North Fork White River Fishing Report: 04/27/24 The stream has been flowing well below a normal level but already high this morning from heavy rain. Good hatches continue to take place. Blue-winged olives, Blue Quills, Little Black Caddis, Quill Gordons, Little Brown stoneflies, and Light Green midges are hatching. Sculpin streamers and scuds are working good. We are still getting good reports from customers.
Send us an email with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
USGS Real-time Stream Levels:
At Tucemseh
Seasons:
Fly fishing the North Fork of the White
River is good year-round.
Winter:
Fishing during the winter is generally
good.
Spring:
Springtime can be the best time to fish the river.
Summer:
Most of the larger trout are found below the riffles in the deeper pools.
Fall:
The browns move upstream to spawn and streamers become effective flies.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing The North Fork of the White River Missouri
The North Fork of the White River is one of the finest trout streams in the state of Missouri as well as the Ozark Mountains. It has a good population of wild rainbow trout and trophy size brown trout. Stocking of the rainbow trout was stopped in 1964 and the stream has since maintained a good population of wild rainbows. The brown trout are still stocked but only in part of the river. Both the rainbows and the brown trout grow to huge sizes. Rainbows are taken up to eighteen inches long and the brown trout commonly reach sizes much larger than that.
This beautiful stream starts at Rainbow Spring, one of the largest in the state of Missouri, and flows for over twelve miles into Norfork Lake. Smaller springs along the way add to the flow. The stream can be waded or fished from a canoe or small raft type boat. There is some private property along its course but under Missouri law you are not trespassing when you are in the streambed.
You can float the entire river in a day, but the best way is to break it down into two separate floats. The uppermost launch is located at Kelly Shoals. From there you can drift down to Trout Lodge. From Trout Lodge you can float down to Dawt. Both sections provide a good day of fishing.
The area between Rainbow Springs and Patrick Bridge is referred to as the Missouri Wild Trout Management Area. In 1998, the stocking of brown trout was stopped in this part of the river. This has allowed the rainbows in this part of the river to grow faster and larger because they have more to eat.
Only flies and artificial lures can be used in the Wild Trout Management Area. approximately 75% of the trout in this part of the river are wild rainbows. Anglers are only allowed one trout, either brown or rainbow but not both, over 18 inches per day.
From the Patrick Bridge down to Norfork Lake, the river comes under the Missouri Special Trout Regulations. This area is stocked with brown trout, but not rainbows.
Fly Fishing Guide to the North Fork of the White River:
Staying hidden from the trout is mandatory. The uppermost part of the North Fork of the White River starts in the Mark Twain National Forest. There it is a warm water fishery with smallmouth bass and sunfish.
When the stream gets down to Rainbow Springs, its size doubles and the water becomes much colder. Rainbow Springs adds an average of about 80 million gallons of water per day that averages 57 degrees to the flow.
Like any clear spring creek, the North Fork of the White River isn’t exactly easy to fish. You have to use a lot of stealth and make good presentations to fool the trout.
Leaders and tippet should be longer and lighter than those you would normally use in a freestone stream. Most of the time you will have to resort to fishing flies below the surface of the water. Dry fly fishing can be good at certain times when a hatch is occurring but most of the time you will need to stick with nymphs, wet flies and streamers
Although the locals don’t use them very much, imitations of midge larvae, pupae and the adults work great year-round but especially during the times nothing else is hatching. Although there are not many of them, you need to pay close attention to the hatches that occur because that will be your best opportunity to catch trout on the dry fly.
You can catch plenty of smaller trout in the riffles throughout the year. During the hot summer, the larger trout will be found in the deep pools below the riffles. They are also found there during the winter. If you possible can, you need to drift the river in a canoe or small raft type boat. Even if you don’t fish from a boat or canoe, it will allow you to reach water that you otherwise would not be able to fish wading from the few bank access points.
North Fork of the White River
Missouri Hatches and Trout Flies:
Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the North Fork of the White River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726
While the hatches of aquatic insects don’t occur very frequently or occur in big quantities on the North Fork of the White River, they are important. They provide the only good dry fly fishing you will encounter.
Crustaceans are an important part of the food for the trout in this stream. It has a good population of both sowbugs, called fresh water shrimp by some anglers, and scuds. Imitations of both will catch trout year-round. Crayfish are plentiful and are eaten by both the rainbows and brown trout.
Little Black Caddisflies hatch during April. These are species of the Brachycentrus genus called Mother’s Day caddis is some areas of the West. They hatch mid-stream similar to mayflies. You will find various species of Cinnamon Caddis and Spotted Sedges that hatch from May through September. These are just referred to as Tan caddis by the locals. Imitations of their larvae, pupae and of the adults will work at
times. There are also some Little Sister Caddisflies that hatch in June and July. They are just a smaller version of these net-spinning caddis. There are several other species of caddisflies present, but none exist in large quantities.
Few mayflies exist in the river other than Light Cahills and Tricos. The Light Cahills hatch during the month of May and can bring the trout to the surface to take dry flies. You will find the Trico hatch to be one of the best of the year. It occurs during the month of October.
Stoneflies are important on this river. Large Giant Black stoneflies and different species of Little Brown Stoneflies hatch during the months of May and June. Some of the Little Brown Stoneflies are actually black, so don’t let that fool you.
Little Yellow Stoneflies, called Yellow Sallies, hatch during the months of June and July. Imitations of these stonefly nymphs are effective throughout the year.
Hellgrammites, or the larva stage of the Dobsonfly, are effective during the summer. We have an excellent “Perfect Fly” imitation of these insects. The stream has a good population of both Damselflies and Dragon Flies. Imitations of their larvae are also effective on this stream.
Terrestrial insects are important from about the middle of June all the way through September. Imitations of grasshopper, ants and beetles catch trout if they are presented in the along the banks of the stream in the right places during the summer.
Don’t forget streamers. They can catch their share of trout from the deep runs and pools that are common along the river. At times they will take trout from the riffles. They are very effective after heavy rains and anytime the water becomes a little off color.
We have “Perfect Fly” specific imitations of all of these insects and crustaceans found on the North Fork of the White River. They have proven very effective on this stream where trout get a good look at your flies. Our stonefly imitations are very realistic and effective at catching trout year-round on this river. Our imitations of the scud and sowbug are among the best you can buy. If you haven’t done so already, please give our trout flies a try. We are confident you’ll be glad you did.