I phoned Big Phil up in Bull Shoals yesterday. Benitia, his wife, answered. Pardon my spelling on your name, Benitia, which might be Venetia. Either way, I love your homemade donuts and coffee at your tackle shop, especially when you serve them before dawn on a freezing fall morning.
Jim Fortune, the riverman from Searcy who has sentenced himself to following me down the river from the dam, needed to know whether his V-bottom bass boat would get through the stretch down to Cotter. Phil asked what kind of motor was he planning to run, and of course, I had no idea. Then he said, "if they've got three or four generators running, it shouldn't be a problem." The issue is, he said, is that you only get a one-day warning on what they'll be running by looking at the internet.
Realizing (again) that this Californian doesn't know his hindside from a raccoon tail, Phil recommended a book to me. It's called "Ozark Trout Tales," and it's hard to find. Anyone heard of it, and used it? It's a guide to fishing the "White River System." Most copies go for fifty bucks and up, but I found one for $20 and ordered it (used). I think the author is Steven Wright. Anyone know him? He sounds like someone I should talk to. I hope he's still around.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendation, Phil. Oh...and incidentally, Phil says he had a party out last week and they hooked up with 44 trout...browns, rainbow, even a cutthroat. For more about Phil, see: http://www.bullshoals.com/marmar/guide.htm.
