White River
(updated 5-25-2023) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said the bite is on and the anglers on the White River
in the Arkansas Ozarks are catching trout on the first
cast of the day, on the last cast in the afternoon and
on a whole lot of casts in between. The water is cold
and clear, refreshing, and provides a cool updraft
when you're moving downstream in a john boat.
Bull Shoals Dam is continuing releases from the lake –
usually two or more generators, 6,000 to 12,000 cfs
all day, a little heavier in the afternoon than the
morning. Bull Shoals Lake is at 666.15 feet msl, 4
feet above seasonal power pool, and will continue to
drop.
Plan your baits based on water conditions. Begin with
the tried-and-true shrimp and egg pattern (orange,
yellow and/or pink) for a swift catch of rainbows.
Transition to live worms or to drifting a pink or
orange 2-inch artificial worm as the water rises later
in the morning. Crawdad season is here. Fresh crawdads
are nice but sometimes hard to find; the Rebel Teeny
Craws are a great way to outwit the trout.
The secret bait this past couple of weeks has been the
Rapala brook trout Countdowns.
A family fishing adventure offers time together in an
outdoor arena, slows time down a little in a
digital-free environment (as much as desired) and
makes for some terrific, lifelong memories. Go
catching and enjoy Arkansas’s natural resources.
(updated 5-25-2023) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said it has been a
great week of fishing. “We have seen water depths as
high as 7.5 feet and as low of under 5 feet. All
except one day the water has been clear. The one day
we had some dinginess in the water but fishing was
still good.
“Nickel-colored inline spinners with orange or
yellow-colored eggs and shrimp worked well. We are
also seeing a lot of success using 3-inch plastic
trout worms with a white body with an orange or pick
tail. When the water is clear and low, throwing
quarter-ounce spoons work well. We have had the best
luck with Colorado spoons in nickel/gold or
copper/gold colors.
“The weather this weekend is looking nice with sunny
days and highs in the low to mid-80s. This long
weekend is a perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy
some fishing and the beautiful scenery of the White
River. The river will be crowded; stay safe and be
respectful of others. On Monday, take a moment to
reflect on the purpose of Memorial Day and remember
those who gave the ultimate sacrifice by losing their
life in the service of our country.”
(updated 5-25-2023) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service at Cotter said that during the past week they
had half an inch of rain, warm temperatures and
moderate winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals rose 0.9
foot to rest at 4.1 feet above power pool of 662 feet
msl. This is 28.9 feet below the top of flood pool.
Upstream, Table Rock Lake rose 0.2 foot to rest at 0.3
foot below power pool and 14.6 feet below the top of
flood pool. Beaver Lake remained steady at 4.5 feet
above power pool or 4.1 feet below the top of flood
pool. The White has had marginal wadable water and
lower flows. Norfork Lake rose 0.6 foot to rest at 0.6
foot above power pool of 556.75 feet msl and 22.6 feet
below the top of flood pool. The Norfork Tailwater has
had wadable water every day.
John said, “The Caddis hatch is on the wane. 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 my Green Butt in size 15. When
you observe trout taking insects from the top of the
water, switch to Elk Hair Caddis size 16.
“On the White, the hot spot has been White Hole. 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. My favorite has been a cerise San Juan worm
with a girdle bug dropper (size 8).”
Remember that the White and North Fork rivers and Dry
Run Creek are infected with didymo, an invasive algae.
Be sure and 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.
Berry, who has fished the local streams for over 40
years, also says, “The weakest link in your
fly-fishing rig is the knots that you tie. I have been
fly-fishing for over four decades, most of which I
have been a working guide. During that time I have
tied a lot of knots and I have learned a thing or two
about tying knots mostly through trial and error.
“Knot tying is a basic skill for fly-fishing. You must
master it if you are going to achieve independence as
a fly-fisher. The other idea is to hire a guide every
time you fish and require them to rig your rods and
tie all of the knots you need.
“When I first began fly-fishing, my instructor was my
brother, Dan. He rigged me up and put me in the water
with no instruction on knot tying. When I lost a fly,
I had to wade over to where he was fishing and have
him tie on a fresh fly. This got old pretty quickly
and I sat down and learned a few basic knots.
“I quickly decided to simplify the process as much as
I could. First, I decided to have as many knots as
possible eliminated or tied by others. When I bought a
new reel, I bought a fly line at the same time and had
the fly shop mount backing and fly line for me. They
usually do this at no charge. I always buy a fly line
with a loop at the end and a leader with a loop at the
end. I simply do a loop to loop connection and avoid
having to tie a nail knot.
“I tie the tippet to the leader with a surgeon’s knot
and tie on my flies with an improved clinch knot.
Therefore, I only need to know how to tie two basic
knots for all of my fishing.
“The trick is to do it properly. If you lose a fish
and immediately check your hook to note that it is
missing, look at the end of the tippet. If there is a
curly pig tail on the end, then you had knot failure.
This means that you did not tie the knot properly. It
is a guide’s nightmare.
