March 6, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River
Levels: According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of
Wednesday the White River stages are:
14.2 feet at
Calico Rock (flood stage 19 feet)
11.3 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
16 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
25.1 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
16 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
25.6 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community Fishing Report: Trout are excellent
on all colors of Power Bait and worms. Fishing in Rock Creek
is good on gold spinners and black woolly buggers. Bream have
started to pick up in some ponds on worms. For more information
on trout stockings, call toll-free 1-866-540-FISH (3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River:
Lindsey's Resort (501-302-3139) said water conditions are normal
and generation has slowed. Trout fishing is very good on a wax
worm/Power Egg combination and on Shad Raps.
Jed Hollan at
the Little Red Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry Power House turned
on the generators at midnight, Feb. 27, and ran them non-stop
until March 3. This lowered the Greers Ferry Lake level to the
top power pool of 461.5 feet above mean sea level. Water temperatures
and dissolved oxygen continue at acceptable levels. Heavy rains
will probably prompt the Corps to regain steady water releases.
Midges continue dominating the skies over the Little Red River.
In the next month we should also be seeing March browns, sulphurs,
Hendricksons and caddis joining the swarm. The best top-water
flies are midges (size 22; cream or black), Adams (size 18-20)
or caddis (size 18-20; tan). Below the surface, try a sow bug
(size 14-16; UV tan, light gray or peacock), zebra midge (size
16-22; red, black or chartreuse), San Juan worm (size 16-18;
pink or red), red butt soft hackle (size 14-16), pheasant tail
(size 16) or woolly bugger (size 10-12; olive or black).
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River:
John Berry of Berry Brothers Guides said the generation pattern
has been heavy generation (up to seven generators) for long periods
during the day and for lower levels at night. However, a few
days during mid-week saw no generation and some excellent wading
opportunities. The weather has been cold and very windy. The
attention has still been concentrated in the upper river, specifically
in the recently opened catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals
Dam. Most of the action has been from a boat. On higher levels
of generation, San Juan worms in bright colors and peach eggs
have been the ticket. Y2Ks have also accounted for many good
fish. The big browns seem to be staying in the area much longer
than usual. On lower water the hot flies have been San Juan worms
and midge emerger patterns. The big story in this area has been
the shad kill. They have been observed coming through Bull Shoals
Dam. The best flies to use are white marabou jigs and streamers.
Be sure to have sinking and floating patterns, though most of
the action will be on the bottom. So far, it has not generated
the interest that it has in past years. On one day, there were
only three boats below the dam.
Mountain River
Fly Shop said there has been a lot of water lately, and some
shad are finally starting to come through the dam. White streamers
fished deep did pretty well Wednesday, but there was a lot of
dirty water. This is a great time to bring out the river boat
and have a shot at some very good fish. During lower water flows,
San Juans and red head woolly buggers have been working well.
But the big buzz is still on Davy Wotten super midges, particularly
the white tail/red, and the black/silver. The same colors have
been working in other midges with good reports on zebras and
ruby midges.
Norfork Tailwater:
Gene's Trout Dock (870-499-5381) said the water is clear and
generation varies from day to day. Trout are still biting well
on wax worms, Power Bait and Rapalas.
Mountain River
Fly Shop said the cold weather and rising lake level prompted
more generation on the river, which means wait for the periods
of no water or jump in a boat. Boat fishing streamers or dead
drifting can be very productive. Try a spaghetti-and-meatballs
(an egg pattern in front of a San Juan worm) rig outside the
trophy zones or perhaps a Pink Lady or larger midge pattern.
Remember to allow plenty of length between your indicator and
fly to get that fly down. Streamer patterns can be very effective.
Big streamers were attracting attention from some very good fish,
including a couple of 20-inch browns. Try some zoo cougars, zonkers,
big woolly buggers or even some of the larger Hansen's stay hungry
streamers in white. Sinking lines, like a type 2 are recommended.
In low water fish scuds and sow bugs and midges.
John Berry of
Berry Brothers Guides said the Norfork has fished well lately,
but few anglers have been out because of the weather. There has
been good fishing on the high water days, particularly on Y2Ks.
The fishing in the catch-and-release area has been a bit slower
and has been mostly on midges. Try brown zebra midges with copper
wire and a copper beadhead and Dan's turkey tail emergers in
this section. The river in general does not fish as well when
there has been no generation for more than 24 hours. Dry Run
Creek, as always, fished well last week. The hot action was on
size 14 gray sow bugs. Also try olive woolly buggers fished below
a large strike indicator. Another fly that is always effective
is the San Juan worm. Good colors are red and worm brown. Be
sure and carry the biggest net that you can lay your hands on.
These fish are larger than you think they are.
McLellan's Fly
Shop said during the last week, water releases have been fairly
consistent two units running in the morning and shutting
off by mid-morning, then turning on again in the evening. This
is providing some excellent high-water fishing during the early
morning hours as well as some productive wade-fishing after the
water drops out. When fishing high water, remember to use larger
strike indicators, flies and split shot as well as longer leaders
and heavier tippet. If you have never fly-fished high water on
our tailwaters, be sure to stop by the shop. We will be happy
to show you how we rig up for the heavier flows.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
Beaver Tailwater:
McLellan's Fly Shop said there has been very little generation
below Beaver Dam, producing some excellent wade-fishing opportunities.
During low water, midge patterns are always important on Beaver
Tailwater, but especially during the winter months. Patterns
like the Jujubee, the Poison Tung, and the Zebra Midge have been
fooling many trout this week, especially on breezy days. Griffith's
Gnats and other midge dry fly patterns have been hooking plenty
of trout as well. The best flies have been: McLellan's Hunchback
Scud; Gray and Olive (size 14-16), McLellan's Woven Sow Bug (size
14-16), Zebra Midge; Black/Copper and Olive (size 16-20), Mercury
Brassie (size 18-20), Poison Tung; Gray/Blue and Black (size
20), Mercury Blood Midge (size 20-22), Zebra Jujubee Midge (size
20-22), Mercury Black Beauty (size 20-22), Gray Mercury Midge
(size 20-22), Cream Midge Adult (size 22-24), Flashtail Mini
Egg (size 16-18) and Unreal Egg (16).
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS
Spring River:
Mark's Fly Shop reported that the water is very high and muddy.
Dark-colored flies or ultra-bright flies are working decently
in the murky water.
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri
River: Jeff Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said fishing
has been picking up with some great action coming on Long Creeks
and A-and-W emergers stripped across the current.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Catherine:
Shane Goodner, owner of Catch'em All Guide Service, reports that
the rainbow trout fishing below Carpenter Dam will rival any
area in the state. Despite very shallow water and hazardous conditions,
guided trips routinely produce catches of 50 to 100 trout an
outing. Many of these fish are in the 13- to 16-inch range. Heavy
generation has hampered the fly-fishermen, but fish are still
being caught with streamers and San Juan worms. Micro-jigs in
white are also very effective fished under a strike indicator.
Spin fishermen are doing well casting Rooster Tails and Super
Dupers in silver or white around rock and timber. Boaters trolling
the channels below the bridge are landing trout in the 2-pound
range. Small crankbaits with a shallow running depth are best
when fishing these areas. The walleye run is in full swing with
both males and females present. Most of the females caught are
averaging 3 to 5 pounds with the largest recorded at just over
8 pounds. Fishing has been good at times, but inconsistent weather
and heavy boat pressure has made walleye fishing hit-and-miss.
Striper and hybrids have been good as these fish are schooling
and feeding heavily on the theadfin shad schools. Gizzard or
brood shad fished under a balloon has been the most effective
method of landing these fish, but throwing a 14-ounce white jig
has proved equally good in the heavy current.
March 6, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly ShopWHITE
RIVER: Well you our advice was a little equivocal last week _
ie keep your phone handy _ but if you did catch the low water,
the fishing was very good. We even had reports of caddis on the
water and some dry fly action at Buffalo Shoals and the Narrows.
Then of course came the rain and snow, which has a bunch of run-off
coming down Crooked Creek and the Buffalo clouding the water
level downstream.
But our big mate Moose reported
in yesterday that the river to White Hole at least is clear and
fishing well. Definitely time to fish the Upper Part of the River
with more snow and rain due in the next couple of days. But the
amount of water in the lower river might limit generation to
1-2-3 units for the time being, great fishing water.
Kevin Brandtonies, Marc Poulos
and the Journal had a group of Memphis lads on the water on Saturday.
Chilly early we were all shedding layers by lunchtime to keep
cool. The fishing might not have been red hot but it was certainly
steady. Black and silver midges proved effective early, scuds
patterns and red midges did well during the afternoon, before
we switched back to zebras and camel midges.
The majority of fish were fat
and feisty 'bows and a handful of mid-teens browns. Marc's pair,
floating the Upper River in his drift boat hooked into one big
brown which popped the tippet, while we had one straighten out
a 2x heavy scud hook.
We have also had good reports
coming into the store on brown and olive woollies. And don't
forget to top up your caddis patterns.
NORFORK: The Princess of Tailwaters
had a very different look Tuesday afternoon in the wake of all
the heavy rain backed up and going no-where with a torrent running
down the White. The boat ramp at the confluence was stacked with
downed trees, branches and other detritus as per the picture
at left. It might take a few days to have the rubbish removed.
But one of our guide mates Ken
Richards, popped in yesterday and said that the Norfork had now
cleared and was back to normal.
Midges have been very strong,
with black and silver, red and brown the most likely colors whether
you are fishing Davys Super Midges, standard Zebras or your own
patterns. Our Camel Midges have been very effective as well.
So have San Juans, scud patterns, in darker tones and sowbugs.
February 28, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: High water and
shad coming through the dam under 6 or 7 units was the story
of the past week. Well until yesterday when we now have low again.
The fishing has been very good in the past 24 hours, but who
knows how long the low water will last.
The high water was what the
shad kill devotees were after though all our guides said the
going was relatively tough, despite good numbers of shad, until
Sunday when things really turned on. Best fish we heard about
went 9 pounds. But its not your typical fly fishing gig. Monster
indicators, long heavy leader and some of the biggest heaviest
flies you are ever likely to see on a trout river. Its all about
getting the fly down deep.
If the shad aren't coming through
then try a red San Juan dribbled over the shallower gravel bars
and you can pick up some fish. But this is definitely a weekend
to keep the cell phone with the Bull Shoals generation number
handy.
NORFORK: There has been more
generation on Norfork than we have seen for a while. But as we
mentioned above there has been some very productive windows to
fish. Marc Poulos and the Journal saved a day for a group of
4 Texas clients on Saturday, after battling conditions and karma
at Rim Shoal. Between the bad weather, motor problems, dirty
water, shut down fishing, we were battling until a jump to Norfork
and finally some fun turned everything around.
We have been doing well on Zebra
Midges and BH Pheasant Tails, plus some San Juans for good measure.
But scuds and sowbugs seems to have been the most consistent.
Depending on the day, or even hours, Davy's Sowbug, Mclellan's
Hunchback Scud (tan or olive) or the Kaufmann's GB scud in tan
or brown olive seem have been the best bets.
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
February 28, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 2/28/2008
Though we have had a bit of
precipitation, the lake levels on the White River system have
fallen a bit. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam fell two tenths
of a foot to rest at one tenth of a foot above power pool at
654.00 feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake went down six tenths
of a foot to settle at three tenths of a foot above power pool.
Beaver Lake rose five tenths of a foot to settle at two and eight
tenths of a foot below pool. The pattern this week was for heavy
generation (up to seven generators) for long periods during the
day and for lower levels on generation at night. Then there was
no generation for a few days. This has created some excellent
wading opportunities mid week and some excellent boating opportunities
earlier. The weather has been cold and very windy including lake
wind advisories. Norfork Lake has risen two tenths of a foot
to rest at one tenths of a foot below power pool of 552.00 feet.
The pattern on the Norfolk has been for a bit more generation.
We had a few days with no generation at all and some days with
heavy generation. This has created some excellent wading conditions.
The forecast is for the weather to remain cold with the possibility
of precipitation. With the existing conditions at power pool,
I would expect some wading on both rivers.
The attention has still been
concentrated in the upper river specifically in the recently
opened Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam. Most
of the action has been from a boat. On higher levels of generation,
San Juan worms in bright colors and peach eggs have been the
ticket. Y2Ks have also accounted for a lot of good fish. The
big browns seem to be staying in the area much longer than usual.
In past years, they had moved back down stream by now. On lower
water the hot flies have been San Juan worms and midge emerger
patterns.
Of course, the big story in
this area has been the shad kill. They have been observed coming
through Bull Shoals Dam. This has not been noted on Norfork tail
waters at this time. The best flies to use will be white marabou
jigs and streamers. Be sure to have sinking and floating patterns,
though most of the action will be on the bottom. So far, it has
not generated the interest that it has in past years. On one
day, there were only three boats in the Bull Shoals Dam Catch
and Release area.
I still want to caution boat
anglers to please avoid dragging chains through the Redds (spawning
beds recently filled with fertilized eggs by brown trout). Now
is a particularly vulnerable time for the eggs and they need
to be left alone so that they can hatch. The redds can easily
be identified as clean light colored depressions in the gravel
bottom.
Anglers have also done well
fishing at Rim Shoals. Though there have been very few people
fishing in the area, the action has been hot. The most productive
flies in this section have been Y2Ks, zebra midges in brown with
copper wire and copper beads, olive scuds (size sixteen) and
worm brown San Juan worms (San Juan worms are killer patterns
after heavy rain or high levels of generation).
