(updated 11-15-2017) Cotter Trout Dock
(870-435-6525) said rainbow fishing has been
excellent the past week, lots of action from a few
miles upriver of Cotter down to Crooked Creek.
Florescent orange or bright yellow baits, especially
under overcast skies, worked well. Shrimp and
crawdad tails added to the size of the rainbow;
otherwise the trout were average size or smaller.
Standard zebra midges attracted some attention and
flashy brown Woolly Bugger called several rainbows
to the boat. Leave your streamers at home. Keep
angling and we'll see you on the river.
(updated 11-8-2017) Sportsman’s White River Resort
(870-453-2424) said the river level is normal, with
two generators running. Fishing was good. Rainbows
were biting PowerBait, Rooster Tails and pink worms.
(updated 11-15-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said that
during the past week, they had just a trace of rain
in Cotter, cool temperatures and heavy winds (to
include lake wind advisories). The lake level at
Bull Shoals dropped 0.8 feet to rest at 5.3 feet
below seasonal power pool of 659 feet msl. This is
41.3 feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream,
Table Rock dropped 0.2 feet to rest at 1.1 feet
below seasonal power pool and 15.2 feet below the
top of flood pool. Beaver Lake dropped 0.2 feet to
rest at 1.5 feet below seasonal power pool and 11.1
feet below the top of flood pool. The White had no
wadable water with light generation. The hot spot
has been Wildcat 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 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 (John’s current favorite is a size 10
Y2K with a size 14 ruby midge suspended below it).
Use lead to get your flies down.
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports
the lake’s elevation at 653.05 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 659.00 feet msl).
K Dock Marina said
(updated 11-8-2017) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock says said last weekend that the lake was
at 655 feet msl, the water temperatures were about
64 degrees. By afternoon you can still find 68 d
egrees depending on where you're at in the lake. It
appears like the lake is through turning over. Del
talked with some scuba divers who said that
everything has evened out. The shad are moving, most
of the bait has moved into the creeks. If you're
fishing the make lake, guys are still
bottom-bouncing for walleyes, trolling a little bit,
and chasing the perch in the main lake points,
secondary points, 28-34 feet is what he has been
told. As far as bass fishing, they had a major cold
front come through last week and Frirday it was 80
degrees. Del had a fishing trip Friday morning and
caught a lot of fish, he said. It was windy, you get
in the wind and just keep the trolling motor down
and keep moving. If it's windy like Friday, you
wanted to be in the wind. If you got out of the wind
the bite was gone. So wind is really key this time
of year. As far as the baits that have been working,
Del says he's covering a lot of water and starting
to p ick up a few fish on the wiggle wart. The
spinnerbait is working. With the spinnerbait, you
want to have a little bit of muddy water and wind.
Also, the squarebill has worked. Del has been
fishing relatively shallow, the deepest he's been
fishing is 10 feet, he said. There is a little bit
of deep bite setting up that seems to be on the
secondary points, in the creeks that have the long
points that go way out. Those points that have brush
on th em and 28-32 feet of water, you're going to
see fish and you'll catch them. You can use a
shad-style bait, a Roboworm, things like that. They
secondary pattern Del is running, he said, is he's
going into these creeks and is fishing the channel
swings, the deeper, 45-degree banks with the big,
nasty rocks. Not so much the bluffs straight up and
down but those bigger-than-football-size rocks.
Those areas seem to be holding fish. If you fish
that pattern in the main lake or close to the main
lake, you will pick up some smallmouth bass. As you
move into the creeks, it will be more largemouth. As
the day warms up, you can get in the back of the
flats and throw a squarebill around. Keep the
topwater baits tied on. The Whopper Plopper bite has
slowed down. That's been sporadic. Del said he
expects that to come back a little bit, especially
if the lake gets back into having 70 degree air
temperatures this week. If you do get in the back
and hit the channels wings, you can catch fish on a
beaver-style bait or a jig. Del said he prefers the
skirted jig if the water is dirtier. It's a bigger
profile bait and will get you a little bigger fish.
Del believes the fish up the lake are in a little
better pattern than they are on the south end. The
biggest thing this time of year, he said, is just to
keep moving, keep the trolling motor down and don't
be afraid to turn your hat around.
Norfork Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports
the lake’s elevation at 552.58 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: September-April 552.00 feet msl;
April-September, 554.00 feet msl).
