Cotter Trout Dock
Weekly Fishing Report June 8, 2016
More reports and other videos are on
the Cotter
Trout Dock Youtube Channel Page.
Below is the Arkansas Game and Fish Fishing Report
June 8, 2016.
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports
the lake’s elevation at 663.41 feet msl (normal
conservation pool – 659.00 msl).
(updated 6-1-2016) K Dock Marina (417-334-2880) said
the lake is on a steady rise with the recent rains
but is still mostly free of debris. Will continue to
rise until the elevation reaches 662.00 ft msl. This
is now the new power pool set by the Corps. (Pool
was raised to 659.00 from 654.00 to accommodate the
new Minimum Flow Act set by Congress. That has now
been changed for a summer seasonal pool, adding 3
more feet.) Neadless to say, the boat launch at the
end of K Highway will have limited access. Lower
road access was lost when we hit 660.00. But, the
fishing is great! Bass and walleye are the hot
species right now. Water temperature is 74 degrees
and the water is stained. Black bass are good on
topwater Spooks, buzzbaits and other plugs. Also
good on Ned Rigs, 1/2-ounce jigs and small to medium
plastics. Crappie are biting fair on live minnows;
it's hot and cold from day to day. There aresStill
reports of Crappie in 8 to 10 feet, but have had
some hitting around trees in 15 to 20 feet. Swimming
minnow color has been pear and glitter. Walleye
fishing is good dragging nightcrawlers on the flats,
about 15-20 feet. Also hitting on medium-size
crankbaits.
(updated 5-18-2016) Bull Shoals Boat Dock said tthe
fishing continues to be very good. The same patterns
are working for bass plus the addition of all
topwater patterns. Most of the spawning is done for
bass. The majority are done and moving into post
spawn patterns. There might be a few spawners lift
but shouldn't be many. The walleye are moving down
some with the surface temperature warming up into
the low 70s. The reports on the walleye show them in
the 15-20-foot range. Still seeing some white bass
and crappie caught on the same patterns. We are
seeing lots and lots of hand-size bluegills being
caught, probably the product of the high water years
we have had lately. The lake is holding around the
normal level give or take a few feet. The water temp
is low 70's on the surface. Seems to be a
thermocline forming around the 15-18 foot level.
Visibility is good with it being exceptional past 50
foot. For bass, crankbaits, swimming minnow
plastics, spinnerbaits, jigs, french fry worms,
Carolina-rigged plastics, stickbaits and topwater.
Yes, that's right! Just about anything you want to
throw. For walleye, trolling deep diving baits is
working in 15-20 feet of water, bottom bouncing with
nightcrawlers, slow retrieval of a spoon, slow
retrieval of a split shot and nightcrawler. White
bass are hitting trolling crankbaits, casting
swimbaits, casting small jigs, night fishing with
lights. We are seeing lots of crappie being caught.
The main pattern being reported is swimming an
1/8-ounce to 1/64 jig just off the bottom along the
shoreline. They were spawning so they were not
grouped up. You might have to fish a lot of
shoreline to catch a bunch.
White River (Bull Shoals Tailwater)
(updated 6-8-2016) Sportsman’s White River Resort
(870-453-2424) said very shallow water early this
week, and the water was clear. There was some
rainbow action, however. It rated good. Brown trout
rated fair. Two generators are running of late.
(updated 6-8-2016) Ron Gamble at Cotter Trout Dock
said the shore anglers have been finding some luck
with garlic-scented yellow and pink power eggs.
Fishing with guides and from boats, the anglers have
been using a lot of artificial, mostly the ginger
and ginger/olive White River Zig Jigs but also the
old favorite Thomas Buoyant spoons, both red/gold
and blue/silver. Trout have been snapping at the
gold 3/16-ounce Blue Fox. It's warming up out there,
lots of sunshine, so don't forget the sun screen.
Don't mix your sunscreen and bait/tackle. Trout
don't like sunscreen.
(updated 6-8-2016) John Berry at Berry Brothers
Guide Service (870-453-2424) ) said rain last week
dropped three quarters of an inch on Cotter,
accompanied by warm temperatures and moderate winds.
The lake level at Bull Shoals rose 0.6 of a foot to
rest at 0.1 feet below seasonal power pool of 662
feet. This is 33.1 feet below the top of flood pool.