Another hot spot has been White
Shoals. Anglers have been walking down the trail from Rim Shoals.
This area is not fly-fished very much, but it is holding a lot
of trout. Good flies in this area are Y2Ks, olive scuds and olive
woolly buggers.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better. There have been few anglers here because of the inclement
weather. There has been good fishing on the high water days,
particularly on Y2Ks. The fishing in the Catch and release area
has been a bit slower and has been mostly midges. Try brown zebra
midges with copper wire and copper bead and Dan's turkey tail
emergers in this section. The river in general does not fish
as well when there has been no generation for over twenty four
hours.
Dry Run Creek, as always, fished
well this past week. The hot action was on gray sow bugs size
fourteen. Also try olive woolly buggers fished below a large
strike indicator. Another fly that is always effective is the
San Juan worm. Good colors are red and worm brown. Be sure and
carry the biggest net that you can lay your hands on. These fish
are larger than you think they are. Do not forget the camera!
John Berry
February 28, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
7.2 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
9.6 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
17.4 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
29.1 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
17.5 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
25.3 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community Fishing Report: Warmer water has
the trout biting very well on spinners, white curly-tailed grubs,
and pink Power Bait. Rock Creek was stocked this week and fishing
is excellent on white Power Bait, nightcrawlers and olive Trout
Magnets. Bream have started to pick up in some locations on worms.
For more information on trout stockings, call toll-free 1-866-540-FISH
(3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River: Lindsey's
Resort (501-302-3139) said water conditions are normal with heavy
generation daily. Trout fishing is very good on a wax worm/Power
Egg combination and on Shad Raps.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said water releases have resumed. The power house is
releasing water most days to reduce our lake to a more acceptable
level. If we have no heavy rain events in the coming days, water
releases will probably occur at breakfast and supper time as
per previous protocols. This permits wade fishing at Winkley
Shoal at first light, Libby Shoal until fast water arrives and
at JFK Park around noon. When releases are ended, our river level
will recede more slowly than normal. The Little Red empties into
the White River at Augusta, which is over its banks, so releases
will be lower as soon as Greers Ferry is down to top power pool.
Our midge population continues to grow exponentially every week.
Midge hatches are always more prevalent during winter, but this
year is exceptional. A few caddis flies and black gnats are also
"coming off" most days. The best dry flies are midges
(size 22 or smaller in cream or black), Adams (size 18-20) or
caddis (size 18-20 tan). Also try a sow bug (size 14-16 peacock,
UV tan or light gray), zebra midge (size 16-22 red, copper or
black), copper john (size 16 red, green or copper), San Juan
worm (size 16-18 fluorescent pink or red), red butt soft hackle
(size 14-16) or wooly bugger (size 10-12 olive or black).
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: John Berry of Berry
Brothers Guides said the shad kill is on and it's time to tie
on some large white flies and get out there. Large brown trout
will be in the tailwater of the dam ready to eat the dead shad
coming through the dam.
Mountain River Fly Shop said
there has been a lot of water lately, and some shad are finally
starting to come through the dam. White streamers fished deep
did pretty well Wednesday, but there was a lot of dirty water.
This is a great time to bring out the river boat and have a shot
at some very good fish. During lower water flows, San Juans and
red head woolly buggers have been working well. But the big buzz
is still on Davy Wotten super midges, particularly the white
tail/red, and the black/silver. The same colors have been working
in other midges with good reports on zebras and ruby midges.
Sportsman's White River Resort
said the water conditions are normal with heavy generation. Trout
fishing is very good on jigs, Rapalas and heavy spinnerbaits.
Fly fishing is slow.
Angler's White River Resort
reported the water is very high, but fishing is picking back
up. Trout can be found in creeks that run into the river. They
are being caught on worms and Power Bait.
McLellan's Fly Shop said generation
has been sporadic. However, fishing high water out of a boat
has been very productive using large scuds, eggs and San Juan
Worms. This is also a great time to fish large streamers for
aggressive brown trout. Fishing from a boat using sinking lines,
cast to fishy-looking structure as you drift downstream and use
an erratic retrieve to swim your fly across the current. You
won't get as many hook-ups this way, but streamer fishing usually
produces the biggest fish of the day.
Norfork Tailwater: Gene's Trout
Dock (870-499-5381) said water conditions are normal with heavy
generation. Trout are biting well on Rapalas and worms.
Mountain River Fly Shop said
the cold weather and rising lake level prompted more generation
on the river, which means wait for the periods of no water or
jump in a boat. Boat fishing streamers or dead drifting can be
very productive. Try a spaghetti-and-meatballs (an egg pattern
in front of a San Juan worm) rig outside the trophy zones or
perhaps a Pink Lady or larger midge pattern. Remember to allow
plenty of length between your indicator and fly to get that fly
down. Streamer patterns can be very effective. Big streamers
were attracting attention from some very good fish, including
a couple of 20-inch browns. Try some zoo cougars, zonkers, big
woolly buggers or even some of the larger Hansen's stay hungry
streamers in white. Sinking lines, like a type 2 are recommended.
In low water fish scuds and sow bugs and midges.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said the Norfork tailwater fished a bit better last week.
There have been few anglers here because of the inclement weather.
Some really nice fish were caught on brown zebra midges with
copper wire and a copper bead. The bigger fish were caught during
falling water. The river in general does not fish as well when
there has been no generation for over twenty four hours. Anglers
have also done well with Dan's turkey tail emerger when the fish
were keying in on the midge emergers in the film. There were
a few kids at Dry Run Creek last week and predictably they did
well. While sow bugs are the dominant food source, try fishing
a Y2K or big San Juan worm. They generate a lot of strikes and
the larger hook helps to land some of these big fish. The majority
of big fish are lost at the net. Take your time and do not rush
the process.
McLellan's Fly Shop said during
the last week, water releases have been fairly consistent
two units running in the morning and shutting off by mid-morning,
then turning on again in the evening. This is providing some
excellent high-water fishing during the early morning hours as
well as some productive wade-fishing after the water drops out.
When fishing high water, remember to use larger strike indicators,
flies and split shot as well as longer leaders and heavier tippet.
If you have never fly-fished high water on our tailwaters, be
sure to stop by the shop. We will be happy to show you how we
rig up for the heavier flows.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
Beaver Tailwater: McLellan's
Fly Shop said there has been very little generation below Beaver
Dam, producing some excellent wade-fishing opportunities. During
low water, midge patterns are always important on Beaver Tailwater,
but especially during the winter months. Patterns like the Jujubee,
the Poison Tung, and the Zebra Midge have been fooling many trout
this week, especially on breezy days. Griffith's Gnats and other
midge dry fly patterns have been hooking plenty of trout as well.
The best flies have been: McLellan's Hunchback Scud; Gray and
Olive (size 14-16), McLellan's Woven Sow Bug (size 14-16), Zebra
Midge; Black/Copper and Olive (size 16-20), Mercury Brassie (size
18-20), Poison Tung; Gray/Blue and Black (size 20), Mercury Blood
Midge (size 20-22), Zebra Jujubee Midge (size 20-22), Mercury
Black Beauty (size 20-22), Gray Mercury Midge (size 20-22), Cream
Midge Adult (size 22-24), Flashtail Mini Egg (size 16-18) and
Unreal Egg (16).
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri River: Jeff
Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said fishing has been picking
up with some great action coming on Long Creeks and A-and-W emergers
stripped across the current.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Catherine: Shane Goodner,
owner of Catch'em All Guide Service, reports that the fantastic
rainbow trout fishing continues below Carpenter Dam. Guided trips
consistently catch 50 to more than 100 trout an outing with the
chance of landing a lunker always present. The winter drawdown
ends March 8, when both Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine will
be raised 8 inches a day until March 15. Until then, extremely
shallow water filled with rocks and timber are the norm in the
tailrace, so caution is advised when navigating the area. Fly-fishermen
are able to wade to some of the highly populated trout holes
and are experiencing good success by casting streamers and white
micro-jigs in areas of current. San Juan worms are also working
well when the turbines are not running. Boaters trolling the
channels are regularly landing trout in the 2- to 3-pound range
using shallow-running crankbaits that imitate minnows or crawfish.
Bank fishermen waste little time taking a limit of fish using
live minnows and nightcrawlers floated under a bobber. Corn and
wax worms are a safe bet also. The walleye run is now in full
swing as the big females have moved up and stay in an angry mood.
They spend a lot of time chasing trout. These spawning fish will
attack intruders and can be caught by trolling or fishing live
bait over spawning areas. A key point to remember in walleye
fishing is that rainbow trout will be absent from areas of spawning
walleye. Big stripers have been spotted below the bridge as they
like to be around when the AGFC hatchery truck delivers a load
of rainbow trout. A top-water presentation like a Super Spook
or C-10 Redfin will be the ticket when targeting these predators.
February 15, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: Well its getting
time to dust off the Supreme river boat and head onto the water.
After a relatively low water winter, we are now starting to see
some consistency in flows over a unit. Over the weekend there
was some water running but not enough to stop you wading. Cold
weather and icy conditions made things tricky, please be careful
on the ramps in icy conditions. Midges were doing ok on the White,
black and silver the best combination, like a Tungsten Zebra,
or a Black and Silver Super Midge or WhiteTail was hard to beat.
The Journal donated a White Tail to one decent trout's collection,
after while a little rusty on the take. "Soft hands on the
6x"was the mantra. But we have to say the trout we caught
were beautifully colored and fat bellied. As the ice storm moved
through Marc Poulos spent some time on the water and reported
that bright colors seemed to make a difference. "It was
even too cold for midges" he told us with a grin yesterday.
Y2Ks and other eggs patterns were the trick. With similar conditions
expected to prevail this weekend, pack some in your boxes. It
would also be worth carrying some white buggers and olive buggers
for when it gets cold. Fish them slow and stay warm.
NORFORK: The cold weather and
rising lake level had prompted more generation on Norfork as
well, which means wait for the periods of no water or jump in
a boat.Boat fishing streamers or dead drifting can be very productive.
Try a spaghetti and meatballs rig outside the trophy zones, an
egg pattern in front of a San Juan, perhaps a Pink Lady or larger
midge patterns. Remember to allow plenty of length between your
indicator and fly (or shot) to get that fly down. Streamer patterns
can be very effective. Marco also had clients on Norfork and
reported that big streamers were attracting attention from some
very good fish, including a couple of 20"+ browns. Try some
Zoo Cougars, Zonkers, big woolly buggers or even some of the
larger Hansen's Stay Hungry Streamers in white. Sinking lines,
like a type 2 are recommended. In low water fish scuds and sow
bugs and midges. We particularly like Davy's Original Sowbug
and McLellan's Woven V-Rib Sowbugs or Wilson's Trout Crack.
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
February 14, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 2/14/2008
We have had a recent rain and
ice event and the lake levels on the White River system have
risen a bit. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose on tenth
of a foot to rest at one and nine tenths feet below power pool
at 654.00 feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake rose two tenths of
a foot to settle at three and four tenths of a foot below power
pool. Beaver Lake rose three tenths of a foot to settle at six
and two tenths of a foot below pool. There generation pattern
on the White has been a bit of a mixed bag. On some days, there
have been one or two spikes of heavy generation followed by periods
of low generation. On other days, there have been long periods
of low level generation. This has created very limited wading
opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities. The weather
has been cold and windy. Norfork Lake has risen four tenths of
a foot to rest three and three tenths feet below power pool of
552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has been for very little
generation. We had a few days with no generation at all and some
days with one or two brief spikes of heavy generation. This has
created some excellent wading conditions every day. The forecast
is for the weather to remain cold with the possibility of precipitation.
With the existing conditions, we should have some wadable water
on both rivers.
The attention has still been
concentrated in the upper river specifically in the recently
opened Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam. The generation
pattern has severely limited wading and most of the action has
been from a boat. At low levels of generation, the hot flies
have been midge patterns. Zebra midges in black with silver wire
and silver beads and brown with copper wire and copper beads
have been particularly effective. On higher levels of generation
San Juan worms in bright colors and peach eggs have been the
ticket.
I still want to caution all
wading anglers to please avoid walking through the Redds (spawning
beds recently filled with fertilized eggs by brown trout). Now
is a particularly vulnerable time for the eggs and they need
to be left alone so that they can hatch. The redds can easily
be identified as clean light colored depressions in the gravel
bottom.
Every one is still on the look
out for shad coming through the turbines at Bull Shoals and Norfork
Dams. The recent rain and cold front should help create the conditions
necessary for this natural phenomenon. The shad kill usually
occurs during extremely cold weather and high generation. As
yet, there have been no shad observed. It should be noted that,
the shad kill does not necessarily happen every year.
Anglers wishing to avoid the
crowds at Bull Shoals Dam headed down stream to find a bit of
solitude. One of the better spots was Wildcat Shoals. This area
is wide and fairly shallow. It is therefore fairly easily waded
at the lower levels of generation that we had at times. Hot flies
here were partridge and orange soft hackles, green butts, and
olive woolly buggers. On higher water, brightly colored San Juan
worms and egg patterns did the trick.
Rim Shoals was fishing very
well. On lower levels of generation the area around White Shoals
was productive. Gary Flipin at Rim Shoals Trout Dock runs a river
shuttle from his dock to access this remote area for a nominal
fee. On high water, the section below the first island has fished
particularly well. The hot fly has been the San Juan worm in
cerise.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better. There have been few anglers here because of the inclement
weather. Some really nice fish were caught on brown zebra midges
with copper wire and copper bead. The bigger fish were caught
on falling water. The river in general does not fish as well
when there has been no generation for over twenty four hours.
