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John Berry Published 12:43 p.m. CT Feb. 6, 2020

John Berry(Photo: TLA Outdoors)

Wednesday morning, I woke up to the sound of the sump pump in my basement going off.

I immediately knew it was still raining. It rained all day Tuesdayand will rain all day (Wednesday). I went out to the garage to check on my two feral cats, Blackie and Maggie. They were curled up in their bed and showed no interest in going outside.

There was water standing in my side yard. My wife, Lori, said she was tired of the constant rain. My sister, Ernestine, sent me a message on my iPhone asking if it would ever quit raining.I dont know.

River guides dont mind the heavy rain so much. The reason is we have the best rain gear money can buy. We start with good rubber footwear. If it is really rainy, I wear knee-high muck boots. If it is lightly raining, I will wear L. L. Bean rubber low quarter shoes.

For the lower body, the garment of choice is bib rain pants. They keep your lower body dry even when your rain jacket is open. A pair of waders is a good substitute.

A good rain jacket is a must have. A hood, tight fitting cuffs and plenty of pockets (mine has nine) are necessities. I bought mine a size too large to fit over a couple of warm fleece layers.A ball cap with a long bill is nice to keep the rain off of your glasses.

The main thing that guides worry about is the water clarity on days like this. When we get heavy rain, a lot of sediment is washed into the river making it muddy. I saw photos of the Buffalo on Tuesday on Facebook that showed it was the color of chocolate milk. I assumed Crooked Creek was the same.

In fact, every creek emptying into the White and North Fork riversis running muddy. When we get conditions like this, the common wisdom is to go upstream until we find clean water. That means the water in the catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam is still clean because there is just one creek emptying into the river on the Marion County side. Fortunately this section has been closed from Nov.1 to Jan.31 to accommodate the brown trout spawn. It has only been open for a few days, and there are still plenty of large trout there now.

The other thing that guides worry about is the rain water accumulating in the boat. In a heavy rain, the water can quickly rise to ankle deep or higher. This could be very uncomfortable for clients with low quarter shoes, and the additional water makes the boat heavier and less maneuverable.

I carry a water bailer in my boat so I can quickly toss the accumulated rain water out. One of my fellow guides has an automatic electric bilge pump in his boat. It makes a lot of sense to me.

Despite this, I am beginning to get concerned. If I did not already own a White River Jon boat, I would begin to build an ark.

John Berry is a fly-fishing guide in Cotter and has fished our local streams for more than 35 years. He can be reached at 435-2169 or http://www.berrybrothersguides.com.

Read the rest here:
River guides don't mind the rain - The Baxter Bulletin