(updated 11-13-2019) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
says the White River watershed, which includes Beaver
Lake, Table Rock Lake and their tailwaters, in addition
to Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes, saw a significant
increase in elevation due to rainfall this past week.
Bull Shoals Lake rose more than 7 feet since our last
report and continues to rise because of spillway and
turbine releases from Beaver and Table Rock dams. High
water throughout the system all the way down to Newport
has caused a need to decrease releases into the
tailwater from Bull Shoals. We have seen a change in the
river level from a steady four units (approximately
12,000 cfs) to fluctuations between minimum flow and
14,000 cfs daily for the last four to six days. A return
to mid- or high-level flows will occur as the water
level stabilizes downstream and the ability to lower the
lake level comes in to play.
All this means that your bait needs will change
throughout the day as releases from the dam hit your
fishing spot. Low water is a perfect time to lay a
sculpin on the bottom to tempt a brown to come out of
hiding. During the rise, turn to live worms, red
wigglers were a massive success last week. Then when the
high water comes in and stays for a while late in the
day, you'll be able to cast great big stick baits.
That's when you can try the Rapala Rainbow Countdown or
blue back, orange belly Smithwick. Blue/silver spoons
(Cleos or Thomas Buoyant) will work well in the low to
mid-depth water levels, too. “We've felt the predicted
arctic blast yesterday and this morning, so if you're
braving the weather (and we have some anglers out doing
that very thing today), bundle up!”
(updated 11-13-2019) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-4352169) said that during the
past week, they had yet another major rain event (almost
4 inches in Cotter), cold temperatures (to include
winter weather advisories) and moderate to heavy winds.
The lake level at Bull Shoals rose 5.8 feet to rest at
9.4 feet above seasonal power pool of 659 feet msl. This
is 26.6 feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream,
Table Rock rose 2.6 feet to rest at 2.7 feet above
seasonal power pool and 11.3 feet below the top of flood
pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.1 foot to rest 8.8 feet above
seasonal power pool and 0.8 foot below the top of flood
pool. The White had moderate generation with some
limited wadable water. Norfork Lake rose 2.6 feet to
rest at 4.2 feet above seasonal power pool of 553.75
feet msl and 22 feet below the top of flood pool. The
Norfork saw moderate generation with some wadable water.
Seasonal power pool has been reset for the lakes in the
White River system. Due to heavy rains over the last
four weeks all of the lakes in the White River System
are now over the top of power pool. Expect heavy
generation for the next few weeks.
The catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam has
closed through Jan. 31, 2020, to accommodate the brown
trout spawn. The State Park will be seasonal catch and
release for the same period. All brown trout must be
immediately released. In addition, night fishing is
prohibited in this area during this period. On Feb. 1,
2020, this section will open to fishing.
The White has fished well. The hot spot has been the 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 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
combination is a cerise high water San Juan worm with an
egg pattern suspended below it). Use long leaders and
plenty of lead to get your flies down.
John also talked about taking a first-time fly-angler
out on the high water: “My wife, Lori, had a client,
Peggy, a retired field engineer, that wanted to learn
how to fly-fish. Lori spent some time teaching her to
cast and some of the basics. She was reluctant to take
Peggy out due to the high water. Lori does not run the
boat, so all of her gigs are usually wade trips. I will
go along if needed to run the boat.
“Peggy was in town for a few months and they had held
off booking a trip waiting for lower water. High water
is more difficult to fish because the fish are not as
concentrated and the casting is much more difficult. As
you know, that has not been in the cards. This is one of
the worst high-water years I have seen in a long time.
It is almost Thanksgiving and they are still running
high water with no end in sight. As Peggy’s time in the
Twin Lakes was coming to an end they decided to book a
trip on high water with me handling the boat. That way
Lori could concentrate on coaching Peggy.
“I arrived at the ramp first and rigged a couple of rods
for high water (two heavily weighted flies, a San Juan
worm and an egg, a big split-shot and a deeply set
strike indicator) and launched the boat. They arrived as
I was parking my trailer. They were running about 16,000
cfs, or the approximate equivalent of five full
generators. The temperature was about 50 degrees with
way more wind than predicted.
