White River
(updated 9-14-2023) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said Bull Shoals Lake is 3.5 feet below power pool, so
it's not surprising that generation flows have been
low and slow. Water level on the White River in the
north-central Arkansas Ozarks have remained steady at
minimum flow during the morning hours over the last
seven days. Late afternoons we see upticks in
generation, often nearly five generation units being
discharged.
“Until Tuesday, we successfully dodged daytime
rainfalls, but braved a wet day and sent our anglers
home with a great catch of rainbows. Most everybody
was glad to see the gentle rain because we've all been
so dry for a month or more. Rain or shine, our
rainbows are chasing shrimp, especially when paired
with a small piece of PowerBait. Berkley Mice Tails
(bubblegum pink body, white head) are turning into a
favorite as they've been very successful over the
summer even in the low water.
“As we move into autumn and near the brown trout
spawning season, change your bait color to orange or
pink to attract them to your bait and distract them
from nature's call. The brown bite has slowed some in
this lower water, but a sculpin drifted near the
bottom will still get a good bite or two. The Vibrax
Blue Fox spinner, three-sixteenth-ounce gold, or the
bright chartreuse with a partially silver blade, were
providing a steady catch of 12- and 13-inch rainbows.
As always, it's hard to beat a good day of jig
fishing; tie on an olive or an olive/black Marabou Jig
(three-sixteenth-ounce works best in this water level)
or the peach D2 jig and get ready to net some trout.
Use those same colors for casting Woolly Buggers with
your fly rods.
“Enjoy these cool mornings and sunny days on the
river; stop by and share your latest fish story.
(updated 9-14-2023) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “During some
days we are seeing varying water depths of 3-7 feet
and other days with depths of 2-3 feet. No matter the
depths, drift-fishing with Uncommon Bait UV Orange
and/or UV Firefly colored eggs with shrimp or red
wiggler worms worked well.
“When the water was dingy, adding a silver in line
spinner added the extra flash to get the attention of
the trout. Size 7 Rapala Countdowns in gold or silver
worked well. During lower water, throwing
quarter-ounce spoons or baits similar to Rooster Tail
worked exceptionally well. This cooler weather has
been nice. Fall is not far away and many people are
shifting their focus to hunting, but don’t forget
about trout fishing. There are plenty of fish in the
river.”
(updated 9-14-2023) John Berry, angler and retired
guide/owner Berry Brothers Guide Service at Cotter,
said that during the past week they about an inch or
rain in Cotter, much cooler temperatures and moderate
winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals fell 0.5 foot to
rest at 3.5 feet below power pool of 661 feet msl.
This is 37.5 feet below the top of flood pool.
Upstream, Table Rock Lake fell 0.3 foot to rest at 4
feet below power pool and 18 feet below the top of
flood pool. Beaver Lake fell 0.3 foot to rest at 6
feet below power pool and 14.6 feet below the top of
flood pool. On the White, we have had wadable water
every day with heavy flows in the afternoon during
peak power demand. Norfork Lake fell 0.4 foot to rest
at 2.5 feet below power pool of 555.75 feet msl and
26.8 feet below the top of flood pool. The Norfork
Tailwater has had wadable water. All of the lakes are
well below the top of power pool. Expect wadable water
in the coming days with heavy flows in the afternoon
during peak power demand. On the Norfork, all turbines
are inoperable for the foreseeable future. Minimum
release is being made through the siphon at continuous
flows of 185 cfs and additional flows are made through
the flood gates.
John said, “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. My favorite has been a
pheasant tail (size 14) with a ruby midge dropper
(size 18).”
John also said, “It is almost fall. I am just about
tired of hot weather. To me fall means cooler weather
good fishing and the fly-fishing class that my wife,
Lori, and I teach twice a year (spring and fall) at
Arkansas State University-Mountain Home. We have been
teaching it for almost a decade. We have been teaching
together for 20 years and have previously taught at
various universities and colleges in Tennessee and
Arkansas. We have also taught for sporting goods
stores, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s
Becoming an Outdoors-woman and other classes for the
AGFC.
“We give a lot of private lessons. Since I retired
from guiding last month, we have been concentrating on
teaching. Lori has been giving a lot of private
casting lessons. Our favorite place to teach is
ASU-Mountain Home. It is a beautiful campus with
plenty of parking, a convenient space for fly-casting
and great classrooms. This fall’s class will be held
on Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26. The classes are 6-8 p.m.
There is a modest fee. Go to the ASUMH’s Workforce and
Community Education website to enroll for the class.
“The first half of every class is dedicated to
learning to cast a fly rod. This instruction is held
outside behind Dryer Hall. Lori leads this class and
does a great job. She is the best fly-casting
instructor in the area. She has been teaching
fly-casting for over 20 years. She will teach the
basic fly cast, the roll cast, and we have added the
Belgian cast this year. This cast is useful for
casting in the wind and for casting the heavy two fly
rigs that are common here. I do assist in this
instruction. You may use your own fly rod or use one
of ours.
