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July 27, 2005

Fishing Tip: If you are going to fly fish one of Arkansas’ many small streams, the best baits will imitate insects that are active along the water. To quickly give you an idea of the insect life around a particular body of water, look for spider webs along the bank and turn up rocks at the edge of the water. The bugs you’ll find in these places are usually the best patterns to start with on the water.

White River: Gaston's White River Resort said the water is high in the afternoons with 6 generators running and most of the wading is finished by noon. Trout fishing has been good on wax worms and corn as well as nightcrawlers. Small spoons and Gold Rapalas have caught a few fish during generation. McLellan’s Fly Shop said some days this past week have seen a few hours of low water in the early morning, with generators not coming online until eleven o’clock. In the faster riffles and runs, drift a scud, sow bug, mayfly nymph or caddis pupa under a strike indicator. The catch-and-release area immediately below the dam has been fishing especially well lately with several 3- to5-pound rainbows showing up on the business end of many anglers' nymph-rigs. Many trout are being hooked on terrestrials, and it will only get better as summer continues. Best flies have been: Zebra and Black/Olive Rubber-leg Copper John (14-18), McLellan’s Woven V-Rib Sow Bug (14-16), McLellan’s Hunchback Scud Tan, Olive and Gray (12-16), Red Fox Squirrel Nymph (12-16), Rag Sculpin (6), Articulated Zoo Cougar (4), Swimming Jimmy (4), San Juan Worms (10). Wilderness Trail said fishing for trout has been good. The Berkley Power Egg bite has been good in yellow and pink or orange and Belgian red worms. Buoyant Spoons, Little Cleos, and Super Dupers are the bait of choice during generation. The fly fishermen did well on olive and black Woolly Buggers, tungsten beadhead midges, soft hackles, poppers and scuds. The brown trout are being caught on suspending Rogues, Heddon Flatfish and nightcrawlers.

North Fork River: McLellan’s Fly Shop said generation has been coming online around 2 p.m., providing plenty of wading opportunities. During low water, concentrate your nymph fishing on the faster runs and riffles; tie on a size 16 Skip Nymph or Flashback Pheasant Tail. During high-water conditions, streamer fishing has been excellent from a boat (especially on overcast days). More trout are being hooked on terrestrials, and it will only get better as summer continues. Some of

The best terrestrials are the Club Sandwich, the Grand Hopper, the Charlie Boy Hopper, Nick’s Hi-Viz Beetle, the Raider, the Big Secret Cricket, Steeve’s Attract-Ant, Chernobyl Ant and Rainy’s Ant in black and cinnamon. Best flies have been: McLellan’s Hunchback Scud Tan, Olive and Gray (14-16), Flashback Scud Tan, Olive and Gray (12-16), McLellan’s Woven Sow Bug (14-16), Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymph (16-20), Beadhead Hare’s Ear Nymph (14-18), Mercury Black Beauty (20-22), Gray Mercury Midge (20-22), Black Wooly Sculpin (4), Articulated Zoo Cougar (4), and Swimming Jimmy (4).

Bull Shoals Lake: Wilderness Trail said it has been an incredibly tough week with water temperatures as high as 88 degrees. Lake level is at 651.45, three feet below normal pool. Water clarity is around 16 feet and the thermocline is steady at 36 feet. The daytime bite has really slowed. White bass were pushing shad to the top in the mornings, but now the shad have gone down in the mid-20-foot range, making it spooning time for the whites. Look on your graph for schools of shad halfway back into the creek arms and there should be a few whites with them. Crappie remain scattered from the points to the deep 28-foot-deep brush piles. Crappie minnows on colored jigheads are working best early in the mornings and under floating lights at night. Catfish are also slow but a few are being caught on jugs with a 12-foot drop line throughout the night. Chicken liver, bream and nightcrawlers are the best baits. Largemouth bass can be caught from dawn until around 7:30 a.m. on top-water lures like Pop-R’s, Spit’N Images or Zara Spooks halfway back in the creeks or creek arm pockets. Once the sun is up the bite falls way off. Your best bet is to throw a Carolina-rigged lizard or Brush Hog over deep points in 30 feet of water. Smallmouth bass are suspending most of the day over deep water. Early in the morning and throughout the night they move up to feed on crawdads. Spider jigs and tubes are your best baits during their feeding period. Transition banks and chunk rock points are good places to look for smallies. Kentucky bass are now in 35 to 40 feet of water and schooling out around main lake points and in the middle of main lake cuts. Mark the Kentuckies and drop a spoon down through them or lower a drop shot rig with a finesse worm or 3-inch grub. Walleye are still above 35 feet of water. Long liners are catching a few on Reef Runners, Glass Shad and Wally Divers trolling along channel swings. Leeches and nightcrawlers on a harness rig are also triggering some walleye along transition banks in 28 to 32 feet of water. A few walleye are still being taken at night around points on X-Raps and Suspending Rogues; the best bite is around midnight.

Sugar Loaf Harbor said crappie have been biting well on minnows in 20 to 30 feet of water. A few walleye hve been picked up on spoons in deeper water.

Lake Norfork: Cranfield Junction Quik Stop said the water is clear and low. Bream have moved to 10-feet deep, but are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie fishing is poor, with only a few fish being pulled from 20 to 25 feet of water on minnows. Bass fishing is good at night on soft-plastics and jigs fished in 10 to 15 feet of water. Catfishing is good on live bait and cut shad.