White River
(updated 11-22-2023) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525)
said Bull Shoals Lake is well below the desired power
pool level, and generation schedules reflect that:
minimum flow releases, then up to 12,000 cfs and
anywhere in between, all in a 12-hour period. Bull
Shoals Lake is sitting at 652.71 feet msl; power pool
target is 659 feet msl. Be on the lookout for quick
rises and falls in the water level over the next few
days, and ensure you have the baits on hand to cover
the changes.
Traffic on the river often slows down around the
holidays, so now is a great time to experience
uninterrupted fishing and relief from the fast lane
holiday shopping/planning/running.
Always keep some worms to dangle when the water is
rising — either red wigglers, nightcrawlers or the
scented XFactor or Berkley artificial worms, doesn’t
matter. When the water steadies and flattens out some,
you can experiment with flashy spoons (hammered
red/gold, one-sixth-ounce spoons work nicely) or,
depending on water level, try flickering a
one-eighth-ounce white or orange/brown jig. As always,
scented egg patterns and shrimp will lure a good
number of rainbows to your net.
Some of the guides find fishing falling water more fun
because of the challenge it presents. The “bleeding”
series jerkbaits make the challenge a little easier —
played with slow sinking, wobbly action, you can watch
the trout come up to your line and tease the bait.
The brown bite is slow but not nonexistent. Keep
working a mid-size sculpin in the deeper holes and
chances are pretty good you’ll get a hit or two.
“We’re still experiencing some nice daytime
temperatures, perfect autumn weather to usher in the
holidays. Coffee’s on; stop in and grab a candy cane.”
(updated 11-22-2023) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins
Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said this has been
another week of varied river levels. There have been
times of water as low as under 2.5 feet for over 24
hours, then spikes in water levels to around 5 feet
(more or less). When the water was low, the fishing
was great using artificial lures, especially
quarter-ounce spoons. There was moderate success using
one-sixteenth-ounce jigs in dark colors with splashes
of red. “We don’t usually see a lot of fly-fishing on
this stretch of the river, but some fisherman were
having success during the low water with flies fishing
where gravel bars drop into deeper water. When the
river would start to rise, the water would get dingy
and ‘trashy’ with a lot of moss and debris (leaves,
sticks) in the water. We have had cool mornings with
warmer days in the upper 50s and into the 60s.
Starting this weekend we are going to see colder
temperatures. We hope everyone has a great
Thanksgiving with family and friends.”
(updated 11-22-2023) John Berry, veteran angler and
retired guide/owner in Cotter, said the White has had
much more wadable water with moderate flows recently
in the afternoon during peak power demand. The
catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam is
closed until Jan. 31 to protect 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 Feb. 1 this section
will open to fishing.
John says that on the White the hot spot has been
Wildcat Shoals. “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
size 14 pheasant tail with a size 18 ruby midge
dropper.”
He also said, “As fly fishers, we put our gear to use
in a variety of conditions, which takes its toll.
Often during a busy trip the broken item is set aside
for later repair. I have so much gear I can do this
and keep fishing. Due to my Scots-Irish heritage, I am
frugal and want to repair my gear rather than replace
it. I buy good equipment that lasts a long time as
long as it is properly maintained. It is more
economical in the long run. After my recent
retirement, I took a serious look at all my gear.
“All of the better rods come with warranties. If it
doesn’t have one, you don’t want to buy it. Whenever I
break one of my rods (I have broken my share) I send
the back to the manufacturer to be repaired. Over the
years I have broken Winston, Sage, Orvis and TFO rods.
All were repaired for a nominal fee ($35-$65) and took
from a couple of days to over two months. TFO was the
quickest and Winston took the most time.
“I had a broken reel, an Orvis CFO (worth several
hundred dollars) with a broken frame (it got run over
by a pickup in Yellowstone). I sent it back to Orvis
and they repaired it for $35. It now functions like
new. I took the remainder of my reels and carefully
cleaned and lubricated them. I examined my fly lines
and replaced the ones that were showing wear. I
cleaned the remainder with Dawn dish detergent and
warm water. I carefully dried them with an old
T-shirt. Now they are all ready to go.
“I also repaired no less than three pair of waders.
They were my loaners and all had leaks. I turned them
inside out and sprayed them with isopropyl alcohol.
The leaks appeared as dark spots on the waders. I then
applied a dab of Loon UV wader repair (available at
most fly shops) to each spot. This is a gel that
instantly cures in direct sunlight or under an
ultraviolet lamp. I carried the waders outside on a
sunny day and they were ready to go. I also replaced
the stainless steel wire laces in the BOA closure in
my Simms wading boots a few weeks ago. I got the
replacement from Simms.
“I had a couple of down jackets that had holes in them
caused by a spark from a campfire that melted a spot
on the outer fabric. I tried to repair them with
needle and thread but they didn’t look too good. I
fear that I am not much of a seamstress. I bought some
Kenyon repair tape in the proper color at Amazon.com
and was able to quickly repair the holes. It worked so
well that I bought another package of the repair tape
in the proper color to repair an old rain jacket. It
worked great. You can hardly tell. By repairing your
clothing you look like an old pro that has been around
a while.
“My Fishpond boat nets were looking beat up. The
carbon fiber frame was dinged but still serviceable.
The net bag was much worse. A fishing buddy, Danny
Sabo, had repaired his net bag using wire ties. That
was a good, easy fix but my net bags were much worse
and needed to be replaced. I had small fish slipping
through the bigger holes. I ordered two new net bags
from Amazon. I got a deeper bag to handle bigger
trout. The bags cost $35 and I got two. They came with
everything needed. There was a 6-minute video on their
website. I watched it a couple of times, then easily
replaced the bags. They look and function great.
