The little town of Cotter, Arkansas, doesn’t turn out the lights and go into hibernation during the dreary days of winter. On the contrary, the burg on the banks of the White River in the north-central part of the state can be a bustling place. Why? The town’s nickname — “The Trout Capital of the USA” — should provide a hint: winter trout fishing. No matter how cold and nasty it gets, the river’s big rainbows and browns will be stirring.
The secret is out: If you want to catch a trophy trout, you’d better bundle up and hit the river.
Take it from Donald Cranor, a life-long resident of Cotter, who now guides and owns a resort, Cranor’s White River Lodge, on the banks of the river.
He has fished the White since he was old enough to tag along with his dad. He started guiding when he was 15, and quickly made a name for himself by getting people into giant trout.
Fishing the White When Others Aren’t
Many of those fish are caught during the cold of January, February, and March, when fair-weather anglers are staying warm at home.
“We’re a bucket-list destination for trout fishermen,” said Cranor, 58. “We catch trout year-around, but some of our biggest fish will come in winter.
“A lot of that has to do with less fishing pressure and less food in the water. And a big part of it is that the brown trout are spawning and the trout will move in to feed on their discarded eggs.”
The brown trout will spawn in fanned-out redds (nests) they make in the gravel shoals. The eggs that weren’t fertilized will drift downstream in the current and the rainbows and other browns will move in to feed on them.
Cranor will position his boat below the redds he spots and drift with a bead rig. The nests will often be found in the middle of current on the gravel shoals so that the eggs can get the sunlight they require.
The three-way drift rig features a 6-inch drop line with a bell sinker attached and an 18-inch section with a hard-plastic bead threaded onto the line several inches above a bare hook.
That bead imitates the size and color of the eggs drifting downstream. Cranor uses a bell sinker and chooses the size based on the current to get the bead skimming over the gravel without getting hung up.
Here is the rig he uses:
- 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
Cranor often finds his best bead fishing during the full moon phase of January, when much of the brown-trout spawning takes place. If that method isn’t working, he will often go to jerkbaits like the Booyah Flash Point or the Rebel Tracdown Minnow.
Some anglers also use sculpins, minnows, and threadfin shad, especially when there are winter shad kills being flushed into the White from Bull Shoals Lake. Fly fishermen find success using egg and bead patterns.
Winter Trout Fishing In Sync With the Dam
Because the section of the White that Cranor fishes is about 15 miles below Bull Shoals Dam, a hydropower facility, water level and current can vary greatly, even during the course of a day. When it’s cold, there will often be consistent power generation because of the need to heat homes.
There are no guarantees, even when conditions are ideal. But the White has an impressive track record for producing giant trout. The Arkansas state-record rainbow (19 pounds, 1 ounce) was caught on the White in 1981, and many large brown trout are taken from it each year.
Cranor’s Facebook page is filled with photos of clients who have caught and released trophy browns and rainbows during the winter months.
Cranor remembers a winter trip several years ago when the White River showed off in front of national television cameras.
As Cranor guided legendary angler Bill Dance for a segment of his “Bill Dance Outdoors” television show, Dance caught and released a rainbow that weighed 12.25 pounds on a Rebel Tracdown Minnow.
Since then, Dance has returned several times to film trips chasing the White’s trophy browns.
Cranor and other guides on the White emphasize catch-and-release for the big fish that are landed. And they stress safety when fishing during the winter months. Insulated clothing, boots, gloves and headgear go a long way toward staying comfortable in the cold.
“Our winter trout fishing business is growing like crazy,” Cranor said. “More and more people are realizing that January, February and March are a great time to target big fish.”
