Famed television angler Bill Dance was filming a TV show on the White River with his buddy Bruce Stanton and long-time guide and lodge owner Donald Cranor. The river was low, and the wind was blowing hard. But Cranor knows the White well and found a stretch of river holding oversize early-spawning brown trout.
Even on those cold, gray days, the White River can be full of life. The reason is right in its nickname: “The Trout Capital of the USA.” Winter is prime time for trout fishing here, and no matter how chilly or miserable the weather gets, the river’s big rainbow and brown trout are still on the move. If you can stand the cold, there’s fish to be caught on the White.
“It was three days after Christmas and the fishing was tough,” Cranor tells Wired2fish. “I’d been having good luck fishing with Booyah Flash Point jerkbaits. But that day I switched to natural river shiners stitched onto 2/0 hooks, fished with a drop sinker and 1/8-ounce weights.
“It worked, and we got into some good brown trout along a 150-yard stretch of river in 5 feet of water. We caught 10 nice browns and 15 rainbows. The browns were the biggest, running 17 to 20 inches. Bruce caught a huge 9-pounder that measured 28.5 inches.
“Of course we released all our fish, and it made for a good TV show for Bill.”
The day Wired2fish phoned Cranor he was on the river again with a guide party, who also had a good day catching trout. The best brown they caught was a 5-pound, 25-incher boated by 15-year old Arkansas angler Grant Dover.
“The brown trout are just now starting to spawn, and there are plenty of good fish found in the upper ends of river holes,” said Cranor, age 59 and a White River guide since 1982. “The fishing will get better and better from now into spring.”
Cranor says jerkbaits work well for White River trout, as do shiners and small plastic beads that imitate fish egg spawn.
“Jerkbaits trigger reaction strikes from trout even when they’re not feeding well,” said Cranor, who owns Cranor’s White River Lodge in Cotter, Ark. “That happens when the dam from Lake Bull Shoals isn’t generating much, and the water flow is reduced.
“It’s looking to be a pretty good trout year on the White.”
Cranor’s River Rig
In his 43 years guiding on the White, Cranor has it pretty well dialed in. This is the setup he typically uses to target big winter browns.
- A 6-foot, 10-inch G. Loomis drop-shot spinning rod. He prefers a medium-light action rod with extra-fast sensitivity
- Shimano Stradic 1000 spinning reel
- 10-pound test PowerPro braid
- A leader of 8- to 10-pound test Sunline fluorocarbon line
- A No. 6 VMC bait hook
- An orange-matte or peach-colored bead
- Bell sinker ranging from 1/8- to 3/8-ounce, depending on current
Check out our in-depth guide to the White River’s winter trout fishing for more info on how to score on big trout in the White and beyond this winter.