Upstream, Table Rock rose a foot to rest at 0.1 of a
foot above seasonal power pool and 13.9 feet below
the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.7 of a
foot to rest at 0.2 feet below seasonal power pool
and 8.8 feet below the top of flood pool. They saw
little generation last week with wade-able water
most days. All of the lakes on the White River
system are currently at or below seasonable power
pool and anglers should encounter lower levels of
generation on the tailwaters with limited wade-able
water. The bite has been erratic with had a lot of
low wade-able water that has fished well. The hot
flies were olive Woolly Buggers (sizes 8, 10), Y2Ks
(sizes 14, 12), prince nymphs (size 14), zebra
midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or
red with silver wire and silver bead sizes 16, 18),
pheasant tails (size 14), ruby midges (size 18),
root beer midges (size 18), pink and cerise San Juan
worms (size 10), and sowbugs (size 16). Double fly
nymph rigs have been very effective (current
favorite is a pink San Juan worm with a size 18 ruby
midge suspended below it. The sulphur hatch provides
some of our best dry fly fishing of the year. This
is a big mayfly, about a 14. Before the hatch he
fishes pheasant tails. When he sees topwater
activity but no insects, I fish with a partridge and
orange. When I see trout taking adults from the top,
I switch over to a sulphur parachute. The best bet
for large trout has been to bang the bank with large
articulated streamers delivered with heavy
24-30-foot sink tips (350 grains or heavier). You
will need an 8- or 9-weight rod.
Norfork Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports
the lake’s elevation at 556.27 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: September-April – 553.75 msl,
April-September – 552.00 msl).(updated 6-8-2016) Tom
Reynolds of STR Outfitters said the stripers on
Norfork Lake are confusing him: The topwater bite
should be over yet he’s seen stripers feeding
heavily in and around the Hand Cove area at first
light. The water temperature is now in the high 70s
and will be in the 80s by week's end. The
thermocline is at 30 feet, which usually keeps the
stripers deeper since the oxygen is poor above that.
The other confusing thing that the stripers are
doing is ignoring the small and mid-size shad and
hitting the biggest shad he can put on the line.
They will hit the smaller baits set on down lines
but are more likely to hit a bait on a split-shot
free line 20 yards behind the boat. Reynolds has
caught five stripers over 17 pounds this week with
the biggest at 25 pounds. They were able to release
all of them except the 25-pound striper. He’s also
hooked eight more that they lost. All these fish
were hooked using 10-inch-plus shad. All of the
stripers he’s catching are in the river channels,
still catching them with weighted floats and down
lines set at 30 feet. The stripers continue to feed
on shad and crawdads. A client called late on
Tuesday wanting to know if they could go fishing
last Wednesday. Tom had bait so they set the time
for 4:45 a.m. There was fog on the water that slowed
the trip a little as they motored their way to the
Big Creek area. His clients only wanted to catch a
big fish and were not really interested in keeping
any. They did catch one early that had to be kept
since it would not have made it if released. A
second fish hooked turned out to be 25 pounds;
Larry, the client, wanted to release it but the
fight took too much out of the fish. So Larry
decided to have it mounted. He wanted a
40-pound-plus fish, but this fish was a perfect size
in body and weight. They caught one more that was 20
pounds that could be released, so it turned out to
be a big fish day. Right now, Reynolds said, if a
person wants a wall mount they should be booking a
trip with a guide using live shad.
(updated 6-8-2016) Guide Steve Olomon said the
lake level was 555.4 with the water temperature in
the mid-70s. There are a few things floating in the
lake with the rain from this past week, so keep an
eye out. Bass are coming up early; mainly look for
them on points. They are also hitting jigs, worms
and a drop shot with a small worm. Look for stripers
and hybrids suspended in 30-40 feet in deep water or
they can be hugging the bottom 30-40 feet. Whites
can be in the schools too. Get your bait down to
where you mark the fish. I just drop a jigging spoon
and when they are in a feeding mood they will hit
the spoon on the way down. They usually hit it when
it’s dropping back down.
(updated 6-1-2016) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird
Hideaway Resort said fishing continues to be good
and the fish are starting to transition to their
early summer pattern. Basically, he says, the fish
are starting to go deeper as the water warms.
