Interesting Weekend On Dry Run Creek

BY JOHN BERRY

I had a three day trip with four guys from Kentucky. On the first day I took them to Rim Shoals. I ferried a couple of them (Dan and Glen) over to the second island. I rigged them up with woolly buggers and placed them in productive water. I took Jack and his grandfather, Bill, out in my river boat. We drifted in the immediate vicinity of the island and tagged a few fish. Bill caught the most fish and the big fish, an eighteen inch rainbow.

On the next day, Saturday, I had scheduled my wife, Lori, to guide Jack on Dry Run Creek. Bill went along with them to take pictures and watch Jack catch some nice fish. In the meanwhile, I took Dan and Glen out in the boat at Rim Shoals. Later in the morning, I loaded my boat back on the trailer and drove over to Bull Shoals in search of clean water because Rim was a bit muddy.

When Lori arrived with her clients, she was concerned that Dry Run Creek was extremely high and very muddy. Bill remarked that the creek looked like the Mississippi River. Lori and I had discussed the possibility before we left the house that morning and she was ready for this situation.

Lori carefully rigged Jack’s rod. She tied on a hot pink San Juan worm, a lot of lead and a good sized strike indicator. She used 4X tippet. They walked far upstream and began fishing. Jack cast for about thirty minutes with no takers. Lori gathered them up and the moved to another likely spot down stream. This time they hooked up almost immediately. It was a twenty one inch rainbow. Bill took several photos and congratulated Jack. From then on it was one fish after another. Lori also tried a Y2K with great success.

Jack landed a nice twenty three inch rainbow. When they went to photograph it Bill’s camera failed. Lori kept the big bow in the net and kept it in the water while Bill hastily changed out the batteries. Jack was concerned that the fish would be harmed, so they released it without a picture.

Jack finished the day with fifty one fish (his careful count) and a burning desire to come back the next day. Bill asked Lori if she was available. She nodded and they made arrangements to return the next day. Jack was beaming as he left the creek.

Lori picked up Jack the next day. The weather had turned off a lot colder than the previous two days. Bill decided to stay at the motel. He had recently undergone chemotherapy and the cold was too much for him. I had picked up Dan and Glen earlier. We headed over to the Norfork to take advantage of some low water.

When Lori and jack arrived at Dry Run they were pleased to find that the water was lower and much cleaner. With the improved conditions, Lori was able to switch to more traditional flies for the creek. She tied on a sowbug. There were several other people fishing on the creek but Lori guides on the creek often and knew exactly where to head to escape the crowds.

She put Jack into position and he made his first cast. To his surprise, he got a strong take before the strike indicator had moved two feet. He set the hook and the fight was on. This time they could see the fish. It was a stout twenty seven inch female. Jack expertly worked it in and Lori got the picture. Later in the day he landed a twenty five inch male rainbow.

The next big fish was a bit more interesting. Lori had rigged up jack with a bright green woolly bugger that had a lot of green flash. He began drifting it in the run where they had caught the most fish. On the fourth cast, the strike indicator went down and Jack instinctively set the hook. There was a violent reaction on the other end. In an instant, there were yards of line speeding off of the reel and the indicator was no where to be seen. He instinctively knew it was a huge fish. The rod was bent nearly double. The big fish moved up and down the run at will. Jack fought it like a pro and slowly worked the big trout closer. Finally, they got a glimpse of him. It was a monster male brown with a bad attitude. Lori was sure that it was well over thirty inches and would probably weigh about twenty pounds. Jack worked him closer and closer. Lori was there with the boat net. The brown took one look at the net and decided he wanted no part of it. He made an incredibly fast run toward the far side of the creek and literally crashed into the bank breaking the leader in the process. Lori and Jack could not believe their eyes. Neither had ever seen a struggle like that!

There was nothing that could be done. Jack had done a masterful job of fighting the big trout. Lori knew that he had not made any errors. Jack still felt like he should have landed it. With a fish that big, you need a good measure of luck.

After an exciting morning on Dry Run, it was unfortunately time to go. Jack reluctantly walked out with visions of monster trout whirling through his brain. He will never forget this trip.

John Berry
(870) 435-2169
berrybrothers@infodash.com
www.berrybrothersguides.com