RiverRunner

I'll throw in my two cents, I think one of the reasons that this forum has succeeded so much is the fact that the moderators do not edit posts to their liking and there is very little flaming among members. This is one of the few forums that a beginner or someone coming to the area for the first time can ask good questions and get good answers. I like Wilson's forum, you can get a lot of good information from some very knowlegeable individuals. The only problem I have seen one the FFAM forum is that you don't have the variety of people posting that you have on this forum and that you don't have a lot of new people who post frequently. It seems to be more of a forum for guides than anything, which is good if you are simply looking for information as I often am. . I've posted a few things here and there on FFAM, but not much, to tell the truth, I've never thought as myself as a good enough fly fisherman to post over there. I guess I just like the easy going nature of this board better. I will be interested to see what happens when JW gets back from Panama, too bad for him a controversy awaits his return from such an exotic locale. We should all be thankful that Phil has created and allows such an open forum to exist.

Terry, We walked up above Cooks Island, but I caught most of my fish in the run right in front of the access. All but 2 of the fish hit it on the swing. I made the mistake of leaving the fish because we wanted to walk up into the trophy area. When we returned to the handicap access, the water had dropped out a little bit and the lawn chair brigade had set up. I think we are going to walk up further to McClellans next time and try and beat the crowd.

Fished the Norfork River on Saturday from about 12:30-5 after a morning on the White at Bull Shoals Dam. We weren't having a great day there, so we called the powerhouse and found out that Norfork was shut off. When we arrived at the handicap access, there was still a little bit of tailwater left. I ended up with 6 with the best being a 16" male rainbow. Caught all fish on a #12 olive flash wooley bugger. If we had started at Norfork earlier, we would have done a lot better. As the day wore on, the crowds really showed up and that seemed to really put them down. The main thing was that I had a good time and learned some things about fishing the wooley.

Bull Shoals Powerhouse recording 870-431-5311, they are getting better about updating it, so I would call often if wading.

Nice picture, the Norfork has some of the prettiest fish you'll see anywhere

I used to keep a few trout when I was camping on the White River, and I'll bring 3-4 home for my elderly neighbor every now & then, but for the most part I don't keep trout. Its my opinion that they are not fit to eat once they've been out of the water for a while. Besides, I've got walleye & sauger in the freezer If you really want to see poaching, go on down to the Spring River in AR. I was there a couple of weeks ago and saw a guy retrieve 3 loaded stringers from different spots in the river. I would say he took 20-30 trout home with him. I've had people tell me that this type of thing is common on the Spring. I don't have a problem with anyone taking a legal limit home, I take my limit of Sauger home everytime I can from the TN river, and they get eaten. The problem I have is people taking fish that they are never going to use and will just get thrown away because it was neat at the time to bring home a big mess of fish. Also, I think that some people on this board are suffering from cabin fever, it seems that some of the posts have gotten kind of contentious the last of couple of days. Everybody needs to be nice and not flame other users.

I would think that you would be OK with that rig on most of the White with the current generation patterns, but that could change. I would probably avoid the Norfork with that boat. There are some spots on that river that hard to navigate with a 20' glass jonboat even when they are running full bore, and would be impossible with a v-hull. If they start running less water at BS, you should have plenty of water in the White below the Norfork confluence, where there are fewer navigation hazards.

I have several micro-lite rods that have done very well for me. Knock on wood I haven't broken one yet! I would recommend them to anyone looking for a reasonable, quality rod for stream & trout fishing.

I've seen him on the river some, I think he mainly fishes out of the Norfork area, if I'm not mistaken. I really don't know much about him besides that.

I'm headed to Norfork this weekend, guess I'll have to pick up some white powder paint before then!

Those are some beautiful fish, did the white jig you were using have a chrome or white head?

I read somewhere that over 1/2 of people who hit it big in the lottery are bankrupt within 5 years. I guess they just can't stop spending.

The area of the river that Mark is talking about (Norfork to Calico) is what I would consider my home waters. When I was in college, I fished that stretch almost every week, and it is easy fishing for the most part, especially if you are bait fishing. It's still my favorite stretch of river but since I started fly fishing, I have been fishing it less than I used to because it is harder to find the lower water flows that makes fly fishing easier. Its so high there now that bait fishing is about all you can do I would think. When it gets right though, that stretch will produce a lot of fish for fly, artificial, and bait fisherman. Its also got some smallmouth bass that can make for some fun fishing at times. Last year I caught more smallmouth in that stretch than I ever have (including a beautiful 3 pounder). I have to say that the White above Cotter and the Norfork are more challenging to fish due to water fluctutations and such, thats when a guide can come in handy. As far as bait fishing vs. Fly Fishing catch ratios, its been my experience that corn & PB catch more freshly stocked fish than flies and jigs, which seem to catch more fish that have been in the river longer and have adapted to the environment and its food sources. When I was a bait fisherman (a long time ago) I wanted to catch bigger, holdover fish, so I mainly used natural baits such as nightcrawlers and crawfish tails, I'd catch fewer fish, but they'd be bigger. I've come to believe that jigs and most flies accomplish the same thing that using a natural bait does, it appears to be something that they are used to seeing in the river. Its my opinion that most stocked fish take some time to adapt to their new surroundings before they realize that no more hatchery food is going to come from above to sustain them. I'd think that period is the time that most fish are caught on corn or prepared baits. Of course, I could be wrong, I did catch a 5 lbs brown on corn and PB one time on extrememely high water. I also saw a 19 lbs brown caught on pink power eggs, so my theory may be hogwash, but I'm sticking to it! Also, after hooking, playing, and landing a fish caught on an artificial lure or fly, you don't have to rebait, so you can get more casts in (and more chances to catch a fish) than you would if you had to take the time to rebait.