“The most common problem is that you did not tighten
the knot enough. You must tighten the knot until there
is no excess slack in the knot. A slack knot will slip
and come untied. This usually happens when there is a
trophy trout pulling on your line. The best way to
ensure that the knot is properly tightened is to
lubricate the knot before you draw it tight. Water is
the best lubricant for monofilament. I usually just
use saliva, which is convenient and effective.
Finally, test your knot by putting pressure on it. Let
it fail in your hands, not when a big fish is pulling
on it.
“Take care with your knots and they will take care of
you.”
(updated 5-11-2023) AGFC staff fished the White River
in the Sylamore Creek-White River junction area last
weekend. On Saturday, there was a little smallmouth
bite in the current of the big river just in front of
the creek, biting white maribou Trout Magnets.
Rainbows like the Trout Magnet some but early, as well
as an inline spinner, at midday started really
favoring the orange PowerBait, while some liked the
No. 7 rainbow trout-colored Rapala Countdown. On
Sunday, fishing out of Jack’s Resort (870-585-2211)
after the river had risen 1 foot overnight, we
drift-fished the White River below the confluence,
catching what would have been boatload of rainbows
(all were returned to the river), including a
16-incher, using inline spinners and hooks baited with
X Factor eggs and pieces of shrimp.
Bull Shoals Lake
As of Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers reported
the lake’s elevation at 665.65 feet msl (normal
conservation pool: 661.43 feet msl; top flood
elevation is 695.00 feet msl). By midday Thursday the
flow was 12,506 cfs with constant generation over
recent days; tailwater elevation was 456.39 feet. The
reported lake elevation at Table Rock Lake was 916.54
feet msl (normal conservation pool: 915.00 feet msl;
top flood elevation is 931.0 feet msl).
(updated 5-25-2023) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said Wednesday that Bull Shoals level
continued to rise over the past week to 7 feet over
normal pool at 666 feet msl. Water temperature is
about 75 degrees.
He says, “Algae blooms seem to be diminishing. There’s
still a Senko flipping bite. Don’t expect that to last
much longer. The sunfish bluefills are spawning as
well as the carp. A lot of post-spawn fish are no
moving deeper and suspending. I’m spending lots of
time graphing, checking summer spots, points and
ledges. Most fish still seem to be looking up, making
dragging bottom baits slow. Most of the dirty water is
in the bigger creeks, while there is high visibility
around the dam area.
Fish Bull Shoals like two separate lakes. With dirty
creeks, cloudy and warm, windy and rain, we’re
powerfishing a square bill, Chatterbait, spinnerbait
or Rat-L-Trap-style bait.
Try on the last couple of swing banks or in or around
the spawning pockets and bushes. Cover water. Fish
runoff if available. There is a big redworm bite in
some of the brush piles.
For sunny, flat, stain conditions, try points
slow-dragging a tube or Jewel half-ounce Special Ops
football jig in green pumpkin in 15-25 feet. On sunny
days with clear water, look at ledges already, keep
boat as far away as castable. Start with a 2.8 or 3.3
McMinnow or drop-shot a Robo Worm.
The shad are broken up high in the water column. It’s
that time of the year: topwater, topwater, topwater.
Get up early and use a wake shad, Spook, Lucky Craft
Gunfish or Spook Jr. topwater early moring or all if
it’s raining. This pattern has been the deal for me,
especially with the warmer temperatures.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend and be safe. 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 557.36 feet msl
(normal conservation pool: Sept.-April, 553.75 feet
msl; April-Sept. 556.18 feet msl; top flood elevation
580.0 feet msl). Flow below the dam Thursday midday
was 3,043 cfs.
(updated 5-25-2023) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort said the lake level was 557.37 feet
msl and was up just a bit when Scuba Steve arrived at
the resort at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The surface water
temperature was 77 degrees, the lake is trying to
clear and he could see his lure down about 7 feet. It
is slowly rising but is at a good level for boating,
fishing and swimming. The best bite remains the
topwater bite early at sunrise, but that is
diminishing. Flatheads continue to bite on live bait
on throw lines and on drop-shot jugs with live bait.
Stripers are going deeper but still come to the
surface just at sunrise, but not for long, especially
on sunny mornings. Spawned-out crappie are on brush
about 5-10 feet down and feeding on live minnows on
slip floats and jigs cast over the brush and allowed
to sink into it. Black bass are also biting near the
bank on crankbaits. The smallmouth bite is over.
“The lake overall is in excellent condition for
swimming, boating and fishing. It looks to be a very
busy holiday weekend and all campgrounds, launches and
parking are open,” he said.
Visit blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
blog for a daily report.
(updated 5-25-2023) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort 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 5-25-2023) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide
Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said Norfork Lake
rose 0.6 foot to rest at 0.6 foot above power pool of
556.75 feet msl and 22.6 feet below the top of flood
pool. The Norfork Tailwater has had wadable water
every day. 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 says his favorite
rig has been a cerise San Juan worms and a ruby midge.
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.
Buffalo National River/Crooked Creek
(updated 5-25-2023) 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 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.
