(updated 6-21-2017) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
says this past week has seen heavier generation
schedules in the late afternoon and evening, decreasing
water levels through the morning hours. It will take
some patience to get the trout to pay attention to your
bait in the a.m. Quarter-ounce Rooster Tails and Panther
Martins with gold blades and yellow bodies have been
successful in this scenario. In the afternoon, the bite
is good with Red Wigglers and nightcrawlers floating at
mid-depth. Drifting a scented pink worm works well in
rising, high water. Sculpins have been scarce, so the
bite has slowed down some; they’re trying salted minnows
today; expect some feedback on that next week. The GULP
3-inch smelt minnow would be an acceptable replacement
if live minnows aren't available. Celebrate summer on
the river – no better place to stay cool!
(updated 6-21-2017) Sportsman’s White River Resort
(870-453-2424) said the water clarity is clear. The
trout bite was excellent for the past week, both with
rainbows and browns.
(updated 6-21-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service (870-435-2169) said last Friday that last week
ended with just a trace of rainfall in Cotter, warmer
temperatures and moderate winds. The lake level at Bull
Shoals remained steady at 27.7 feet above seasonal power
pool of 662 feet. This is 5.3 feet below the top of
flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock fell 1.4 feet to rest
at 7.2 feet above seasonal power pool and 6.8 feet above
the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.2 feet to rest
at 7.3 feet above seasonal power pool and 1.3 feet below
the top of flood pool. On the White, we had no wadable
water with more moderate generation. All of the lakes in
the White River System are now below the top of flood
pool. The Corps of Engineers has closed the flood gates
on all of the lakes in the White River system. Expect a
lot of generation, with some wadable water, in the near
future. On the White, the hot spot has been Rim Shoals.
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 size 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 (John’s current favorite is a size 14 hare and
copper nymph with a size 18 ruby midge suspended below
it). Use lots of lead and long leaders to get your flies
down.
John also said, “We have had a tough spring this year on
our trout streams. We have had some of the heaviest
spring rains that I can remember. At the beginning of
the year, all of the lakes in the White River system
were well below the top of power pool. We were enjoying
wadable water on both the White and Norfork rivers. Now,
after the heavy rains we received, which resulted in
flooding on the Norfork and White rivers, the lake
levels are at or near the top of flood pool.
“During the flooding, water was held back in the lakes.
Once the flooding downstream had receded, the Army Corps
of Engineers opened the flood gates on all of the dams
on the White River System in order to lower the lakes a
bit to prevent them from failing. During the flooding,
the conditions were not safe. There was a lot of debris
floating downstream and most, if not all, of the launch
ramps were closed. When the floodgates were open, some
of the ramps were open and the rivers were not as
perilous but the water level was so high that it was
difficult to fish.
“I did not fish during the flooding, but I fished the
White and Norfork during the heavy water levels brought
on by the floodgates. It was tough and I am glad it is
over. Long leaders and heavy weight were the rule of the
day. We caught trout but there were no easy days.
“In the past week, conditions have improved on both
rivers. The floodgates have been closed on all of the
dams, and the water levels on our rivers are lower. The
ramps are all open, the rivers are all navigable and
fishing has improved. To top it off, there is even a
little wadable water. I guided both rivers [last] week
and did well.
“On Monday, I fished the White at Rim Shoals. I was
pleased to see the river at a very productive level. The
water was running at about 8,800 cfs. This is the rough
equivalent of just under three full generators. There
was enough water for me to easily navigate the water
with my conventional outboard powered by a propeller. At
this water level, the fishing was much easier. We could
use leaders that were shorter. Even more important, we
could use less lead. This made the casting much easier.
We caught plenty of trout and enjoyed the day.
“The next day we fished the Norfork. My clients were
staying at a cabin on the river. I checked the
prediction and noted that we would have a brief window
of wadable water early in the morning. We were on the
river at 7:30 a.m. It was on the bottom and still
stained from the flooding earlier in the year. We found
the river to be greatly changed. Places that used to be
bedrock were graveled in. Spots that were previously
gravel-bottomed were now bedrock. I must say that my
wading staff was indispensable as I navigated through
this new environment.
“The fishing was pretty good. We managed to land a
16-inch brook trout. This is the largest brook that one
of my clients has ever landed. I caught a 19-incher on
my own, but that was 20 years ago. Since then my best
has been a 14. The water came up and we launched my
boat. We floated the Norfork. The going was slow, but we
still managed to land a fat 24-inch brown. The cutthroat
eluded us so we did not get the grand slam. All in all,
it was a good day, with two trophies landed.
