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Bull Shoals: too much fishing, not enough time

As we drove across the Bull Shoals Dam, I felt a sense of being at home. Finally we were taping a show near my Ozark home, in an area where I had enjoyed countless days of great fishing and had many close friends.

With show Bass Edge television host Aaron Martin at the wheel, I was able to stare out at the lake, studying the rocky ledges that framed the deep water. I have friends who scuba dive often in Bull Shoals’ clear water, and I was trying to imagine where they might put in. They had said near the dam, but I suppose in the massive impoundment of nearly 45,000 acres, near the dam can mean a lot of different things. I stared into the water and thought of the stories they had told of the huge catfish and walleyes they had encountered on their dives.

But before we finished our crossing, I forced my attention to the other side of the dam, where far below, tiny specks dotting the river represented fly fishermen wading in some of the best trout waters in the world.

There was but a short time for me to bore my traveling companion with past tales of trout fishing successes before we pulled into Rocky Hollow Suites, in the village of Bull Shoals. As we came to a halt, the friendly owner, Dino Giannini, came out to greet us. Inside the lobby, his beloved macaws greeted us with curious, welcoming stares and a few friendly words.

As we began to load our gear into the rooms, I came across a couple of guys peeling off waders and couldn’t help myself. I went over to talk a little trout fishing.

Fishing had been good, I was told. I couldn’t remember when it hadn’t been on the White River. It was one of the few places I could go and always feel assured of catching plenty of fish. And of course there is always the chance of catching a monster.

Locals brag that they grow the biggest brown trout in the world, and it would be hard to dispute their claim. The current world record, 40 pounds 4 ounces, was caught in the Little Red River, a tributary of the White River. Several of the previous records had come from the same watershed.

The visit with my fellow fly fishermen brought back some good memories, but the Bass Edge crew was there to make some new memories of our own.

Back out on Bull Shoals lake, I was reminded what a near-wilderness experience fishing it can be. There is precious little development around the shores, and an angler can go several hours on a weekday without encountering the sound of another boat.

We began our fishing near one of the features of the lake that most fascinates me. Watching from the camera boat as Aaron and his guest host, Brian Snowden, dabbled their drop-shot rigs, I saw a small ferry chug behind them carrying a half-size, yellow school bus. How different an experience, I pondered, that must be from the suburban landscape my childhood bus traveled.

On the distant shore were two gravel points, where I had caught big smallmouths on a spring day. Just around the next bend, I had trolled for walleye and fried them up fresh that night at home. I followed an eagle with my eyes as it glided just above the tree line on a nearby shore; my trance only broken when one of the guys hooked a bass.

That middle stretch of Bull Shoals Lake is on the short list of where I might choose to spend my waning years. Certainly the beauty of the Ozark hills and the abundance of great fishing opportunities is a big part of it. But I think the feeling of isolation without having to actually live in the wilderness is main thing.

A bit to the east of the Bull Shoals Dam, Mountain Home is the largest community in the area. It was rated the second best fishing town in America in a recent Field & Stream article. Bull Shoals and the White River are a big part of that, as is Norfork Lake and the North Fork River, which lays claim to one of those since-broken, world record brown trout. And then there is the nearby Buffalo National River which represents the Ozarks in all its glory, much of it still as unscarred as was when French trappers first explored the region.

Anglers on their visit to the lower Bull Shoals area are advised to schedule ample time. They are likely to find out that there is too much good fishing and just not enough time to enjoy it.

Rocky Hollow Suites
www.bullshoals.com/rockyhollowsuites

Bull Shoals
www.bullshoals.net

Arkansas tourism
www.arkansas.com