Trout Fishing Report-White River-Arkansas
From Arkansas Game and Fish CommissionApril 30, 2008 Edition
White River:
Gaston’s White River Resort said bass have been biting well on spinnerbaits and crankbaits in the flooded timber all over the lake. Crappie have been biting well under the logs. Try a minnow fished 1 to 2 feet under a float. White bass are still going strong upstream from the 45 bridge in 4 to 6 feet of water on Shineee Hineee's. Stripers have been scattered all over the lake. Good places to look have been in Prairie creek, Indian Creek and up either river arm. Best bait has been live minnows or shad. Catfishing is outstanding both for bank fisherman and limb liners on goldfish and cut bait. John Berry of Berry Brothers Guides said the reservoirs on the White River system have fallen a bit. They remain precariously close to the top of flood pool. It has been very windy and there were lake wind advisories on several days. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose fell six tenths of a foot to rest at forty and two tenths feet above power pool of 654.00 feet. This is eight tenths of a foot below the top of flood pool. Up stream, Table Rock Lake remained steady at fifteen and five tenths of a foot above power pool or five tenths of a foot below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake rose six tenths of a foot to settle at nine and two tenths feet above pool or four tenths of a foot below the top of flood pool. The flood gates at Bull Shoals have been closed. The pattern on the White is to run all eight generators around the clock. The fishing on the upper White has been excellent, particularly the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals dam.. Large brightly colored San Juan worms (red, hot pink, cerise and fire orange have all been productive) and brightly colored egg patterns. They must be fished with a lot of lead and, of course, a really big strike indicator to float it all. I would recommend at least 4X to handle the larger flies and additional weight. Make sure that your indicator is set on the leader to enable the fly to tick the bottom of the water column. Other generally hot spots on the river have not fished as well as the upper river. Rim shoals and the Cotter area, in particular, have not been producing well. Mountain River Fly Shop said just as we were getting used to fishing 10 units, with the spillways open, we came back to a more standard 8 units last week. The fishing had been different but very good all week. White River trout are going to be stacking on the weight courtesy of the floodgates. As the water receded down the eight units level, and below, the fishing was still pretty damn good up and down the river. The Corp has been fluctuating the water significantly. Virtually every day this week flows were cut back to two units around midnight before gradually returning to 8 unit flows by "work hours". This had opened up some small windows of wadable water downstream. One angler led the way last Saturday with a 22” brown. Best flies remain the San Juan Worm or Dynamite Worm. Other anglers picked up fish early on Shad patterns, but went back to the reliable San Juans (red, pink, and hot orange) and of course Kev's Pink Lady. With recent rain, we are hearing reports that both the Table Rock and Beaver spillways have opened in response. Just what impact that will have on this section of the river remains to be seen. Sportsman’s White River Resort said the water is still high with the flood gates open. Trout are biting on plastic worms, Rapalas, and Rogues.
Bull Shoals Lake:
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 694.04 feet MSL.
Lake Norfork:
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 578.96 feet MSL. Cranfield Junction Bait and Tackle (870-492-5141) reported the water is high. No fishing report. 101 Grocery and Bait said walleye fishing has been good this week on the points and in the coves with running creeks. Most walleye have been caught on live bait. White bass are still biting well. Striper fishing is good on live bait and some are doing well using Rogues fished in less than 30 feet of water. Crappie fishing is picking up using a minnow/jig combo around 20-30 feet deep. The water temperature has been in the high 50s to mid-60s. Catfishing has been good using limb lines and rod-and-reel with live bait. Bass fishing has been fair on trick worms, lizards and flukes in the grassy areas and around the trees and brush.
Norfork Tailwater:
Gene’s Trout Dock (870-499-5381) said water conditions are normal with 2 generators on around the clock. Trout fishing is excellent on corn, nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, and olive or black wooly buggers. John Berry of Berry Brothers Guides said Quarry Park is closed because he Corps of Engineers opened the flood gates to drop the water level on Norfork Lake because it was well over the top of flood pool. This means that the water flow (the equivalent of thirty generators) was fifteen times the level we had previously considered the maximum. If you want to boat, you must use the ramp at the confluence and motor up. There has been a lot of high water and the same high water tactics suggested for the White should also work here. During a recent fishing trip, I saw a three foot gar and a thirty pound striper. The tales of fish being washed into the river when the flood gates were open are true. It should make for some very interesting fishing this year. There were a couple of brief periods of wadable water. The fishing during these was spectacular. There were literally millions of scuds in the water and the nymphing action was non stop. The biggest fish were an eighteen inch rainbow and a wild brown the same size. The river has changed but it is still a great place to fish. Dry Run Creek is back in business and fishing very well. After the recent flooding, the hot fly has been the worm brown San Juan worm in smaller sizes. Other hot flies have been sowbugs, olive woolly buggers, egg patterns and Y2Ks. Make sure that you mash down all barbs. Mountain River Fly Shop said last weekend’s periods of low water, enabling state and federal officials to assess damage from the spillway opening, appear now to be a thing of the past. We heard the fishing was pretty good.