Arkansas
White River: Bull Shoals Dam to Cotter
About this float trip
The White below Bull Shoals Dam is one of the great tailwater trout fisheries in the country, and it produced the brown trout that stood as the state record for decades. Cold water out of the bottom of Bull Shoals Lake keeps it fishing through an Arkansas summer. Everything on this river runs on the generation schedule. Low water is wadeable and technical; high water is a boat fishery entirely, and the change can happen in an hour.
Arkansas trophy trout water, from the dam down through Wildcat Shoals to the town of Cotter.
Highlights
What earns the trip
- Trophy-class brown trout water with a long record-fish history
- Wildcat Shoals is a well-known wade area at low generation
- Cotter calls itself Trout Capital USA and sits right on the river
- Cold tailwater keeps it fishing all summer
Stops
- 1
Bull Shoals Dam access
The top put-in, immediately below the dam.
- 2
Wildcat Shoals
Well-known shoal with wade access at low water.
- 3
Cotter
Take-out in town, at Big Spring Park.
When to go
Best time to go
Year round. Fall and winter bring the biggest browns onto the shoals.
Planner estimate for the mapped line: 1h 3m
Before you go
Know before you go
- Check the generation schedule before you go. Rising water on this river comes up fast and catches waders out.
- Wear a life jacket in the boat. This is a working hydropower river, not a spring creek.
- Catch-and-release and slot limits apply on parts of this water. Read the current Arkansas regulations.
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