“I teach the next hour, which is in class room D106 in
Dryer Hall. This covers a lot of subjects. First is
equipment. We discuss all of the gear you need to
fly-fish and discuss what you do not need. The next
class is dedicated to learning to tie knots. We teach
all of the knots you will need to fly-fish and how to
avoid tying knots. The next class is devoted to
rigging. We show you how to rig your fly rod four
different ways, which cover 99 percent of our fishing
conditions here in the Twin Lakes area.
“The last class covers a variety of subjects. We begin
with water safety. We go on to discuss reading water,
fly selection and stream entomology (the study of
aquatic insects). Lori assists in the classroom
sessions.
“This is all taught in an open format where questions
are welcome. If this sounds like something that would
benefit you, please join us. We will be looking for
you.”
Bull Shoals Lake
For the Army Corps of Engineers’ real-time outflow
report from Bull Shoals Dam, visit the Corps’ Little
Rock office website.
(updated 9-7-2023) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake Boat
Dock said Wednesday that lake level is at 658 feet
msl, while the water temperature is about 85 degrees.
Bass fishing has been fair. The early morning topwater
has been hit or miss. A small walk-the-dog-style bait
(Zara Spook, Lucky Craft Gunfish) will work. Typically
September is junk fishing — covering water, Whopper
Plopper or buzzbait time. Wind and clouds definitely
help that bite. The shad have started their migration
towards the creeks.
Graphing can pay off. The shad are getting balled up
way off deep points, channel swing turns and creek
intersections. It appears 32-40 feet seems to be a
consistent depth for the drop-shot. On the points,
brush piles, ledges, etc., a big worm, shaky head worm
and Jewel Jig are working. If the shad are around you,
you’re probably going to get bit. If you venture into
the stained water in the backs most days you’re going
to have to work for them. Target areas with shad.
Square bill, Chatterbait and big worm in the laydowns.
Overall there’s a lot of roaming suspended fish over
deep water, 60-feet-plus. These video game fish can be
tough to fool; try a Damiki with a Tater Shad
drop-shot with a Robo or bombing a spoon. Fall fishing
can be hit or miss as conditions change. “Walleyes
have been mixed in with the bass eating my drop-shot
out on the long points in 32-40 feet. Crappie guys are
hopping brush piles working for them but a lot of
crappie are still out roaming.”
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
For the Army Corps of Engineers’ real-time outflow
report from Norfork Dam, visit the Corps’ Little Rock
office website.
(updated 9-14-2023) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort said the lake level was 553.21 feet
msl, and was the same for several hours, beginning
7:30 Wednesday evening. The surface water temperature
was 81 degrees and the water was not as clear as it
was Tuesday. The thermocline is 31 feet but is not as
pronounced as it was last week, and it seems to be
mixing up. The weather has been almost perfect and the
boat traffic is low. They closed the sluice gates
early Wednesday and are letting out no water. The
White River at Newport is at 3.08 feet and very low.
The lake is at an excellent level and condition for
boating, swimming, scuba diving and fishing but the
fishing is not the best.
Bass are the best bite now and are both shallow and on
the main lake on shad. Crappie have not moved to the
main lake brush yet and most also are still on shad.
Kentucky bass are on brush and some largemouth bass
are with them both shallow on steep river channel
banks and in cover at 25-32 feet. Some temperate bass
are being caught trolling but are small. Spoons are
the lure of choice, but also plastic worms are
catching some bass.
Fishing overall is fair at best but some good ones are
being caught every day.
Visit blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve's
blog for a daily report.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 9-14-2023) John Berry, angler and retired
operator of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter
(870-435-2169), said Norfork Lake fell 0.4 foot to
rest at 2.5 feet below power pool of 555.75 feet msl
and 26.8 feet below the top of flood pool. The Norfork
Tailwater has had wadable water. All of the lakes are
well below the top of power pool. Expect wadable water
in the coming days with heavy flows in the afternoon
during peak power demand. On the Norfork, all turbines
are inoperable for the foreseeable future. Minimum
release is being made through the siphon at continuous
flows of 185 cfs and additional flows are made through
the flood gates.
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 headed nymph (zebra
midge, copper John or pheasant tail) suspended
eighteen inches below a brightly colored San Juan worm
(hot fluorescent pink or cerise). My 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 despite a lot of
fishing pressure. School is back in session and
weekdays are not as 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 9-14-2023) John Berry, angler and retired
operator of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter
(870-435-2169), said Crooked Creek and the Buffalo
River are fishing well but are quite low. 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.