“By making a few small repairs I was able to extend
the useful life of some key items of my fishing gear
and save some money in the process.”
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 11-22-2023) Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake
Boat Dock said Wednesday the lake level is still at
652 feet msl, 7 feet below normal pool. Water
temperature has dropped to 61 degrees. “Bass fishing
has been work! Be sure to fish the conditions. These
colder days have the deep bite starting to set up a
little better.”
He says t’s a mixed bag, you can catch them a bunch of
different ways day to day. Powerfish if it’s cloudy
and windy. “I’m going with a Chatterbait, spinnerbait
or square bill in the warmed stained water. Use a red
Rock Crawler when you target windy, steep transition
banks. A buzzbait or Whopper Plopper, too. But if it’s
sunny and flat and a bluebird day, pull the Robo
drop-shot back out.
“Some of the late summer areas always hold some fish.
Or target shad. Graph, graph, graph! Graphing can pay
off. Get around bait and then fish whatever is
available on brush piles, points, ledges, swings, etc.
Try a Beaver or Texas Cowboy on a wobble, a shaky head
worm in green pumpkin and a Jewel Jig in green pumpkin
orange with red highlights. They seem to be holding on
ledges shallow.
“If it’s cloudy or they’re in the 15-20 feet range
while not munching shad, on most days you’re going to
have work for them.
“There are mega schools of fish grouping up
demolishing shad, but videogame fish can be tough to
fool. Try a small shad swimbait, a Damiki or Hover Rig
with a Tater Shad. The Jewel Scuba Spoon is kicking
butt! The Rapala Ice Jig is working for me if the shad
are on the bottom. Every day is different; fish the
conditions. Walleye are in the deep trees and humps at
50-60 feet. Some are on the outsides of the deep shad.
Crappie are picking up and anglers are hopping brush
piles working for them. Stay off of them and try a
crappie minnow under a float.
“Be safe. Happy Thanksgiving!”
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 11-16-2023) Steven “Scuba Steve” Street at
Blackburn’s Resort and Boat Rental said the lake level
is 553.36 feet msl and has been the same since last
week’s report with no discharge from the dam except
for minimum flow. Both generators are still
inoperable. As of 6 p.m. Wednesday the surface water
temperature was 64 degrees and stable with the warm
ambient temperatures and the White River at Newport
was 3.32 feet and very low, indicating not much water
is being let out anywhere in the White River. The
clarity is good on the main lake and I could see my
lure down about 5-6 feet in the warm sunshine and the
creeks are stained a bit but not bad. The lake level
and water conditions are both excellent, but fishing
overall is just fair at best.
A few temperate bass are being caught in open water at
varying depths depending on the time of day on the
jigging spoon but not very many and not very big. Some
crappie, black bass and walleye are biting on brush in
18-25 feet of water on live bait on a slip float about
5 feet further down than you can see your bait.
There are more baitfish than predator fish, and
feeding fish are hard to find, but a few good ones are
being caught every day. Bluegill are the best bite now
and some are very nice-sized. The weather is supposed
to cool next week, and later this weekend the fishing
might get better but I cannot guarantee anything. It
is just nice to be out there in the warm sunshine and
catch a few fish.
Visit blackburnsresort.com and click on Scuba Steve’s
blog for daily updates.
(updated 11-9-2023) Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway
Resort said, “It looks like the beginning of the fall
bite has begun. All species are starting to feed
heavily as they typically do before the cold winter
season. Our guests can see the fish activity getting
better each day. The striped bass, hybrid bass and
white bass have started to school up and can be found
in shallow water out to about 50 feet of water. If you
are out fishing very early in the morning, start
checking out shallow water, less than 20 feet, and as
the sun gets higher overhead the fish move out into
deeper water. This whole pattern is based on where the
bait is located. Check out large flats and also big
round main lake points. If you are fishing in the
afternoon, the fish will still be out in deeper water.
The current magic water depth appears to be around 50
feet. At sunset the fish typically move up in the
water column and also toward the shore following the
bait. Fish will also be back in the major creeks,
assuming the bait migrates into them.
“This is the time of year that the fish can and will
be in many different types of locations. It takes a
little time graphing, but once you find them you will
have a blast. John and Joe, a couple of our guests,
caught over 25 jumbo white bass Wednesday morning
vertical jigging a 1-ounce spoon. Mike and Craig, two
guests, told me they have caught all the predator
species in the lake except for a smallmouth.”
The surface water temp is around 65 degrees and the
lake is holding stable at normal seasonal pool of
553.3 feet msl. The lake is fairly clear to slightly
stained back in coves. “It is going to be a lot of fun
fishing Norfork Lake over the next several months. If
you are needing a place to stay, give us a call at
Hummingbird Hideaway Resort, 870-492-5113 for
reservations. Happy fishing and enjoy Norfork Lake.”
Lou posts fishing reports almost every day on
Hummingbird Hideaway Resort’s Facebook page.
Norfork Tailwater
(updated 11-22-2023) John Berry, angler and retired
operator of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter
(870-435-2169), said the Norfork Tailwater had wadable
water. On Norfork Dam, 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 floodgates.
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 despite a lot of
fishing pressure. School is in session, though it will
be much of this week for Thanksgiving, and usual
weekdays tend to be 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 11-22-2023) 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 very low. With moderate
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.
