The White River is a tailwater of Bullshoals lake. The lake is just under 40 feet above power pool. This means that the corp is dumping water into the White 24 hours a day. The water drops a couple feet at night ( 8 feet high instead of 10 feet high ) and then rises during the day.

This is perfect for catching a trophy trout. The high water allows you to eliminate 80% of the water when looking for the trophy. When the water is lower the fish will be spread all over the river butwhen it is high they will move over out of the fast current. This puts 100% of the fish in 20% of the water. The fish will key on inside channel turns where there is less current and on the down river side of anything that will block the current. Down stream side of Islands are a perfect place to find trophy fish hiding.

The small rise that we are getting during the day allows us to pattern the fish. The better fish will always bite better when the water is rising. Now we can run up or down the river in the morning to find the front edge of the rise and then follow it the rest of the day. The trophy fish will get in a pattern of feeding on the same water level every day. The time of day doesn't matter as much as the water level. So when you find the right level you just keep moving down stream with that level.

I am trapping minnows out of the river threading them on a 2/0 straight shank hook and drifting them along the breaks in the current with just enough weight to reach the bottom.
The water is predicted to run at high levels through Sept. I expect this to be the best summer of trophy fishing that we have had in years. It is already off to a great start.

Donald Cranor