Though we have had a minor rain event, the reservoir levels on the White River have fallen a bit. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam has fallen one and one tenth of a foot to rest at thirty nine feet above power pool of 654.00 feet. This is two feet below the top of flood pool. Up stream, TableRockLake fell nine tenths of a foot to rest at fourteen feet above power pool or two feet below the top of flood pool. BeaverLake remained steady at eight and three tenths feet above power pool or one and three tenths of a foot below the top of flood pool. The pattern on the White has been to run around the clock with high flows during the day and slightly lower flows at night. There have been no safe wading conditions on the White. These flows made for excellent boating. NorforkLake has fallen eight tenths of a foot to rest at twenty five and nine tenths feet above power pool of 552.00 feet or two and one tenth of a foot below the top of flood pool. The pattern has been to run one or two generators with substantial periods of no generation at night. There have been a few wading opportunities on the NorforkRiver during the night. On the higher water, boating conditions have been excellent.
This weekend we have two major fishing events that you should be of interest to you. On Saturday morning, we will have the Kids Fishing Derby in QuarryPark at Norfork Dam. If you have a youngster interested in trout fishing, this might be a great time for a family outing. On Sunday, the ladies participating in Casting for Recovery (a fly fishing program for breast cancer survivors) will be fishing in the Catch and Release section at the base of Bull Shoals Dam. Please give them any accommodation that you can. That includes giving them the first crack at any good water.
The water flows on the White have been significantly higher than the past week. As a result, it has not fished as well as it has in previous weeks. The lower flows have been around six generators with the higher flows being more like eight. With water this high, you will be required to fish from a boat to achieve any level of success.
The upper river from the Catch and Release section at the base of Bull Shoals dam to Cane Island Shoals which is usually a hot spot has yielded few fish. Some anglers, however, have been successful. The key to success has been to use conventional high water techniques. The hot flies have been brightly colored San Juan worms (red, cerise, and fire orange and hot fluorescent pink) and egg patterns (pink, orange, tan, and red). To get the flies down use copious amounts of lead and a huge strike indicator to float all of this. I use at least 4X tippet and set the strike indicator so that the distance from the fly to the strike indicator is one and one half the depth of the water. If the water is ten feet deep the length of the tippet from fly to indicator will be fifteen feet. A rig this heavy and long will be a bit tricky to cast. I would suggest a fairly open loop and a heavier rod than normal (a fairly stiff six weight nine foot would work well).
The Norfork has fished a bit better this week. While there have been periods of no generation at night, the better fishing has occurred in the morning when they have been running just one generator. In the afternoon, when they fire up the other generator, fishing slows a bit. Use conventional high water techniques and if you are not fishing Catch and Release consider using a dropper tied to the lead flies. A good choice for this would be a black zebra midge or copper john both in size fourteen.
Several anglers have been observed using drag chains on the Norfork. This is illegal. The Norfork is a sensitive fishery and the use of drag chains could harm the weed beds which provide habitat and produce food for the trout.
Dry Run Creek has fished well of late. There have been few youngsters taking advantage of this remarkable fishery during the last week. Now that the weather is warming up, this is a great place to escape the heat. The creek is always several degrees cooler than any other place around here. The hot flies this week have been sowbugs, worm brown San Juan worms and olive woolly buggers.
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.