Anglers have also done well with Dan's turkey tail emerger when
the fish were keying in on the midge emergers in the film.
There were a few kids at Dry
Run Creek this past week and predictably they did well. While
sowbugs are the dominant food source, try fishing a Y2K or big
San Juan worm. They generate a lot of strikes and the larger
hook helps to land some of these big fish. The majority of big
fish are lost at the net. Take your time and do not rush the
process. Of course a big net helps.
John Berry
February 14, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
3.3 feet at Calico Rock (flood stage 19 feet)
6.5 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
1.9 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
14.4 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
2.9 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
13.8 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River:Lindsey's Resort
(501-302-3139) said the water is clear and low with little generation
in the mornings. Trout are still biting well on wax worms with
marshmallows and nightcrawlers.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry Power House is following the same
protocol as previous weeks. There have been no weekend water
releases for four weeks. Monday through Friday, releases have
been from 7-11 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. Wading possibilities are somewhat
limited. One good plan is to fish at Winkley Shoal from first
light until the high water arrives around 9:30-10 a.m. and drive
to Libby Shoal for an additional hour of fishing until the fast
water hits there. After lunch you can finish the day at JFK Park.
The incredible midge hatches have not diminished. Midges were
hatching in the Wal-Mart parking lot the other day, for Pete's
sake. We are also seeing a few caddis flies and black gnats coming
off. Dry flies that are attracting trout include a midge (size
22, cream or black), Adams (sizes 18-20) and caddis (sizes 18-20,
tan). Below the surface, productive flies include sow bugs (sizes
14-16, peacock, UV tan or light gray), zebra midges (sizes 16-22,
red, copper or black), red butt (sizes 14-16), San Juan worms
(sizes 16-18) and woolly buggers (sizes 10-12, olive or black).
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: Mountain River
Fly Shop said the cold weather should mean plenty of water coming
through the dam, which means the Upper End of the river will
be host to a fair number of boats. Try to run up behind other
fly fishers, don't drive over their drift, get in line for a
drift and don't cut in. Then everyone can have some fun. Fishing
has been very good on the White. The trout are definitely hungry.
Red White Tails have been very popular, egg patterns continue
to do well, particularly the Flashtail Mini Eggs and Unreal Eggs.
Red Head Olive Woolly Buggers are working extremely well also.
Gaston's White River Resort
said trout anglers have seen many water conditions lately. Anytime
between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., two to four units are generating.
Around 9 a.m. until noon, the dam will shut down and the water
level drops. However, the trout are still feeding during low
water periods. The bulbous bivisible is working well for fly-fishermen
where creeks run into the river. We also recommend the partridge
and orange soft hackle, gold ribbed hare's ear, copper john,
copper zebra midge, Y2K bug, the sow bug and the draggin' egg.
During high water, try peach or white egg patterns, white and
pink micro jigs and San Juan worms. Nightcrawlers are doing well
for the bait anglers when the water is low. Yellow Power Bait
has also been effective. Some other lures being used are No.
5 silver or gold floating Rapalas and Smithwick blue-backed Rogues.
Any minnow-shaped lure has potential.
Sportsman's White River Resort
said water conditions are normal with heavy generation daily.
Trout are biting very well on Power Bait and brown or white jigs.
McLellan's Fly Shop said water
levels have been squirrelly lately, but most days you can find
low water if you know when they've open and shut the gates, and
you know your river mileages. Best flies have been tan or copper
scuds, sow bugs, golden unreal eggs, fluorescent orange flash-tail
mini-eggs, micro mayflies, triple-B flashbacks, and various zebra
midges.
Norfork Tailwater: Gene's Trout
Dock (870-499-5381) said the water is clear and low with generation
in the mornings. Trout fishing has been good on Power Bait and
corn.
Mountain River Fly Shop said
most reports off Norfork continue to be fair at best, with many
smaller fish being caught. Wading was wide open this week with
the warmer weather, but generation started yesterday with the
cold front pushing through.
Small scuds (olive, gray and
tan), McLellan's hunchback, Davys sow bug (gray) and small Kaufmann's
(brown or olive) have been doing well. Zebras and super midges
have been productive, as well as WD40s.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said the generation pattern on the Norfork has been a
mixed bag. We had a few days with no generation and some days
with a brief period of heavy generation. This has created excellent
wading conditions every day.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches
in the afternoon. Anglers have done the best with Norfork beadheads
in olive (size 18), and zebra midges in black with silver wire
and silver beads and brown with copper wire and copper beads.
When the fish are keying in on the midge emergers in the film,
Dan's turkey tail emerger (size 22) have been killer. To change
things up, try large San Juan worms in red and worm brown and
Y2Ks. They frequently tempt large trout. Dry Run Creek, as always,
has been the place to take the kids fishing. The warm weekend
drew out a few youngsters. Those few that showed up did exceptionally
well. The hot fly was a size 14 sow bug. Other effective flies
were olive woolly buggers and San Juan worms. Be sure and use
at least 4X tippet and carefully pinch down those barbs.
McLellan's Fly Shop said Norfork
has run water for a couple hours per day. Try eggs and small
olive scuds, and be sure to bring different midge pupae and emergers.
Definitely bring BWO dries and emergers (spundun baetis, bat-wing
emerger, and jujubaetis).
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
Beaver Tailwater: McLellan's
Fly Shop said Beaver Tailwater remains low most days despite
the cold weather. As always this time of year, carry midge pupae
in various colors and also tiny cream adults. There has been
some fantastic BWO action lately, so be sure to have some spundun
baetis or bat-wing emergers with you. Some big brown trout have
been landed recently on streamers; throw as big a fly as your
rod will allow Sheila sculpins, ziwis or sculpzillas.
Ken Richards at Justfishinguides
said trout are biting on midges. Black and silver zebra midges
working best. Olive/gold and gray/blue midge pupae are working
also. Suspend your fly just above the bottom. A slight breeze
enhances the action of these flies and the bite seems to be better.
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS
Eleven-PointRiver: Woody's Canoe Rental and Campground
(870-892-9732) had no report.
SpringRiver: www.marksflyshop.com said mayfly and caddis hatches
continue to grow. Stable weather will move in soon along with
consistent fishing results.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Catherine: Shane Goodner, owner of Catch'em
All Guide Service, reports that rainbow trout fishing below Carpenter
Dam remains excellent. Water temperature is holding at 45 degrees
in the tailrace, but drops as much as 5 degrees as you approach
the dam. Guided trips are the safest way to navigate the area
and are still catching more than 50 fish an outing with numbers
over 100 not unusual. Bank fishermen are quickly recording limits
of trout on corn and redworms floated under a bobber. Also these
baits can be fished on the bottom with marshmallows to float
them toward the surface. Spin fishermen are catching larger trout
by casting Rooster Tails and Super Dupers during generation.
Artificial baits are highly effective when the turbines are turning
as the trout are feeding heavily on threadfin shad. When generation
stops fishermen should concentrate on areas with some visible
current. Fly fishermen always stick to this technique and consistently
catch fish. Woolly buggers, micro-jigs and San Juan worms fished
in current will all draw strikes regardless of weather conditions.
Striper and hybrid activity has been adversely effected by the
on and off winter conditions but some fish have been caught on
1"4-oz. jigs in the main river channel below the bridge.
The walleye run has begun as numbers of male walleye arrive to
prepare for females.
February 7, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides-
Due to a recent violent storm
front rain, the lake levels on the White River system have risen
a bit. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam remained steady at two
feet below power pool at 654.00 feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake
rose two tenths of a foot to settle at three and six tenths of
a foot below power pool. Beaver Lake rose four tenths of a foot
to settle at six and five tenths of a foot below pool. There
generation pattern on the White has been a bit of a mixed bag.
On some days, there have been one or two spikes of heavy generation
followed by periods of low generation. On other days, there have
been short periods of no generation. This has created very limited
wading opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities.
The weather has also been a mixed bag. Some days were cold and
incredibly windy and we had a couple of unseasonably warm days
that spawned a killer tornado. Norfork Lake has risen seven tenths
of a foot to rest three and seven tenths feet below power pool
of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has been for very
little generation. We had a few days with no generation at all
and some days with a brief period of heavy generation. This has
created excellent wading conditions every day. The forecast is
for the weather to remain cold with the possibility of precipitation.
With the existing conditions, we should have some wadable water
on both rivers.
All of the action during the
last week was centered in the recently opened Catch and Release
section at the base of Bull Shoals dam. Numerous anglers came
into the area to participate in the opening of the area after
the spawn. There were several trophy trout caught. The action
seemed to be best on midges, eggs (peach) and on heavy generation
San Juan worms. Due to the infestation of this section by Didymo
(the invasive algae), we are not seeing many sowbugs or scuds
here. I caution all wading anglers to please avoid walking through
the Redds (spawning beds recently filled with fertilized eggs
by brown trout). Now is a particularly vulnerable time for the
eggs and they need to be left alone so that they can hatch and
become big brown trout. The redds can easily be identified as
clean light colored depressions in the gravel bottom.
Every one is still on the look
out for shad coming through the turbines at Bull Shoals and Norfork
Dams. The recent rain and cold front should help create the conditions
necessary for this natural phenomenon. The shad kill usually
occurs during extremely cold weather and high generation. As
yet, there have been no shad observed. One of the early indicators
is, gulls converging below the dams to feed on the shad. The
most effective flies to use during the shad kill would be large
white streamers in floating and sinking versions.
Anglers wishing to avoid the
crowds at Bull Shoals Dam headed down stream to find a bit of
solitude. One of the better spots was Roundhouse shoals in Cotter.
There is plenty of water there with easy access. Hot flies here
were gray sowbugs, olive scuds, zebra midges and olive woolly
buggers. On higher water, brightly colored San Juan worms and
egg patterns did the trick.
Rim Shoals was fishing very
well. The hot flies for this section have been gray sowbugs,
olive woolly buggers, olive scuds, black zebra midges with silver
wire and silver bead and brown zebra midges with copper wire
and copper beads. On high water, the section below the first
island has fished particularly well. The hot fly has been the
San Juan worm in cerise.
The Norfork has fished a bit
slow. There have been few anglers here in spite of the reliable
midge hatches in the afternoon. Anglers have done the best with
Norfork bead heads in olive size eighteen, zebra midges in black
with silver wire and silver beads and brown with copper wire
and copper beads in the same size. When the fish are keying in
on the midge emergers in the film, Dan's turkey tail emerger
and Chucks emerger both in size eighteen have been the go to
patterns.
There were a few kids at Dry
Run Creek this past week and predictably they did well. While
sowbugs are a reliable producer, try fishing an olive woolly
bugger under an indicator. They generate a lot of strikes and
the larger hook helps to land some of these big fish. With these
you can use really heavy tippet (3X or 4X). Most fish are lost
at the net. Take the biggest one that you can lay your hands
on and do not forget the camera.
John Berry
February 7, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
3.3 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
6.5 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
1.9 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
14.4 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
2.9 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
13.8 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River: Lindsey's Resort (501-302-3139) said water
conditions are normal with no generation. Trout are still biting
well on wax worms with marshmallow combinations and crankbaits.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse is releasing water
for hydroelectric power generation most days from 6-9 a.m. and
5-8 p.m. There have been no weekend water releases lately. Incredible
midge hatches continue and the trout are rising to them all along
the Little Red. Top-water "bug puppets" (flies) that
are working include the midge (size 22, cream or black), caddis
(size 18-20, tan) and Adams (size 18-20). Below the surface,
try a red butt soft hackle emerger (size 14-16), sow bug (size
14-16, UV tan, peacock or light gray), copper john (size 16,
red, green or copper), zebra midge (size 16-22, red, black or
copper) and wooly bugger (size 10-12, olive or black).
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: Mountain River Fly Shop said the cold weather should
mean plenty of water coming through the dam, which means the
Upper End of the river will be host to a fair number of boats.
Try to run up behind other fly fishers, don't drive over their
drift, get in line for a drift and don't cut in. Then everyone
can have some fun. Fishing has been very good on the White. The
trout are definitely hungry. Red White Tails have been very popular,
egg patterns continue to do well, particularly the Flashtail
Mini Eggs and Unreal Eggs. Red Head Olive Woolly Buggers are
working extremely well also.
Gaston's White River Resort
said trout anglers have seen many water conditions lately. Anytime
between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., two to four units are generating.
Around 9 a.m. until noon, the dam will shut down and the water
level drops. However, the trout are still feeding during low
water periods. The bulbous bivisible is working well for fly-fishermen
where creeks run into the river. We also recommend the partridge
and orange soft hackle, gold ribbed hares ear, copper john, copper
zebra midge, Y2K bug, the sow bug and the draggin' egg. During
high water, try peach or white egg patterns, white and pink micro
jigs and San Juan worms. Nightcrawlers are doing well for the
bait anglers when the water is low. Yellow Power Bait has also
been effective. Some other lures being used are No. 5 silver
or gold floating Rapalas and Smithwick blue-backed Rogues. Any
minnow-shaped lure has potential.
Anglers White River Resort said
water conditions are normal with little generation. Trout fishing
has been excellent on yellow and pink Power Bait and drop rigs.
Sportsman's White River Resort
said water conditions are normal with two generators running
daily. Trout fishing is very good on Power Bait, Rapalas and
jigs.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said generation has varied quite a bit. Some days have
seen one or two spikes of heavy generation followed by periods
of low generation. On other days, there have been short periods
of very light generation. This has created some great wading
opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities. It has
been extremely cold and incredibly windy with a couple of warm
pleasant days thrown in that allowed for some great fishing.