“If you have not been out, you should try it. Things are
back to normal.”
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports the
lake’s elevation at 689.38 feet msl (normal conservation
pool – 659.00 msl).
(updated 6-21-2017) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake Boat
Dock said last week that the water has come down but was
still 30 extra free above full pool. Surface temperature
had been ranging 76 to 80 and upwards to even 85 degrees
in the back of creeks. The post-spawn fish that were
deep have moved back up a little bit. It kind of killed
the drop-shot bite. However, early in the morning if you
get in back of some of the creeks, there’s a topwater
bite going both early and late. The fish are keying on
the shad. If you watch your graph, there are a ton of
fish suspending about 20 feet. You can be over 100 foot
or 10 foot. Watch your graph, have a topwater handy at
all times. The bigger creeks, if they have some color in
them, those are worthy of fishing if you’ve got some
water coming in from the back. Start out there early;
Del’s been catching a lot of fish early on the topwater
bite and that’s a lot of fun, he said. Buzzbaits working
on the flats. If you’re fish in those pockets a buzzbait
works well when there is a lot of submerged cover. If
you got a big weather front moving in, or you want to
try and get a big one, the Whopper Plopper is working.
If you’ve got isolated cover, a popper is working well.
If you’re covering water, spinnerbaits are still picking
up fish. Del uses a ½-ounce War Eagle, and you can
change the color depending on where you’re at or the
conditions. Also he’s catching a few on the ol’ jighead
Keitech bait. Del prefers the one with the blade if
you’ve got clouds and the wind; it’s kind of like the
Finesse spinnerbait. Also, Del expects a lot of these
fish are going to stay up in these bushes. They’ve got
everything they need up there – they’ve got cover,
they’ve got food, everything is right there. The
crayfish jig bite has been really good, he added – try a
½-ounce football jig with a Netbait Paca-craw in peanut
butter, or use an Arkansas craw, a green pumpkin, and
maybe something with a little orange in there. You can
fish the lake, you can fish the river, and you can do
some bowfishing. If the water lays flat and calm
ideally, fish it and get out early, get the topwater
bite and move out to the points and go from point to
point to point. Don’t sit anywhere for too long. If you
get around the fish, they’re schooling up pretty good so
hang out in that area, fish it thoroughly and you can
come back to it if you need to. But the big thing is the
topwater bite – get out early and go halfway back in the
creeks. The first channel swing towards the middle of
the creek has been about where they’ve been in about all
the creeks.
Norfork Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports the
lake’s elevation at 573.98 feet msl (normal conservation
pool: September-April – 552.00 msl, April-September –
554.00 msl).
(updated 6-21-2017) Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters says
Norfork Lake is on fire right now. The striper bite is
awesome on the lower, southern area of the lake.
Starting early, look for stripers as shallow as 22 feet
and just follow them out as the sun comes up. The best
bite the last week has been around 7:30 a.m. in 40-50
feet of water. The striper are hugging the bottom, so
right now Tom and crew are putting are baits on the
bottom, then make three turns on the reels to keep the
weight off the bottom. They are also using a short
leader to keep the bait close to the bottom; this has
been very effective. The threadfin shad they’re using
are less than 2 inches long. We are using No. 2 and No.
4 hooks with a 12-pound leader. The best points are Koso
and Thumb. Tom says he took the Gerrish family out;
Scott and Amy with their three boys, Caleb, Connor and
Dillon. The boys were 6 to 12 years old and jumped right
in on how to hook and catch the fish. Tom has the boys
reel very fast when they see the rod tip go down to the
water. This sets the circle hook and then they take it
out of the rod holder and fight the fish. Tom said they
started early leaving the dock at 5 a.m. and did not
have a bite for the first hour. The weather was not good
but they were close to a marina so he wasn’t worried. In
less than 2 minutes they went from no waves to 3-foot
rollers. They raced to the marina and were very wet when
they got there. They waited for over an hour until the
stormed passed. When they went out again they had no
bites but then went where Tom’s son, Sean, was fishing
and started again. The fish started to bite and in less
than 2 hours they caught 15 stripers and lost a few
more. Everybody was very happy and had an experience
they will not soon forget.