I am the high-water specialist. Therefore I took a few
minutes to teach Peggy how to make a Belgian cast. This
is a simple cast that easily delivers heavy two fly rigs
without tangling. You bring the fly line back with a
smooth side cast and transition to an overhead forward
cast when the back cast is fully extended. She picked it
up quickly.
“We began fishing and she was soon into trout. While she
picked up the casting quickly she was more challenged
with fighting the fish. She lost the first three trout
she hooked before she landed one. Lori worked with her.
She concentrated on hooking the trout, keeping constant
pressure on it, and allowing it to run if necessary.
“Peggy was incredibly conscientious. She really wanted
to learn how to fly-fish. She carefully listened to
Lori’s instruction and did her best to pick it all up.
There is a lot to learn in one day and it is not easily
done. She began to pick it up. Soon she was performing
flawlessly catching several nice trout.
“Around noon we headed back to the ramp and I put the
boat back on the trailer. Lori took a few minutes to
teach Peggy how rig and fish a Woolly Bugger. They
walked over to the ramp and picked a couple more trout.
Peggy was stoked. She had picked over a limit on her
first day of fly fishing and did it on heavy water.”
(updated 11-6-2019) Sportsman’s White River Resort
(870-453-2424) said little has changed in recent weeks.
The river is high with six generators running at the
dam. Anglers are catching rainbows but not a lot of
browns.
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports the
lake’s elevation at 669.51 feet msl (normal conservation
pool: 659.00 feet msl).
(updated 11-6-2019) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake Boat
Dock said the water is clear and Bull Shoals has risen
to about 2.5 feet high as of Tuesday morning. The lake
is at 65 degrees on the surface. Del reported last week
that the lake has turned over. Crappie continue to be
caught, with good results reported. They are deep,
however. Most are being caught in 25-30 feet of water
and are being found around the Corps brushpiles. Use
minnows. The bass are picking up with the Corps running
a lot of water, he says. If it’s windy, Del suggests
using spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Otherwise, got with
topwater baits, the Whopper Plopper, or fish with jigs
around the rocky points. The reports have been good on
bass. Walleye are being caught trolling. Nothing has
been reported on bream, while catfish reports were poor.
Check out Del’s YouTube page (Bull Shoals Lake Boat
Dock) for his latest video reports and tips on catching
the fish.
Norfork Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports the
lake’s elevation at 558.06 feet msl (normal conservation
pool: Sept.-April, 552.00 feet msl; April-Sept., 555.75
feet msl).
(updated 11-13-2019) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort said Norfork Lake fishing has been good to me the
last week, but things will be changing with the polar
blast we are currently getting. The cold frigid weather
will push the bait out of the creeks. They will head to
more comfortable water temperatures in the main lake and
yes, the fish will follow. The bite has been good for
all species and will continue to get better and better
as the fish start to feed heavily for the upcoming
winter months. Start looking at the large flats in 30-50
feet of water for bait and fish of all species in the
coming days, as the water continues to cool rapidly.
A couple different types of areas have been holding
striped and hybrid bass. The best areas for striped and
hybrid bass at this time, have been back in the major
creeks or up river. Bennett’s, Big Creek and upriver
from Calamity to the Udall areas have been great places
to find striped and hybrid bass. The bait has been very
thick in all these areas and the fish have been feeding.
Fishing with live bait, such as shiners, thread fin and
gizzard shad has been producing the largest number of
fish, but artificial baits have also been catching fish.
You will find stripers in these creek type areas in
20-40 feet of water and they will be at all depths. The
second type of area where I have been finding stripers
and hybrids, as well as, white bass is on large flats.
