Here’s the one lure you need to catch big, bad autumn trout.
THE WHITE RIVER in Arkansas is big water, and as far as I’m concerned, there are only two ways to fish it. Either you go for numbers, or you swing big in hopes of pulling out one of the massive browns that make the White famous. Veteran guide Pete Cobb agrees, and the last time we fished the White together, he couldn’t have been happier to have an angler willing to rip 4 1 ⁄2-inch Rattlin’ Rogue stick-baits all day. The other boats in our group bounced small jigs and little hard baits just like Cobb’s usual clients. We got outfished by a long shot, no doubt, but of the eight browns we hooked, the smallest measured 18 inches and the biggest, 23. Still peanuts by White standards, but only one other boat broke the 20-inch mark that day.
When it comes to brown trout, I always want the biggest and baddest in the river, and I’ve carried the same 4- to 6-inch stick-baits that are practically standard issue on the White everywhere since my first visit years ago. What I’ve learned is that you don’t need big water to throw big baits successfully. If you can condition yourself to forgo small fish and rethink your strategy, beefy stick-baits can produce fat browns on streams and rivers of any size, especially in fall, when these fish go on a feeding binge.
OVERGUNNED
Denne historien er fra October 2016-utgaven av Field & Stream.
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Denne historien er fra October 2016-utgaven av Field & Stream.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
LIVING THE DREAM
After the author arrives in Maine’s fabled North Woods with a moose tag in his pocket, an adventure he’s been wanting to take his entire hunting life, reality sets in, and he learns a valuable lesson: Be careful what you wish for
Get the Drift
How to make an accurate windage call under pressure
First Sit
An icebreaker outing in a pristine spot produces the rut hunt of a lifetime
A Local Haunt
The author finds a sense of place in an overlooked creek, close to home
A Hop and a Pump
Jump-shooting rabbits with classic upland guns is about as good a time as you can have in the outdoors
Welcome TO camp
Is there any place better than a good hunting camp? It has everything: great food, games and pranks, and of course, hunting. Shoot, we don’t even mind going to camp for grueling work days in the summer. Here, our contributors share their favorite stories, traditions, and lessons learned from camps they’ve shared. So come on in and join us. The door’s open.
THE DEERSLAYERS
Before you even claim a bunk, you need to eyeball the hardware your buddies have brought. In the process, you’ll see that the guns at deer camp are changing. What was walnut and blued steel may now be Kevlar and carbon fiber. The 10 rifles featured here aren’t your father’s deer guns. They’re today’s new camp classics
THE JOURNEY TO PIKE'S PEAK
Last summer, the author and three friends ventured off the grid to a remote fish camp in Canada. They hoped for great fishing, but what they experienced was truly something else
Stage Directions
When early-season whitetails vanish from open feeding areas, follow this woods-edge ambush plan
Rookie Season
A pup’s first year, from preseason training to fall’s big show
