White River
(updated 7-7-2022) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said, “It's July, it's hot … but the river is cold,
brisk, refreshing and inviting. When the early morning
mist is on the river, it's a perfect time to lay a
line on the water and wait for that first tug by a
trout. Visit the White River in Arkansas Ozark country
and take some time to slow down and enjoy summertime
again like a kid.”
Bull Shoals Dam is continuing heavy releases from the
lake; five or more generators – 15,000 to 16,000 cfs –
has been the daily norm with the lake level currently
at 679.00 feet msl and dropping quickly now.
Keep your bait closer to the bottom and expect the
bite nearer the bank. This week the rainbows have been
turning to lemon-lime-colored baits. Chartreuse might
be close enough. That's the entomology for both fly-
and spin-fishers. The old faithful baits – the
red-gold Thomas Buoyant Spoon and orange-bellied
jerkbaits (Smithwick 4½-inch blue or black backs) –
were causing a splash this past week. Redworms have
rewarded lots of anglers in the afternoon when the
flow from the dam increases.
“Keep cool, stay hydrated, and keep on fishin'. See
you on the river.”
(updated 7-7-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service said that during the past week they had no
rain, brutally hot temperatures (to include heat
advisories) and moderate winds. The lake level at Bull
Shoals fell 3.6 feet to rest at 18.5 feet above power
pool of 661.37 feet msl. This is 15.1 feet below the
top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock Lake rose 0.1
foot to rest at 0.1 foot below power pool and 14.1
feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.9
foot to rest at 5.4 feet above power pool or 3.2 feet
below the top of flood pool. The White has had no
wadable water. Norfork Lake fell 2.1 feet to rest at
10.7 feet above power pool of 556.12 feet msl and 13.2
feet below the top of flood pool. The tailwater had no
wadable water during the day.
The water level for the top of power pool has been
reset higher for all of the lakes in the White River
system. All of the lakes in the White River system are
now well above power pool. With the current lake
levels, expect high water all summer. The prediction
for the lakes to reach normal conservation pool is
Sept 5.
On the White, the hot spot has been Wildcat Shoals.
“We have had much heavier flows and some sulphur
hatches. 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 cerise San Juan worm
with a girdle bug.
John also said, “About two years ago I wrote about
hearing from several of my fellow guides about fishing
the girdle bug fly (which represents a stone fly, a
large aquatic insect) on high water. I went to the fly
shop and purchased one. I studied it and began to tie
them. Over time I have changed the way that I tied
them. This is the thing that I love about tying my own
flies. By tying them myself I can easily modify them
to better suit my needs. I think that I can usually
tie a better fly than I can buy.
“The girdle bug that I bought had two strands of
rubber sticking out of the copper bead head that
imitated antennae. I found these difficult to deal
with. It increased my tie time and I did not think
that they increased my catch. My brother, Dan, taught
me to tie flies and his principle rule of fly-tying
was you have to tie them faster than you can lose
them. The antennae at the hook eye also made it more
difficult to tie the fly on to a tippet when rigging
my rod. Therefore I eliminated the antennae. I do not
miss them.
“Another problem that I had with girdle bugs is that
they are large and heavy. While this is good for
fishing high water, they have a tendency to hang up on
the bottom. I needed to modify them to make them drift
with the hook point up. I looked for a big jig hook
but did not find any that appealed to me.
“My old fishing buddy, Bill Barksdale, came to the
rescue. He is a talented fly-tyer and had previously
solved the problem on his own. He essentially made his
own jig hooks. He took a long shank streamer hook and
bent it near the eye at about 45 degrees. This allowed
for a hook point up drift when a big bead was attached
to the hook near the eye. He gave me a few of them to
study.
“I bought some streamer hooks and bent them with a
pair of needle nose pliers. Yes, I broke a few but the
technique worked and I was able to create a jig hook
that suited my needs. Thank you, Bill!
“With these two modifications, I was able to begin
tying girdle bugs in earnest. Yesterday I fished the
Norfork with two beginners. We had high water. I tried
several flies but settled on the Girdle bug. It
performed flawlessly. It produced trout on high water
and only grabbed the bottom twice and we were able to
retrieve them.
“I was able to modify a fly with the help of a friend
to make it better and produce more trout. Life is
good!”
(updated 7-7-2022) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said the water in Bull
Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake is dropping but still
almost 20 feet above the normal conservation pool.
Expect the high water of 8-10 feet to last into late
August or early September. Fishing continues to be
good while drift-fishing using inline spinners with
bright-colored Power Eggs and small pieces of shrimp.
