(updated 1-13-2022) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said the White River never disappoints – whatever the
weather, whatever the water levels, whatever the
season. You most always find what you're looking for,
even when you didn't know you were looking for it!
The Corp of Engineers has been pulsing lake water
through the dam very generously, but not consistently.
During a typical 24-hour period, we've been starting
the day with about one unit (3,500 cfs) running
through Bull Shoals Dam. Generation begins early in
the morning; some days it rises to nearly 18,000 cfs
over several hours, then returns to roughly 3,000 cfs
for the remainder of the day. The lake is sitting at
658.6 feet msl. The rain received in late December
moved the lake level up several feet but it still
remained very near (or below) the seasonal power pool
level of 659 feet msl.
This month has given us frigid nights and some fairly
warm days – and steady catches of rainbows with a
brown or two (or more) brought in for pictures and a
thrill. River traffic is slow in January and you may
not see another angler for hours. Tie on fluorescent
or translucent orange egg patterns during the spawn
season for a sure catch. Use smaller baits than you
normally would (an old angler's gut reaction to the
cold weather and the brown trout spawn). Black and
yellow Rooster Tails showed some success, and don't
leave the wriggly redworms behind for the early
morning hours of rising water. Dress appropriately for
the winter temps; stop in for a cup of coffee to warm
up if you're in the Cotter area.
(updated 1-13-2022) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, says fishing has been
consistent over the last week with river levels
varying between 5-9 feet. The river levels and
dinginess of the river have made artificial lures
marginally effective with Rapala Countdowns working
best. If you are looking to catch a limit of trout,
the best bait continues to be Power Eggs with shrimp
or worms. Both drift-fishing and fishing from the bank
have worked well. With the reduced fishing pressure
the trout have been eating and growing. Now is the
time of year to catch better-than-average trout. If
you are lucky you may hook into one of the
5-pound-plus trout (to include a large golden trout
we’ve seen).
(updated 1-13-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service said during the past week they had a trace of
rain in Cotter, frigid temperatures and heavy winds.
The lake level at Bull Shoals fell 0.2 foot to rest at
0.3 foot below power pool of 659 feet msl. This is
36.3 feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table
Rock Lake fell 0.4 foot to rest at 0.2 foot below
power pool and 16.2 feet below the top of flood pool.
Beaver Lake fell 0.2 foot to rest at power pool or 9.6
feet below the top of flood pool. The White has had no
wadable water. Norfork Lake fell 0.5 foot to rest at
0.3 foot over power pool of 553.75 feet msl and 26.6
feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we
have had a bit more wadable water.
The water level for the top of power pool has been
reset higher for all of the lakes in the White River
system. Most of the lakes in the White River system
are at or slightly above power pool. With the current
lake levels, expect more generation.
The catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam is
closed through Jan. 31 to accommodate the brown trout
spawn. The State Park is 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 the White, the hot spot has been the Rim Shoals.
The hot flies were Y2Ks, prince nymphs, zebra midges
(black with silver wire and silver bead or red with
silver wire and silver bead), pheasant tails, copper
Johns, pink and cerise San Juan worms, gold ribbed
hare’s ears and sowbugs. 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).
With the cold weather that’s descended on the area
recently, John also said, “At my usual guide starting
time yesterday, 7:30 a.m., it was 16 degrees with
winds 10-15 miles per hour. This resulted in a wind
chill below 0. When I sat down to write this article,
my wife, Lori, told me that it is forecast to snow
here in Cotter tomorrow. This tells me that summer is
long gone.
“This has occurred just as the lakes have risen a bit
due to some heavy rainfall. As a result, we have
generation on both the White and North Fork rivers.
This means that these rivers are not currently
wadable.
“The best way to survive brutally cold conditions is
to wade fish. I know that this sounds
counterintuitive. You have to remember that the water
temperature is a constant 57 degrees, which is over 50
degrees warmer than a wind chill of zero. If you get
cold, wade a little deeper.
