The NFOW actually flows into Norfork Reservoir just across the MO-AR state line, and there is a dam at a mill just before entering the lake. Above there...in MO...it is a spring fed freestone stream. Brown Trout are stocked there and there is a wild population of unique Rainbow Trout in the river. It's hard to walk in and wade fish from public accesses, but is a great river to float and fish from October through May. June through September, the river gets a lot of float-tripping traffic (canoes, tubes, etc.) nearly every day, but heaviest on weekends. This is true of many of the streams throughout the Ozarks.

The White flows out of the mountains in NW AR and into Beaver Reservoir. At Beaver Dam, a tail race begins that is stocked with trout. It doesn't fish anything like the others, but it's OK. From there, the White River flows into Table Rock Lake just before the AR-MO state line. Table Rock is big and terminates in Branson at Table Rock Dam. The White between Table Rock Dam and Powersite Dam near Forsyth, MO, (about 16 miles from Branson) is known as Lake Taneycomo, which is actually more river than lake. There is always current and you are always within a few hundred yards of both banks...usually less. From Powersite Dam to Bull Shoals Dam, the White River is the main channel of Bull Shoals Reservoir, which is longer and narrower than Table Rock Lake. It snakes along the MO-AR state line all the way to Mountain Home, AR. (to give you an idea, it takes more than 2 hours to drive from one end of Bull Shoals to the other on the nearest highway. Below Bull Shoals Dam, you have the famous White River tailwater. The portion that is heavily fished for trout is from BSD to the Norfork tailwater. You start getting mixed trout/smallmouth habitat below the confluence with the Buffalo River.

Taneycomo's walk-in access to the TRD tail race is about 2.5 miles, with all of the public access points in the first 1.5 miles. The Trophy Management Zone from the dam to the confluence with Fall Creek is very good trout fishing, although it is usually crowded. Taneycomo runs right through Branson. Bull Shoals Reservoir is a very good warm water fishery, with excellent bass, walleye, and catfish opportunities. There are trout in the entire length of Taneycomo, along with some bass and a few walleye in the lower end.

The other tailwaters of the White River System are the Norfork tail race (2 miles) and the Little Red River below Greer's Ferry Lake. These are both two more world class trout fisheries.

Other excellent trout streams in the Ozarks are: the Current River, the Eleven Point River, Little Piney Creek, Mill Creek, Crane Creek, Barren Fork Creek, Blue Springs Creek, and the Spring River. My favorites are in bold text. All but the Spring River are in Missouri.

Wow, I ain't never heard of no area on the White that them brown trout couldn't reproduce. Do they have certain areas where the trout aren't allowed to copulate?

Interesting strike indicators, I think I'm going to copy this method at broken bow later this week.

Thanks for sharing your setup

Most people assume that redds only exist where they can see them. In reality, Brown Trout are known to spawn successfully in water between 1 and 7 feet deep. Current flow and bottom composition are critical, with a need for clean water in the 40-50 degree range flowing over the redd at 1-3 feet/second and low silt gravel of 1/10th of an inch to 4 inches in diameter. This demonstrates the wide range of riverine habitat in which Brown Trout redds can succeed, especially in the first 30 river miles or so of the White River below BSD, the Norfork, and the Little Red River from Greers Ferry to the confluence; as this describes the vast majority of the habitat in these ranges during Nov-Feb under the minimum flow regimen established several years ago. See Study: http://www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/departments/biology/2013%20Skoog,%20Matthew%20L_%20Brown%20trout%20spawning%20location%20and%20relationship%20to%20suitable%20winter%20habitat.pdf

The lure of catching big fish when they are most vulnerable and concentrated is strong for all avid fishermen. Spawning runs generate dramatic increases in fishing pressure almost everywhere in the world. In salmon fisheries like in Alaska, the adult fish all die after spawning. The death and decay provides the nutrient load needed to sustain life in those ecosystems. Angling pressure is managed aggressively by the authorities and is largely based on early fish counts during the runs compared to previous years' final data to get a "real time" estimate. Zones are placed off limits, harvest limits modified, etc. Across the planet, it is generally something between "bad form" and illegal to harass some species of fish on redds (with some exceptions for subsistence fishing). For other species, it is considered the preferred way to fish for them. An obvious example of the contrast is Largemouth Bass and Bream vs. trout and salmon. To no small extent, this discrimination is based in science. It doesn't seem to hurt the reproduction and sustainability of sunfish species the way it does with salmonids.

Anyone who really wants to learn something about what can happen to an entire ecosystem of trout and salmon fisheries when they are neglected over a few decades (and watch a very entertaining movie about fishing at the same time) should just watch Rivers of the Lost Coast. It happened right here in the USA. http://www.riversofalostcoast.com/