White River
(updated 12-1-2022) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said trout fishing the White River waters around
Cotter in the Arkansas Ozarks as we go into December
can be chilly, but cold weather fishing has lots of
advantages, not the least of which is feeling like
you've got the river to yourself. You might not see
another angler for hours, but you'll always see some
rainbows and very likely a brown or two.
While Bull Shoals Lake is almost 4 feet below its
desired elevation for the season (659 feet msl)
currently sitting at 655.08 msl, we continue to see
fairly sizable releases during the cold snaps, so
don't leave those heavier weights at home. Most the
days are sitting at around minimum flow (600 cfs), but
be careful while wading as the power demands have been
bringing the river up to almost 5 units (15,000 cfs)
at times. Have the Bull Shoals dam number handy or
look at Army Corps of Engineers website to see current
conditions that may have quickly changed.
Try adding some garlic scented egg patterns to your
bait mix. Can't find it? Just include some minced
garlic in a jar or package of artificial bait (doesn't
even have to be egg patterns) and let it steep for a
day or so. Remember, though, it is considered scented
bait, not for use in a catch-and-release area. We've
had some success this week with orange and brown
flashy baits: maribou jigs, quarter-ounce during the
higher water times, gold/orange Cleos, and Blue Foxes
with an orange/red bell.
Sculpins are always a must for browns, but we've also
seen some biting on river minnows this week.
When planning your winter fishing trip and checking
the weather, study the nighttime lows as well as the
daytime highs. Figure that your day will start at the
lowest temperature from the night before, and it may
even be several degrees colder on the water. Layer up
and you'll enjoy your trip a whole lot more. We're
looking forward to a healthy, safe Christmas season!
(updated 12-1-2022) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said that through
Monday the river remained clear with water depths
averaging between 3-4 feet. On Tuesday we saw a jump
to 6 feet along with muddy water through Wednesday.
Late last week and early this week artificial lures
such as spoons, Rooster Tails and Rapala Countdowns
worked well as well as drift-fishing with
Sunrise-colored Power Eggs with shrimp or corn. The
river was fishable with the muddy water by either
moving into the mouths of creeks where cleaner water
can be found. If possible, tying up to a tree and
using corn can produce fish. Hopefully over the next
couple of days the water will clear up and fishing
will improve.
(updated 11-25-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service said that during the past week, they had
sleet and snow (about a quarter of an inch here in
Cotter), cold temperatures (to include winter storm
warnings) and heavy winds. The lake level at Bull
Shoals fell 0.4 foot to rest at 4.9 feet below power
pool of 659 feet msl. This is 40.9 feet below the top
of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock Lake fell 0.8 foot
to rest at 7.8 feet below power pool and 21.8 feet
below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.9
tenths of a foot to rest at 6.1 feet below power pool
of 15.7 feet below the top of flood pool. The White
had little wadable water and higher flows during
periods of peak power demand. Norfork Lake fell 0.7
foot to rest at 1.8 feet below power pool of 553.75
feet msl and 28 feet below the top of flood pool. The
Norfork tailwater has had some wadable water.
All of the lakes in the White River system are now
well below power pool. With the current lake levels,
expect lower flows and more wadable water. However
with the cold temperatures, also expect heavy
generation during peak power demand.
The catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam is
closed through Jan. 31, 2025, 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 the White, the hot spot has been the Narrows. “We
have had higher flows that have been fished well. 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 cerise San
Juan worm with an orange egg dropper.”
John also said, “Recently my wife, Lori, and I went to
a dog show in Springfield, Missouri. We were showing
our champion Labrador retriever, Ghillie, in an effort
to have him earn his grand champion title. When we
left town the high temperatures were in the low 80s
and the lows were in the 50s. We dressed for the warm
temperatures. I wore blue jeans and a tropical fishing
shirt. I was quite comfortable.
“I had a guide trip on Saturday, so I drove back to
Cotter on Friday afternoon. We had each taken our own
cars for the trip. When I got home I began planning
for the guide trip. The first thing I did was to check
the weather forecast. I was surprised to learn that
the next day would have a 30-degree start time and a
high of 40 and 10-20 mph winds, which would create
some frigid wind chills. To make things more
interesting, snow and freezing rain were expected
Friday night.
“I scurried around the house to make sure that I had
my cold weather gear close at hand. I hooked my boat
trailer to my car so that I would not have to do that
the next morning with frigid hands. I woke up early to
find an inch and a half of snow and ice on my boat and
Suburban. Luckily the streets were clear.
“I dressed carefully. Starting with long polypropylene
underwear, I added flannel-lined khakis and a fleece
sweater. Heavy wool socks and knee-high Muck boots
protected my feet. A thick down jacket, heavy
fingerless gloves and my extra warm Elmer Fudd hat
completed my winter uniform. I put my electric
handwarmer in my jacket pocket and went outside to
scrape the windshield.
“I met my client at The White Sands Cafe three blocks
from my house in Cotter at 7 a.m. We ate a hearty
breakfast, drank a lot of hot coffee and headed to the
river. The ramp was clear and the water was higher
than it has been for several weeks. The Corps of
Engineers and Southwestern Power Administration was
running water to meet power demand for the cold
temperatures. My client is also an avid duck hunter so
he had the necessary gear and plenty of outdoor
experience to handle the conditions.