“I remember a guide trip on the Spring River during
brutally cold conditions several years ago. We had
been fishing comfortably all morning. When we got out
of the river for lunch, we were much colder. We
quickly finished lunch and returned to the river to
warm up.
“One way to overcome this is to start a fire. There
are always rocks for a fire ring and drift wood for
fuel. My favorite fire starter is a bag of Fritos.
They are in a sealed waterproof bag and are quite
flammable.
“If you are in a boat, there is nowhere to hide from
the wind. One trick to beat the wind is to wear your
waders. They are quite windproof, as is your rain
jacket. Be sure and not wear studded boots. They will
not only mar the deck of your boat but will slide over
the deck like a pair of roller skates. Rubber soles
without studs would provide the most secure footing.
“You can keep your body and head warm with multiple
layers of wool and fleece clothing under your waders
and rain jacket. At temperatures this low, you will
have more trouble keeping your hands warm. If it is
above 32 degrees, I can do well with fingerless wool
gloves. That way I can tie knots and untangle fly
lines.
“Below 32 degrees I have to wear full gloves that are
well insulated. If I need to untangle a line or tie a
knot, I have to remove them. To keep my hands warm in
this situation I carry disposable hand warmers. I
recently acquired a rechargeable electric hand warmer
that functions well. I keep it in my pocket and warm
my hands when needed.
“One last thing to worry about in frigid temperatures
is icy ramps. The best answer is a reliable
four-wheel-drive vehicle. When I acquired my latest
Suburban, I made sure that it was four-wheel drive
because I did not want to end up in the river on a
frigid day in my Suburban instead of a river boat.
“Keep these things in mind and you can be out there on
a frigid day.”
(updated 1-6-2022) Fish ’N Stuff (501-834-5733) in
Sherwood water is clear. Trout are good when the Corps
is running water; use a jerkbait and a No. 7 Rapala
Countdown. When water is lower, use Trout Magnets in
pink, white or mealworm gold colors on top and below
shoals. Trout are also good on quarter-ounce and
eighth-ounce spoons in trout or silver colors.
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported
the lake’s elevation at 658.48 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 659.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 695.0 feet msl). The reported lake
elevation at Table Rock Lake was 914.67 feet msl
(normal conservation pool: 915.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 931.0 feet msl).
(updated 1-6-2022) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake Boat
Dock said bass fishing has been fair. No need to get
out early, especially if it’s cold. There’s been a
good afternoon bite one-half to three-quarters of the
way back, 60-75 feet, into the guts of creeks. Look
for wind-shad surfacing action. Birds and loons have
arrived around the shad. That seems to be the
predominant bite. In stormy, windy conditions, power
fishermen can grind it out; key in on wind ledges,
channel swings and banks with chunk rock. Use Rock
Crawlers, square bills or a Wiggle Wart on windy
transitions. Cover water. Offshore shad have been
moving. Try a Jewel Scuba Spoon, drop-shot and Damiki
Ice Jig. Fish the conditions. The clarity of Bull
Shoals Lake is good. Surface temperature is 53
degrees. Water is below normal pool.
See Del’s YouTube site (Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock)
for more information and tips on fishing Bull Shoals
Lake.
Norfork Lake
As of Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported
the lake’s elevation at 553.28 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: Sept.-April, 553.75 feet msl;
April-Sept. 555.75 feet msl; top flood elevation 580.0
feet msl).
(updated 1-13-2022) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort reported Wednesday that the lake
level was 553.30 feet msl and had dropped a half-inch
in the last 24-hours with just a few hours of
generation. The White River at Newport was at 19 feet,
which limits the discharge. “I just got back in from
fishing and the conditions have changed with the warm
weather. The surface water temperature has risen a
little in the last couple of days and is now about
51.5 (degrees) and the lake is clearing and it needed
to. It is now stained green and you can see your lure
down 3-4 feet, and the brown water is gone but it is
now a good color for fishing.
“Blackburn’s has several fishermen in now and they are
doing well and it is improving. Today the striper
fishermen caught some nice ones trolling, the bass
fishermen caught some near the bank this evening and
the crappie fishermen did the best using Bobby Garland
Blue Ice Baby Shad on main lake brush at 25 feet. It
was busy here this evening and everybody caught fish.
