(updated 3-29-2017) Sportsman’s White River Resort
(870-453-2424) said water level was low, but both
rainbows and browns had a good bite going still.
PowerBait was working best for anglers.
(updated 3-29-2017) Cotter Trout Dock
(870-435-6525) says it's brown trout season: The
guides have been showing their fishers more browns
than rainbows this past week. No secret to what been
tempting the browns: sculpins and minnows. Trap a
few redfin minnows and you'll have a good chance to
come face-to-face with a strong, fighting brown.
Handle gently, don't keep it out of the water too
long, return it to the river after a quick picture,
and look for another one to play. No pattern to the
water releases yet, so the rainbows have been a
little skittish. Keep an arsenal of bait handy to
stir up their interest and curiosity. If one color
doesn't work, try another (i.e. if not having luck
with fluorescent yellow power bait, change to a gold
spinner or blue and silver spoon.) The dogwoods will
be blooming to perfection in the next couple of
days; come see a beautiful Ozark spring to green,
then go catch a rainbow.
(updated 3-29-2017) John Berry at Berry Brothers
Guide Service (870-453-2424) said, “As many of you
know, my wife, Lori, and I have been teaching a
fly-fishing class at Arkansas State University
Mountain Home for several years. We teach a class
each spring and fall. Over the years, we have taught
hundreds of people to fly fish. It will be held on
Thursday nights – March 30, April 6, 13 and 20 – on
the ASU-Mountain Home campus from 6 p.m. until 8
p.m.
“We always begin with an hour of fly-casting
instruction. This is basic instruction for someone
who has never held a fly rod or someone with limited
experience. Lori always leads this. Over the years,
she has really worked at it and has become an
accomplished casting instructor. I also assist.
Together we have over 40 years of fly-casting
instruction experience. We like to keep our class
size limited so that all of the students get a lot
of personal attention at each class. We show you
where your mistakes are and how to easily correct
them. The rest of the instruction is in the
classroom. This is where I draw on my 25 years’
experience as a fly-fishing guide. Of course, Lori,
with over a dozen years of experience as a guide,
ably assists. We talk about equipment, [what to buy
and what not to buy]. We also cover knots, rigging,
fly selection, entomology, reading water and water
safety. This is a great class for couples.
“To register for the class, visit
http://asumh.edu/services/community-education.html.
If you do not have access to a computer, call Sarah
Sykes at (870) 508.6105 to register. There is a
nominal fee. If this sounds like something that you
would be interested in, please sign up. I hope to
see you there.”
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports
the lake’s elevation at 653.94 feet msl (normal
conservation pool – 659.00 msl).
(updated 3-29-2017) K Dock Marina reported the water
level is down about 7 feet below normal this spring,
around 651.7 feet. (Normal pool is 659 feet above
sea level for the spring.) Bull Shoals has great
water conditions right now, with water clear to
stained. All species are good to fair after the cold
snap week before last. Surface temperature around K
Dock dropped about 5 degrees to around 50-53
degrees. Last weekend’s temperature should bring the
fish up chasing shad in the shallows. White bass are
really starting to surface around the K Dock area.
Crappie should start to hit soon. No big numbers
yet, but that will change. Have seen a lot of 12- to
14-inch crappie being caught in nearby coves. Boat
ramp is accessible and courtesy dock is available,
free of charge. Here is a breakdown by species:
* Black Bass (Largemouth, Spotted Bass and
Smallmouth) – Good to fair on a wide fariety of
lures. The A-Rig is still a favorite with the water
temps in the low 50s. Many catching bass on small
crankbaits such as Wiggle Warts, Rock Crawlers and
Bombers. Spinnerbaits with small willow blades when
windy. Small to medium jigs ½-ounce or smaller on
the steep rock bluffs and points. And any type of
finesse plastics off the points and bluffs.
* Crappie – Good to fair on swimming minnows on the
sand flats and brush piles. Small plastics in pink
and chartreuse have really been working around brush
piles in the nearby coves. But, live minnows and a
bobber are perfect this time of year.
* Walleye – Fair to slow. Not a lot of reports
coming in on walleye trolling. Horrible weather
conditions week before last. Look for the shallow
bite to start with the water temps coming up. Troll
with small crankbaits such as Hot n’ Tots or Flicker
Shads around the 5 to 7 size. This time of year, you
may troll to find large walleye along the steep rock
bluffs feeding on Crawdads after the spawn. Great
time to hit a monster crappie while trolling with a
small crankbait. Better reports of walleye coming in
from Beaver Creek toward Powersite Dam area.
