(updated 9-29-2022) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said Bull Shoals Lake was 2 feet below desired power
pool level Wednesday. Two months ago, the lake was 27
feet over power pool – which causes some concern for
all of us on the tailwater – so we appreciate the work
of the Army Corps of Engineers! Generation continues
at approximately 1,000-3,000 cfs round-the-clock, with
much higher amounts coming in the late afternoon.
Release amounts are lowered during the night and we
see falling water in Cotter at dawn.
Looks like there has been a sizable autumn shad kill
this year. Surprised us. We're seeing shad at least 16
miles down from Bull Shoals Dam, near Cotter. The shad
have been pushed through the dam during the nightly
releases and stir a lot of excitement in the brown
trout population. The spawn has started a little early
this fall, too. The browns are responding best to
sculpin and shad for now, but the spawn really kicks
into high gear in the next month so keep your options
open and carry an array of baits to pique their
curiosity. Red/gold Thomas Buoyant spoons, the gold
Cleo and one or two stick baits (Smithwicks with
orange bellies are a tried-and-true favorite), are
tackle box staples on the White.
Find an egg pattern or scented egg-like bait that
matches the color of the trout roe, and you'll have
more trout chasing your line than you can manage. Best
bets: X-Factor's steelhead orange, followed by
fluorescent orange or sunrise PowerBait. Red wiggler
worms are always an option during high-water events,
with worm imitators (red, natural or bubblegum pink)
just as successful, if not more so. Cast toward the
bank as you drift downstream and the rainbows and an
occasional brown will snap them up. Good luck, enjoy
the catch, and we'll see you on the river!
(updated 9-29-2022) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, says the White River
in Calico Rock continues to be low, dropping as low as
3 feet. The generation out of both Bull Shoals Dam and
Norfork Dam has varied throughout the week. Some
mornings we are seeing 6-plus feet of water and then
dropping during the day. Fishing in the low water
conditions has made fishing with copper or
gold-colored spoons (either quarter-ounce or
one-sixth-ounce) effective as the trout move up onto
the gravel bars to feed. In the deeper holes, though,
Rapala Countdowns in the rainbow trout pattern have
worked well. Drift fishing using inline spinners with
yellow, orange or sunrise-colored Power Eggs with a
piece of shrimp or worm continues to be effective on
both the gravel bars and deeper holes. Fishing with
sculpins has been slow, but when the browns or
rainbows bite, the trout have tended to be larger.
With this low water, be careful when boating and stay
to the gravel bar side of the river. There are many
rocks and snags now exposed or just under the water
surface that can damage a boat or motor.
(updated 9-29-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service said that during the past week, they have had
no rain, hot temperatures and moderate winds. The lake
level at Bull Shoals fell 0.9 foot to rest at 3.1 feet
below power pool of 661 feet msl. Upstream, Table Rock
Lake fell 0.6 foot to rest at 6.6 feet below power
pool and 20.6 feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver
Lake fell 0.6 foot to rest 3 feet below power pool.
The White has had some marginal wadable water. Norfork
Lake fell 0.6 foot to rest 1.7 feet below power pool
of 555.75 feet msl. The Norfork tailwater has had more
wadable water. All of the lakes in the White River
system are now below power pool. With the current lake
levels, expect lower flows and more wadable water.
The hot spot on the White this week has been the
catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam. “We
have had lower flows in the morning that have been
fished very well. On the higher flows in the afternoon
we have had shad coming through the generators (use
big white flies). 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. My favorite has
been a pheasant tail nymph with a ruby midge dropper.”
He also said, “This past Monday I looked at the
weather and the generation schedule for the day. It
looked like prime fishing conditions. That is the
advantage to living here. We wake up every morning and
check the conditions. Then, when we find a stellar
opportunity, we can go take advantage of it. I live
for those opportunities.
“The first thing I did was to ask my wife, Lori, who
is my absolute favorite fishing buddy, to join me.
Unfortunately Monday is laundry day at our house.
Sometimes I am able to get her to postpone it till the
next day or begin a bit later. She would have none of
it. She was committed to doing the laundry then. I
asked her again on Tuesday but she had dog training.
On Wednesday she was able to join me.
“On Monday, I decided to go alone. I hooked up my boat
and headed out. The river was low and the weather was
perfect. It was sunny and a little cool. I started
with a rod I had rigged for a client a couple of days
before. It had a pheasant tail nymph with a ruby midge
dropper, a small split shot and a strike indicator.
“On my first drift, I saw the strike indicator go down
and I quickly set the hook. It felt like I was hung up
on a rock. I was about to start the motor on my boat
so I could go upstream and back the hook out. About
that time, the rock moved. It was a fish, and a big
one. The trout fought valiantly but finally succumbed
to the net. It was a really thick 22-inch female
rainbow.
“We see several big browns but big rainbows are much
rarer. Since there are no slot limits on rainbows, big
ones are quickly removed by anglers. About the only
place you see rainbows this big is the
catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam or Dry
Run Creek.
“I wanted to take a photo before I released it. This
is where the trouble began. How do you take a picture
of a big fish when you are in a boat alone? If you are
wading you can place it in the shallow water at the
bank next to your rod. That gives you perspective.
About the only thing you can do in the boat by
yourself is taking a picture of it in the net. This is
not as good and doesn’t give you anything next to the
trout to give you an idea of how big it is.
“I tried that. As soon as I got the camera out, it
bounced out of the net and landed on the deck. I
quickly shot a photo and scooped the fish back in the
net and carefully returned it to the water. I did not
want to harm it.
“It is the worst fish photo I have ever taken. This is
one reason to never fish alone.”
