I joined the Dallas Flyfisher on the annual trip to Cotter, Arkansas to fish the trout hidden gems on the White and Norfolk Rivers below Bull Shoals Dam in April 2022.
Loaded up the Casita, my gear, food, and left Friday morning to drive half the distance from Dallas to Oklahoma staying at Onapa RV Park (http://onaparvpark.com) one night. The park is clean, easy parking and the family is very friendly and always drives out to meet you at the entrance to welcome you before check in. Was located at site 5, nice home cooked dinner, watched a few TV shows – Masters Golf Recap and hit the sack.
The next day, I left mid-morning after a quick snack to drive to Cotter, AR. Stopped along the way at Duluth Trading in Bentonville, AR to shop for a few items, refill with gas and enjoyed the peace and quiet of no radio in the car. Arriving at Denton RV Park (https://dentonrv.com/) to check-in was assigned site 5 on the river to get set up for three relaxing days. I love the river view with nice neighbors on both sides of me. It was interesting that both RV parks assigned me to site 5. Must have been a good omen for the fishing… Dinner was pasta, sauce, asparagus and a large meatball, plus always making sure to have a good bottle of vino too.
Sunday, I fished on my own below Norfolk Dam, wading carefully in high volume water near the bank area. Mainly using streamers and droppers using the world famous Loudan known as the best fly for trout and bass…Thank you Dan and Lou for the insight and sharing the recipe. Ended up visiting a few spots on the White and Crooked Creek. Crooked Creek is known for the small mount bass. No luck here, but a young man showed several nice pictures of fish he caught earlier in the 

day. Back to the campsite for dinner and watching the Masters Golf seeing Scotty win.
The next two days, Monday, and Tuesday, I fished hard with a guide throwing a white Chad fly up near the bank in close quarters waiting for those large Brown and Rainbow trout sitting on the edge to strike. Was very successful with over 60 fish. The fish were mostly native Browns and a few Rainbows and Brooks. Largest Brown was 24.5 inches. What a hog – large big one… In Arkansas Razorback Country so needed to throw that in… Go Hogs!

On Tuesday, the DFF group had a nice dinner at Gaston on the White. We enjoyed sharing old stories and what we missed during Covid. The group was about the same age with a few white hairs so we did not stay up late.

I left Wednesday to drive halfway back to Onapa RV Park. The rain was heavy about 50% of the trip with lighting, flooding and low visibility. Thank God for a safe trip. Arrived late in the afternoon and had pizza and beer. Hit the sack and was ready to get home to see the family.

Hit the road early to head back to Dallas. Great trip and memories. Looking forward to returning when we have a full caddis hatch on the river. I wanted the hatch to be like it’s snowing 2 ft an hour or a blizzard of bugs in the air… will drive the trout crazy. Something to look forward to…
Take care. Thanks for reading…. Have a great day!