Stripers are being found 20-40 feet down in
50-100-plus feet of water. At this time they seem to
be relating to the sides of the main channel on the
main lake, especially in places where the channel
swings in close to the shoreline. If things are
typical this year, you will find them on the deep
flats early in the mornings, then in the deep
channels late morning and during the day. The
stripers are feeding on shad and crawdads, so there
should be a good bite before daylight. The hybrids
and white bass are being found at all depths,
including good topwater action for both. The problem
is that they are traveling all over the place and
may come up along the shoreline or out in the middle
of the lake. When you are traveling, keep a close
eye out for whitewater as it could happen anywhere
at any time. Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass
fishing have also been good. Early in the morning
they are still coming up for topwater baits, and as
the day wears on, jigs and swimbaits are the way to
go. The after-dark bite has also been good. The best
spots to find these fish are on shallow points with
buckbrush. The deeper fish are out in 15-25 feet of
water on the bottom. Rocky points are a great place
to start fishing for bass. Walleyes are continuing
to bite and can be found in the same locations as
the largemouth bass. Again, early in the morning
they are up shallow feeding, then as the sun comes
up they move out to 15-25 feet of water on the
bottom. Vertical jigs and crawler harnesses are
picking up some nice fish. The current lake level is
holding fairly steady with one generator running
continuously. The surface water temperature is
warming and is in the mid 70s. The main lake is
clear and the creeks and coves are once again
starting to clear. All in all, the lake is in great
condition for fishing and for the summertime
vacation lake lovers.
North Fork River (Norfork Tailwater)
(updated 6-1-2016) Berry Brothers Guide Service
(870-453-2424) said the lake rose 0.2 feet to rest
at 2.7 feet below seasonal power pool of 556.75 feet
and 26 feet below the top of flood pool. There was
no wade-able water, but the tailwater has cleared
somewhat and has fished better lately. The most
productive flies have been small midge patterns
(sizes 18, 20, 22) like ruby midges, root beer
midges, zebra midges (black or red with silver wire
and silver bead) and soft hackles (sizes 14, 16)
like the green butt. Egg patterns have also been
productive. Double fly nymph rigs have been very
effective. Try a small bead-headed nymph (zebra
midge, copper John or pheasant tail) suspended
eighteen inches below a brightly colored San Juan
worm (hot fluorescent pink or cerise size 10). There
have been reliable hatches of small midges (try a
size 24 Adams parachute) and caddis (try a size 18
elk hair caddis). The fishing is better in the
morning and late afternoon and tapers off midday.
John Berry's favorite fly has been the green butt.
Dry Run Creek will be very busy, with summer
vacation in full swing. It is cleared some and
fished well.The hot flies have been sowbugs (size
14), Y2Ks (size 12) and various colored San Juan
worms (worm brown, red, hot fluorescent pink and
cerise size 10).
The Arkansas White River Chapter of Trout Unlimited
No. 698 it is holding its “Generations Camp” June
18-19 at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. In the
past, you probably remember this as the Youth Camp,
but for the past couple of years the Youth Camp has
morphed into the Generations Camp. Before, the kids
were dropped off and participated in the camp by
themselves. Now they are accompanied by a
Generations Mentor who must be over 21 years old.
The Stream Explorers must be between 10-15 years
old. A mentor can be a parent, brother, sister,
grandparent, uncle, aunt or guardian. The mentor
attends all sessions of the camp and all classes and
learns along with the stream explorer. This is an
incredible opportunity for the mentor and explorer
to bond. The mentors and explorers will be
participating in a variety of subjects that include
fly-tying, fly-casting, trout fishing, trout habitat
and aquatic entomology. The highlight of the camp is
fishing on Dry Run Creek, which is arguably the most
incredible half-mile of trout fishing in the United
States and quite possibly the world. Dry Run Creek
is adjacent to the Norfork National Fish Hatchery
and is a catch-and-release stream that has been set
aside for children under 16 and mobility-impaired
adults. A mobility-impaired permit issued by the
AGFC is required for adult anglers. The classes are
taught by local Trout Unlimited volunteers, AGFC
biologists, U.S. Fish & Wildlife biologists and
other community volunteers. The goal is to develop
in the mentors and explorers a sense of appreciation
and respect for trout and our cold-water fisheries.
The camp runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch and a shirt are
provided to all participants. To participate,
contact Michael or Dawn Schraeder at (870) 421-1432,
write them at 1906 Rodeo Drive, Mountain Home, AR
72653, or email michaelschraeder@gmail.com. Space is
limited so register now.
Buffalo National River
(updated 6-8-2016) Berry Brothers Guide Service
(870-453-2424) said that with the weather warming,
smallmouths are more active. John Berry says his
favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. Check the water
level before entering the river. There are no dams
and the river is prone to flooding during and
following any rain event. The water can rise very
quickly.
Crooked Creek
(updated 6-8-2016) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service (870-453-2424) said the river is
navigable. Try his favorite lure for smallmouths,
the Clouser minnow. Carefully check the water level
before entering. There are no dams, there are large
drainages and the creek prone to flooding during and
following any rain event. The water can rise very
quickly.