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported
the lake’s elevation at 657.70 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 661.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 695.00 feet msl). Total outflow from the
dam at 1 p.m. Thursday was 3,387 cfs. There was a
brief rise in flow to 10,751 at 7 a.m. and on
Wednesday at 5 p.m. The reported lake elevation at
Table Rock Lake was 910.34 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 917.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 931.0 feet msl), with outflow of 20 cfs.
There was a brief rise in flow reaching 7,000 cfs
between 5-8 p.m. Wednesday.
(updated 9-29-2022) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said Thursday that the lake level is back to
normal pool level; actually the Corps reports it as
more than 3 feet below normal pool. The water
temperature is around 77 degrees. Junk Fishing 101 has
begun. It’s typical fall patterns. The cooler nights
have the shad starting to move. There are always
shallow fish. Try a Chatterbait, square bill or
spinnerbait. Target channel swings, points and ledges
close to deeper water. On the right day, Del says he
is covering water with a Whopper Plopper or buzzbait
if it’s overcast and windy. Brushpiles are in play,
25-35 feet deep. When the sun starts getting high,
move out toward the main lake and use a Jewel Special
Ops Football Jig in green pumpkin orange or other
green pumpkin variations and keep the boat around 40
feet.
Del regularly posts new YouTube videos. 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 553.87 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 1 p.m.
Thursday was 1,825 cfs. Wednesday saw 11 hours of
generation (noon to 11 p.m.) averaging 2,450 cfs.
(updated 9-29-2022) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort said Wednesday morning the lake
level is 554.01 feet msl and has dropped a little less
than 1 inch in the last 24-hours as of Wednesday with
three-quarters of a generator running for about 12
hours starting at noon. The White River at Newport is
4.08 feet, indicating not much water is being released
anywhere on the chain of lakes or the North Fork
River. The surface water temperature was 80 degrees
today and should continue to drop with the cool
weather. It has been beautiful with highs near 80
degrees and sunny until Wednesday when it is not going
to get past the low 70s.
“We have not received any rain for about three weeks
and it is getting very dry. The water is pretty clear
on the main lake but stained in the creeks except for
near the shore, where it is much clearer. The
thermocline is at 37 feet and most of the fish are
shallower than that. You cannot tell where the
thermocline is located from the surface with a fish
finder.”
The crappie have moved more shallow and are right in
the brush at 15-25 feet, mostly on main lake points.
Walleye are with them. “I found keeper walleye
yesterday suspended about 4 feet from the bottom on a
main lake point near Robinson Island and some nice
crappie were with them all in the same place. I have
been out there every day and the fishing and diving
conditions have been very good.
“Kentucky Bass are everywhere with most being at about
20 feet near cover or just past the first drop-off.
They are full of crawdads, indicating they are going
to the shore sometime or other to feed. I am not
seeing very many largemouth bass, indicating they are
still in open water on shad. They will move closer to
shore as the water cools.
“Trollers are catching a few white bass and small
stripers but are having to cover a lot of ground to
get them. The best lure right now is the jigging spoon
right in the main lake brush to catch about
everything. Adjust your spoon size with the water
depth with the smallest one for the shallower water. A
quarter-ounce is a good one to start with. A few
crappie are also biting on a slip float and live
minnow. There are lots of bluegill on the shallower
brush and some are very nice sized. The lake overall
is in excellent condition.”
For a daily fishing report and lake condition go to
www.blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
Blog.
(updated 9-29-2022) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort said Tuesday, “Norfork Lake has changed every
day that I have been out. The surface temp is slowly
dropping and the thermocline is dropping as well.
“I went to a flat where I had been fishing and doing
quite well, but found that the fish have vacated this
flat, no matter what depth I checked. After about 45
minutes of trolling and marking nothing, I headed
northward. I found a large rounded point that was
holding lots of fish. I landed a striped bass along
with a couple mid-sized hybrids. Plenty of white bass
were schooling in the same area. I found the fish in
42-45 feet of water on the bottom. My best bait today
was the Tater Baits, Tater Shad in the white trash
color. Previously, the spoon had been working the
best, but today they only wanted this soft,
shad-shaped bait with a chartreuse 3/8-ounce jighead.
I found lots of bait from 35 feet out to 45 feet deep
either on the bottom or suspended. There weren't a lot
of fish in the bait, but they will find it soon.
“Yesterday, I fished a log along a bluff line that was
stacked with crappie and bluegill. I landed three nice
crappie and several thumper gills. I was using the
Tater Baits Small Fry in silver flash with a
1/16-ounce jighead. One of our guests landed a nice
striped bass and a bunch of crappie several days ago.”
The surface water temp was around 78 degrees Tuesday
morning and the lake level is dropping roughly an inch
per day and currently sits at 553.95 feet msl. The
lake is clear on the main lake and stained in the
coves. “Have a great time fishing Norfork Lake.”
Lou posts nearly daily on his Facebook page with
photos and where the fish are biting and what’s
biting. Check it out.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 9-29-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork Lake
fell 0.6 foot to rest 1.7 feet below power pool of
555.75 feet. All of the lakes in the White River
system are now below power pool. With the current lake
levels, expect lower flows and more wadable water.
There has been more wadable water on the Norfork in
the morning and it has fished much better. 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-head
nymph (zebra midge, copper John or pheasant tail)
suspended 18 inches below a brightly colored San Juan
worm (hot fluorescent pink or cerise). “My favorite
rig has been a size 14 pheasant tail nymph and a size
18 ruby midge. The fishing is much better in the
morning and late afternoon and tapers off midday.”
Dry Run Creek has fished poorly. School is back in
session and the creek is not as busy. Weekends can get
quite crowded. The hot flies have been sowbugs,
various colored San Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot
fluorescent pink and cerise) and white mop flies.
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 River, Norfork tailwater 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 9-29-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Crooked Creek
and the Buffalo River are low. With cooler
temperatures, the smallmouths are more 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.
