Mountain Home, Arkansas, fishing guide Jesse Brison had long known that the Shipp’s Ferry area of the White River is a prime spot for big trout.
The spot is near the juncture of the White and Norfolk rivers in north-central Arkansas. And it’s one where he and his 21-foot river boat, powered by a jet outboard, have visited often as part of many clients’ charter fishing trips.
“I’d seen a big trout multiple times in one place over a few weeks,” the 38-year-old told Wired2fish. “I first saw it when one of my anglers was retrieving a ‘Roostertail’ spinner and a huge fish followed it right to the boat. It turned away without striking, and I saw its bright red coloring, proving it was a massive rainbow.”
The Rainbow Resurfaces
On a July 29 daytime trip, Brison had another client fishing the same area when the mega-rainbow showed again.
“He was fishing a SPRO McDart and lost the trout when it jumped, and we saw what it was and how big,” Brison explained.
“We fished through the day and I dropped my anglers off. It was nighttime and I was whipped and ready to go home. But conditions were good and I decided I’d run back to that spot and try it at night for that big rainbow.”
Brinson was alone. The moon was bright, and the water depth was dropping when he got within casting distance of a shallow gravel bar dropping off to deep water. With spinning gear and 16-pound test braided line and a 6-pound test leader, he started casting a mouse-imitating lure that a friend had both made and given to him.
“Using mouse lures — or mousing, as I call it — is deadly on the White River for big trout,” he explained. “If you want to get bit, mouse lures are the way to go for heavy trout. Some nights you’ll get 60 strikes. You might only land 20 fish, but the odds are good there’ll be some big trout. I’ve been ‘mousing’ on the river for years, and I’ve seen plenty of real mice and voles around the river at night. So it’s a pretty natural food, and they sure slam ‘em when they see ‘em.”
The little six-inch lure has a small diving lip, like the famed Heddon Mouse lure. But Brison fished it slowly with spinning gear, so it was near the surface during the retrieve.
Nighttime Was the Right Time
On one cast into the darkness, a fish exploded on the lure and fought strong and deep. He didn’t know for sure what he was battling until it got it close and saw its bright orange flanks.
“I thought it might have been a big brown trout. But when I saw it was that giant rainbow, I went crazy,” he said. “I netted it and started phoning everyone I know. I finally talked to my good friend Michael Bozen, who happened to be nearby. He came down to the river to take some photos of me and the fish before I released it.”
They measured the trout at 32 inches in length, weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces. The 19.1-pound Arkansas state record rainbow was caught in 1981 also from the White River.
Evidence of Another Battle
Brison kept his rainbow healthy and alive until Bozen snapped photos, then got ready to release it.
That’s when he noticed it: another hook with heavy monofilament line attached, barbed inside the trout’s mouth.
“It was a heavy-duty circle hook with a broken line that someone else must have used to try and catch that trout,” he said. “I carefully took it out, then put the trout back in the river and it just shot away fast and healthy.”