The catch-and-release area below Bull Shoals Dam opened Feb.,
1. Please avoid walking through the redds (spawning beds recently
filled with fertilized eggs by brown trout). Now is a particularly
vulnerable time for the eggs and they need to be left alone so
that they can hatch and become big brown trout. The shad kill
usually occurs some time from January to March during periods
of very low temperature and high generation. This generally happens
just after the brown trout spawn when they are very hungry. It
is usually the best time to land a huge trout. This is not a
reliable phenomenon and sometimes there is no shad kill. As yet,
there have been no shad observed. One of the early indicators
is gulls converging below the dams to feed on the shad. The best
flies to use during the shad kill would be large white streamers.
Be sure to carry both floating and sinking flies. There have
been several reports of great fishing on black zebra midges with
silver wire and silver beads and olive woolly buggers. Rim Shoals
was fishing very well. The hot flies for this section have been
olive woolly buggers, olive scuds and black zebra midges with
silver wire and silver bead. The deeper holes along the first
island have been productive, particularly with Y2Ks. On high
water, the hot fly has been the San Juan worm in cerise.
Norfork Tailwater: Gene's Trout
Dock (870-499-5381) said the water is clear and low with very
little generation. Trout fishing is still good on corn and nightcrawlers.
Fly-anglers are having luck on sow bugs and woolly buggers.
Mountain River Fly Shop said
most reports off Norfork continue to be fair at best, with many
smaller fish being caught. Wading was wide open this week with
the warmer weather, but generation started yesterday with the
cold front pushing through.
Small scuds (olive, gray and tan), McLellan's hunchback, Davys
sow bug (gray) and small Kaufmann's (brown or olive) have been
doing well. Zebras and super midges have been productive, as
well as WD40s.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said the generation pattern on the Norfork has been a
mixed bag. We had a few days with no generation and some days
with a brief period of heavy generation. This has created excellent
wading conditions every day.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches
in the afternoon. Anglers have done the best with Norfork beadheads
in olive (size 18), and zebra midges in black with silver wire
and silver beads and brown with copper wire and copper beads.
When the fish are keying in on the midge emergers in the film,
Dan's turkey tail emerger (size 22) have been killer. To change
things up, try large San Juan worms in red and worm brown and
Y2Ks. They frequently tempt large trout. Dry Run Creek, as always,
has been the place to take the kids fishing. The warm weekend
drew out a few youngsters. Those few that showed up did exceptionally
well. The hot fly was a size 14 sow bug. Other effective flies
were olive woolly buggers and San Juan worms. Be sure and use
at least 4X tippet and carefully pinch down those barbs.
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri River: Jeff
Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said the cold weather has
kept things slow. However, during the warmest part of the day,
Long Creeks and A-and-W emergers managed to land some nice trout.
There have even been a few March browns hatching during the warmest
days.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
LakeCatherine: Shane Goodner,
owner of Catch'em All Guide Service, reports that rainbow trout
fishing below the dam continues to provide some the best angling
in the state. Guided trips routinely catch 50 or more trout an
outing with numbers nearing 100 not uncommon. Because of the
low water conditions - extreme caution is advised when attempting
to navigate the area. Fly-fishermen are able to wade the tailrace
and continue to catch limits of quality trout by casting San
Juan worms, micro-jigs and egg patterns in areas with current.
Spin-fishermen are having success throwing Rooster Tails, Super
Dupers, and small jigs around rock piles and sand bars. Boaters
trolling small crankbaits below the bridge during periods of
generation are catching larger trout. Bank anglers should stick
to fishing the main channel with nightcrawlers, redworms and
corn floated under a bobber. Striper fishing has improved in
the last week with many fish taken in the 10- to 15-pound class
on live bait rigs below the bridge in the main channel. Top-water
action is very limited, but is present when these predator fish
chase the trout schools to the top in search of a meal.
February 6, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: Its been a difficult
day and its been pretty hard to concentrate on fishing, even
as much as we obsess about it. But it had been a pretty good
few days. Some very nice fish were caught by the dam and Clint
Wilkinson was in this morning talking about a 100 fish day for
his client on Monday. But the severe cold front which came in
yesterday will have slowed things some
Davy Wotton's Super Midges continue
to do very well, as do more common Zebra Midges, Poison Tungs,
and the like. Black and Silver and red are very strong colors.
But we have also had decent reports on olive and Camel Midges.
Olive McLellan's scuds and Woven
V-Rib Sowbugs have also been catching plenty of fish alongside
Trout Crack's and sneaky brown San Juan's.
Woolly buggers in olive and
black continue to fish strongly.
NORFORK: Chad Johnson floated
Norfork last Saturday and nailed fish on a variety of patterns.
But he reported that red based midges with some flash were the
best bet. Try the Red/Yellow Tailwater Midges as well. We have
heard too of some irregular, patchy but occasionally very good
blue wing olive hatches coming off.
So keep some Parachute Adams
in 18s and 20s handy, and some small Pheasant Tails..
Tightlines from all at the Mountain
River Fly Shop
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
January 31, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides-
Despite a recent rain event,
the lake levels on the White River system have fallen a bit.
The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam fell one tenth of a foot to
rest at two feet below power pool at 654.00 feet. Up stream,
Table Rock Lake fell seven tenths of a foot to settle at three
and eight tenths of a foot below power pool. Beaver Lake fell
one tenth of a foot to settle at six and nine tenths of a foot
below pool. There generation pattern on the White has been a
bit of a mixed bag. On some days, there have been one or two
spikes of heavy generation followed by periods of low generation.
On other days, there have been short periods of very light generation.
This has created some great wading opportunities and some excellent
boating opportunities. It has been extremely cold and incredibly
windy with a couple of warm pleasant days thrown in that allowed
for some great fishing. Norfork Lake has risen one tenth of a
foot to rest four and four tenths feet below power pool of 552.00
feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has been a mixed bag. We had
a few days with no generation and some days with a brief period
of heavy generation. This has created excellent wading conditions
every day. The forecast is for the weather to remain cold with
the possibility of precipitation. With the existing conditions,
we should have some wadable water on both rivers.
Keep in mind that the Catch
and Release area below Bull Shoals Dam opens on February, 1.
This section has been closed for the past few months while the
brown trout have been spawning and no one has been allowed to
fish here during this period. I caution all wading anglers to
please avoid walking through the Redds (spawning beds recently
filled with fertilized eggs by brown trout). Now is a particularly
vulnerable time for the eggs and they need to be left alone so
that they can hatch and become big brown trout. The redds can
easily be identified as clean light colored depressions in the
gravel bottom.
The next major event on the
Twin Lakes fishing calendar is the shad kill. This is when threadfin
shad are drawn through the turbines at Bull Shoals and Norfork
dam. This usually occurs sometime from January to March during
periods of very low temperature and high generation. This generally
happens just after the brown trout spawn when they are very hungry.
It is usually the best time to land a huge trout. This is not
a reliable phenomenon and sometimes there is no shad kill. As
yet, there have been no shad observed. One of the early indicators
is, gulls converging below the dams to feed on the shad. The
best flies to use during the shad kill would be large white streamers.
Be sure to carry both floating and sinking flies.
Despite the generally cold and
windy conditions, we had an incredible weekend with high temperatures
and sunny wind less days. There were many anglers that took advantage
of the unseasonably pleasant weather. One hot spot was the Narrows
. There have been several reports of great fishing on black zebra
midges with silver wire and silver beads and olive woolly buggers.
Rim Shoals was fishing very
well. The hot flies for this section have been olive woolly buggers,
olive scuds and black zebra midges with silver wire and silver
bead. The deeper holes along the first island have been productive
particularly with Y2Ks. On high water, the hot fly has been the
San Juan worm in cerise.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches
in the afternoon. Anglers have done the best with Norfork bead
heads in olive size eighteen, zebra midges in black with silver
wire and silver beads and brown with copper wire and copper beads
in the same size. When the fish are keying in on the midge emergers
in the film, Dan's turkey tail emerger in size twenty two have
been killer. To change things up try large San Juan worms in
red and worm brown and Y2Ks. They frequently tempt large trout.
Dry Run Creek, as always, has
been the place to take the kids fishing. The warm weekend drew
out a few youngsters. Those few that showed up did exceptionally
well. The hot fly was a size fourteen sowbug. Other effective
flies were olive woolly buggers and San Juan worms. Be sure and
use at least 4X tippet and carefully pinch down those barbs.
John Berry
January 30, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: Well we should
have guessed it. The end of the winter closure of the Bull Shoal
Catch and Release area is upon us and there is snow in the forecast
_ for the 29th at least. But there might be some of the white
stuff still on the ground come Friday morning. Drive carefully
if you are planning an early start.
The cold weather should mean
plenty of water coming through the Dam, which means the Upper
End of the river will be host to a fair number of boats. As Momma
used to say "play nicely with the other kiddies" if
you are heading out. Try to run up behind other fly fishers,
don't drive over their drift, get in line for a drift and don't
cut in. Then everyone can have some fun.
February 1 is often seen as
the start to the new year of fishing, despite there being no
closed season, and there will be plenty hoping to kick off with
a shad kill. As we mentioned last week cold weather and generation
are the critical factors, and we keep edging towards it.
But even so the fishing has
been very good on the White. Davy and T-Bird called in during
the week to deliver more Super Midges, and a couple of new versions,
and reported a very good day above White Hole, earlier this week.
T-Bird whopped them with a Black Whitetail Super Midge off her
vise. Davy on the other hand was fishing a team of his specialty
wet flies, which are going to join our fly stable later in the
year.
The trout are definitely hungry.
Red White Tails have been very popular, egg patterns continue
to do well, particularly the Flashtail Mini Eggs and Unreal Eggs.
And woolly bugger fly fishers
are continue to seek out our Red Head Olive Buggers in preference
to all our other patterns, so thankfully we just topped up our
bins.
NORFORK: The majority of reports
off Norfork continue to be fair at best, with a lot of smaller
fish on the menu. Wading was wide open this week, with the warmer
temps, but generation started yesterday with the cold front pushing
through.
Some decent flows should help
out. Smaller scuds, olive, gray and tan McLellan's Hunchback,
Davys Sowbug in Gray and small Kaufmann's in brown olivive have
been doing well. Zebras and Super Midges have been productive,
as well as WD40s. As we mentioned last week try fishing lightly
weighted or unweighted emergers swing up in the film. Or swing
Tailwater Soft Hackles or Anna Ks through the tail outs of the
riffles.
Tightlines from all at the Mountain
River Fly Shop
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
January 30, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
4.1 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
6.2 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
2 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
14.8 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
3.3 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
13.2 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community
Fishing Report: Chartreuse or white Power Bait and spinners have
been the hot trout baits in ponds this week. Rock Creek was stocked
earlier this week and trout fishing remains excellent on Trout
Magnets and black woolly buggers. For more information on trout
stockings, call toll-free 1-866-540-FISH (3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River: Lindsey's
Resort (501-302-3139) said water conditions are normal with little
generation in the mornings. Trout fishing is good on wax worms
with marshmallows and crankbaits.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse is releasing water
most days in the mornings and afternoons with no action in between.
Releases have been from 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. The river
is crystal clear and richly oxygenated. There are wade fishing
opportunities on the Little Red all day, beginning at Winkley
Shoal at first light then driving down to Libby Shoal mid-morning
until about noon then finishing your day at JFK Park. Be careful
and exit the stream immediately when fast water arrives. Midge
hatches are occurring every day on the Little Red, especially
in the afternoon sunshine. A few caddis flies and sulphur mayflies
are coming off but not anything like those midge hatches. The
top-water flies of choice include midges (size 22, cream or black),
adams (size 18-20) and caddis (size 18-20, tan). Sub-surface
flies that are working well include the lowly but abundant sow
bug (sizes 14-16, UV tan, peacock or light gray), zebra midge
(sizes 16-22, red, black or copper), red butt emerger (size 14-16),
copper john (size 16, red or copper) and woolly buggers (sizes
10-12, olive or black).
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: Mountain River
Fly Shop said the cold weather hasn't kept some anglers from
the water. It seems like we have been saying it every week, but
Davy's Super Midge was the hot item, particularly the Red and
Black White Tails. The standard versions work very well, but
the White Tail is grabbing fly fishers and they are catching
fish. Mobile white flies, like Deep Shad patterns, white woolly
buggers or anything "fleshy," tied with rabbit or marabou
can work pretty well run deep during generation periods. It's
time to add some heavy tippet and big shot to the shopping list.
Gaston's White River Resort
said trout anglers have seen many water conditions lately. Anytime
between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., two to four units are generating.
Around 9 a.m. until noon, the dam will shut down and the water
level drops. However, the trout are still feeding during low
water periods. The bulbous bivisible is working well for fly-fishermen
where creeks run into the river. We also recommend the partridge
and orange soft hackle, gold ribbed hares ear, copper john, copper
zebra midge, Y2K bug, the sow bug and the draggin' egg. During
high water, try peach or white egg patterns, white and pink micro
jigs and San Juan worms. Nightcrawlers are doing well for the
bait anglers when the water is low. Yellow Power Bait has also
been effective. Some other lures being used are No. 5 silver
or gold floating Rapalas and Smithwick blue-backed Rogues. Any
minnow shaped lure has potential.
Anglers White River Resort said
water conditions are normal with little generation. Trout fishing
has been excellent on yellow and pink Power Bait and drop rigs.
