Fishing
Tip: Although many anglers shy away from high-visibility lines, they
can be an excellent aid to detecting light strikes and keeping track of
where your lure is. High-visibility lines rarely have any impact on
fishing success in stained or muddy water or in areas with current. If
you are fishing clear water and are afraid the bright color may affect
your fishing success, tie a 3-foot leader of fluorocarbon between your
line and the lure. This way, you can still benefit from the
high-visibility line without spooking fish.
White River: Gaston's
White River Resort said there was some generation
last week, but one unit is hardly enough to even notice additional
flow. Still, the extra water was a nice refresher for the trout.
Low-water baits and flies, such as white plastic worms, or PowerBait
artificial wax worms and yellow PowerBait or corn, are working
well. Red worms are working well, also. The best artificials seem
to be Little Cleos, Buoyant Spoons and Rooster Tails on 4-6-pound-test
green low-visibility line. Fly fishermen are bragging about the Y2K bug
and woolly buggers being the hot flies last week. This weekend is Eagle
Awareness Weekend. Please contact Gaston’s or the State Park for
information on the free programs taking place all weekend.
McLellans Fly Shop
said there has been very little generation below Bull Shoals Dam
lately, providing plenty of wading on the upper river from late morning
on through the rest of the day. Wade fishing the upper river has been
very productive with tan and olive McLellan’s Hunchback Scuds and Woven
Sow Bugs. Fishing high water out of a boat has also been very
productive using large scuds, eggs, and San Juan Worms. Winter is a
great time to fish a streamer (even in low water); try to trigger a
strike from the aggressive brown trout by swinging a streamer like the
Zoo Cougar or Platte River Spider through a pool. Experiment with
different retrieves until you start getting hits.
North Fork River: McLellans Fly Shop
said generation on the Norfork has been sporadic lately, but when they
have turned on the generators, they haven’t stayed on for very
long. The wade fishing has been very good lately, and fishing
high water from a boat has been productive as well. Scuds, sow
bugs, midges, and eggs in low water, and eggs, San Juan Worms, and big
streamers like the Articulated Zoo Cougar in high water have been
producing plenty of hook-ups.
Norfork
Trout Dock said the generators are
running a little, producing some current, but there are plenty of
wading opportunities left. Rainbow and brown trout are biting well on
wax worms and corn as well as Little Cleo spoons and Rapala Countdown
Minnows.
Bull Shoals Lake: As of Wednesday, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 644.98 feet MSL.