(updated 6-14-2017) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort said Norfork Lake fishing has been good over the
last couple of weeks. All species are biting, but the
typical pattern for this time of year is different. The
higher-than-normal water level is keeping the baitfish
inside the sunken trees and brush, and the fish are
loving it. Plenty of places to hide and feed. The
predators are, as you would guess, up inside of the
brush with the baitfish. Striper fishing has been
excellent from the southern portion of the mid-lake area
down to the dam and east of the dam partway back into
Big Creek. Main lake points, as well as secondary points
back into the creeks and coves, have been the best areas
to find the striped bass. Early in the morning you can
find stripers and hybrids up tight to the sunken trees
and brush feeding on shad. If you can find an area with
the shad flipping back in the brush, all species of fish
will be in the area feeding. As the sun rises over the
tree line, the stripers tend to move out into deeper,
cooler water. They will still be off the points, but
will move out to find water temperatures in the low 60s,
which at this time is about 40-45 feet deep. Surface
water temperature is close to 80 degrees. Live bait is
working the best for him, Lou said. He’s been using live
threadfin shad, gizzard shad or larger shiners.
Artificial baits that have worked have been swimbaits,
crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Lou says he attempts to get
the bait down to the tops of the sunken buck brush, and
try to retrieve along the tops of the brush anywhere
from 10 feet to 25 feet of water. Once the stripers go
deeper, vertical jigging with a spoon will start
working. So far though, Lou says, he can't seem to beg a
bite on a spoon, but they will work before long.
Lou adds that both largemouth and smallmouth bass
fishing have been good. Early and late in the day they
are up tight on the sunken brush. Lou says he has had
luck over the last week casting a Zara Spook into the
brush and slowing walking the dog back to the boat. Lou
says he’s called up many fish by this method. Crankbaits
and spinnerbaits are also working very well. Try to get
a deep-diving crankbait so it will get down to the tops
of the brush in 10 to 25 feet of water. The fish are
inside of the brush feeding on shad.
Walleye fishing has increasingly gotten better and
better. Troll crankbaits on the old shoreline just off
of the sunken brush in 20-25 feet of water. Lou had a
group of guys down last week and they were using this
method of fishing. They landed well over 20 walleye,
many keepers. Firetiger was their most productive
crankbait color pattern. The walleye are also moving
onto the flats in the 15-30 feet water range. Using a
Lindy rig with nightcrawlers has been working. You can
also drop-shot a large shiner, keeping it just above the
bottom in the same water depth of 15-25 feet.
Crappie and bluegills are up in the sunken brush. There
has been some nice fish caught on crankbaits as well as
spinnerbaits. Live bait will be the best, but the fish
are very hard to reach. They have moved very deep into
the brush, but working the edges of the sunken brush and
especially under sunken Willow trees are holding some
nice fish.
Catfishing has been excellent. Limblines, jugs and
trotlines are all producing some really nice fish.
Norfork Lake's current water level is falling slowly and
is at 574.95 as of earlier this week. The current
surface water temperature is in the high 70s. Parts of
the lake are clear (far north upriver and far south east
of the dam). The remainder of the lake is slightly
stained with a greenish blue color. Parts of the
mid-lake area around the two bridges are still showing a
slightly brown tint of stain. Overall the lake is in
great condition and is getting back to normal. I am
noticing very little floating debris, but caution is
still advised as always.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 6-21-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service said Norfork Lake fell 0.7 feet to rest at 17.6
feet above seasonal power pool of 556.72 feet and 5.4
feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had
limited wadable water and the water is stained. It
fishes well one day and poorly the next. Navigate this
stream with caution as things have changed a bit during
the recent flooding. There has been major gravel
recruitment at the bottom of Mill Pond and the dock
hole. 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). The fishing is better in the morning. John’s
favorite rig has been a cerise San Juan worm with a ruby
midge dropper.
Dry Run Creek has been affected by the flooding but has
returned to its banks and is fishing 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). 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 6-21-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the Buffalo
National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. With the
warmer weather the smallmouths are more active. John’s
favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. Carefully check the
water level before entering Crooked Creek or the Buffalo
River. There are no dams on these streams. They both
have large drainages and are prone to flooding during
and following any rain event. The water can rise very
quickly.
Crooked Creek
(updated 6-21-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the Buffalo
National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. With the
warmer weather the smallmouths are more active. John’s
favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. Carefully check the
water level before entering Crooked Creek or the Buffalo
River. There are no dams on these streams. They both
have large drainages and are prone to flooding during
and following any rain event. The water can rise very
quickly.
