netboy

I fish them in the surface film and cast across current and strip them a bit while mending the line. When they reach the end of the swing I strip them back upstream. If you see a fish following and he doesn't take the fly, stop your retrieve and let it sink a bit.

Took a friend down to Rim this morning and we had a good day. Fish were a bit picky, but we ended up with some nice ones. Lots of rainbows and a few browns. He caught his Personal Best brown on an orange slush egg. Eggs and midges worked best today. Here is his best one.

SWPA is finally giving us some minimum flows which leads to some great wading opportunities. I fished Rim Shoals yesterday morning and had a good day. I walked down the new trail to an area with some shallow shoal water. Ended the morning with lots of rainbows, a couple browns and 1 small cuttie. I hooked a really nice rainbow that looked to be around the 20" mark but lost him to a pulled hook after a good fight. Best flies were a purple crackleback, eggs and scuds. Here's a couple of the better ones.

Great pictures^^^^ Here's mine.😀

We went on a river cruise on the Seine River from Paris to Normandy a few years ago during the Veteran's Day holiday. We visited the Normandy American Cemetery, and it was pretty impressive and moving to imagine the bravery of our troops. Also visited the Omaha beach landing site and the WW2 Museum in Caen. I would recommend this trip to anyone interested in the history of WW2. Here's a few pics... One is from the inside of a Nazi bunker at Omaha beach.

Both of the Cotter areas have been good this week as well as Roundhouse, which I fished this morning.

With the BS Dam area closed until Feb 1, I have been fishing both the Cotter and Rim Shoals accesses this week. The good news is there are still plenty of fish to be caught. I would say it is currently as good as it was before the hatchery problems, so the C&R regulations appear to be working. I have noticed a reduction in the number of bait guides out, but the usual number of fly-fishing guides. Best flies for me this week have been cracklebacks, eggs and midges. I did see the Jim Hinkle stocking truck dumping some fish at the Cotter boat ramp when I left this morning. Here is a decent brown that took a crackleback at Cotter this morning.

Here is an interesting article about the O2 problem. USACE installing oxygen diffusion system to boost hydropower efficiency at Wolf Creek Dam > Great Lakes and Ohio River Division > Display

Here is a good article by Clay Henry about the current problems. Commentary: Keep an open mind during state’s emergency trout regulations | Whole Hog Sports

The water quality issues at the hatchery stem from problems in Lake Norfork. This past summer a number of stripers were found dead in the lake due to the problem. I think AGFC has a responsibility to investigate the true cause and possible solutions for the lake.

Well on second thought from the response from AGFC, we need to ask this question... Why are you spending all this money to track brown trout movements in the White River when that has absolutely nothing to do with the current problem with the water quality issues in our hatcheries. Maybe they need to re-allocate those funds to find a solution to the water quality issues.

That may very well be the case. Here is a response to an email I sent to Christy Graham (AGFC) with a couple of suggestions to expand the C&R areas. I think they are doing their best to conserve the current trout population. Thanks for your email. We are planning to revisit the Bull Shoals and Norfork management plans in 2026 and will be considering multiple options on revising regulations at that time. We also have no idea yet how long we will have to maintain the temporary catch-and-release regulations for the fishery- that is, whether they can be lifted after 120 days or need to be extended. We will have a better idea when water quality improves and Norfork Hatchery can inventory how many fish they have left. I 100% agree with you that the C-R regs at the dam are confusing and need to be simplified. One thing that will help inform that decision is results from a telemetry project we are getting ready to start. We will put transmitters in Brown Trout and track them for a year to see what areas they use and when, in addition to determining how far they move. It will be a really great study to see if we need to alter our C-R areas or provide additional regulations. Thanks again and have a great weekend. Thanks, Christy

AGFC finally got the signs printed and posted at the boat ramps earlier this week.

Today was the last day for the BS Dam C&R area until Feb 1. SWPA ran water until 10am and then shut it down to 1 unit. I got up there at 10 and had to wait a bit for the water to come down. When the water came down, the fishing was pretty good. Ended the morning with lots of rainbows, 3 browns, 1 cuttie, 4 brookies and 1 tiger. Best flies today were a size 16 grey scud in shallow riffle water and an egg rig. Thankfully the C&R area has continued to be good fishing with all the problems in the hatcheries. Guess it's time to explore downstream areas, so that may be a challenge. Here's some pics...

I waded at the dam C&R area today after the water went down and had a good afternoon. Caught lots of rainbows, a nice cuttie, a few brookies and one tiger, so I guess that would be considered a slam as the tiger is part brown. Best flies were eggs and scuds. I hooked this nice rainbow in some fast water and had to chase him about 50 yards downstream to find some calm water to get him in the net. Tomorrow is the last day to fish up there as it will be closed until Feb 1 for the brown trout spawn. Here's some pics...