Ham

Flathead catfish and crappie are generally not recommended for ponds. The flatheads eat everything else. You know the flathead is in there, but you'll have a tough time catching him. Crappie tend to over populate and get stunted. Maybe the crappie and the flathead would offset each other though. Good luck with your quest.

Some of our fish came from VERY shallow water. Lots of our fish were high in the water column. I doubt we caught a fish frim > 20 foot water all day. I'd say take at east 8 foot off of the depth you were fishing last week. This was my first fishing trip to BSL since 7-3-09.

Fished with cajunangler on BSL yesterday. We found water temps of 65-68 and fish biting. We had good numbers with some decent sized fish as well. Weather was interesting. Water was still very clear despite being up over 8 foot by days end. The fish DO NOT seem to mind the rising water. We fished a variety of locations and caught fish everywhere we tried. Some areas were better than others. I look for the bite to improve as the water temps drop. I'll fish for bass until water gets too cold for a jig bite and then turn my full attention to the trout.

Norfork can come up 10-15 feet without being a deal breaker on the fishing. The fish will just move up and stay in the depth they want and higher water is a little better since it give the fish cover to relate to. Norfork kicked my butt when it was 30 foot high. I couldn't find fish grouped at all. It was VERY hit and for me MISS. Norfork will likely be less than 10 foot high when you arrive. They will run water 24/7 as soon as downstream isn't likely to flood. I love it right now. No worries.

Zig Jigs

The Shimano spinning reels binding when wet (think rain or spray) is kinda like frogg Toggs failing miserably. No one seems to believe you until it happens to them. I've been there done that with Shimano spinning reels and frogg Togg raingear. I'm done with both. I hope the Stradics serve you well. I loved my Shimano spinning reels UNTIL they froze up.

Every jighead will hang up. I have tremendous confidence in a football jig, but you're catching fish and like other designs. KOKO.

I like Shimano baitcasters just fine, but Shimano has had a long standing problem with their spinning reels binding when they get wet. They may have fixed it by now, but I swore them off years ago. I suggest looking at the Daiwas instead.

Good Luck and PLEASE LET US KNOW HOW YOU DO. I think there are always some fish on the bluffs. I also think you could do some good up lake from Henderson on Whites and Stripers. I tend to fish out of Cranfield here lately. Not a bad area to fish.

Good fish man. I miss running into you in the Mountain Home area.

I prefer wire.

Seeing (and smelling) lots of BIG dead trout this time of year keeps me from fishing QP on Norfork until after rthe thermocline breaks up and the water and weather cool significantly. I don't want to add to the problem. A higher minimum flow would help; I'm hopeful that it will eventually happen.

I would guess that the fish will start to go a little shallower. I would HOPE the fish will start to head back into the creeks and coves. I always look to fish topwater if possible, but I had a breakthrough year fishing football jigs. I won't hit the lakes UNTIL the creeks and rivers smallmouth fishing slows down. I'll post some general information about BSL and/or Norfork fishing when that starts happening, but I don't expect that to be until November.

Well God Bless you Grandfather. I hope to be there in 10 years or so.

I spoke with a hatchery worker about stocking size of the trout and he said that it was difficult to get the brookies and cutts to grow well beyond that 6-8 inch size. That's his take on it FWIW. I have a buddy that considers the brookies and cutts to be expensive Brown trout food. I sure like catching them, but they don't really put tthat many in the system. Where you brookies close to one of the dams? I catch cutts scattered hither and yon, but my brookies are almost always pretty close to one or the other of the dams. The White has been fishing very, very well. I got 50 in hand in under 3 hours of fishing down river from you a bit. Zig Jigs on 4 pound line. I'm going to have to stay out a little longer and get to 100. These are not fresh stockers either. Lots of nice 14-16 inch Bows with good color. Strong fish in the current. I have not fished Early or Late and I've caught NO Browns as a result.

Wilderness Systems advises owners that the boats have an expected lifetime of 8000 hours of exposure to sunlight. Sounds like a lot, but it adds up fast if you boat is left fully exposeed day after day. If you are "forced" to store it outside, I'd have it under a tarp to block sunlight on it AND store it so that the boat doesn't warp over time. BTW, after the 8000 hours, the plastic becomes brittle and is not repairable.

It sure is fishing well these days.

Sorry I missed this earlier or I would have posted, but others covered it pretty well. It is for the most part a put and take fishery with very few trout holding over until the next winter. Fishing can be TOO easy if you arrive fairly soon after a stocking. I prefer to fish the upper section in ALbert Pike because I've had too many trips cut short by unexpected generation on the lower section. I've had some really good trips that helped me learn a lot about trout fishing with a flyrod. Wonderful hiking in Albert Pike area. Really pretty places that you should see. I'll likely never go back to fish beacuse I live so close to Norfork and the White River, but for a long while it was the closest place with trout and a place I looked forward to travelling to.

I hope to see a black bear from a distance on the Buffalo or KIngs or any other river I float. Racoons at night will LIKELY check out your campsite. Bungee the cooler shut. REALLY. We've had a nice summer. More water than usual and less heat than usual. You've been given good advice on the river. I hope you guys have a great trip.

Give those crappie jigs a shot. They'll probably work a lot of the time especially in higher flows. Lower flows with really clear water might require a smaller jig that has better fit and finish. I fish Zig Jigs for trout. Great hook. Lots of color options and head sizes. Less expensive by the dozen, but still not cheap. Great product though.

The most fun I had at Taney was on the upper part of the lake when there was no flow. I was sight fishing bigger bows with a Zig Jig. Pretty cool to give it a hop as the fish would swim up. Pretty aggressive takes.

In theory, they (AGFC) could make ALL of the Norfork River total C & R ans still have MANY miles of trout water available for bait fisherman and/or catch and keep anglers. It wouldn't hurt to expand those oppurtunities on the White if you took those options away on the Norfork. Also in theory, if they wanted to do what was "best" for the fish, they would shut down the upper Norofrk river (QP) any time the oxygen levels dropped below a level that made it harmful if not lethal for trout to be caught even if released later. (Or find a way to supplement oxygen levels that didn't break the bank. ) Both rivers are wonderful places to fish. Both rivers probably have more trout stocked that would be healthy for the system IF there wasn't enough catch and keep being done. I'm watching with mild interest. I don't expect expansion of C & R to stand. Traditions seem to be more important that wsat's "best " for the fishery.

A fish ladder to help the fish get over the falls would be a nice addition.

I had pretty much guessed that if I were to try it in a day that I would need to be on the water EARLY and expect to come off LATE, do it with an almost HIGH water level, and expect to hit the high spots only rather than my usual 1/2 mile an hour "try to catch every smallie in the river" pace. Lack of fishing pressure should make that section fish better, but there are reasons for the lack of fishing pressure.

Thanks for your help A&J. I've looked at aerial phots and guessed at it being 12-13 miles which is a long hurried day of fishing or an overnight trip.