(updated 11-15-2017) Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters
says Stripers on Norfork Lake are now feeding during
the day on flats in the 30 foot range. There are
large schools of shad roaming the flats and the
stripers are cruising within the shad. I pre-fished
Thursday and Friday near Reynolds Island in Big
Creek and found stripers feeding mid-morning. The
first day I fished in waters that were 40 to 50 feet
deep and caught multiple stripers and hybrids. The
next day I went back and could not find any fish
there. I fished the area until 10:30 and then
decided to move up on the flat near 1C and found
lots of bait. We started catching stripers after 11
am and had 2 limits in 45 minutes. I thought I had
it figured out so on Saturday I started out at 7 am
on the flat and did not have a bite until 12 pm and
then we only caught 3 stripers by 1:30 pm. What I
learned was the stripers were feeding later in the
day and each day the bite started about a hour
later. Saturday we started fishing at 10 am and
broke off one right away, then had to wait until
almost noon to catch another. The bite picked up and
we caught our limit by 2 pm and broke off another
and loss 1 at the boat. The 1C area in Big Creek is
good but wait until the sun is up and start fishing
there after lunch. The other hot spots are Cranfield
Island flat, the flat by Blue Lady and the Fouts
area. In those areas the bite is during the morning.
Stripers. whites, and a few walleye are being caught
on spoons and shad. Two other areas to look are the
Twin Coves, and Red Bank flats.
Modern gun deer season is now open. This coming
Saturday, duck season opens. So November is the best
month for the Arkansas sports person. If you do not
have a place to deer or duck hunt give STR
Outfitters a call. They offer guided deer, duck and
pheasant hunting trips.
(updated 11-8-2017) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird
Hideaway Resort said Norfork Lake fishing has been
fun for many of their guests over the last week.
Whether fish are big or small, it is always fun to
be out on the lake and reel in a fish. Fall has
arrived with its varying weather patterns, which
seem to change daily, 80s one day and the next in
the 40s and 60s. It seems that the cooler the
weather, the better the fish bite. Over the last
week Lou says he has seen a big change in the
location and the size of the fish. The bigger fish
are starting to move in. Striped bass fishing has
been mediocre for the last several days, but Tuesday
most of the resort guests caught a few hybrids
and/or stripers. This may be the sign that the
stripers are finally coming out of their deeper
habitat and are wanting to feed. At the beginning of
last week Lou saw the bait migrate back into the
creeks. Lou found large schools of striped bass and
hybrid bass back in Float Creek as well as back in
Bennetts Bayou. The massive amount of bait has since
moved out of Float and are back on the flats. The
main lake flats are typical locations for stripers
at this time of year. If you are looking on one of
the flats, concentrate your efforts in 30-50 feet of
water. This is not to say the striped bass will not
be up in 20 feet or less of water feeding at night
or very early in the morning. The bite for Lou’s
group of guests has started after sunrise and starts
to slow by late morning. Vertical-jigging a spoon
has been the bait of choice for most. Once the fish
are found, a blade-type bait such as a Kastmaster
has been working well. Swimbaits with at least a
1/2-ounce jighead on it to help it sink should also
produce some nice fish. Casting out an Alabama rig
produced some nice hybrids and white bass for one of
Lou’s guests last weekend.
Lou says white bass have been really plentiful this
year. There are mixed sizes of fish in the schools,
from 8 inches long up to the monster 14-plus-inch
fish. This species can be found on the same flats as
the stripers. You will find school after school of
whites, then all of a sudden the stripers and
hybrids will show up. Over the last week it has been
possible to catch 50-60 fish of all sizes in a very
short period of time which is a blast. I have been
vertical jigging a 3/4-ounce spoon for all species.
Also, crappie fishing is still good. They are on the
top of and inside of brush piles in 25-40 feet of
water. Artificial baits are working well, but live
minnows are working the best for the biggest numbers
of fish. Catfish are being caught on jugs using
nightcrawlers and live threadfin shad. Some good
sized fish are being caught. Walleye can be found on
the same flats as the stripers and the whites; in
fact, you have a great chance of catching all
species in the lake fishing the flats once you find
the bait and energetic and hungry fish. Lou had a
guest walleye fishing over the weekend and he had
good success casting a Flicker Shad to the shoreline
on the shallower banks. Most of his fish bit when
his bait was to about 15-20 feet deep. He also
caught a few on jerkbaits close to shore in the late
afternoon. This may be the start of the night bite
for walleye and possibly striped bass.