* White Bass – Very good. We finally have some
shallow water to fish around K Dock. Tie on a
lipless crankbait and hit the flats. The whites will
be everywhere when they jump a few degrees in
surface temp. Your choice of soft or hard bait is up
to you when they start busting the surface.
If you have been on this lake in the past 10 years,
you know that it’s been rare to see these lake
conditions in the spring. If you are new to the K
Dock area, stop in the store on the weekend. Scott
will give you some tips on where to fish, whatever
game fish you’re after.
(updated 3-22-2017) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said the lake is still low at 651 feet msl
and they really need some rain, and some would help.
Temperature has ranged 55-63 degrees. Fish are
definitely in pre-spawn mode. A couple of different
things are working, depending on the weather – and
last week they had snow before it was back up in the
80s. The fishing is only get better. They’re coming
up shallow. They’re not all the way in backs of the
creeks, but almost in the backs and in the flats.
They’re still holding off a little bit. Del still
hasn’t put the jerkbait away, he said. He’s also
used a Shaky Head. Try a swimbait with just a little
small head and casting it along the docks, outside
of the docks. Around the transition banks, the fish
seem to be on the sides of the points or where it
goes to bluff wall to gravel; it doesn’t matter,
look for those changes in the rock and you’re going
to get bit. Del says that lately he doesn’t think
he’s fished anything deeper than 15 feet, and you
won’t h ave to for the next month. You can still use
a Wiggle Wart a little bit, or a rock crawler bait,
but that bite should begin to drop off. Got with the
brighter colors in the dirtier water, more natural
colors in the clear water. Also, a jig is catching a
lot of fish right now, he said, especially on the
steeper banks into the pockets, which are hodling a
lot of fish. Hit the bank with a jig and work it
back nice and slow. A flashy finesse spinnerbait is
also working. In the dirtier water add some flash.
Walleye were still working on Tuesday and he said
you probably have one more week of jerkbaiting for
walleye. Go for them an hour or so before the sun
goes down to an hour afterward. They’re shallow,
about 18 inches below the surface. White bass are
kind of tapering off, he said. Some are moving out
of the creeks already. You’ll find white bass on the
secondary points.
Norfork Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports
the lake’s elevation at 547.23 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: September-April – 553.75 msl,
April-September – 552.00 msl).(updated 3-292-2017)
Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters says their weather
patterns continue to swing from cold rainy to hot
and windy. One day, striper fishing is good, then it
slows down and on some days quits, then picks back
up. Tom says if his clients happen to pick the good
days, fishing is a lot of fun, but those other days
when you are scrambling to get a bait make for a
long day. The stripers are moving up and down the
creeks depending on the weather. They are still
fishing near Fouts Marina. Tom says he has mainly
fished near 6B and then down toward the flats.
Others are starting in front of the marina and work
the bluffs and points. All this is short term as the
weather will improve and striper fishing will pick
up all over the lake. Tom’s son did catch a 30-pound
striper pre-fishing. He took a picture and released
it to fight another day. The crappie are hitting
very well in the deeper brush piles. They are biting
on minnows and jigs all over the lake. Find some
off-color water with temperatures in the mid-50s and
you should catch some nice slabs.
Tom says he took Bobby and Pat, who flew in from
California, to catch their first stripers. This was
their first guided fishing trip, also. The bite
starting off quickly with Pat getting the first hit.
He missed it but was very excited to see the fish
chase the bait out of the water. Pat’s next strike
was on the mark and the fight was on. Pat put that
one in the boat and he took pictures to send back to
his co-workers. Bobby was next and he caught a good
one. We put four in the boat and missed a few more
that would have given them their limit. They both
enjoyed the day and Pat had the best birthday
present a brother-in-law could give.
(updated 3-22-2017) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird
Hideaway Resort said the term "March Madness"
definitely fits Norfork Lake this month. Three
inches of snow a week ago, 90 degrees earlier this
week and some thunderstorms and cooler weather on
the way. The changing weather patterns play havoc
with the fish, but Tuesday the fish gave signs of
getting back on track. Lou says he saw sporadic
surface activity for largemouth bass and
striped/hybrid bass, crappie moving in tighter to
the banks for their pre-spawn activity, and the
white bass and walleye have started to move out to
the flats, which indicates the majority of the
walleye and whites have completed their spawn.
Tuesday was a very interesting morning of fishing.