Sportsman's White River Resort
said water conditions are normal with four units generating in
the mornings. Trout fishing is great on jigs, Rooster Tails,
Power Bait and worms.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said a small rain has kept lake levels and the White River
system on the rise. The generation pattern on the White has been
for one or two spikes of heavy generation each day followed by
periods of no generation or low generation. This has created
some limited wading opportunities and some excellent boating
opportunities. It has been extremely cold and very windy. Keep
in mind that the Catch-and-Release area below Bull Shoals Dam
will open Feb. 1. To avoid crowds, try to fish early or late
or on a weekday. Despite the cold and windy weather, the fishing
on the White has been good. One hot spot has been the Narrows.
There have been several reports of great fishing on Y2Ks and
egg patterns. On high water, brightly colored San Juan worms
and egg patterns have been quite productive. Wildcat Shoals has
also been fishing well, particularly on the lower end of the
shoals. When there is a bit of water, egg patterns have produced
well, while on low water, partridge and orange soft hackles and
green butts have done the job. Rim Shoals is fishing very well.
Anglers walking down to White Shoals have been rewarded. Remember
that this is a long hike and if the water comes up it will be
dangerous. Always check generation before beginning this trek.
The hot flies for this section have been olive woolly buggers,
olive scuds and black zebra midges with silver wire and a silver
bead. The deeper holes along the first island have been productive,
particularly with Y2Ks. On high water the hot fly has been the
San Juan worm in cerise.
Norfork Tailwater: Gene's Trout
Dock (870-499-5381) said water conditions are normal with little
or no generation. Trout fishing is fair on nightcrawlers.
Mountain River Fly Shop said
generation on the tailwater has been a little hard to judge.
Basically it's been off most of the day during the past week.
Short splashes of water have come early, late or not at all.
Fishing can be good one day and bad the next it seems. Small
emergers, like gray Glass Bead WD40s and small midge emergers
fished up in and close to the surface film performed the best.
Mercury Midges, particularly in gray or olive shades, and Black
Beauties are also working. Fish some Parachute Adams and BWO
Comparaduns or Sparkle Duns for the adults, and always keep some
small Pheasant Tails or Micro Mayfly patterns in your box to
match the early stages of the hatch.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said The Norfork has fished a bit better this week. There
have been some reliable midge hatches in the afternoons. Olive-colored
Norfork beadheads in size 18 have been working the best lately.
When the fish keying are in on the midge emergers in the film,
Dan's turkey tail emergers in size 22 have been excellent. Other
productive flies have been Y2Ks, San Juan worms, and olive scuds.
Dry Run Creek, as always, has been the place to take the kids
fishing. It is in a deep, tight valley and is seldom affected
by wind. There have been precious few kids fishing there lately
and now is a great time to avoid the crowds. The hot fly is a
size 14 sow bug. Also try olive woolly buggers and San Juan worms.
Be sure and use at least 4X tippet and pinch down those barbs.
Always take a huge net and a camera.
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri River: Jeff
Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said the windy weather
has made casting difficult, but the fish are flourishing. The
AGFC recently stocked 2,500 trout from the Lake Ouachita net
pens at the park and some large rainbows and small brown trout
at River Ridge, Hind's Bluff and Old Factory. Increased generation
should help distribute these fish throughout the tailwater.
January 24, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 1/24/2008
There was locally minor rain
event and the lake levels on the White River system have continued
to rise. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose eight tenths
of a foot to rest at one and nine tenths of a foot below power
pool at 654.00 feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake fell seven tenths
of a foot to settle at three and one tenths of a foot below power
pool. Beaver Lake remained steady at six and eight tenths of
a foot below pool. There generation pattern on the White has
been for one or two spikes of heavy generation each day followed
by periods of no generation or low generation. This has created
some limited wading opportunities and some excellent boating
opportunities. It has been extremely cold and very windy. Norfork
Lake has risen three tenths of a foot to rest four and three
tenths feet below power pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the
Norfolk has been a mixed bag. We had a few days with no generation
and some days with a brief period of heavy generation. This has
created excellent wading conditions every day. The forecast is
for the weather to remain cold with the possibility of precipitation.
With the existing conditions, we should have some wadable water
on both rivers.
There was an incident this week
on the White River at Taneycomo where an angler drowned. He was
attempting to pull his boat out of the water on an icy ramp.
His car slid into the river and though he got out of the automobile
he was unable to make it to shore. This highlights the danger
of icy ramps in the bitterly cold weather we are currently encountering.
Avoid using any ramp that is iced. Live to fish another day.
Keep in mind that the Catch
and Release area below Bull Shoals Dam will open on February,
1. This section has been closed for the past few months while
the brown trout have been spawning and no one has been allowed
to fish here during this period. I would expect that this will
attract several anglers. To avoid the crowds, try to fish early
or late or better yet on a week day.
Despite the cold and windy weather,
the fishing on the White has been good. There have not been many
anglers out but those that have fished have done well. One hot
spot has been the Narrows . There have been several reports of
great fishing on Y2Ks and egg patterns. In addition, this area
has yielded some decent browns. On high water, brightly colored
San Juan worms and egg patterns have been quite productive.
Wildcat Shoals has also been
fishing well particularly on the lower end of the shoals. When
there is a bit of water, egg patterns have produced well, while
on low water, partridge and orange soft hackles and green butts
have done the job.
Rim Shoals was fishing very
well. Anglers walking down to White Shoals have been rewarded.
Remember that this is a long hike and if the water comes up it
will be dangerous. Always check generation before beginning this
trek. The hot flies for this section have been olive woolly buggers,
olive scuds and black zebra midges with silver wire and silver
bead. The deeper holes along the first island have been productive
particularly with Y2Ks. On high water the hot fly has been the
San Juan worm in cerise.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches
in the afternoon. I have done the best with Norfork bead heads
in olive size eighteen and black and silver zebra midges in the
same size. When the fish are keying in on the midge emergers
in the film, Dan's C B emergers (also known as Chuck Berry's
emergers) in size twenty two have been killer. Other productive
flies have been Y2Ks, San Juan worms, and olive scuds.
Dry Run Creek, as always, has
been the place to take the kids fishing. Because of the bitterly
cold weather there have been precious few kids fishing there
lately. Those few that braved the cold did exceptionally well.
The hot fly is a size fourteen sowbug. Also try olive woolly
buggers and San Juan worms. Be sure and use at least 4X tippet
and pinch down those barbs. Always take the biggest net you can
find and a camera.
If you are in the area and opt
to visit the Norfork Fish Hatchery, be sure to remove your waders
before entering the facility. Diseases such as whirling disease
could be carried on your waders and this could have a devastating
effect on the hatchery.
Practice water safety and always
check conditions before you leave home.
MIDGE FISHING
Winter is one of my favorite
times to fish. There is greatly reduced fishing pressure, seasonally
low water, and a reliable hatch, midges. The midge is the smallest
of the aquatic insects of interest to fly fishers and possibly
the least understood. In addition, they hatch in the winter when
there are fewer anglers than any other time of year. They are
often overlooked because of their size. My clients frequently
ask how a fish can see and be caught by such a small fly. You
have to consider a full-grown man eating M&Ms. They are small
in relation to his total body size but he eats several of them
at a single setting. Midges are the most available food source
at certain times and the fish eat a lot of them.
Yesterday was an incredible
day for the middle of January, forty degree temperatures, sunny
skies and light winds. Lori and I started off fishing with size
20 Norfork bead heads. We immediately began catching fish. When
I pumped the stomachs of the first few fish we caught, all that
I found was midge larvae. We were high sticking the nymphs in
fast water on light tippets. I was using 6X while Lori was using
5X because of her tendency to set the hook too hard. We noticed
some top water action but could not see any insects emerging.
We assumed that it was midges. I pulled out my midge box and
selected a size twenty two Dan's Turkey Tail Emerger, my go-to
fly for midge hatches. This pattern was developed by my brother,
Dan, and it is an absolute killer pattern. Lori did the same
and we began fishing the fly by casting downstream at a 45-degree
angle. As soon as the fly hit the water we stripped it back to
sink it in the film. We let the line swing in the current. When
a belly formed in the line, we did not mend but left it there
so that the drag would help set the hook when a trout struck.
Rather than waiting to feel the strike we carefully observed
the fly line and quickly set the hook if we saw end of the line
move. Trout can be very subtle when they are feeding on midges.
We opted to work the water systematically by slowly working our
way down stream. If we saw a rising fish we cast so that the
fly would drift over it. We soon began catching fish. Lori landed
a fat 21-inch rainbow that qualified her for the 20/20 club,
(catching a 20-inch or better fish on a size 20 or smaller fly).
I took a photo and we fished until dark.
The next day I was fishing with
a fellow angler and observed his midge technique. He rigged the
same way I did except that he put a small strike indicator about
four feet from the fly. He cast the fly up stream to rising fish.
As the fly drifted down stream, he carefully stripped in any
slack line. When the strike indicator twitched, he set the hook.
He caught as many fish as I did but I think his method requires
better casting skills and more attention to detail. The key is
line control. As the fly drifts down stream, you must strip line
so that at any moment you can set the hook yet have enough slack
in the line to allow for perfect a drag free drift. This technique
can be amazingly effective.
My brother Dan, in addition
to fishing with emergers, likes to fish midge hatches with dry
flies. He loves glass smooth water, 70-foot casts, and is particularly
fond of Griffith's Gnats. I find these and other midge dry flies
to be too small to fish. If I can't see it, I can't fish it.
Dan sets the hook if he sees a rise near where he thinks the
fly is. He has caught a lot of big fish doing this.
One of my clients last week
was a seventy five year old retired doctor. Every day he fished
size twenty six cream midge dry flies that he tied himself. He
fished them very close and did well. In fact, he out fished his
buddies that were concentrating on midge larva.
If you want some good action
in the winter check the weather forecast, call the dam, catch
a good day and consider fishing midges. You'll be glad you did!
John Berry
January 23, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain
River Fly ShopWHITE RIVER: For an Aussie this weather is
crazy, you know we have outlawed temperatures below freezing
Down Under. Well if the laws haven't passed yet they ought to!
It was in the low teens this morning when we clicked on the Open
sign and cracked the front door. Thanks goodness for strong coffee!
But it hasn't kept some from
the water. It was about 14F last Saturday, plus some wind-chill,
when we packaged a handful of Michigan fly fishers off to the
water. That is some sort of commitment and the Journal was happy
to be sitting at his desk. But the guys had been catching plenty
of fish, up and down the river.
It seems like we have been saying
it every week but Davy's Super Midge was the hot item, particularly
the Red and Black White Tails. The standard versions work very
well as well but the White Tail is grabbing fly fishers and they
are catching fish. Incidentally we are adding a couple of new
versions to the range over the next few weeks.
As we mentioned in the Shad
Fly segment two elements, temperature and generation (the latter
ensures there are shad close to the dam) are required for a good
shad kill. Right now we have cold weather and some decent generation,
particularly over the past two days. But even on the warmer days
we have been getting a couple of bursts of generation early and
late in the day. But whether we get a shad kill, how thick and
long lasting it is, is in the hands of the fishing gods. Stay
tuned and tie flies.
Of course as we mentioned last
week mobile white flies, like the Deep Shad Patterns mentioned
above, white woolly buggers or anything "fleshy" tied
with rabbit or marabou can work pretty well run deep in generation
periods. It's time to add some heavy tippet and big shot to the
shopping list.
Speaking of Buggers it's a great
time to be fishing buggers on the dark overcast days, bigger
streamers too. We particularly like mobile streamers, lots of
rabbit, mink, and marabou, some weight to get it down and a bit
of flash to attract attention. A size 10 woolly is probably our
most popular but we really like the bigger sizes 6s and 8s, even
4s, for bigger fish. Barr's Tungsten Slumpbuster, in olive or
natural is one of our favorite, its flashy, it wiggles like its
alive and it sinks like a stone. Dave Whitlock's Near Nuff Sculpin
is another favorite, Conehead Flash Bunnies, Conehead Kiwi Muddlers
and Conehead Madonnas are also worth having. Check them out on
our Streamer page
NORFORK: Generation on Norfork
has been a little harder to judge. But basically it's been off
most of the day over the past week. Short splashes of water have
come early, late or not at all.
As we mentioned last week the
fishing can be good one day and bad the next it seems, our reports
have been very mixed. Chad Johnson (remember the mini-Guide?)
was out in the chill last Sunday and reported that small emergers,
like gray Glass Bead WD40s and small midge emergers fished up
in and close to the surface film performed the best. He also
took some fish on the Y2K and zebra-style midges. But the fish
wanted the fly close to the surface.
As well as the Glass Bead WD40s,
we'd be packing Mercury Midges, particularly in gray or olive
shades, perhaps even our favorite Black Beauties. Chad also mentioned
a smattering of blue wing olive, (18s and 20s) hatching sporadically
during the afternoon. Fish some Parachute Adams and BWO Comparaduns
or Sparkle Duns for the adults, and always keep some small Pheasant
Tails or Micro Mayfly patterns in your box to match the early
stages of the hatch.