Lou adds that bass fishing has been good and they
are being found in all the different types of
locations. Lou has found large schools of largemouth
bass and spots feeding on the flats in 28-33 feet of
water. They are also being caught along the deep
bluff lines hugging the rocks in 15-25 feet of
water. Head back into the backs of creeks in the
shallow water – as long as the bait is in the area,
the bass will be feeding. A few afternoons ago one
of the resort’s bass fishing guests got into some
nice topwater action for big largemouth bass. They
had a blast for about 45 minutes casting topwater
baits. For the afternoon bass fisherman, check out
the shadow side of docks; there has been some really
nice sized fish caught under Lou’s dock, he said.
The lake level is holding fairly stable with minimal
power generation and currently sits at 552.96 feet
msl. The lake surface water temperature has been
fairly constant for the last couple of days at
around 65 degrees. Lou expects to see this water
temperature drop over the next couple of day with
the cool nights in the forecast. The overall lake is
starting to clear, but you will still see a slight
stain in the creeks, as well as parts of the main
lake.
The Bassmaster Team Championship will be held on
Norfork Lake the beginning of December. It will be
exciting to see how these expert fishermen attack
the late fall/early winter bass fishery. Hummingbird
Hideaway Resort still has some cabins available for
the tournament, so give them a call at 870-492-5113.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 11-15-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork
Lake fell 0.4 feet to rest at 1.1 feet below
seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet msl and 27.3 feet
below the top of flood pool. The Norfork had light
generation and significant wadable water. The water
is stained and the lake is turning over resulting in
low dissolved oxygen. It has fished poorly. Navigate
this stream with caution as things have changed a
bit during spring 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
pheasant tail dropper (size 10).
Dry Run Creek is stained but still fishing well. The
brown trout have moved in for the spawn. 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).
John adds, “When I say Norfork, I am referring to
the Norfork Dam tailwater. Technically it is the
North Fork of the White River. The 4 1/2 miles of
river from Norfork Dam to its confluence with the
White River (the tailwater of Bull Shoals Dam) is
the Norfork tailwater. It is our true blue ribbon
trout stream. Let us not forget that it produced a
world-record brown trout several years ago (38
pounds, 7 ounces).
“It is my absolute favorite stream. I first fished
it about 35 years ago and it was love at first
sight. I generally fish it as often as I can. While
I say that I fish the White River to catch large
numbers of trout, I fish the Norfork to catch larger
trout. Every time I fish the Norfork I expect to
land a trophy. Early this year it was fishing very
well. Then a catastrophe occurred. This April, we
had a 100-year rain on the North Fork of the White.
The stream was ravaged. The flooding and the damage
were intense. Tons of sediment and organic matter
were washed into Norfork Lake. The debris field on
the lake was huge and took months to clear. The high
lake levels required all of the flood gates at
Norfork to be opened resulting in severe flooding on
the Norfork tailwater. Several docks were washed
away and the river was scoured.
“The Norfork was greatly changed. There was heavy
gravel recruitment where there had been deep bedrock
runs. There are now deep bedrock runs where there
used to be a gravel bottom. There was severe erosion
at numerous locations along the river. Several spots
that were famous fishing locations were
unrecognizable. The standard joke was, why should
you hire a guide, they don’t know any more than you
do.
“Now over seven months after the flood the water is
still severely stained from all of the silt that was
washed into the river. This is worse than when we
had the debacle of Norfork Overlook Estates, where a
developer scalped the side of a mountain allowing
the siltation of the Norfork on a monumental level.
Just like that incident, this will be around for a
long time.
“To make matters worse, all of the organic matter
that was washed into the lake has been breaking down
and consuming oxygen in the process. This is
commonly referred to as a lake turnover. As a
result, you can detect a strong smell of sulfur on
the upper river near the dam. It also caused low
levels of dissolved oxygen which has a disastrous
effect on the trout.
“My wife, Lori, and I have fished it a few times
here of late with poor results. First of all we had
a lot of trouble wading. The river was so stained
that we could not see the bottom and therefore we
were not sure of our footing. This was made worse by
the fact that the stream bed was so changed from
what we had become accustomed to. We hardly
recognized it. Then with the low oxygen the bite was
slow. We caught very few trout and we both
considered the day a total bust. We were both glad
that we were not guiding.
“There is not much we can do about the situation.
Mother Nature is a powerful adversary and this
situation will not clear up until we have some major
rain to flush the lake and river to remove the
sediment and clear everything up.”
Buffalo National River/Crooked Creek
(updated 11-15-2017) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said The
Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are low and
clear. 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.