“I went to rig his rod and chose flies that had been
working recently, a pheasant tail with a ruby midge
dropper. I launched my boat and we began fishing. We
did two drifts and did not get a sniff. I decided to
try different flies. I tied on a cerise San Juan worm
with an orange egg fly. This is usually considered a
high-water or winter rig. We drifted 10 feet and
caught our first trout, 30 feet later we caught
another and a few minutes later we caught a third. We
stayed with that rig for the remainder of the day and
landed 20 trout, with a few nice ones.
“I kept my down jacket on all day. It never warmed up.
It was a brisk winter day two weeks before
Thanksgiving. What happened to fall?”
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Friday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported the
lake’s elevation at 654.37 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 659.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 695.00 feet msl). The reported lake
elevation at Table Rock Lake was 909.33 feet msl
(normal conservation pool: 917.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 931.0 feet msl).
(updated 11-25-2022) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said Tuesday that Bull Shoals lake level is
654 feet msl, about 4 feet below normal pool. The
water temperature is 58 degrees. Fishing has been good
this week. Unseasonably cold weather patterns have
given way to a comfortable afternoon bite. There is a
notable difference in water clarity throughout the
lake. There are plenty of fish on the shoreline. If
there are wind and clouds, Del suggests covering water
where the wind hits square on the bank, hopefully on a
point chunk or ledge rock, close to deeper water. Go
with a Spro Crawler, a Wiggle Wart or a Red Craw Stone
Cold in the clear water; square bill, spinnerbait or
Chatterbait is recommended in the stain. You’ll have
keep moving to find them, but when you do there’s
usually a few there.
There are still some bushes and rock transitions close
to deeper water. There are always fish to be caught on
a jig. Target flat, sunny points with brush 25-35
feet. The offshore deep bite is better. Shad are still
spread out. Target bigger bait balls and shad becomes
the structure. Look in the creeks and hollers at 45-65
feet. A single 2.8 white swimbait or jerkbait around
those high swimming shad balls will work. If they are
being finicky fish, try a Moon Eye with a Tater Shad.
With schooling fish, a Jewel Scope Spin Jigging Rap.
Use a Jewel Scuba Spoon for those bottom dwellers.
Each day is different so fish the conditions.
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
(updated 11-25-2022) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort said the lake level is 552.32 feet
msl and has risen a third of an inch on Wednesday with
one or less generators running for most of the day. It
is up 5 inches since the 1½-inch rain last Saturday.
It is 1.43 feet below the power pool of 553.75 feet
msl and has been very stable for several weeks. The
surface water temperature is 58 degrees and has also
been stable. The water stained up after the rain but
has cleared back up again already. The White River at
Newport is 4.74 feet, indicating not much water is
being let out anywhere. There has been no attempt at a
lake drawdown so far this fall.
The best ways to catch fish on Norfork at this time is
to chase open water fish on shad in the morning and
drop a spoon right on their heads, spoon or jig main
lake point brushpiles during the day and work the bank
in the evening until dark. White bass and black bass
are feeding on shad along with a few small stripers
and hybrids. Kentucky bass and crappie are on brush
ranging from 30 feet of water to 18 feet of water near
the bottom.
Some black bass are feeding on and near the bank in
the evening just before dark on soft plastics and some
larger crappie are with them. Fishing is tough during
the middle of the day and the best time to be out is
at sunrise and again in the evening just before
sunset.
Overall fishing is just fair but some nice ones are
being caught every day. There are a lot of baitfish
out there and not anything is doing without many
meals.
For a daily fishing report and lake condition go to
www.blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
Blog.
(updated 12-1-2022) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort said Wednesday, “I went to a different part of
the lake this morning and had a great time. I found
lots of white bass, four keeper-size largemouth and
two monster cats (a flathead and a blue) on a large
flat. This is why I really enjoy vertical-jigging on
flats in the fall; you never know what you are going
to catch. At one time or another and sometimes in the
same trip, I have caught every species in Norfork Lake
fishing this method at this time of year.
Chad Bleeker took a photo of photo holding the two
cats and he said, "Hold them out a little." I think I
was holding close to 50 pounds of fish and it was all
I could do to just hold them up! The fish were in
roughly 40 feet of water and absolutely stacked. I was
vertical-jigging a three-quarter-ounce white with
chartreuse back Binks Spoon. It was a cold, breezy
morning, but once I started catching fish I warmed up
in a hurry.”
The water temp was around 56-57 degrees and the lake
level is 552.32 feet msl. The lake is still slightly
stained. “Happy fishing and see you on the 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 11-25-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork
Lake fell 0.7 foot to rest at 1.8 feet below power
pool of 553.75 feet msl and 28 feet below the top of
flood pool. All of the lakes in the White River system
are now well below power pool. With the current lake
levels, expect lower flows and more wadable water.
However with the cold temperatures, also expect heavy
generation during peak power demand.
There has been less wadable water on the Norfork in
the morning. 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). “My favorite rig has been
a pheasant tail nymph size 14 and a ruby midge size
18. 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
a 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
Buffalo National River/Crooked Creek
(updated 11-26-2022) John Berry of Berry Brothers
Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Crooked
Creek and the Buffalo River are fishing poorly. With
colder 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.