It was a great day and a beautiful sunset. It makes
life almost worth living. A great January day on
Norfork. Thanks Arkansas Game and Fish for managing
the lake so well.”
For a daily fishing report and lake condition go to
www.blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
Blog.
(updated 1-13-2022) Lou Gabric, at Hummingbird
Hideaway Resort said, winter fishing has arrived on
Norfork Lake. Cold fronts seem to be arriving weekly
followed by a warming trend until the next cold front.
These extreme changes in the weather do tend to affect
the bite, but the positive side is that it does not
last long. The striped bass bite has been fair to
good, largemouth and spotted bass bite has been good
and the crappie bite has been fair to good.
The lake surface temperature has dropped to the low
50s, so the bait has started to move to their cold
water locations. You can find large balls of bait in
deeper water, as well as in the old river channel. If
you are looking for striped bass, you will find them
hanging around the bait balls. Vertical-jigging a
spoon, an ice jig or jigging a plastic bait has been
working. Live bait is always a great choice. Stripers
have been being found from the Cranfield Island area
up to the mid-lake bridges, and also from the mid-lake
major creeks to the Bennett’s Bayou area. The stripers
have been suspended in the water column from 25 feet
down to 60 feet in 70 to 100-plus feet of water.
The largemouth and spotted bass bite is probably the
best bite on the lake at this time. You can find them
in different types of areas and depths. “I have found
some nice size fish in 33-40 feet of water out on a
long chunk rock point. The fish were lying on the
bottom. Vertical-jigging a 1-ounce spoon very slowly
right on the bottom was catching some nice fish. You
will also find this species close to the shoreline in
shallow water early in the morning feeding. Rock
Crawlers and square bills are working great.
Largemouth are also scattered out in deep water
chasing the shad. They will be at all depths, from 10
down to 50 feet deep.”
Crappie are doing their winter thing. There are some
nice-size fish in deeper water, 35-45 feet on or near
brush. Jigging a small spoon, plastic jig or live bait
will work well. You will also find them feeding near
the shore inside of brush. You can also find them on
the tops of brush 10 to 20 feet down. You will need to
keep checking different depths the find the best
location.
Norfork Lake level is dropping very slowly and
currently sits at 553.3 feet msl, which is slightly
below normal seasonal pool. The surface water
temperature is around 51 degrees. The lake is stained
but is starting to show signs of clearing.
“Happy Fishing and enjoy Norfork Lake.”
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 1-13-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork Lake
fell 0.5 foot to rest at 0.3 foot over power pool of
553.75 feet msl and 26.6 feet below the top of flood
pool. On the Norfork, we have had a bit more wadable
water.
The water level for the top of power pool has been
reset higher for all of the lakes in the White River
system. Most of the lakes in the White River system
are at or slightly above power pool. With the current
lake levels, expect more generation.
There has been some wadable water on the Norfork and
it fished well some days and poorly on others. The
most productive flies have been small midge patterns
like zebra midges (black or red with silver wire and
silver bead). Grasshoppers have produced fish,
particularly when used in conjunction with a small
nymph dropper (try a size 20 black zebra midge).
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). The fishing is much better in the morning and
late afternoon and tapers off midday.
Dry Run Creek has fished well. School is back in
session and now is a great time to fish it,
particularly during the week. Weekends can get a bit
crowded. The hot flies have been sowbugs and various
colored San Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot
fluorescent pink and cerise). Small orange or peach
eggs have been very effective. Carry a large net, as
most fish are lost at the net.
Remember that the White and North Fork rivers and Dry
Run Creek are infected with didymo, an invasive alga.
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
soled wading boots that are easier to clean and are
not as likely to harbor didymo.
Buffalo National River/Crooked Creek
(updated 1-13-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Crooked Creek
and the Buffalo River are still navigable. With colder
temperatures, the smallmouths are not active. The most
effective fly has been a tan and brown 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.
