White River
(updated 5-4-2023) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said Bull Shoals Lake is nearing desired power pool
while moderate generation continues, varying between
5,000 cfs to 16,000 cfs (two to five units), but
expect that to decrease in a few weeks as the lake
reaches its power pool level. The lake level now
is 665.47 feet msl. The morning temperatures have been
cool – low 40s, blue skies – ushering in warmer
afternoon temps. Next week promises warmer mornings
and refreshing spring showers.
“Our anglers have been nabbing lots of 12- to 13-inch
rainbows – best if you decide to keep any and
absolutely perfect for lots of action and making
forever memories. Shrimp and PowerBait are a
must in your bait bucket, but many guides say you
can't beat the real thing: the guides like to pack in
live minnows if they're going after browns.
“Deeper water in the afternoon means more
drift-fishing with limited wading opportunities but
the trout love lots of water and bubbles. Look for
structures on the riverbed that oxygenate the area and
you'll find a hangout for trout.
“The brown bite has been fantastic this week. They've
shown up for sculpins, minnows, shad and even the pink
mousetail artificial worms – healthy, fighting browns
that make your heart race while you're waiting to see
just how big that fish is on the end of your line.
“Natural (State) fishing is pure fun and excitement.
Come visit Arkansas!”
(updated 5-4-2023) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said that late last
week and through Tuesday the water levels stabilized
between 5-7 feet with clean water. “Late Tuesday
night/early Wednesday morning we saw a bump up to 8
feet, but the water started dropping before 8 a.m.
Fishing has been phenomenal using different methods of
fishing. Fishing was great using an inline spinner
with different bright-color combinations of Power Eggs
and shrimp. The most popular Power Eggs were yellow or
a combination of one white Power Eggs and one orange
Power Egg. Rapala Countdown CD7 in brown trout colors
resulted in some very nice brown trout just under the
24-inch limit. Fishing with sculpins resulted in some
17-inch-plus rainbows and almost legal brown trout.
The nickel/gold or copper-colored quarter-ounce
Colorado spoons worked well for smaller rainbows up to
some nice larger 3-pound-plus trout. Fishing the
gravel bars has worked well. For the deeper holes try
throwing a deeper diving Rapala Shad Rap in purple or
shad color.
(updated 4-27-2023) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service at Cotter said that during the past week they
a bit over a quarter of an inch of rainfall, warmer
temperatures and very heavy winds (to include lake
wind advisories). The lake level at Bull Shoals fell 1
foot to rest at 5.2 feet above power pool of 660.3
feet msl. This is 29.5 feet below the top of flood
pool. Upstream, Table Rock Lake fell 0.3 foot to rest
at 1.8 feet below power pool and 16.7 feet below the
top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.6 foot to rest
at 6.2 feet above power pool or 2.4 feet below the top
of flood pool. The white had had no wadable water and
moderate-then-heavy flows. Norfork Lake fell 0.2 foot
to rest at 0.5 foot below power pool of 555 feet msl
and 25.5 feet below the top of flood pool. The Norfork
Tailwater had some wadable water. All of the lakes in
the White River System except Table Rock and Norfork
are above power pool.
The caddis hatch is ongoing. This is our best hatch of
the year. We have seen some small hatches in late
afternoon. Before the hatch, fish a caddis pupa like
the Sunday special in size 16. When you see takes on
the top, but see no insects, switch to a caddis
emerger like Berry’s Green Butt in size 15. When you
observe trout taking insects from the top of the
water, switch to elk hair caddis size 16. It will be
difficult to fish this hatch with the high water
levels we now have.
On the White, the hot spot has been The Narrows. We
have had lower flows that have 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. John’s favorite has been a cerise San Juan
Worm with an orange egg dropper. Use long leaders and
plenty of additional weight.
John also said, “The White and North Fork rivers are
tailwaters. That is, they are below large dams
designed for flood control and power generation. They
are subject to a wide variation in water releases that
causes huge changes in water levels. Sometimes they
are low and wadable, and at other times they are deep
and roaring.