"Unless you are a first time trout fisherman, I really don't think you need a guide on the Norfolk Tailwaters or White River to catch fish. It is virually impossible to NOT catch fish there - they stock them by the millions." I would have to disagree with that statement somewhat. It is true that the White River system recieves a lot of stocked fish, but I would recommend any first time fisherman to these rivers to hire a guide for a several reasons. Safety: In a high water situation like we are experencing (& likely to have for a while) you need to fish from a boat. The White and especially the Norfork can be extremely dangerous when the generators are running. I have been running a boat on the Norfork for 10 years and it still scares me at times. There have been numerous drownings from boating accidents on these rivers. I have seen firsthand what inexperience and 8 units can do, and its not pretty. Learning Curve: Even bait fishing can get tough on high water if you don't know the layout of the river bottom. Fly-Fishing at high water can be challenging at best. If you are putting together a trip and driving from a long-distance, you will make better use of your time and money spending a day with a guide learning the basics of the river. I would stress that a first time angler to these waters could do much better without a guide in low-water conditions than in high water. At low-water, fishing (esp. fly fishing) is much less complicated. Still, if you can, I would reccomend any first time White & Norfork angler to hire a guide for at least a day. Both John Berry (who frequently posts on this forum with excellent reports and advice) and John Gulley would be good choices (Gulley is highly recommended as a high water expert by many fishermen I know).

Here's a link that might help: http://zigjig.net/zig%20jig%20colors.htm I thought that Phil had a page somewhere with a lot of different jig colors, but I couldn't find it. Like I mentioned in another thread, you can't go wrong with natural colors such as olive, brown, or black. You also need to have some white jigs tied with red thread and a chrome head to imitate any shad that can come through the dam. On the White, I rarely throw anything smaller than 1/16 on a spinning rod. With the higher water flows that we are having now, you are gonna need some 3/32 oz and 1/8 oz jigs as well. Just make sure that it can get to the bottom. If I get into a real clear, low & still water situation, I may go to a 1/32 oz, but when it gets like that, I go to the fly rod. I tie my own and I buy some of the zig jigs, they have a unique head that sometimes produces better than the conventional ball shaped heads you can buy at BPS or Cabelas.

Rain/Sleet mix here in Jonesboro, AR. Temp is 35. Looks like we're gonna get lucky again and miss the worst of it.

I'm not sure that colors matter too much, as long as it is a "natural" looking color. I use olive more than any other, but brown or black works just as well I would think. If there is some color to the water, a little bit of orange in the jig helps. In real dingy water, I've caught them on hot pink. But if you had nothing but olive, brown, or black, you would have no trouble catching fish. With jigs, it seems that size is usually more crucial than color for me.

1/16 oz. Maribou jigs are my favorite spinning rod lure for trout. Just cast them up river and give them a hopping motion as the current washes them downriver. Make sure to let them sink to the bottom before you start working them. You'll be surprised how many more fish you can catch with jigs as opposed to power bait or corn. You also stand a pretty good chance of catching smallmouth, largemouth, and kentucky bass, all plentiful in the upper spring, on a jig.

I think that Texarkana ice storm was the worst in Arkansas history. Would you say that this one is worse than that one? We've dodged the bullets all winter down here, I wonder how much longer our luck will hold out.

Thats a great read Terry, you gonna put that one on your website with your other stories?

"Any trout streams in south Texas? Florida?" No, and you've got hurricanes there. Having been in both hurricanes and ice storms, I would rather be in an ice storm. It's a lot easier to keep a house warm without electricity than to cool one off. Having been through Katrina and Ivan, I hope I never see another hurricane.

If anybody could stand it (or get in the water), it would be ideal conditions to catch a big smallmouth. I had my best smallmouth trip ever at Lake Norfork when it was sleeting and snowing all day. But it was a miserable boat ride to say the least.

45 and heavy rain here in the NE Arkansas flatlands. No ice or snow expected, but they weather service is saying we may get a 25-50 year flood on the White River from Buffalo City down. This will be good for our water table to say the least. Hope you guys further north and west come out OK. I'm hoping we make it through the winter here without having to break out the generator.

I would avoid the Spring during the summer. Right now is the time to fish the Spring. I got to fish for about an hour the other day at Bayou Access and caught a few on Y2K's. There are just too many drunks and craziness on the river in the summer. I would reccomend anyone who is more interested in floating and fishing than drinking and partying to give the 11 point near Alton a shot. Its further from civilization and offers both trout and smallmouth. It may be closer to someone coming from KY.

I was told that the AGFC biologist saw little difference between C&R areas on the LR and regular open areas on the river when it came to their electroshocking data. I mainly fish one C&R area, Mossy Shoal, and I firmly believe that area has more quality fish than any other area on the river. I've caught numerous 20-22" Browns and one 23" rainbow out of that area this year, I really don't think that is a fluke. Although these areas are mainly used by fly fisherman, I still think that you will see a good number of 24" and larger fish that are caught taken out of the river to be mounted. The LR needs these larger fish for reproduction and the preferred genes that they give to their offspring which will help fishing for years to come. Unless I am convinced otherwise, I still believe that the AGFC is caving in to pressure from resorts and catch and keep interests. Also, the new regs will only work if their is enforcement, and I am skeptical of that since I have never been checked or even seen an officer on the LR.