Tightlines from all at the Mountain
River Fly Shop
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
January 17, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
3.8 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
6.3 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
2.9 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
14.5 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
3.3 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
13.9 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community
Fishing Report: Trout are still biting very well on pink or purple
Power Bait and Super Dupers in program ponds. Mini-marshmallows
have also caught fish. Rock Creek trout fishing is excellent
on Power Bait and waxworms. For more information on trout stockings,
call toll-free 1-866-540-FISH (3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River:Lindsey's Resort
(501-302-3139) said the water is clear and low with little generation
every day. Trout fishing has been very good on waxworm/marshmallow
combinations and Power Bait. When the water is high, spinnerbaits
and jigs are working well.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse has been responding
to the occasional cold snaps with increased water releases. Last
year at this time, water releases occurred at 4-5 a.m., lasting
until dusk. This year, with daily releases and few rain events,
the water in the river is crystal clear. If releases occur as
predicted, wade fishing will be possible at Winkley Shoal at
first light until the water arrives. You can hop down to Libby
Shoal for another 11/2 hours or so of wade fishing until the
water gets there. After lunch, if the generators have been shut
down, you can wade fish at JFK Park. The temperature of the water
driving the turbines has averaged 48 degrees Fahrenheit with
dissolved oxygen around 6.1 mg/l. Large, frequent midge hatches
continue to come off most days along the Little Red. Most of
these tiny creatures are cream colored and about a hook size
26. Trout are rising to these morsels all along the river. There
are also sulphur mayflies hatching most days. The dry fly patterns
of choice include a dry midge (size 22, cream), Adams (sizes
18-20) and sulphur (sizes 18-20). Sub-surface flies that are
working include the sow bug (sizes 14-16 peacock, UV tan or light
gray), zebra midge (sizes 16-22 red, black or copper), red butt
emerger (sizes 14-16), copper john (size 16 copper or red) and
woolly buggers (sizes 10-12 olive or black)
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: Mountain River
Fly Shop said Davy Wotton's White Tail Super Midges have been
tearing up the trout lately, especially for one angler boasting
of a 50-fish day. Generation had been moderate, usually some
in the mornings, possibly followed by some evening water. But
there have been large gaps of low water moving downstream allowing
plenty of wading if you time it right. You can usually head downstream
to somewhere like Rim, or even lower, to get on the back of the
falling evening generation and fish for 4, 6 or even 10 hours
before the next burst reaches your spot. Basically it's hard
to have too many midges, though definitely selections in red,
pearl green and black are the tickets. Egg patterns, like Unreal
Eggs, Veiled Eggs, Y2Ks and Thorne's Fire Egg are standards at
this time of year. San Juans continue to work well in browns,
red and pinks. Don't forget a selection of scuds and sow bugs,
some olive and black buggers. The lake still isn't cold enough
for a widespread shad kill yet, but it should be right around
the corner.
Gaston's White River Resort
said trout anglers have seen many water conditions lately. Anytime
between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., two to four units are generating.
Around 9 a.m. until noon, the dam will shut down and the water
level drops. However, the trout are still feeding during low
water periods. The bulbous bivisible is working well for fly-fishermen
where creeks run into the river. We also recommend the partridge
and orange soft hackle, gold ribbed hares ear, copper john, copper
zebra midge, Y2K bug, the sow bug and the draggin' egg. During
high water, try peach or white egg patterns, white and pink micro
jigs and San Juan worms. Nightcrawlers are doing well for the
bait anglers when the water is low. Yellow Power Bait has also
been effective. Some other lures being used are No. 5 silver
or gold floating Rapalas and Smithwick blue-backed Rogues. Any
minnow shaped lure has potential.
Sportsman's White River Resort
said water conditions are normal with generation in the mornings.
Trout fishing is good on Rapala Countdowns, jigs, Power Bait,
nightcrawlers and redworms.
Angler's White River Resort
said the water conditions are normal. Trout fishing has been
good on Power Bait and crankbaits.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said many anglers are eagerly anticipating the opening
of the catch-and-Release area below Bull Shoals Dam on Feb. 1.
This section has been closed for the last few months while the
brown trout have been spawning and no one has been allowed to
fish here during this period. The browns do not feed when they
are spawning so they will be hungry. This will be an opportune
time to land a good one. The fishing on the White has been good.
There have not been many anglers out but those that have fished
have done well. The upper river, from Bull Shoals State Park
to White Hole, has fished well. On low water, the hot flies have
been black/silver and brown/copper zebra midges. On high water
brightly colored San Juan worms and egg patterns have been productive.
The front side of Roundhouse Shoals has fished particularly well.
It seems that the best fishing is either at the top of the shoals
or at the bottom. The hot flies in this section have been beadhead
pheasant tail nymphs, olive scuds (size 18), partridge and orange
soft hackles and green butts. Rim Shoals was fishing quite well.
Anglers that motored up to Jenkin's Creek area by boat did particularly
well. On low water, the hot flies in this section were Y2Ks,
crapadans, olive scuds (size 18) and Dan's turkey tail emerger.
On high water the hot fly has been the San Juan worm in cerise.
Another hot spot has been just down stream from the confluence
of the White and Norfork rivers. This area fishes best when there
is a bit of generation on the Norfork. Hot flies here have been
zebra midges in black with silver wire and silver bead and in
brown with copper wire and copper bead. Soft hackles like the
partridge and orange and the green butt have also been effective.
Norfork Tailwater: Mountain
River Fly Shop said crowds have dwindled drastically. Norfork
seems to be firing one day and fairly slow the next, but it's
an impossibly alluring spot to fish, particularly on those rare
days when you have it to yourself. Davy's Super Midges have been
capturing all the publicity lately, but Davy's sow bugs and sowscuds
have been doing well. Size 16 olive McLellan's Hunchback scuds
are doing very well near the end of the catch-and-release area.
Keep some small Parachute Adams, or "midgish" parachutes
handy incase the dry fly action ignites.
Gene's Trout Dock (870-499-5381)
said water conditions are normal with little generation. Trout
fishing is good on Power Bait and corn. Fly-fishing is going
strong with black or green woolly buggers.
John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guides said The Norfork has fished a bit better this week. There
have been some reliable midge hatches in the afternoons. Olive-colored
Norfork beadheads in size 18 have been working the best lately.
When the fish keying are in on the midge emergers in the film,
Dan's turkey tail emergers in size 22 have been excellent. Other
productive flies have been Y2Ks, San Juan worms, and olive scuds.
Dry Run Creek, as always, has been the place to take the kids
fishing. It is in a deep, tight valley and is seldom affected
by wind. There have been precious few kids fishing there lately
and now is a great time to avoid the crowds. The hot fly is a
size 14 sow bug. Also try olive woolly buggers and San Juan worms.
Be sure and use at least 4X tippet and pinch down those barbs.
Always take a huge net and a camera.
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri River: Jeff
Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said fishing has been slow
and the weather has made for some uncomfortable fishing, especially
without neoprene waders. You can catch some fish as the day warms,
but be prepared to shake the ice out of your guides.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Catherine: Shane Goodner,
owner of Catch'em All Guide Service, reports that despite the
very cold temperatures, rainbow trout fishing is very good below
Carpenter Dam. Rainbows thrive in a cold water environment and
actively feed in weather that normally causes most fish to become
very inactive. With a current water temperature of 45 degrees,
the trout are healthy and providing anglers with a great opportunity
for winter fishing. Fly-anglers targeting the shoals are having
success casting streamers and egg patterns in white and orange.
Woolly buggers in olive or black are also working well. Spin
fishermen continue to record limits of trout by using white or
brown Rooster Tails in the 1/8 and 1/16 ounce sizes. Boat fishermen
braving the shallow water are catching fish around rock piles
and the bridge supports throwing Little Cleos and Super Dupers
in silver or white. Anglers using baits that imitate threadfin
shad are having the most success as these baitfish are the main
source of food for the growing trout. Bank fishermen waste little
time catching limits of trout by consistently using nightcrawlers
and redworms floated under a bobber with light line. Striper
fishing runs hot and cold as the fish migrate in and out of the
tailrace chasing the threadfin shad schools. White jigs fished
in the main channel have produced fish, but the live bait rigs
are still the best bet. Large brood minnows and gizzard shad
fished under a balloon rig will give fishermen the best chance
to hook winter stripers.
January 18, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: If it hadn't come
from the source it did we probably wouldn't have believed the
story. One of our local regulars, softly spoken Charlie was in
yesterday telling of a day out at White Hole this week on one
of Davy Wotton's White Tail Super Midges. That the Red White
Tail could catch 50 fish isn't such a surprise, we have been
having great reports on this and other White Tails for the past
couple of months. But Charlie was really talking about "One
Fly", the same single model he purchased a couple of week's
back. "It was pretty torn up by the end,'' he said "but
they were still chasing it down". Not only is this a testimony
to the effectiveness of the pattern but the durability built
in by the designer himself and the skill of his protégé,
Teresa "T-Bird" Van Winkle in tying them. Pretty cool,
folks.
Well, we are sure you have gathered
by this that the fishing has been pretty good, and you would
be right. But as always some days are exceptional and are the
payoff for days you have to work a little harder. This the Journal
has learnt from other fly fishers, having been laid up in bed
with a nasty dose of the "lurgy" as its known Down
Under, which lingered longer than expected. Y'all might call
it "the Crud". We are ignoring any suggestion that
fishing underdressed in the wind and rain, an outing described
last week had anything to do with it, as nothing so ugly could
be fishing related.
Generation had been moderate,
usually some in the mornings, possibly followed by some evening
water. But there have been big gaps of low water moving downstream
allowing plenty of wading if you time it right. You can usually
head downstream to somewhere like Rim, or even lower, to get
on the back of the falling evening generation and fish for 4,
6 or even 10 hours before the next burst reaches your spot. Or
if you prefer fishing upstream, and like a lazy start on these
cold mornings, wait until the water falls out and head up to
State Park, or spots down to Wildcat to get behind the morning
water..
Basically its hard to have too
many midges, though definitely selections in red, pearl green
and black are the tickets. Have some of Davy's Super Midges and
White Tails in your box, a few standard tungsten Zebras (try
the olive as well) and some Camel Midges.
Egg patterns, like Unreal Eggs,
Veiled Eggs, Y2Ks and Thorne's Fire Egg are standards at this
time of year. Orange and Gold hues are still good but as winter
continues on we seek out paler colors shading into the pinks
and champagnes. San Juans continue to work well in browns, red
and pinks. Don't forget a selection of scuds and Sowbugs, some
olive and black buggers and you are off to a good start. And
as we have been suggesting for the past few weeks, if the midging
action slows as the day warms switch over to Micro Mayflies,
and Pheasant Tails for the drift of BWO Nymphs, and even a possible
hatch you can tackle with Comparaduns and Parachute Adams flies.
We are also getting plenty of
questions coming at this time of year about a shad kill. The
lake still isn't cold enough for a widespread shad kill yet,
but that's not to say some dribs and drabs of fish flesh aren't
coming through. And white flesh or shad imitations are a pretty
good fish catcher on generation in the winter months anyway.
And we remain in hope of a honest to goodness, big fish raising
shad kill sometime over the next 6 weeks.
NORFORK: We are itching to get
over to fish Norfork again particularly as it appears from reports
that the crowds have dwindled drastically. Norfork seems to be
firing one day and fairly slow the next, but its an impossibly
alluring spot to fish, particularly on those rare days when you
have it to yourself.
Davy's Super Midges have been
capturing all the publicity lately but there have been a few
canny types quietly knocking over some very nice fish on Davy's
range of Sowbug and Sowscuds. These patterns are nicely weighted
to get down whether they are needed and while they aren't "eyeball
and armpit" perfect imitations are a very fishy representational
pattern that works. The dubbing blends are a closely guarded
secret known to only Davy, no matter how many times we try and
con it out of him. Give them a swim right now.
The Journal, as mentioned last
week, had a couple of Colorado characters in the lower part of
the catch and release catching plenty of fish on size 16 olive
McLellan's Hunchback scuds. You really shouldn't fish the White
system without a representation of these either, and we have
our first stocks of Umpqua's new size 18 Hunchbacks in the fly
bins. They aren't going to last long. You might also like to
try a new Umpqua pattern for the store, the Hot Spot Scud in
Olive and Light Gray, which the Journal has wielded to good effect
in the past.
Again keep some small parachute
Adams, or "midgish" parachutes handy incase the dry
fly action ignites. Our own Tailwater Soft Hackles, in Green/Yellow,
or a Green Anna K will do exceptionally well when the trout are
taking emergers under the surface.
Tightlines from all at the Mountain
River Fly Shop
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin, Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
January 17, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 1/17/2008
There was minor rain event and
the lake levels on the White River system have continued to rise.
The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose six tenths of a foot to
rest at two and seven tenths of a foot below power pool at 654.00
feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake rose seven tenths of a foot
to settle at two and four tenths of a foot below power pool.
Beaver Lake rose two tenths of a foot to settle at six and eight
tenths of a foot below pool. There generation pattern on the
White has been a mixed bag during the last week. We had several
days with no generation, a few days with a spike of heavy generation
for a short period, and a day with a spike of heavy generation
followed by a period of low generation. This has created some
good wading opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities.
We had several very windy days which included lake wind advisories
and some very cool temperatures. Norfork Lake has dropped two
tenths of a foot to rest four and six tenths feet below power
pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has also been
a mixed bag. We had a few days with no generation and some days
with a brief period of heavy generation. This has created excellent
wading conditions every day. The forecast is for cooler weather
with some precipitation. With the existing conditions, we should
have some wadable water on both rivers.
Many anglers are eagerly anticipating
the opening of the Catch and Release area below Bull Shoals Dam
on February, 1. This section has been closed for the past few
months while the brown trout have been spawning and no one has
been allowed to fish here during this period. The browns do not
feed when they are spawning so they will be hungry. This will
be an opportune time to land a good one.
The fishing on the White has
been good. There have not been many anglers out but those that
have fished have done well. The upper river, from Bull Shoals
State Park to White Hole, has fished well. On low water, the
hot flies have been black and silver and brown and copper zebra
midges. On high water brightly colored San Juan worms and egg
patterns have been quite productive.