“When the water is high, we are required to fish
large, heavily weighted flies to get down to the
bottom of the water column, where the trout feed most
of the time. The most popular technique, fishing
double-fly rigs under an indicator, is hard to cast
using the conventional cast. You have two flies, a big
split shot and a good-sized strike indicator in the
air, and even the tiniest error will cause serious
tangles. With multiple flies, lead and the strike
indicator entwined with long leaders, it takes a long
time to untangle this mess. If you are tangled, you
are not fishing.
“The answer is the Belgian cast. Unlike a conventional
cast that has a distinct forward and back cast with
distinct stops, this is a continuous cast. It never
stops moving until the final delivery. You begin with
a side cast back and convert to an overhead cast when
the line is straight behind you. There is no stop in
the back. When the line is straightened out before
you, stop the cast and let it settle on the water.
“This cast produces a big loop that will not tangle,
especially with heavy double-fly rigs. It is also
effective with heavy streamers. I have found it to be
easier to cast in heavy winds. It is easy to teach,
and I always show any client that is struggling with
their cast how to do it.
“It does require a bit of space. I generally have my
clients fishing from the right side of the boat.
Therefore the client nearest me is casting over my
head. The angler in the front of the boat should start
the cast by doing a sidearm cast over their left
shoulder and bring it overhead in one continuous
motion. If they are left-handed, it is simple: just
sidearm to the left and then bring it forward overhead
in one continuous motion.
“Another benefit of this cast is that it is easier on
your shoulder. I have had clients that struggled with
the conventional cast because it caused them some
pain. They were able to do the Belgian cast with no
accompanying pain.
“If you are interested in some instruction on the
Belgian cast, my wife, Lori, and I are planning to
teach an intermediate casting seminar on June 3 at ASU
Mountain Home and this is one of the casts that we are
going to cover. There is a modest fee.”
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported
the lake’s elevation at 665.07 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 659.00 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 695.00 feet msl). By midday Thursday the
flow was 12,726 cfs; tailwater elevation was 456.26
feet. The reported lake elevation at Table Rock Lake
was 914.31 feet msl (normal conservation pool: 915.00
feet msl; top flood elevation is 931.0 feet msl).
(updated 4-27-2023) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said Bull Shoals Lake level as of Thursday
was 666 feet msl, now only 7 foot high. Water
temperature is at or over 60 degrees. Cooler temps and
falling water have slowed things down. There is now
accessibility to ramps and parking again. The bass are
grouped up and they are spawning or prespawn. “We did
lose some beds because of the dropping water that put
them in a funk, but I’m expecting another big wave if
conditions stabilize. There’s a shad spawn with bass
feeding; you can find them around docks, spread out on
flats and in the bushes now. A lot of fish now are
suspending, waiting to move up.
“I’m looking for prespawners by checking pockets with
wind and shad. Most fish still seem to be looking up.
Most the dirty water cleared out but some of the
bigger creeks or up the lake have stain, while there
is high visibility around the dam area. Fish it like
two separate lakes.
Dirty creeks, cloudy, warm rain water you’re best
powerfishing with square bill, perch or shad. Try on
the last couple swing banks or in or around the
spawning pockets. Cover water. Fish warm runoff if
available. There are some fish in the bushes but that
bite is hit or miss. Use a Senko, a popper or a Ned
rig.
Sunny days with flat water and stain conditions, try
points by slow-dragging a Jewel half-ounce Special Ops
football jig in green pumpkin. Sunny with clear water,
look at the old shoreline points, keep the boat in
25-30 feet, try a green pumpkin 3/16-ounce shaky head
or a Ned fished slow, then go a little slower. Focus
on the points outside spawning areas. The shad are
moving up high, so check the backs of creeks and look
for feeding activity. Bigger spreads are shallower
than 40 feet, be sure to check flats. Graph time pays
off. Bomb-cast around the Ol’ McMinnow 2.8 swimbait in
white or shad colors, as well as a fluke and a Lucky
Craft Gunfish topwater. This pattern has been the deal
for me.
