The White is the most famous southern trout river, a tailwater best known for its large brown trout. This powerful river courses 100 miles past dense forests and low-slung mountains.

Common sight on the White

Few writers spare any words to describe the natural beauty of the White River. Maybe they are too consumed by the numerous trout docks, resorts, and other establishments along the river. Maybe the powerboats cruising up and down the river disturb their aesthetic.

But the White River, when shrouded by a gentle fog in the early morning, has an otherworldly quality. Great limestone bluffs squeeze against the wide, gentle river. Thickly forested hillsides slope down to the banks.

The fishery is noted for the lunker browns, up to 40-pounds, but the staple game fish is the rainbow, stocked by the millions, and the fish most likely to be caught. In addition to the brown and rainbow trout, there are a few cutthroats and brookies stocked in the White.

Anglers report catches of cutts up to ten pounds. Experts guess it is just a matter of time before a 50-pound trout is caught. Brown trout over 20-pounds are caught many times each year, and the angler who doesn't catch a two-to-five pounder needs to stay on the river just a little longer.

Trout in Need of Slimfast

The temperature of the most popular stretch of the river stays fairly constant all year. The White River, with its year-round growing season and abundance of forage fish and insect populations, puts pounds on fish fast, by some estimates, an incredible half- to three-quarter-inch growth a month.

The river has been impounded in several spots to form three major reservoirs (Bull Shoals, Table Rock, and Beaver) and a long, narrow lake (Taneycomo). Don't be too surprised to catch smallmouth and largemouth bass, catfish, or sunfish either, as they are plentiful in the river.

Rainbows typically run from 9 to 16 inches and will be the predominant catch. Fishermen catch so many 15-inch rainbows that they tend to fish out the river of these stockers until the next stocking date. Browns run from 10 to 18 inches, and many will be larger than that. A 19-pound rainbow was caught in the cold water of the White River in the 1980s.

Fish around islands, submerged rocks, in the runs, and in long pools and backwater eddies. When the water rises, the riffles become just more flatwater, more of a glide. Fish the edges, the current breaks. Look for underwater structure. Look around the gravel bars before splashing around in the water, because you'd be surprised how many trout feed in the shallow waters.