The front side of Roundhouse
Shoals has fished particularly well. It seems that the best fishing
is either at the top of the shoals or at the bottom. The hot
flies in this section have been bead head pheasant tail nymphs,
olive scuds size eighteen, brown and copper and black and silver
zebra midges, partridge and orange soft hackles and green butts.
Rim Shoals was fishing quite
well. Anglers that motored up to Jenkin's Creek area by boat
did particularly well. On low water, the hot flies in this section
were Y2Ks, crapadans, olive scuds size eighteen, and Dan's turkey
tail emerger. On high water the hot fly has been the San Juan
worm in cerise. On the warmer days, there have been some really
nice caddis hatches and some anglers were reporting nice fish
on elk hair caddis size eighteen.
Another hot spot has been just
down stream from the confluence of the White and Norfork rivers.
This area fishes best when there is a bit of generation on the
Norfork. Hot flies here have been zebra midges in black with
silver wire and silver bead and in brown with copper wire and
copper bead. Soft hackles like the partridge and orange and the
green butt have also been effective.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches
in the afternoon. I have done the best with Norfork bead heads
in olive size eighteen. When the fish keying are in on the midge
emergers in the film, Dan's turkey tail emergers in size twenty
two have been killer. Other productive flies have been Y2Ks,
San Juan worms, and olive scuds.
Dry Run Creek, as always, has
been the place to take the kids fishing. It is located in a deep,
tight valley and is seldom affected by the strong winds we have
had lately. There have been precious few kids fishing there lately
and now is a great time to avoid the crowds. The hot fly is a
size fourteen sowbug. Also try olive woolly buggers and San Juan
worms. Be sure and use at least 4X tippet and pinch down those
barbs. Always take a huge net and a camera.
John Berry
January 17, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
3.24 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
6.26 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
3.42 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
16.05 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
6.01 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
16.72 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community
Fishing Report: Despite the cold weather, trout fishing has been
excellent in the ponds on chartreuse Powerbait, GULP crawlers
and 1/8 ounce, white Roostertails. Rock Creek was stocked earlier
this week, and trout are hitting Trout Magnets, spoons and nymph
patterns. For more information on trout stockings, call 1-866-540-FISH
(3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River: Lindsey's
Resort (501-302-3139) said the water is clear and high with 1-2
generators running all day. Trout are biting well on artificial
baits such as red or gold buoyant spoons and Countdown Rapalas.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse has been releasing
water every day all day long. They are continually operating
one generator and occasionally ramping up the second unit. The
plan is to continue Greers Ferry water releases until the percentage
of lake volume equals that of Table Rock Lake, then they intend
to reduce releases at Greers Ferry and begin releases at Table
Rock. The temperature of the water driving the turbines has been
48 degrees. Midges are hatching all along the Little Red every
day, and trout are feeding on them. Dry fly midges in cream or
black (sizes 22-24), sulphurs (sizes 16-18) and Adams (sizes
18-20) are patterns of choice. Below the surface, zebra midges
(sizes 16-22, red, black or copper), sow bugs (sizes 14-16, peacock,
UV tan or light gray) and woolly buggers (sizes 10-12, olive
or black) are catching fish.
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River:Mountain River Fly
Shop had no report this week.
Angler's White River Resort
said the water conditions are normal. Trout fishing has been
pretty good on Powerbait and crankbaits.
Norfork Tailwater:Mountain River
Fly Shop said it seems like more and more people have been hitting
Norfork the past week, and with good reason. Fishing has been
good, and though the water seems a little stained, the lake turnover
is now done. Midges are the order of the day; Zebras Poison Tungs,
WD40s and the like have all been performing well. We have also
had good reports on Y2Ks and egg patterns plus the usual San
Juan worms. But even more interesting, especially for dry fly
anglers, was the report today of serious surface activity in
the afternoons. Try Parachute Adams and standard Adams patterns
in sizes 20 and 22. If the hatch isn't on when you are there,
make sure you have a healthy dose of Davy's Sow bugs and a handful
of McLellan's Scuds.
Gene's Trout Dock (870-499-5381) said the water is low with very
little generation. Trout fishing has been outstanding on nightcrawlers.
Fly fishing is good on olive/black woolly buggers and sow bugs.
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS
SpringRiver: Mark Crawford at
Mark's Fly Shop said the water is a little murky downstream,
but fishing has been good with deeper-water fishing techniques.
Caddis and mayflies have been very effective.
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri River: Jeff
Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said fishing has been slow
and the weather has made for some uncomfortable fishing, especially
without neoprene waders.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Catherine: Shane Goodner,
owner of Catch'em All Guide Service,, reports that the water
temperature is holding in the mid 40s below the dam. Rainbow
trout fishing is good, with many of the fish already in the 14-inch
range. January is when trout stocking begins. Fly fishermen are
consistently catching limits of trout by casting woolly buggers,
micro jigs and San Juan worms in areas of current. Egg patterns
are also working well when the fish ignore basic fly presentations.
Boaters are catching trout throwing Roostertails, Super Dupers
and Lil' Cleos, with the best results occurring while the turbines
are turning. Bank fishermen make quick work of catching a limit
of trout by using nightcrawlers and redworms floated under a
bobber. Corn and wax worms are working, as well as Powerbait
fished on the bottom. Striper and hybrid action is fair, with
most fishing taking place below the dam in the channels. Large
gizzard shad fished under a balloon rig have taken fish in the
10- to 14-pound range.
January 17, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 1/17/2008
There was minor rain event and
the lake levels on the White River system have continued to rise.
The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose six tenths of a foot to
rest at two and seven tenths of a foot below power pool at 654.00
feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake rose seven tenths of a foot
to settle at two and four tenths of a foot below power pool.
Beaver Lake rose two tenths of a foot to settle at six and eight
tenths of a foot below pool. There generation pattern on the
White has been a mixed bag during the last week. We had several
days with no generation, a few days with a spike of heavy generation
for a short period, and a day with a spike of heavy generation
followed by a period of low generation. This has created some
good wading opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities.
We had several very windy days which included lake wind advisories
and some very cool temperatures. Norfork Lake has dropped two
tenths of a foot to rest four and six tenths feet below power
pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has also been
a mixed bag. We had a few days with no generation and some days
with a brief period of heavy generation. This has created excellent
wading conditions every day. The forecast is for cooler weather
with some precipitation. With the existing conditions, we should
have some wadable water on both rivers.
Many anglers are eagerly anticipating
the opening of the Catch and Release area below Bull Shoals Dam
on February, 1. This section has been closed for the past few
months while the brown trout have been spawning and no one has
been allowed to fish here during this period. The browns do not
feed when they are spawning so they will be hungry. This will
be an opportune time to land a good one.
The fishing on the White has
been good. There have not been many anglers out but those that
have fished have done well. The upper river, from Bull Shoals
State Park to White Hole, has fished well. On low water, the
hot flies have been black and silver and brown and copper zebra
midges. On high water brightly colored San Juan worms and egg
patterns have been quite productive.
The front side of Roundhouse
Shoals has fished particularly well. It seems that the best fishing
is either at the top of the shoals or at the bottom. The hot
flies in this section have been bead head pheasant tail nymphs,
olive scuds size eighteen, brown and copper and black and silver
zebra midges, partridge and orange soft hackles and green butts.
Rim Shoals was fishing quite
well. Anglers that motored up to Jenkin's Creek area by boat
did particularly well. On low water, the hot flies in this section
were Y2Ks, crapadans, olive scuds size eighteen, and Dan's turkey
tail emerger. On high water the hot fly has been the San Juan
worm in cerise. On the warmer days, there have been some really
nice caddis hatches and some anglers were reporting nice fish
on elk hair caddis size eighteen.
Another hot spot has been just
down stream from the confluence of the White and Norfork rivers.
This area fishes best when there is a bit of generation on the
Norfork. Hot flies here have been zebra midges in black with
silver wire and silver bead and in brown with copper wire and
copper bead. Soft hackles like the partridge and orange and the
green butt have also been effective.
The Norfork has fished a bit
better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches
in the afternoon. I have done the best with Norfork bead heads
in olive size eighteen. When the fish keying are in on the midge
emergers in the film, Dan's turkey tail emergers in size twenty
two have been killer. Other productive flies have been Y2Ks,
San Juan worms, and olive scuds.
Dry Run Creek, as always, has
been the place to take the kids fishing. It is located in a deep,
tight valley and is seldom affected by the strong winds we have
had lately. There have been precious few kids fishing there lately
and now is a great time to avoid the crowds. The hot fly is a
size fourteen sowbug. Also try olive woolly buggers and San Juan
worms. Be sure and use at least 4X tippet and pinch down those
barbs. Always take a huge net and a camera.
John Berry
January 11, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: Fishing has been
pretty good if you can handle the wind. Some days its been enough
to blow the milk out of your coffee. It was only the true lunatics
out like the Journal and guide Marc Poulos on Monday afternoon.
Our colleague Kev Brandtonies was on the water this week two
with some friends, before being blown off the water with 25 mile
an hour winds.
But its been easy enough to
dodge the generation and find some accessible water and then
some hungry fish. And as we sit here writing this on Friday morning
we just heard that Bull Shoals is shut down.
Big chunks of food have been
a good option, it has been a parade of buggers out of the store
every day. There is little surprise that an olive woolly is the
favorite. Beadless version are most popular, either the Flash-A-Bugger
or the Redhead in 6-12. You might also ass some BH Flash-A-Buggers
in olive and black for faster runs.
And don't be afraid to whip
out some white buggers, they can be very good at this time of
year.
Midges still remain a mainstay.
Davy's Whitetail Midges have been getting rave reports, as well
as the Super Midges. Everyday black and silver midges and blue
dun Cadion midges have been doing very well. If you are boat
drifting the Journal scored some fish on a size 14 Cadion Midge
through the Narrows on 2 units of water Monday afternoon.
And we keep hearing enough reports
of blue wing olive hatches around Cotter that its definitely
worth carrying some BWO dries, emergers and small Pheasant Tail
nymphs.
NORFORK: The Journal guided
Jim and Bruce from Colorado last Friday afternoon on the White
then slipped over to catch Norfork as the water fell out. As
we reported last week, there had been some good information some
heavy dry fly action during the afternoon. Of course we hadn't
figured in the howling wind and lower temperatures.
Our hatch was truly blown. The
bugs were in the air between gusts and every so often a few trout
would poke their heads up. But its didn't ever get a chance to
solidify into a free for all like we hoped.
Still the guys had fun, Bruce
swinging one of the Journal's Tailwater Soft Hackles (pics next
week) missed the fish of the day. It was the first time this
well travelled fly fisher had swung flies in this manner and
he had a blast. Jim did very well on a 16 olive McLellan's Hunchback
Scud, picking up a bunch of fish once the water level stabilized.
But none of the fish were the bigger cuts or browns we had been
hoping for.
Scuds, Trout Crack and San Juan's
were the best taken offerings.
Tightlines from all at the Mountain
River Fly Shop
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
January 10, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 1/10/2008
We have had a rain event that
was heavy in some areas. As a result, the lake levels on the
White River system have continued to rise a bit. The lake level
at Bull Shoals Dam rose two tenths of a foot to rest at three
and three tenths of a foot below power pool at 654.00 feet. Up
stream, Table Rock Lake rose one and two tenths of a foot to
settle at three and one tenth of a foot below power pool. Beaver
Lake has remained at seven feet below pool. There has been no
discernable generation pattern on the White during the last week.
We had a day with no generation, a few days with heavy generation,
and a few days with very limited generation. This has created
some good wading opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities.
We had several very windy days which included lake wind advisories
and some very warm temperatures. Norfork Lake has dropped two
tenths of a foot to rest four and six tenths feet below power
pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has been for
some generation every day accompanied by long periods of no generation.
This has created excellent wading conditions every day. The forecast
is for cool weather with no precipitation. With the existing
conditions, we should have some wadable water on both rivers.
Last Sunday, the Corps of Engineers
control room telephone recording (431-5311) reported the previous
days recording which indicated no generation for over twenty
four hours. However, there had been light generation from midnight
to six AM on Sunday morning which was not mentioned on that recording.
At the same time, the Corps of Engineers website was not properly
functioning and could not be relied on to provide any information
on generation for Bull Shoals Dam. Luckily the generation levels
for that day were very light and no one was hurt. This certainly
brings the reliability of generation information into doubt.
As a result, you should always remain vigilant for rising water.
Constantly observe water levels and always have an escape plan
formulated.
The fishing on the White has
been consistently good. Several anglers took advantage of the
unseasonably warm albeit windy conditions to enjoy some nice
water and cooperative trout. Rim Shoals was fishing particularly
well. Anglers that were willing to wade down to White shoals
did particularly well. The hot flies in this section were olive
woolly buggers, olive scuds size eighteen, and Dan's turkey tail
emerger. On the warmest days, there have been some really nice
caddis hatches and some anglers were reporting nice fish on elk
hair caddis. Obviously, this has been an added benefit from the
warm weather.
Buffalo Shoals has fished well.
There have been several fly fishers that boated up to the shoals
on the last few days. This is a treacherous place to take a boat
on shallow water. I usually anchor my boat at the bottom of the
shoals and wade around to find the hot spots. The hot flies have
been partridge and orange soft hackles, green butts, olive scuds
and bead head sow bugs.
Another hot spot has been just
down stream from the confluence of the White and Norfork rivers.
This fishes best when there is a bit of generation on the Norfork.
