Warmwater

When most anglers think of fly fishing, trout is the first species that comes to mind. At Trout and Timber, we have discovered that just about anything with gills will eat a fly. Although Arkansas is most famous for its cold water fisheries of the White River System, there are many other world class sport fish available within the region.

Stripers

This program is new to Trout and Timber as of spring 2010. These saltwater brutes were introduced to Arkansas in the 70's and have taken well to their surroundings. Bait guys do very well chasing them in the deep water reservoirs all year, but there are times in the spring and late fall where the fish come out of their deep water haunts. At this point they become susceptible to the stick and string (fly fishing) methods. When the water temperature hits a magical window, stripers can be found in less than 10 ft. of water. During this brief time frame they become a fly fishing guide's dream fish; big, dumb, and will eat anything that swims if it looks like one of our top secret flies. The fish go anywhere from 8 to 40 lbs., some pushing the 50 pound mark.

Hybrids (Whiper)

Hybrids are the product of the star crossed love between a striper and a white bass. They run in the 3 to 12 pound range. Hybrids fight just as hard as stripers, and they love top water flies. Seasonality of these fish is directly correlated to the stripers and white bass both, as they can be found hanging in schools of either fish. On some lakes in particular, hybrids have done very well. During the spring season when the stripers are going, acres upon acres of hybrids can be seen crashing the surface on big balls of shad. It's fast and furious. Land a fly somewhere in there and try and get it back without a bite. It is almost impossible. The game can be of the run and gun nature. The fish will disappear as fast as they showed up. From there the guide will fire up the boat and look for new flocks of gulls working shad forced to the surface by hybrids nearby.

White Bass

This fish is the junior achiever cousin of the striper. Every reservoir in the state hosts staggering numbers of this fish. They tend to suspend on deep points and river channel bends during most of the year. But during the spring they make their migrations up the river arms. During this time, tens of thousands of these fish concentrate, and devour every edible morsel of food before their calorie crunching spawn. These fish aren't picky. In fact, it's a great time for fly fishing guides to do a little spring cleaning in their fly boxes. The only hard part is knowing where the fish will stage. That's where a guide's knowledge comes into play. Once found, it's easy for an angler to hit triple digits in a single day. The fish range from half a pound to larger 3 pound females. Hordes of hybrids and stripers will also make the migration with them.

Black and Spotted Bass

Both blacks and spotted bass are found in every ditch, reservoir, and warm water stream in the state. Bigger fish usually haunt the oxbow lakes of the big rivers, and the reservoirs. However, some great fish can be had in the smaller streams. These streams are virtually an untapped resource, and very susceptible to fly rods. They will hang around the same drainages as the smallmouth but in smaller numbers. There are a select few streams in Northern Arkansas where blacks and spots predominate the chain. These systems have and will remain nameless. Average fish sizes in these rivers and streams will run 1 to 3 pounds.