The White is a beautiful river, cold, clear and filled with fish.  At first light I waded with my fly rod trying my best to determine what the trout were rising on. I could see some small sulfur mayflies but the trout were not interested in any dry I had to offer. I finally started working on them with a slow sinking black ant in a size 14. It was a subtle strike but once I figured it out I was back in the game.

As soon as my crew was up and about we launched the kayaks and fished as a family. My son Ethan was working the trout over pretty good. So good in fact some of the locals were asking him for tips! That made a dad proud to watch for sure. He was working a slow sinking Rebel minnow and was reeling it as slow as possible.

My high points for the trip were catching my first ever brook trout and my bride catching her first fish out of the kayak. The brookie was quite a surprise and I am thankful to catch such a beautiful critter. My wife has fished with me for 20 years out of boats and canoes but has yet to fish out of a kayak. Thankfully our Big Tuna gave her the confidence to fish with me being there to take fish off and keep her rig straight. Her most successful baits were garlic scented yellow Powerbait and a 1/16^th oz Panther Martin spinner in yellow and red.

We saw some big brown trout and tried everything we knew to convince them to hit but it never worked out. I guess those big ones will just continue to cruise through my dreams till we meet again. If you get the chance to head over to the White river, you will not be disappointed. Other than 7 we kept to fry up, every one we caught was released to the river. They are there waiting for you!