Anyone familiar with the White river below Bull Shoals Dam. I need some opinions.

I have a trip planned there to trout fish the first week of April. I am staying at the State Park there in my toyhauler camper. I have an 8 ft Bass Hunter Baby bass boat that I am thinking of bringing with me and am wondering if this little two man plastic boat will work if the current isn't too strong at the time. I just bought a 2.5hp Merc for it plus it has a 40lb minn kota on the front. Just wondering if I should bring it or leave it at home. I have never been there and know the current changes constantly and quickly depending on the generator schedule and that there are lots of rocks. Any help or info would be much appreciated. I posted this in the small boat section a few weeks back but figure more here may be familiar with that area. I have been boating for nearly 40 years so I am not a newbie to this sort of thing.

Leave it home. The flow changes real quickly with the generation changes; one minute your boat might be fine--the next you'll be swept downstream, maybe sunk. That 2.5 hp motor is no match at all for a full current. Check on boat & motor rentals there. If you've got a 9.9 hp. you can probably put it on their boat (if they rent) and get a much less expensive rental. April 1 should be a great time to go and the state park is great. We've got a trip planned up there the middle of April ourselves.

Leave it at home as stated the flows are too radicle and that water can flow very fast. I would rent a boat for sure. Power bait on drop shot chart or orange balls always good for bows and rattling rogue gold/black good for brownies. Also count down rap all good for any species.

Leave it at home. I've got one of those Bass Hunters and I wouldn't dare use it on the White River, especially in the few miles just below the dam. Best bet would be to fish with a guide for a half-day trip, learn about the river and then rent a boat and fish on your own. The boats available to rent are 20' fiberglass jon boats. Most guides up there run 15 and 25hp outboards on those 20' boats, but you could probably get by with a 9.9, depending on the current, which is dependent on generation. My experience is there is usually quite a bit of generation in the spring of the year, but this has been a crazy year for the release of water from Bull Shoals.

Ski trip's right--hire a guide for the first day (about $300 plus tip for a full day) to learn how to fish, then rent a boat. When all generators are running, the White is a very unforgiving river, even for experienced boaters. It's almost impossible to fish and control the boat at the same time. When two of us go, we take turns fishing & running the boat.

I have a 9.8, a 20, and a 25, all short shafts, are they running props or jets on their boats?
One of the main reasons I am asking this is because my legs aren't as steady as they use to be from having a bad back,
so wading might not be the best idea for me, even though I plan to try it a little. With a life jacket of course!

Short shaft most run


Jigaholic Prostaff
B an M PST
Hi-Tek rod holders
Xpress Crappie Edition
Lowrance HDS 8 an 10

I guess I may still bring the little boat and use it on the lake side for bass and panfish if the trout aren't cooperating or they have the flood gate open. This little boat does amazingly well with large boat wakes and such. Needs to be a calm day under 10 mph however. I have used it on the Tenn river and Kentucky lake along with Reelfoot. Will be hard to find a calm day in April though for sure.

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Originally Posted by MaggiesMaster

Leave it home. The flow changes real quickly with the generation changes; one minute your boat might be fine--the next you'll be swept downstream, maybe sunk. That 2.5 hp motor is no match at all for a full current. Check on boat & motor rentals there. If you've got a 9.9 hp. you can probably put it on their boat (if they rent) and get a much less expensive rental. April 1 should be a great time to go and the state park is great. We've got a trip planned up there the middle of April ourselves.

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I will be there from April 3-7. Jim Gaston told me that is one of the best times for big browns. Just had some friends return from there today that did very well on brown trout this week. They were there from the 26-1st!!

I would leave the bass hunter at home for sure ! Bring your other boat with the 25 even if you don't use it in the river you could put it in the lake side and catch some crappie up jimmy creek . You should be limited out early on trout each day that time of year. That is a very nice place to camp you should have a wonderful time and some decent bank fishing down there probably wouldn't even have to wade unless you just want to .

Leave the bass hunter & bring your other boat with the 25 hp on it and put the 9.8 in the boat to use on the trout boat rental. April is good for browns, but the best big brown trout fishing is from the middle of Jan. through March 1. Most good guides are booked a year in advance for that period (I know ours is...we can't get a date!). One thing though; if you put a boat on the White, be SURE your motor will always start on the first pull! When the water's running fast you don't have time to fool around with it. I've never fished the lake side but a lot of people catch a lot of fish there. Bull Shoals State Park is one of the prettiest places to camp in Arkansas.

Bringing another boat is not an option unless I decided to tent camp. The Basshunter fits inside the toyhauler travel trailer!!!!. Not going to make the 5 1/2 hour drive again to get one of my bigger boats. Thanks for all the replies however as you have answered my questions. I'll just bring the bass hunter for possible lake fishing and sight seeing if conditions permit. Trout fishing is a whole new world for me so we will see how this goes LOL

get some trout magnets to fish under a cork