You will need to do some searching with your electronics
until you find bait. The fish will be nearby. I have
found large schools of fish and you can have a blast
vertical jigging with a spoon, as long as you can stay
on the feeding fish. Most of the fish I’ve found on the
flats have been in 30 – 45 feet of water. The fish may
be suspended, but the best bite is when you find them
feeding on the bottom. The flats fishing should get much
better as the bait starts to move out of the shallow
water of the creeks.
The crappie bite continues to be good. On Sunday (Nov.
10) I decided to check out a brushpile that was near the
flat where I had been fishing. It was a main lake point
that has brush in very shallow water and out to about 30
feet of water. I started to jig with a quarter-ounce
green with florescent green back spoon. I moved across
the point and when I got to 10 feet of water the bite
just exploded. The fish were 5 to 10 feet down, in the
very shallow water out to about 20 feet of water. I
landed 14 fish in less than 20 minutes. This really is
not the norm, but when you find fish this active it is a
blast. Typically, the crappie have been on 25-35 feet
deep brush and have been suspended 10-20 feet down over
the top of the brush. Live bait, small grubs tipped with
a crappie minnow or a small spoon have all been working.
The bass bite has also been good. Bass seem to be
everywhere, in shallow water, as well as deep water.
During the late fall I look for feeding bass in 30-45
feet of water on large flats. Once you find the school
of fish, drop a ¾ ounce spoon on them and you will catch
one after another. I typically do not find feeding bass
until midmorning, after the sun gets high in the sky.
The best locations on the flats are under water ledges
or underwater points on the flats. Drop-shot rigs will
also work very well on these deep fish. The bass are in
shallow water as well. Plastic worms, crawdads, lizards,
etc. are working well for the shallow fish. Cast your
bait up to the shoreline and work it back slowly. Bass
are hanging in the sunken buck brush along the shallow
shoreline or along the deep bluff lines on the drops and
ledges. Crank baits, buzz baits and spinner baits are
also working well depending on the wind. As the water
continues to cool the jerk bait bite will start to work.
This should happen soon.
Walleye and catfish are also feeding on the flats in the
30-45 feet of water. Jigging a spoon will catch you some
nice fish of all species.
Norfork Lake surface water temperature is falling. The
surface water temperature is in the upper fifties and
should drop a few more degrees over the next several
days with the cold air temperature that we are currently
having. The lake level is on a slow rise and currently
sits at 558.03 feet MSL. The water on most of the lake
is stained, but will begin to clear again as the water
level stabilizes. A few more very cold days are forecast
for our area, but warmer fall type weather is on its way
back the latter part of this week. “Happy fishing and
see you on the lake.”
(updated 11-13-2019) Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters had
no report.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 11-13-2019) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork Lake rose
2.6 feet to rest at 4.2 feet above seasonal power pool
of 553.75 feet msl and 22 feet below the top of flood
pool. The Norfork saw moderate generation with some
wadable water. Seasonal power pool has been reset for
the lakes in the White River system. Due to heavy rains
over the last four weeks all of the lakes in the White
River System are now over the top of power pool. Expect
heavy generation for the next few weeks.
The Norfork has been fishing better on the moderate
flows but has been a bit crowded. The dissolved oxygen
level is slightly improved. Navigate this stream with
caution as 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 ruby midge
(size 18) suspended 18 inches below a red fox squirrel
and copper. The fishing is better in the morning.
Dry Run Creek is fishing better. The browns have begun
making their annual migration up stream. With school
back in session it will be less crowded during the week.
The weekends can be pretty busy. The hot flies have been
sowbugs (size 14), Y2Ks (size 12), various colored San
Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot fluorescent pink and
cerise size 10) and mop flies.
Remember that the White and Norfork Rivers and Dry Run
Creek are infected with didymo, an invasive alga. Be
sure and thoroughly clean and dry your waders
(especially the felt soles on wading boots) before using
them in any other water. Many manufacturers are now
making rubber soles that are easier to clean and are not
as likely to harbor didymo.
Buffalo National River/Crooked Creek
(updated 11-13-2019) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the Buffalo
National River and Crooked Creek are a bit high and
off-color. The smallmouths are less 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.
