Trout Fishing Report-White River-Arkansas
From Arkansas Game and Fish CommissionFebruary 13, 2008 Edition
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 flyfishermen 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.
Bull Shoals Lake:
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 652.13 feet MSL.
Lake Norfork:
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 548.71 feet MSL. Cranfield Junction Bait and Tackle (870-492-5141) had no report. 101 Grocery and Bait said the surface water temperature is in the low 40s. Live bait trolled slowly under planer boards has worked well on stripers, but the bite is over by 8 a.m. The fish are holding in less than 50 feet of water. Walleye fishing has been slow, but jigging spoons and ice fishing jigs are doing a good job for some. Just remember do it slow. Crappie fishing has been fair using small minnows and jigs. White bass have been fair using jigs. Largemouth and smallmouth bass have been fair on deep-diving crankbaits and jigs.
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).