to share.

Thanks

This is definitely on the bucket list I heard a lot about it while fishing in Missouri last week! What was the length and girth on your biggest? Congrats man!!!

Robert, you're holding out on me! lol.

Great job man...and how they hell are you posting here when you're catching fish like that?

I'm heading up to MO in a few weeks. Hope to catch a few browns too.

Man it looks like you are having a trip to remember. Hope you keep having fun and a safe trip back.

Good stuff, thanks for the reply!! Good luck! Keep us updated.

Well last night was a sand bass numbers night but all 13-18 inch rainbows did catch 6-7 14 inch browns will be good in the future. But no big fish my girl friend got into them good this evening and is going to fish till she freezes out tonight abou an hour lol.

Well just got off the water for the last night here. Last two nights have been great for numbers right at four this morning some thick clouds rolled in and it got dark. I went back to my streamer for the last few min and stuck one more for the road right at 5 lbs on the bogas what a trip. I will post a more on the trip upon return as well as the night time nymph rig I use.

Yes sir, those are some impressive female Brown trout you're catching up there right now! Looks like you're having the time of your life.

Now, to anyone else who is reading this thread, there are a few things you should know:

1. These pics are of female Brown trout full of eggs. In fact, in several of the pics, both the fish and Robert's waders are covered in roe. But you can also tell they are females by their matched jaws and swollen bellies. Male Brown Trout that size have kypes, or a longer bottom jaw than top jaw.
2. You see, this is spawning season for Brown Trout in the Ozarks, and they become extremely vulnerable to predation during this time. They get on the redds in extremely shallow water (mostly at night in an attempt to avoid being visible to avian predators) to lay their eggs.
3. You may not know that Brown Trout reproduce naturally in the White River system, and stocking programs for Brown Trout were drastically reduced or eliminated in most of the system many years ago now.
4. You also may or may not know that the White River in AR is home to at least 5 all tackle world records for non-sea-run Brown Trout. It is THE trout fishery remaining in North America where you have a realistic shot of catching a 20 lbs Brown Trout in your lifetime.
5. Trout are far more sensitive to disturbances and and disruptions than many of the species of fish we typically fish for down here in Texas (Bass, Bream, etc.). Because of this and a desire for sustainable fisheries, sportsmen around the world work hard to outlaw fishing to trout on their spawning beds and it is generally considered incredibly poor angling ethics to do so.
6. The Ozarks are the Ozarks, and there is still something of a "meat hunter" mentality with regard to trout fishing that traces its roots to the Hillbilly culture and was reinforced for years by heavy stocking programs. This is in spite of the best efforts of Trout Unlimited clubs in the Ozarks, the IFFF clubs in the Ozarks, the fish and game agencies of MO and AR, etc. So you will always see some guys out there doing it, but those numbers have dropped dramatically in recent years thanks to better education efforts.
7. Those "unannounced generation" events with low output levels are part of what we call "Minimum Flow." Fly anglers in the Ozarks fought hard for many years to get that done in large part to keep these spawning beds healthier.

Now, I am not trying to get on a high-horse or be a kill-joy. I keep and eat fish. I hunt. I consider catch-n-release a management tool, not an ethical imperative. But I was up there for a week last week fishing with 2 guides and we avoided some key spawning areas to let these girls make a bunch of baby Brown Trout for the rest of y'all to catch in the future. I am a Texas Angler Ed Instructor, and I take that responsibility seriously enough to make this post, in spite of it being an entirely volunteer gig. I'm not taking sides about should you/shouldn't you, because...generally speaking...it is legal there. I do not criticize anyone who is fishing legally. But I think we should all be aware of what we're actually looking at, talking about, and doing. There is a cost associated with our sport, no matter how we pursue it. But some things are much more costly to the resource than others, and can have serious negative consequences for ourselves and future generations.