Hi Allan, I found your report interesting, especially the part where you talk about surface feeding browns. Here in the UK in English lakes where there is a mixed population of rainbows and browns the rumour is that the rainbows send the browns to the bottom. I do not have enough experience of fishing in England to verify the rumour. I wonder what the list thinks about the effect of differing species upon one another in a mixed population fishery? All the best Graeme.
-----Original Message----- From: Allan Fish [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 12 October 2002 05:02 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [VFB] Trip Report - kinda long. Trip Report - kinda long. And I have to preface this with the obligatory statement - "No vested interest except for a pair of VERY satisfied customers." My wife Martha and I just had the best fishing trip we've ever had. And it is entirely attributable to our guide. We were guided on a float trip on the White River below Bull Shoals by the owner/proprietor of Cane Island Fly Shop. For those of you who know her from her fly shop, you will be interested in knowing that Rebecca Ralls is also a fantastic guide. We arrived at Cane Island the afternoon before the float and checked into the B&B behind the shop. This is a really nicely appointed home (originally belonging to Rebecca's grandparents) which can sleep up to 10 people. Another couple had spent the night there and were supposed to be leaving, but they showed back up late in the evening and stayed again. We never saw them - they had the upstairs, we had the master bedroom downstairs. Rebecca met us at 7:30 and we took off shortly thereafter. We fished from her really nice river boat which she launched at the Ranchette access. We then went upstream to the Trophy area at Wildcat Shoals and started drifting through the runs. The Corps of Engineers was running a couple of generators all day, so drift-fishing was about the only way we could have fished. Most of our fishing was with suspended nymphs, using bob......er......STRIKE INDICATORS. We caught some of the brightest most beautiful rainbows we have ever seen. Their "stripe" was very wide and a really deep dark crimson/rose. The fish were absolutely beautiful. We caught mostly 12-14 inch fish, with a few small (9-10 inch) fish and several larger (16-18 inch) fish in the mix. Almost all of the fish were caught in the faster water immediately below shoals. One of the things that impressed us so much throughout the day was the abundance of wildlife. The concentration of Great Blue Herons was mind-boggling. There has been a pair of eagles nesting in the area the past couple of years - they are back. A deer swam across the river just upstream of us. One of the less usual sightings (for that area) was a snowy egret. And BUZZARD'S ROOST(s). One island had probably 15 buzzards. Later on in the day we passed another tree that was loaded with buzzards. One buzzard was seen drying it's wings like a cormorant. Later on in the afternoon there was a good caddis hatch. Rebecca and I both put on a small Elk Hair Caddis at the same time. She caught a hybrid "Rain-brown" on her first cast. It was an obvious cross - it looked like a rainbow as she brought it in, but we were surprised to see it had the spotting of a brown. All the rest of the surface action was browns only. I had heard of "Hundred Fish" days before, but was not really certain I'd ever see one. Well, we did. I'm fairly sure that Martha and I BOTH had a "100 fish" day. It was fantastic. At the end of the day, Martha told me, "That was the most fun day I have ever had." One interesting thing Rebecca told us was that people have been avoiding the White River area this Summer because the Corps of Eng. was running all 8 generators tp lower the lake level in preparation for the Winter. However, she said that high generation is when fishing is the best for much larger fish. This actually turned out to be a very expensive trip in the long run for me, because Martha says she wants to make this at least an annual trip. Am I ever happy about THAT! My blatant sales pitch is simply to say that Rebecca Ralls is a fantastic guide who sets a mighty high standard of comparison for other guides. She is a great teacher who knows the area, where the fish are, and how to catch them. In addition, she is a very friendly and fun person with whom to spend a day. The accomodations at the Cane Island B&B are excellent. As I said above, this was the best fishing trip we've ever had (and we've had quite a few over the years). Rebecca Ralls is definitely the best guide we've ever had the pleasure to be with. A "downer" was seeing one of the other guides in mid-morning with three "sports" who were catching trout left and right. As they'd pull them in, the guide would grab them, gut them (throwing the refuse overboard), and throw the fish into a big cooler. The limit there is 6 fish per person. While we were in sight of them, they had caught nearly their limit from one spot - immediately below the trophy area. In late afternoon, we saw the same guide and same three "sports" a couple miles downstream in a hole doing an encore performance. In between the two spots as we were floating downstream, we saw several dead fish on the bottom. I feel fairly certain they were "sorting" as they caught bigger fish, tossing the smaller (dead) fish overboard. Another "downer" happened early that evening. Three guys from Springfield, MO, had flown down to the private airstrip at Gaston's Resort (1/4 mile from where we were staying) and eaten dinner. After they took off, they turned to cross the river to head back home. Unfortunately, they slammed into the river bluff, killing all three occupants. If you got this far in this windy thing, thanks for "listening". And I have to apologize for using the word "fantastic" too often. My old English prof would have given me several demerits for that. However, it WAS a fantastic day. I just hope a lot of you have the opportunity to enjoy such a grand day on the water with a guide as good as Rebecca. Allan Allan Fish Greenwood, IN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
