netboy

Those old fly rods are great finds. I refurbished an old 4wt, 8 foot Shakespeare Wonder rod my Dad loved to use at Bennett Spring back in the 60's. I still take it out occaisionally just for the memories.

We are having lots of minimum flow water that makes for some great wading opportunities. I went to the Narrows this morning and had a good trip. Lots of rainbows and 1 brown. Best fly today was a size 14 slush egg. While walking up the bank I spooked a nice fish and made a mental note of where it was holding. About an hour later on my way back to the truck I fished that area and got lucky and hooked what turned out to be this nice male rainbow.

About 4 miles upstream from Wildcat access on Denton Ferry road.

SWPA has been running water in the mornings this week, so I made a trip to Three Chutes this afternoon after the water went down. Fishing was good with lots of rainbows, 2 browns and 1 cuttie. Best flies were a size 14 scud and a size 16 egg pattern under an indicator. Here is the best one today on the scud.

I have been fishing up here on the White River since 2017 and have never caught a crappie. WTG. 👍

Rim has been good, as well as Cotter and Roundhouse, which are easier to wade.

I'll not be fishing this weekend as my daughter and her family are coming for a visit and the local Christmas celebrations. Hope you all catch some big ones and look forward to the pictures.

Gotta love the minimum flows for some great wading opportunities. Went back to Rim Shoals this morning and hiked down the trail to try some different water. The fishing was good with some nice rainbows and a few browns. Best flies this morning was a tandem soft hackle setup swung across stream and stripped back. Only saw one other fisherman and one guide boat. As I have said before, the average size of the fish seems to be better and they appear to be eating well. Here's some pics...

Waded at the walk-in access this morning and had a good trip. Best flies today were ruby midges, soft hackles and a few on eggs. It seems to me that the average size of the rainbows has increased since the closure. Ended the morning with lots of rainbows and a couple browns. Nothing huge, but lots of fat 14-15" rainbows. Here are a few of the better ones.

That catfish looks like some good eats to me.

I have been checked many times here on the White and Norfork tailwaters. Most of the times have been in the C&R areas and they first ask to see my fly to check that it is barbless, then want to see the license. I have a senior lifetime license with all the add-ons you can get. The Marion County GW doesn't check my license anymore since he has seen it plenty of times.

Waded at Roundhouse this morning and had a good outing. Saw some BWO's coming up early and caught a few on top, which is always fun. Switched to a tandem soft hackle rig and that worked better. Ended the morning with lots of rainbows and a couple browns. I have noticed the average size of the trout seems to be better since the closure and the fish are fatter. Nothing big today, but still a fun day. Here's a couple of the better ones.

SWPA ran water yesterday until 11 am, so I made an afternoon trip to the Narrows after the water went down. Fishing was good with lots of rainbows, 2 browns and a few small cutts. There was a small hatch of what appeared to be BWO's, so I tied on a size 18 BWO and caught a few on top. Other than that, the best flies were orange eggs and scuds under an indicator. I saw the rainbow in the attached picture come up to investigate the BWO but didn't take it. I switched back to the egg and after a few casts, got it to take the egg. That turned out to be the best one of the day at 19".

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