Lou says his game plan was to search a different
area of the lake for striped bass. He didn't find
striped bass, but he ended up catching fish on five
different types of baits. In the dark he started
casting a suspending stickbait to the shoreline. He
landed largemouth and crappie on his Smithwick
Rogue. As the sun was coming up he cast out his
blade bait, Kastmaster, and landed some whites. As
the morning wore on he started casting out a paddle
tail swimbait to the shoreline and landed a
largemouth, then in deeper water he dropped a spoon
and landed a walleye. Live threadfin shad landed a
second walleye and he broke off a big fish, maybe
what he was looking for, he said. Striped bass
fishing the last couple of days has slowed with the
cool system that rolled through their area last
week. The snow and cold temperatures dropped the
surface lake temperature from 56 degrees to 50
degrees. Tuesday morning the lake had warmed back up
to 56 degrees. A few days ago the stripers that had
moved back into the major creek arms were biting
aggressively and could be found anywhere from 20 to
50 feet of water. Most fish that Lou was catching
and marking were suspended 15-35 feet down. Tuesday,
Lou said he did mark a few stripers, but they were
not feeding. This will change with the warming water
very shortly and the good bite will begin again.
Lou adds that largemouth bass fishing has been good.
This species is moving in close to the shoreline
early and late in the day. Tuesday morning brought
some of the best surface activity that he have seen
so far this year. This is still early for topwater,
but a very good sign. Lou caught largemouth before
Tuesday’s sunrise on a suspending jerkbait; after
sunrise, largemouth were being caught on a 5-inch
paddle tail swimbait by one of Lou’s guests. The
topwater started just as the sun got above the
horizon. Lou says start carrying your favorite
topwater bait as he believes this will become a
little more common each day. Alabama rigs are also
working very well rigged out with a 3½- to 4-inch
swimbait. The shorter baits are still working a
little better than longer baits, but this will
change as the water continues to warm.
Lou caught walleye Tuesday morning, one on a shallow
flat in 18 feet of water and the other was out in 65
feet of water suspended down 55 feet. Lou marked
bait from 40 feet to the bottom and saw five big
arcs in the bait. He assumed the arcs were stripers
so he dropped a ½-ounce spoon and landed a nice
23-inch walleye. “You tell me what the current
pattern of our walleye are?” he asks with a grin.
The majority of the walleye have spawned and should
be moving to the flats to feed. Deep-diving
crankbaits, crawler harnesses and dragging live
minnows will start to pick up some nice fish. White
bass have also completed the majority of their
spawning activities. Lou says he’s starting to find
scattered fish on large flats suspended down 20-30
feet in 30-50 feet of water. He caught several nice
whites on his Kastmaster blade bait. It will not be
long until large schools of whites will be roaming
shallow flats feeding heavily on shad. Topwater
frenzies will erupt and make the water boil.
Topwater baits, blade baits, spoons and swimbaits
will all pick up some nice fish.
Norfork Lake surface water temperature Tuesday
morning was 55-56 degrees. The lake level is falling
very slowly and currently sits at 545.25, which is
approximately a 1 foot drop over the last two weeks.
The lake is somewhat stained but clearly is
occurring.
North Fork River (Norfork Tailwater)
(updated 3-22-2017) John Berry at Berry Brothers
Guide Service (870-453-2424) said Norfork Lake fell
0.5 feet to rest at 7.5 feet below seasonal power
pool of 553.75 feet and 33.7 feet below the top of
flood pool. On the Norfork, we had less generation
with more wadable water, but it has fished poorly.
Daphnia has been spotted on the upper river and
could adversely affect the bite. 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 18 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. Berry’s favorite rig has
been a hare and copper nymph with a ruby midge
dropper. Dry Run Creek has been very crowded due to
spring break. 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). While you are at the creek you
should visit the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. It
is fascinating. Be sure and remove your waders
before entering to prevent the spread of aquatic
diseases.
Buffalo National River
(updated 3-22-2017) Berry Brothers Guide Service
(870-453-2424) said the Buffalo is navigable. With
warm weather, the smallmouths should be more active.
Berry’s favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. Carefully
check the water level before entering the Buffalo
River. There are no dams, it has large drainages and
is prone to flooding during and following any rain
event. The water can rise very quickly.
Crooked Creek
(updated 3-22-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service (870-453-2424) said the creek is
navigable. With warm weather, the smallmouths should
be more active. Berry’s favorite fly is a Clouser
minnow. Carefully check the water level before
entering Crooked Creek. There are no dams, it has
large drainages and is prone to flooding during and
following any rain event. The water can rise very
quickly.
