netboy

Sorry to hear this. What a shame for MDC. Those trout parks were a great resource to get kids into fly fishing. I haven't been to Bennett Springs since I was kid in the early 60's when we lived in Florissant and it was where I learned to fly fish with my Dad. I can remember wading out to secure your favorite spot and waiting for 30 minutes until the siren went off and then cast your brown woolly worm and spinner awkwardly on a fly rod and catch the stockers they dumped the night before. After that wore off we had great fun fishing our favorite fly, Australian Possum Fur scud, that my Dad got the "magic" fur from some guy in Kansas City (I think his name was Glenn Bennett??). Also remember a black/chartturece marabou jig that worked great. We fished some with Pete and Marie Cento who both held the Missouri state record rainbows for some time. Interesting that a friend of mine up here in Cotter also learned fly fishing at Bennett with his Dad and his favorite fly here on the White river is the same old black/chartturece marabou jig. Guess the trout haven't changed their appetite much in 60 years. Great memories. Are all the other trout parks in that bad of shape?

I went to the Ackerman access again this morning and had a good morning. Things started off kind of slow with very little surface activity, but a Ruby midge caught a few. Then around 9 the fog burned off and the bugs started to appear. There were mostly sulphurs along with a few caddis. I had the best luck on a size 16 foam body sulphur dry fly and also caught a few on an elk hair caddis. Ended the morning with a Norfork slam; lots of rainbows, 1 brown, 1 nice cutthroat (pic attached) and a small brookie. Also heard that Bill Ackerman (namesake of said access) passed away this week in Fayetteville. Here is a link to his obituary... Obituary for William Nelson "Bill" Ackerman, Fayetteville, AR (nwaonline.com)

A quick update 6/18... I went back again this morning and there very few fish rising early. Caught a few on a crackleback early and then around 9 they started rising. There was a mix of a few caddis and more sulphurs than yesterday. Ended up being a good morning using a foam body sulphur dry fly. I was able to sight cast this nice 20" rainbow and she put on quite a show.

I have a couple of the 1000 and a 2000. The 1000 is an ultralight and the 2000 is probably better for all around fishing.

Well I am not much of a spin fisher, but when the water here on the White river comes up too much to wade, I do have a couple of spinning rigs. I use the Okuma Celilo 6.5 rod rod which is about 30 bucks and then one of these super cheapo reels from China. They are 12 ball bearings and are equal to a $200 Shimano Stradic that I recovered from the bottom of the White river. I haven't had a problem with these reels and the drag works perfectly.. for $15 bucks a pop they will work. High Speed Fishing Reel Powerful Spinning Reel 12BB Alumium Spool 17.6lb Drag | eBay

They have increased the flows on the White river this week but they have been keeping Norfork at minimum flow until around 1pm. I fished over there this week and the fishing has been good. A size 20 Griffith's gnat or Parachute Adams has worked early in the slow water areas where the trout are after midges. Then around 9am there were a few caddis and sulphurs coming up so the elk hair caddis and orange crackleback worked well. After that a Y2K/ruby midge combo worked. I caught a couple dozen this morning including this nice rainbow on a size 20 Griffith's. Hopefully the low water will continue over there.

They have been running 1 unit the last few mornings which is ideal for wading some of the areas in the C&R area at the dam. There are still a few caddis coming up but also seeing some sulphurs in the mix. Yesterday they wanted the elk hair caddis and this morning they weren't too interested in it. I tried sulphur dries, CDC emergers and then tried stripping a crackleback and that was the ticket this morning. Caught around 20 including some nice rainbows and this pretty cutthroat. I think the cutties are really colored up right now for the spawn. Also missed a bunch on the crackleback by setting the hook too soon. The water came up unexpectedly around 10:30 (no horn) so I called it a day. The trout are really getting fat up there.

If any of you guys plan to be around Cotter next weekend then please plan to come for some fun and a great fly fishing film show. All proceeds will go towards the completion of the Roundhouse Shoals access project. This is a project of Trout Unlimited, North Arkansas Fly Fishers, the city of Cotter and AGFC . The current status of the access is a new parking area, multiple stairs down to the river and a partial trail along the river. The funds will be used to add more trails and stairs down to river as well as another gravel parking area by the waste water plant. This is a great public access and I fished there this morning and had some good caddis action. Here is link with more details.... f3t: UndeR the bridge to aid fishing access – The Ozark Fly Fisher Journal (wordpress.com)

I went to the Bull Shoals Dam C&R this morning and it was a strange morning. Fish were rising early but it was hard to get a bite. No caddis coming up but they were feeding on something in the surface film and not slurping on top. I caught a few on a size 18 Parachute Adams and missed a few more. Then around 10am when the fog burned off the caddis came up and there were fish everywhere. Well, that only lasted about 20 minutes and it was great while it lasted. Probably caught a dozen nice ones on the caddis and then it shut down. Then around 11am it started again and lots of bugs and willing trout. That lasted an hour until the horn went off at noon and it was great. Here's a few pics...