Hot flies here have been zebra midges in black with silver wire
and silver bead and in brown with copper wire and copper bead.
Soft hackles like the partridge and orange and the green butt
have also been effective. There have been some nice caddis hatches
reported in this area on the warmest days.
On the Norfork, the bite has
been a bit slow on low water. There have been some midge hatches
in the afternoon. I have done the best with Norfork bead heads
in black and olive sizes eighteen and twenty. Dan's turkey tail
emergers in size twenty two have been killer. Use them when you
see fish keying in on the midge emergers in the film. Take special
care with your presentation and use light tippets (6X or 7X).
On high water, use San Juan worms and egg patterns. Fished over
weed beds, they have accounted for a lot of good fish.
Dry Run Creek has been the place
to go. The warm weather has made perfect conditions for our younger
anglers. Dry Run Creek is located in a deep, tight valley and
is seldom affected by the strong winds we have had lately Create
memories by high sticking sowbugs. Use at least 4X tippet so
that you have a good chance to land some of these huge fish.
Carry the biggest net you can find and a camera.
John Berry
January 10, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
3.6 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
7.0 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
3.6 feet at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
16.6 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
5.6 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
18.6 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community
Fishing Report: Trout fishing is good on pink or white Power
Bait and small marshmallows in ponds. Trout in Rock Creek are
taking black woolly buggers and small, silver spoons. For information
on trout stockings, call toll-free 1-866-540-FISH (3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse has been releasing
water most days in an effort to lower the lake level. Scheduled
maintenance at the dam temporarily stopped the water releases
on January 7 with resumed releases planned after the Jan. 10.
The water driving the turbines averaged 47 degrees with dissolved
oxygen content of 7.2 mg/l. Now that winter has arrived, activity
on the Little Red has slowed to a crawl. The brown trout spawn
is over and there is not a lot of aquatic insect activity. (Brook
trout, however, are in full spawn at JFK Park.) Sow bugs (sizes
14-16, UV tan, peacock or light gray) and zebra midges (sizes
16-22, red or black) will remain the bugs of choice.
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: Mountain River
Fly Shop said the Bull Shoals voice message said eight units
were running on Wednesday morning then six on Saturday. The fishing
continues to be very good. Both the standard red and black Zebra
Midges have been doing exceptionally well. Some customers were
reporting the midge fishing slowed during the afternoons from
Cotter downstream, but that there had been some nice blue wing
olive hatches. Woolly bugger anglers have been doing exceptionally
well since Christmas, particularly our Red Head Olive. At Buffalo
City our friends Chris and Elizabeth absolutely slayed them fishing
the Red Heads on a tight line in at the tail end of the riffles.
It barely seemed like they had any time between hookups.
Sportsman's White River Resort
said water conditions are pretty normal, with heavy generation
lately. Trout fishing has been good on white jigs and Original
Rapalas.
Angler's White River Resort
said the water conditions are normal. Trout fishing has been
good on Power Bait and crankbaits.
Norfork Tailwater: Mountain
River Fly Shop said it seems like more and more people have been
hitting Norfork the past week, and with good reason. It has been
fishing nicely and though he water seems a little stained, the
lake turnover is now done. Midges are the order of the day; Zebras
Poison Tungs, WD40s and the like have all been performing well.
We have also had good reports on Y2Ks and egg patterns plus the
usual San Juan worms. But even more interestingly, for dry fly
fiends, was the report today of some serious surface activity
underway in the afternoons. Try Parachute Adams and standard
Adams patterns in sizes 20 and 22. If the hatch isn't on when
you are there, make sure you have a healthy dose of Davy's Sow
bugs and a handful of McLellan's Scuds.
Gene's Trout Dock (870-499-5381) said water conditions are normal
with little generation. Trout fishing is good on Power Bait and
corn. Fly-fishing is going strong with black or green woolly
buggers.
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Little Missouri River: Jeff
Guerin of Little Missouri Fly Fishing said fishing has been slow
and the weather has made for some uncomfortable fishing, especially
without neoprene waders.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Catherine: Shane Goodner,
owner of Catch'em All Guide Service, reports that the water temperature
below the dam remains in the mid 40s, which is normal for this
time of year. Rainbow trout fishing is good and will improve
to excellent in the upcoming weeks as stockings continue. Fly-fishermen
are having success casting streamers, olive woolly buggers, and
micro jigs in current. The best fishing is during periods of
generation as the trout actively feed on threadfin shad and small
crayfish. Spin fishermen are still hooking trout in the 15-inch
class on white Rooster Tails and Lil' Cleos around rock piles
and sand bars. Bank fishermen are recording limits using nightcrawlers
and redworms floated under a bobber. Corn and waxworms also are
a good choice. Boaters trolling the channels are doing well using
small crankbaits against the current. Trout in the 3-pound range
have been taken with larger fish hooked and lost. Striper activity
is on the rise with most of the fishing taking place below the
bridge in the main channel. Large brood shad fished under a balloon
rig have produced the largest fish, but most of the fish caught
are between 10 and 12 pounds. Fish over 20 pounds have been hooked,
but lost in the heavy current. White bass and hybrids are in
and out of the tailrace, most under 2 pounds.
January 4, 2008 - Courtesty of Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission -
White River Levels: According
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Wednesday the White
River stages are:
2.3 feet at Calico Rock (flood
stage 19 feet)
6.1 feet at Batesville (flood stage 15 feet)
N/A at Newport (flood stage 26 feet)
18.7 feet at Augusta (flood stage 26 feet)
8.7 feet at Georgetown (flood stage 21 feet)
21.8 feet at Clarendon (flood stage 26 feet)
Statewide Family and Community Fishing Report: Trout fishing
is excellent on Power Bait tipped with a waxworm or on in-line
spinners. Nymph flies or woolly buggers in black or olive are
catching fish on Rock Creek for fly anglers. For more information
on trout stockings, call toll-free 1-866-540-FISH (3474).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Little Red River:Lindsey's Resort
(501-302-3139) said water conditions are good, with one generator
running all day. Trout have been biting very well on artificial
lures such as Buoyant Spoons and Rapalas.
Jed Hollan at the Little Red
Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse has continuously released
water for 10 days, but should shut down Wednesday, Jan. 2 for
five days of maintenance. Non-stop generation will resume with
more heavy rainfall. The temperature of the lake water driving
the turbines averages 48 degrees while dissolved oxygen levels
hover around 6.8 mg/l all good numbers. Midges continue
to hatch every day along the Little Red. Blue-winged olive mayflies
are also coming off periodically but can't compare to the midges.
Dry fly midges in size 22 (cream or black) are working well.
You might also try the smallest Adams you have. Below the surface,
sow bugs (sizes 14-16, UV tan, peacock or light gray), zebra
midges (sizes 16-22, red or black), pheasant tails (size 16),
copper johns (sizes 14-16, red or copper), red butts (size 14-16)
or woolly buggers (sizes 10-12, olive or black) are great selections.
NORTH ARKANSAS
White River: Sportsman's White
River Resort said the water is extremely low with no generation.
Some rainbow trout have been caught.
Norfork Tailwater: Gene's Trout
Dock (870-499-5381) said few anglers are on the water to give
a report.
January 3, 2008 - Norfork and White River - Submitted by Mountain River Fly Shop
WHITE RIVER: Looks like a warmer
weekend ahead, with some nice cloud cover to keep the fishing
on the boil, after several days of severely frosty weather. Even
more of a shock to the system was the Bull Shoals voice message
saying 8 units were running on Wednesday morning then 6 this
morning. Christmas-New Year had provided a welcome respite unless
you were intent on running the river in a prop-boat. The Journal
managed to find a few rocks on the 30th at Buffalo Shoals and
Rim Shoals the following Day seemed to be barely ankle deep getting
to the island. Fishing three days straight was a nice break.
For all that the fishing continues
to be very good. We are restocked with Davy Wotton's Whitetail
Red Super Midge, which had the fly of choice for most of our
customers the previous week. But Davy sent us a message that
his guide clients had caught a 100 fish a day on the Black and
Silver and Black and Pearl White tails. You have to get some
of these in your box.
Mark Lavelle also showed the
Journal a photo of a very nice brown taken on a Red and Gold
Super Midge in the Upper River early in the week.
Again both the standard red
and black Zebra Midges have been doing exceptionally well.
Some customers were reporting
the midge fishing slowed during the afternoons from Cotter downstream,
but that there had been some nice blue wing olive hatches on.
So the Journal slipped on a nice tungsten bead Pheasant Tail
imitation at Rim and stuck some nice fish, the best a deep bodied
18" bow.
The bugger fishers have been
doing exceptionally well since Christmas, particularly our Red
Head Olive. At Buffalo City our friends Chris and Elizabeth absolutely
slayed them fishing the Red Heads on a tight line in at the tail
end of the riffles. It barely seemed like they has any time at
all between hookups. This isn't a technique the Journal often
uses, but its good for the soul to try new things so Bec and
I played around with the technique, and she in particular did
very well. The Journal somehow fluked a incredibly pretty 17"
bow but left the camera at home, the colors were stunning.
NORFORK: It seems like more
and more people have been hitting Norfork the past week, and
with good reason. It has been fishing nicely and though he water
seems a little stained, the lake turnover is now done. Midges
are the order of the day, Zebras Poison Tungs, WD40s and the
like have all been performing well.
We have also had good reports
on Y2Ks and Egg patterns plus the usual San Juan Worms.
But even more interestingly,
for dry fly fiends, was the report today of some serious surface
activity underway in the pm. Try Parachute Adams and standard
Adams patterns in size 20 and 22. No huge fish among them was
the tip but the comments was they were "hitting the surface
like schooling bass".
If the hatch isn't on when you
are there make sure you have a healthy dose of Davy's Sowbug
patterns and a handful of McLellan's Scuds.
Tightlines from all at the Mountain
River Fly Shop
Gary, Cindy, Jim, Kevin,
Marc, Faye, Mike and Steve
January 3, 2008 - White River
- Submitted by Berry
Brothers Guides- JOHN BERRY
FISHING REPORT 1/03/2008
We have had a few days of light
rain and the lake levels on the White River system have continued
to rise a bit. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam remained steady
at three and five tenths of a foot below power pool at 654.00
feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake rose three tenths of a foot
to settle at four and three tenths feet below power pool. Beaver
Lake has remained at seven feet below pool. Early in the week
there was virtually no generation and later in the week there
were some periods of substantial generation (up to six generators).
This has aided boat navigation and has created some excellent
wading conditions on the White River . We had several very windy
days which included lake wind advisories and some very cool temperatures.
Norfork Lake has risen three tenths of a foot to rest four and
four tenths feet below power pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern
on the Norfolk has been for no discernable generation early in
the week and periods of significant generation later in the week.
This has created excellent wading conditions. The forecast is
for colder weather with the possibility of precipitation. With
the existing conditions, we should have some wadable water on
both rivers.
Despite the cold temperatures
and high wind, there were several anglers that took advantage
of the low water to fish between the Christmas and New Year's
holidays. The fishing has been excellent for wading anglers particularly
on the White.
The State Park below Bull Shoals
Dam has fished well. There are very few campers there this time
of year and plenty of water to fish. There have been some nice
midge hatches in the afternoon. The most productive flies have
been zebra midges in red with brass wire and brass beads. Partridge
and orange and green butt soft hackles have also accounted for
a lot of fish.
Wildcat Shoals has been a local
hot spot. The partridge and orange and green soft hackles have
produced a lot of fish in the lower section below the shoals,
especially when fish can be seen rising. This section also fishes
well with woolly buggers either in olive or brown. Both should
have a bit of flash. In the shoals, zebra midge nymphs in black
with silver wire and silver bead and brown with copper wire and
copper bead have accounted for a lot of fish as well as the Y2K.
Rim Shoals had quite a bit of
pressure but still fished well with olive scuds, black zebra
midges and Y2Ks. Anglers going into more remote water to find
a bit of seclusion have done particularly well. Some have waded
down from Rim Shoals to White Shoals and caught some nice brown
trout on olive woolly buggers and green butt soft hackles. This
is about a thirty minute trip and you should check the latest
generation report before you begin this trek.
Several anglers also found some
really great fishing by going up stream by boat from the Buffalo
City access to Buffalo Shoals. This area fished well with Y2Ks,
olive scuds, partridge and orange soft hackles and black zebra
midges.
On the high water, the most
effective method of fishing it to fish from a boat and use heavily
weighted San Juan worms. The best colors would be hot fluorescent
pink, fluorescent orange, red and magenta. Large eggs are also
effective. You should use heavy tippets (4X or 3X) and large
strike indicators. To handle this much weight I would recommend
at least a five weight rod. Open up the loop on your cast to
prevent tangling your line.
On the Norfork, the bite has
been a bit slow on low water. There has been so much pressure
on this river in the summer and fall that the trout are very
wary. There have been some midge hatches in the afternoon. Try
zebra midges in black, brown and red, Norfork bead heads and
Dan's turkey tail emergers. Take special care with your presentation
and use light tippets (6X or 7X). On high water use San Juan
worms as described above and concentrate on weed lines and grass
beds.
Dry Run Creek has been virtually
abandoned. The cold weather has kept a lot of our younger anglers
at home. Now is a great time to bundle the kids up and give it
a try. When my daughter, Katherine, was young enough to fish
there, the best day we ever had was when the temperature was
fourteen. She wore everything she owned. She landed a twenty
seven inch rainbow and Dad got the picture. Create your own memories
by high sticking sowbugs. Use at least 4X tippet. Carry the biggest
net you can find and a camera.
John Berry
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