The bass are definitely grouping up. The walleyes
caught bass fishing looked spawned out. White bass
look to be absorbing their eggs. 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
As of midday Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers
reported the lake’s elevation at 554.55 feet msl
(normal conservation pool: Sept.-April, 553.75 feet
msl; April-Sept. 555.18 feet msl; top flood elevation
580.0 feet msl). Flow below the dam Thursday midday
was 206 cfs, about 2,700 cfs drop from Wednesday
midday.
(updated 5-4-2023) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort said the lake level was 554.47 feet
msl and had dropped a half-inch in the last 24 hours
when Scuba Steve went in at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, with
one generator running for about eight hours. The White
River at Newport was 13.31 feet and still dropping
with much less water being discharged into the river.
The level has been basically stable for a week and the
water is clearing, especially near the shore on rocky
banks. You can see your lure down 6-7 feet and the
water is stained green but a good color for fishing.
The surface water temperature was 67 degrees and had
risen about 3 degrees in the bright sunshine and light
winds. “We are to get some rain soon but it will not
hurt anything as we are getting very dry with below
average rainfall for April.”
The bass fishing improved earlier this week and needed
to. Some crappie are spawning, some have spawned and
some are staging. Some bass are on beds but not a lot.
The stable water level will help things. It is not too
late for a good spawn for most species. The topwater
bite is improving with the increased water temperature
and warmer nighttime lows.
“It is a typical May fishing report but the water
level is much more normal and is just a bit high. It
looks to be a good year so far. Catfish are partway
back in the creeks and hitting live shiners and
bluegill. Bass are around shallow points on both sides
near brush and swimbaits, grubs, Gitzits and creature
baits are all catching fish. Bluegill are under docks
and hitting crickets.”
Visit blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
blog for a daily report.
(updated 5-4-2023) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort says the bite for most species has slowed a
little over the last couple of days with the cool
front that rolled through the area. “Or at least it
has slowed for me!” he said. “A 3-degree drop in
surface lake temp has not helped. The heat wave is
arriving soon, so the lake temp will begin to climb
again and the bite will improve.
“This has not stopped anyone from fishing and catching
fish. The striped/hybrid bass have really scattered
out in the areas where I have been fishing. The very
early-morning bite is the best and I have been
catching a few each morning by casting a 3.5 swimbait
up close to shoreline points, both back in coves or on
the main lake. Crappie are both on brush and scattered
out in coves roaming between brush. Trolling Flicker
Minnows is working the best, but a slip float with
live minnows is also producing some fish. Bass are on
shoreline points in 3-10 feet of water. Casting
swimbaits, spinnerbaits and crankbaits are all
catching fish. I have found also some nice bass
feeding in the middle of a cove in 30 feet of water. I
was trolling for crappie with four rods out and all
four got hammered by bass at the same time. I have
also found bass in 25 feet deep brush piles. Jigging a
Tater Shad was driving them crazy, especially with a
fast reel up.
“Another angler landed some nice striped bass and
largemouth on topwater baits, as well as by trolling
Flicker Minnows. Meanwhile, Mike and Sam have been
crappie fishing, trolling Flicker Minnows and by using
live bait on a slip float. Wednesday, trolling worked
the best for them. They landed a huge 15.5-inch
crappie. All their fish were released to be caught
another day.”
The surface water temp has dropped to around 60
degrees Wednesday morning. The lake level is stable at
554.51 feet msl, which is slightly under the current
seasonal pool of 554.47 feet msl.
Lou posts almost daily on his Facebook page with
photos and where the fish are biting and what’s
biting. Check it out.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 5-4-2023) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork Lake
fell 0.2 foot to rest at 0.5 foot below power pool of
555 feet msl and 25.5 feet below the top of flood
pool. The Norfork Tailwater had some wadable water.
All of the lakes in the White River System except
Table Rock and Norfork are above power pool.
There has been a little wadable water on the Norfork.
The most productive flies have been small midge
patterns like zebra midges (black or red with silver
wire and silver bead). 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). John’s favorite rig has
been a cerise San Juan Worms and an orange egg. The
fishing is better in the morning and late afternoon
and tapers off midday.
Dry Run Creek has fished a bit better. 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.
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 5-4-2023) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Crooked Creek
and the Buffalo River are fishing better. With warmer
temperatures, the smallmouths should be active soon.
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.