With the fast current, adding an extra sinker will
ensure the bait is down where the fish are. Artificial
lures have worked well for brown trout. Cast toward
the shoreline where the brown trout tend to hang out
looking for an easy meal from something washing off
the bank. Both the brown trout and bigger rainbows
will move into the shallower shoals looking for
sculpins and crawdads. Throwing gold-colored spoons or
bright-colored Rapala Countdowns can result in landing
a nice fish.
“This week we had two trout stockings for a total of
1,400 trout stocked at the Calico Rock boat ramp. The
weather is going to stay hot; make sure to drink
plenty of water, keep a cooling towel handy, and use
sunscreen.”
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported
the lake’s elevation at 678.43 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 661.50 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 695.00 feet msl). Total outflow from the
dam at 2 p.m. Thursday was a heavy 21,332 cfs, and
releases have been constant for the past couple of
weeks. The reported lake elevation at Table Rock Lake
was 916.57 feet msl (normal conservation pool: 916.58
feet msl; top flood elevation is 931.0 feet msl), with
outflow of 8,969 cfs.
(updated 6-30-2022) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said that the lake has dropped down to 682
feet msl (23 feet above normal pool) and limited
parking can still be an issue there so plan ahead.
“The lake is really clear towards the main part; the
back of bigger creeks have stain,” he said. Surface
temperature is about 85 degrees.
He says its best to get up early and go for the
topwater bite. Target windy main lake secondary
points, especially when the Corps of Engineers is
generating water at the dam. Shad is now way out on
the points. Fish around those spots with a topwater,
an LC Gunfish, or wake baits. Then the topwater slows,
and it’s time for a half-ounce flutter spoon or
drop-shot the fish. In 20-40 feet depth over 50-70
feet, and in the channel swings around bluffs and
ledges, use suspenders around many of those spots.
The creek fish have pulled back with the water coming
down. The topwater bite will end when the sun starts
getting high. Del is then hopping a Jewel Special Ops
and football jig in green pumpkin orange, a Ned rig in
green pumpkin variations. Keep the boat out around 30
feet. A lot of fish are on the old shoreline. Also
around the channel swings, standing timber, ledges and
laydowns, try a Beaver/a big worm/an Ole Monster in
green pumpkin, red, red shad or plum. And, as always,
fish the conditions.
Del has a new YouTube video up. Visit his 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 565.84 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: Sept.-April, 553.75 feet msl;
April-Sept. 556.25 feet msl; top flood elevation 580.0
feet msl). Total outflow from Norfork Dam at 2 p.m.
Thursday was 5,954 cfs, releases over the past 36
hours have ranged from 2,936 to 5,954 cfs.
(updated 7-7-2022) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort said Wednesday morning the lake
level is 566.23 feet msl and has dropped 3½ inches in
the last 24 hours and a total of 7 feet from the high
of 573 feet msl on June 6. “We received a quarter-inch
of rain earlier this week and it was the first rain
since June 6. They have been in a pattern of running
both generators for about half the time and one
generator the other half. The White River at Newport
is being held stable at around 14 feet or a little
less. The surface water temperature is 90 degrees with
the very hot weather and this does not usually happen
until early August. The water is cloudy with the
holiday boat traffic churning it up especially on the
clay banks.
“The best bite by far is the early morning temperate
bass and walleye on the 1 ounce jigging spoon. They
start off early about 5 a.m. in 35-50 feet of water
near the bottom until about 8 a.m. and then go deeper
to 60-80 feet and are with larger shad about 4 inches
long. The best bite for bass is now after dark with a
black light and fluorescent line and a salt craw.
Other Kentucky bass are in the warm water in the
evening in about 12-16 feet of water in the buckbrush.
Crappie and bluegill are under docks in the shade with
a few crappie still on wood in the backs of the creeks
in 25 feet near the bottom. There can be a few fish
coming up early but are mostly small bass.”
The lake is in excellent condition for swimming,
boating and fishing. Fishing is about over at about 9
a.m. for the day and starts again in the late evening
except for dock fishing.
For a daily fishing report and lake condition go to
www.blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
Blog.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 7-7-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork Lake
fell 2.1 feet to rest at 10.7 feet above power pool of
556.12 feet msl and 13.2 feet below the top of flood
pool. The water level for the top of power pool has
been reset higher for all of the lakes in the White
River system. All of the lakes in the White River
system are now well above power pool. With the current
lake levels, expect high water all summer. The
prediction for the lakes to reach normal conservation
pool is Sept 5.
There has been no wadable water on the Norfork
tailwater and it fished poorly. 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 moderately. School is out and
the creek is busy. Weekends can get a quite 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.
Buffalo National River/Crooked Creek
(updated 7-7-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Crooked Creek
and the Buffalo River are low. With hot temperatures,
the smallmouths are less 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.
