Dress in layers for the lowest temperatures and remove layers as the day warms up. It is cold but the fish are still biting. Beaver and Table Rock Lakes have slowed down, as has the Kings River. Your best bet is the Beaver tailwaters below Beaver Dam because trout love cold water. They are biting on anything you can throw these days. Spoons in red and gold. Zig Jigs in natural colors, jerk baits in gold or silver. For fly, use midges, egg patterns, and white woolly boogers with red wrap/neck.
We have to look out for hypothermia at this time of year.
Hypothermia is often caused by exposure to cold weather or immersion in cold water. When your body temperature drops, your heart, nervous system, and other organs can’t work normally. Left untreated, hypothermia can lead to complete failure of your heart and respiratory system.
Primary treatment is to warm the body back to a normal temperature. My husband has experienced it at two different times. Once we were on the Kings River at this time of the year, floating in late evening. I had caught a log with my canoe.
I was able to get out and get to the bank, the canoe was caught up and under a log on the other side of the river. Thank goodness he had a dry bag with dry clothes, he swiftly undressed me and I was in dry clothes in minutes, saving my life.
Then he tried to get the wedged canoe out. We traveled on downriver with both boats but no dry clothes for him. And then it set, he had the rigors. By the time we hit our get out spot our friends had already started a fire and had the van started with heat. They took him to the van, undressed him, and warmed him. Warm clothes and heat saved his life.
Most likely one of his favorite days, he was a hero to me, and the two people who undressed him were two women who saved his life. All he wanted to do was get to his truck, which was about a quarter of a mile away.
Hypothermia affects the brain, the heart, and other organs, but the brain doesn’t think clearly. Luckily, we had good floating friends that knew about these things.
I have seen it many times and have been on the White River for the past 23 years. I have seen it happen even in July on the White River because the river stays 48-52° all year. It seems if you can get them out, get their clothes off and into something warm, it is all better. I have extra clothes in the boat and vehicle at all the times.
If you would like to schedule a trip with Custom Adventures Guide service give us a call at (479) 363-9632 Sightseeing and fishing trips are awaiting you. Take a kid fishing.