JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 2/21/2008 We have had a major rain event and the lake levels on the White River system have risen significantly. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose two and two tenths of a foot to rest at three tenths of a foot above power pool at 654.00 feet. Up stream, TableRockLake rose four and three tenths of a foot to settle at nine tenths of a foot above power pool. BeaverLake rose two and nine tenths of a foot to settle at three and three tenths of a foot below pool. Though there was no generation last weekend, the pattern this week was for more generation (up to seven generators) for long periods during the day and for lower levels on generation at night. This has created very limited wading opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities. The weather has been cold and windy. NorforkLake has risen three feet to rest at three tenths of a foot below power pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has been for very little generation. We had a few days with no generation at all and some days with one or two brief spikes of heavy generation. This has created some excellent wading conditions every day.The forecast is for the weather to remain cold with the possibility of precipitation. With the existing conditions above power pool, I would expect heavy generation on both rivers.
With higher water conditions you will need to employ different techniques. The fish will be in different areas. In low water, they tend to congregate in the main channel. In high water, they will be closer to the shore and around weed beds and sunken islands. The best flies for this type of fishing will be brightly colored San Juan worms. The best colors are red, hot fluorescent pink, cerise and fire orange. Other effective flies would be eggs and nymphs. Use larger flies than you would in low water. You will have to use significantly more weight to get the flies down and this will necessitate using a larger strike indicator to support the added weight.
The attention has still been concentrated in the upper river specifically in the recently opened Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam. The generation pattern has severely limited wading and most of the action has been from a boat. On higher levels of generation, San Juan worms in bright colors and peach eggs have been the ticket. The big browns seem to be staying in the area much longer than usual. In past years, they had moved back down stream by now.
I still want to caution boat anglers to please avoid dragging chains through the Redds (spawning beds recently filled with fertilized eggs by brown trout). Now is a particularly vulnerable time for the eggs and they need to be left alone so that they can hatch. The redds can easily be identified as clean light colored depressions in the gravel bottom.
Every one is still on the look out for shad coming through the turbines at Bull Shoals and Norfork Dams. The recent rain and cold front should help create the conditions necessary for this natural phenomenon. The shad kill usually occurs during extremely cold weather and high generation. As yet, there have been no shad observed.
Anglers have also done well fishing at Jenkins Creek. Though there have been very few people fishing in the area, the action has been hot. The most productive flies in this section have been Y2Ks and zebra midges in black with silver wire and silver beads.
Another hot spot has been the weed beds below the Armstrong hole. This area is not fly-fished very much, but it is holding a lot of trout. Good flies in this area are Y2Ks and brown zebra midges with copper wire and copper beads.
The Norfork has fished a bit better. There have been few anglers here because of the inclement weather. The area right below the dam has been fishing well. The hot flies here have been sowbugs (particularly in the out flow from Dry Run Creek) and Dans turkey tail emergers. The river in general does not fish as well when there has been no generation for over twenty four hours. The fishing in the Catch and release area has been a bit slower and has been mostly midges. Try Norfork bead heads and Chucks emergers in this section.
Dry Run Creek, as always, fished well this past week. The hot action was on gray sow bugs size fourteen. Also try olive woolly buggers. They generate a lot of strikes and the larger hook helps to land some of these big fish. The majority of big fish are lost at the net. Take your camera and capture the memory of a life time.
Practice water safety and always check conditions before you leave home.
John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over twenty five years.
