An affordable rod and reel for trout and catfish shore fishing a lake and the white river?
The basics for bait and or lures?
What time of day is best to fish?
How do I skin and gut the fish?

Nice to see a Arkansas based trout fishing blog. Okay a newbie here looking for advice/tips on a freshwater fishing rod and reel combo for all types of fishing and not just trout fishing. Something versatile to use for lakes, rivers, ponds, etc. Anyway, I am researching for the best rod/reel combo that would work best for a beginner without breaking the bank? The rod and reel combo would be used fishing freshwater fish like grass car, trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish, and bass. Is there a combo that could fit these needs?

Mack

I want to catch more trout? just like everyone else. I am looking for advice and tips on what rigs to use for rainbow trout. I’ve been using a 15 lb braid line with a ultralight action rod. Recommendations needed for the size hooks and how to reel them in. Also, could my problem be the size worms I’ve been using because I’ve been using huge worms. Also, what ounce weight should I be using and the best time to fish the White River from shore?

Thanks much for any and all information,

Terry

Hey all thought I’d pitch in and ask a question. I’ve been fishing in the same lake area for a week and focused on the trout patterns and habits. Just before sunrise, the trout are very active, on the surface, and jumping and feeding off flies on the surface. I’ve been using, worms on an 18-inch leader, swivel, and bobber, and I get bites often. At day break, the trout only hit flies or feed on the surface. The number of active trout explodes, and they just flat-out ignore worms.I am not a fly angler and don’t even own a fly rod but I do have a few small dry flies though, and I was wondering if there was a way to use them with a standard fishing rod? The idea is that I think dry flies floating on the surface would be a really popular bait for the trout feeding on bugs.

Hi, I am heading out heading back to the White River this week and I need a better trout setup. Currently I am using:
A # 3 weight about 3 ft above the hook
3 inches above the hook a reflector with wings to spin it with a orange ball on top of it with a swivel holding it from falling to the hook.

What do you think about this setup? It is the same setup I used for steelhead? The rocks on the bottom of the river is giving me a false hit and need some advice on what to do? I was thinking about using worms, power-bait, gulp nightcrawlers, gulp-maggots, salmon eggs, and a variety of other baits? I’ve caught over 30 trout overall in my whole time fishing there in the past 2 weeks. They have all been small and was thinking about changing to a 10lb line and I’m not sure what my hook size will be?

Thanks,

Jeff

Over the weekend my family and I took out the  pontoon boat for a nice trip to the Beaver lake. We bought a Fishing license, and than hauled out the old fishing rods and reels, but by the time we got to the lake we were totally clueless about fishing. The lake we are fishing at has some nice Trout and lot’s and lot’s of stripers.  My question: Could we just use normal trout bait that they sell at any Sporting Goods store? Could someone here point me to a website or show me how I should set up my reel and the proper way to tie a  Next time I’ll be going it alone (tomorrow) depending on whether.

Appreciated it,

Mark

A good recipe for fried trout? Looking for your favorite way to cook or recipe for good ole’ pan fried trout? My father and especially my grandmother perfected the art of pan friend trout, but they are no longer with us, my son took me trout fishing over the weekend and now I am ready to cook then while they’re still fresh. So let’s post and read your favorite recipes! The way we used to cook trout as a kid is we left the head on and the backbones in and took that out once cooked, how do you think the cooked the whole fish meat side down with a lot of butter, onions, and garlic. Whats your favorite method?- Beth