So sorry to hear this. Hope you have a great trip. Those reds are a blast to catch. 😀

Fishing has still been good with minimum flow until noon. I met my friend in the parking lot and we had a good day. It was foggy early and we had to work for a bite during the midge hatch but a CDC midge dry fly caught a few. Then around 10am the sun came out and the caddis started popping. Caught a bunch of nice rainbows and 1 cuttthroat. At one point there were caddis popping everywhere and the trout just seemed to appear from nowhere to get them. After the horn went off at noon I waded down to my friend and we had fun doubling up on nice rainbows on the rising water. He said somebody should take a picture when we were both hooked up with 19" rainbows. I told him we can only imagine what a full day of minimum flow would be like... but that will probably not happen this year, Looks like higher water tomorrow. Here's a pic of one...It was too good to get a lot of pictures.

The SWPA schedule said minimum flow until noon so I went to the dam this morning. Fishing started off good with the usual midge hatch early and I caught 7 on a size 18 parachute Adams. The fog burned off at 8:30 and the caddis were just starting to hatch... and then at 9:05 the horn went off. I got to the bank and waited to see how much water was coming. It looked to be 3 or 4 generators so I left along with all the other waders. Lots of grumbling about SWPA in the parking lot. I got home and decided to go to Roundhouse Shoals access and take advantage of the minimum flow. Ended up catching a bunch of stocker rainbows on a Y2K/midge combo along with this nice brown.

I am surprised that SWPA is still holding water back at Bull Shoals dam. My fishing buddy from Corpus Christi has been here for the last couple of weeks and we have been taking advantage of the caddis hatch. The hatch is getting less each day but the trout are still looking up for them. There was the usual midge hatch early and a size 20 parachute adams worked great. Caught a dozen nice rainbows and 1 cuttie on that and then around 10am the fog cleared and we started to see some caddis hatching. It got better as it warmed up and then the caddis really started.... but then the dreaded horn blew at 11:45 am. Still ended up with about 25 nice rainbows and a few cutties. Here's a couple of the better rainbows.....

It hasn't been too bad. Most folks won't fish the dam if is not minimum flow. It does limit access but there are still a few places to fish. I think lots of fly fishers have been going to Norfork lately as they have been running minimum flow until noon every day for the last few weeks. I think all this will change soon as the lake is now 7 feet from the top of flood pool. That is 25 feet above power pool. We did have minimum flow on the White this morning for the first time in weeks. Fishing was good and I lucked out and got this pretty 20" cuttie on an elk hair dry fly along with some nice rainbows.

SWPA ran 1 unit this morning so I went to the dam and met my friend up there. Caught a few nice rainbows and 1 cutthroat on a ruby midge early and then around 9 there were a few caddis and small tan mayflies coming up. Tied on an elk hair caddis dry and caught a couple, but they were not too interested in that. Next choice was the soft hackles that worked yesterday and still not many takes. I switched to a crackleback and that was what they wanted today. Caught around 20 and missed a bunch more. Here's a couple of the better ones...

Well I do get the hoe out when I see a copperhead or a rattler.😁

Yesterday I was using a green butt soft hackle with a bright green butt and peacock herl body. I have seen very few sulphurs up there, but still seeing caddis on the sunny days.

The friend that identified it said they are good snakes to have around. They eat rodents, lizards and other snakes.

Hopefully the water will stay down.

A friend that knows his snakes corrected me. He said those were Racers, not Coachwhips. I can say that I saw the big male this morning when driving up the driveway and when he saw me, he took off like a rocket. Fastest snake I have ever seen.

The rain slacked off a bit mid morning so I went to the dam C&R area. They were running a little less than 2 units and there was still a light drizzle. I started with an egg/midge combo and caught a few. Switched to a tandem soft hackle rig and that is what they wanted. Caught some good rainbows and a couple nice cutthroats. Here's a pic of the big one for the day....

Wasn't too bad here on the White river. Quite a few boats out Saturday, then fewer Sunday and very few today.

That could really hurt if he hit ya.

Here is another one...

Walked out to the back patio just now only to be greeted by these 2 Coachwhip snakes doing their mating thing. The male looked to be about 5 feet long and they weren't too concerned about me taking their picture.