netboy

I started using nothing but barbless hooks many years ago after getting a few barbed hooks buried in my hand.

Another question on the subject... Does MDC currently require barbless hooking points in the Taneycomo Special Regulation area?

Here is a collection of various lures I have picked up in the C&R areas on the White and Norfork. Most of them were barbless, but not all. I usually find a lure or two while wading immediately after a sustained highwater event. Also recovered a couple anchors, an Orvis Battenkill Disc reel (in great condition) and a really nice drag chain.😀

They are legal in the C&R areas but must be barbless.

I believe treble hooks are legal on the White and other Arkansas trout waters with the following exceptions...Treble hooks must be barless in the C&R areas. Multiple point hooks with barbs are allowed, unless fishing inside the Catch-and- Release Areas (see below). Bait fishing only allowed with a single hooking point.

SWPA schedule was for minimum flow all day today, so I headed to Ackerman access. The limited parking lot was half full when I got there at 7am, so lots of fishers. I decided to wade downstream and avoid the crowd. As usual it started out slow and then when the fog burned off at 9 the fish started to get active. Best fly rig was a sulphur colored tandem wet fly setup swung in the surface film. Ended the morning with around 30ish including mostly rainbows. 3 browns and a cutthroat. No monsters but here's some of the better ones.

Hope she did also, I thought about trying to walk out in the back forty (actually 9) to see if I could find her, but it is so thick and full of ticks and chiggers that I said no.

I checked our game cam a while ago and this picture was on it. Stupid deer got its head stuck in one of my wife's tomato cages. The cage and deer are nowhere to be found. Hope she got her head out.

The SWPA forecast was for minimum flow until noon today, so I made a trip to Ackerman. Fishing started off slow with 3 stocker size rainbows in the first hour. Then around 9 the fog burned off and fish started getting active. They were feeding on what looked to be very small mayflies in the surface film and wouldn't take any of my dry fly offerings. I switched to a tandem wet fly rig with size 16 wet flies and started getting some action. Ended the morning with a couple dozen and lots of missed strikes. Here are a couple of the better ones...

I went to the dam C&R area this morning as the schedule showed minimum flow until 3. I caught a few early on a tandem wet fly rig and then around 9 some sulphurs started coming up. I switched to a size 16 sulphur dry fly and had fun watching them take it. Caught a dozen or so on the dry fly and missed quite a few others. I got some nice size rainbows and this personal best tiger trout.

Fortunately, it was a sparsely populated area it hit. Five miles north would have put it through Mountain Home.

Here is Clay Henry's article on the storm and the end of cicada season down here. Tornado changed the sounds in Baxter County » Hit That Line from ESPN Arkansas

We made a trip to the Norfork National Fish Hatchery below the dam this morning to help out with their free fishing day and trout tournament for kids. On the way there we drove through the path of the Memorial Day tornado in Briarcliff and Salesville and it was quite an eyeopener. The tornado was a mile wide and literally topped most of the trees in the path and pulled lots of big oaks out by the roots and destroyed many houses. Prayers to the people in the path. Here's a few pictures... First are the 5 year old kids fishing in the swimming pools and then the older kids fishing in the freshly stocked river. Lots of trophy's were given and memories made with families. They had a great crowd and cooked hot dogs and all the fixings. Great job by the Norfork Federal Hatchery and the supporting volunteers from North Arkansas Fly Fishers and Trout Unlimited.

I go an email from AGFC that Ackerman access has been cleared and is now open. I made a trip there this morning and fishing was good, but lots of people there. I started with a tandem wet fly rig and caught one on the first cast. That is usually the kiss of death when fishing, but it wasn't today. Ended the morning with a couple dozen rainbows and a couple of browns and one cutthroat. I saw no caddis this morning, but I did see a few sulphurs coming up. I changed to a sulphur colored wet fly and that worked. Here's a few of the better ones...

Got an email from AGFC this morning and Ackerman is now open.

I made a wade fishing trip this morning to the dam C&R area. Fishing started off good with a couple nice rainbows and 1 decent brown in the first 30 minutes. Caught those on a tandem wet fly rig. After that it slowed down and the fish got very picky. Still seeing a few caddis coming up, but nothing like last week. The fish were feeding mostly on midges and I had to scale down to size 20 midge dry fly. Ended the morning with 8, but they were all nice ones. Here's a couple of the better ones....

Here is a link to the National Weather Service report on the tornado last weekend. Interesting that it had a track of 36 miles and was on the ground one hour. NWS updates Briarcliff tornado, says it had 36 mile track that affected two other counties | KTLO

Our friends that own the fly shop, lodge and cafe in Cotter heard their dogs barking this morning and had this visitor in their tree. They live right across the river from us. Facebook

Well, you do. The Guadalupe River below Canyon Dam is a great trout fishery and the southernmost trout fishery in the US. Check out GRTU (Guadalupe Trout Unlimited) website for more info.

Forgot to mention, be sure to try the moussaka and then the Greek pastries, baklava and kataífi (my favorite). They are incredible and readily available in all the street side bakeries for a couple of Euros. One thing that I experienced is that most of the local restaurants in Athens don't open until around 8ish and that is a bit different from around here. Most of our restaurants close around 8. And if you like wine, you need to try the retsina wine. It is a white resinated, wine and the first taste will be "different", but the next glass is better and then the next one is even better.😀

The Greek islands are beautiful, and the Parthenon in Athens is really impressive. I imagine you will be visiting Istanbul which is also very interesting. Have a great trip and enjoy the cuisine. Lots of lamb dishes over there as well as great seafood and wines.

Just received this email from AGFC about the storm damage. Storm Damage in North Central Arkansas A number of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission access areas in North Central Arkansas, especially in Baxter and Marion counties, sustained minor to significant damage from Sunday morning’s storms. Personnel are currently working to assess the damage and clear paths to allow for continued use of most accesses. However, the Bill Ackerman River Ridge Walk-In Access (Ackerman Access) on Norfork Tailwater (North Fork River) sustained major tree damage and will be closed until further notice (effective immediately) to ensure the safety of our stakeholders. We will send out another notice when the area is back open for use. Thank you for your patience as we work to clean up these areas.

I went to Ackerman this morning and what a mess over there. The tornado apparently went through Arkana as the church on 201 lost it's roof and a bunch of big trees were uprooted across the street.as well as some damage to houses close by. It then moved north of Salesville and destroyed some houses in the Briarcliff subdivision. When I left at noon, they had highway 5 closed and lots of utility trucks working on the power lines. They let me through the roadblock as I told them there was no roadblock when I got there this morning and I was going on 201 and not 5. Fishing was good, but there are lots more downed trees along the bank that you have to walk around. I didn't see or hear any cicadas this morning as I imagine the storm blew them into the next county. The local newspaper said there was 2 deaths in Marion County and 1 in Baxter County. The one in Baxter County was a 73-year woman that they found 300 yards from her house trailer that was destroyed. We were without power from 5 am Sunday until midnight last night. Fortunately, no damage in our area except for some broken limbs. Here's a picture of the Ackerman parking lot and the road leading to it.

Still not seeing many cicadas around here on the upper White. Just a few at our house across from Cotter. I've seen lots of them on the Norfork and heard they are on the lower White from Buffalo city on down. Hope they start dropping soon up here.

The water was a bit too high for safe wading this morning, so I took the boat and anchored above an area that has been holding caddis and rising trout. I caught a few on an elk hair caddis dry fly and then changed to a tandem wet fly rig and that worked better. Ended the morning with 15 and missed quite a few more. Here's a pic of the 2 biggest, 23" and 21". I lost another big one due to a faulty knot.