netboy

This is from Dally's blog. https://ozarkflyfisherjournal.wordpress.com/2020/05/27/beat-that-on-your-first-day/

I launched at Wildcat this morning and the water was running at 13k. It is odd that they are running around 10k thru the spill gates and then only have one unit generating. The water temp at Wildcat was 61 degrees and it was 49 degrees a couple of days ago. I can never figure out their logic... why not just run 6 units for the same result and keep the water colder and make $$$ on the electricty? At any rate fishing was good with some fat rainbows including this one...

We had over an inch of rain in the Cotter area last night so the river was brown this morning. I took the boat up to the dam to find clear water and then got out and waded an area that is good on the one unit of water they were running. Fishing was great with some really fat rainbows, one cuttie and a nice brown. I caught some early stripping a crackleback and then switched to a Y2K/ruby midge combo later in the morning. I guess today may have been the last day for wading since they are supposed to open the spill gates tomorrow. Here's a few pics...

Looks like it is finally happening., https://ozarkflyfisherjournal.wordpress.com/2020/05/25/bull-shoals-spillway-opening-wednesday/

I saw that the White was at minimum flow this morning so I made a quick trip after the rain stopped. The creeks were flooding and pumping muddy water into the river. I found clear water on the opposite bank and caught some nice rainbows as well as this pretty brown. The first pic shows one of the feeder creeks flowing into the river. I left around 11 just before another round of storms hit. The river here at Cotter now looks like the Mississippi.

Fishing has been great on the White... Some caddis still coming up and today saw quite a few sulphurs. Time to break out the parachute sulphurs in size 16. They worked good this morning.

Just looked at the COE water release website and noticed they added 2 new columns. One shows the real time spillway release and the other shows real time total release. I guess they are getting ready for some big time releases. Much easier to see the whole picture now. https://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/bulsdam.htm

I use a couple wraps of lead wire on the hook before I tie them.

Took my wife out this morning and we waded up from Cotter access. We had minimum flow and there were some trout rising to midges and a few caddis. We started drifting with an elk hair caddis and the problem was with the slow current from minimum flow we weren't covering any water. I switched to an olive crackleback and things picked up. Long casts and stripping it back worked great. We caught lots of rainbows and 6 browns. We had many trout come completely out of the water when they hit. They were still hitting when we left around 11:00. Nothing huge today but still some nice ones...

I checked the flows for Bull Shoals this morning when I got up and was surprised to see minimum flow. It was scheduled to be around 1 full unit. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee and left the house at 6:15. Got to the parking area and in the water by 6:45. Fish were already coming up to midges and a few early caddis. I caught a nice rainbow on the second cast and then it was steady dry fly action on the elk hair until they blew the horn at 9:00. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Caught some really nice rainbows along with 1 brown. Fish are fat and healthy this spring. Here's a couple of the better rainbows and the one brown...

Those are some nice ones. 🙂

This morning started out pretty slow with lots of midges hatching and only a few trout coming up for them. Then around 10 the caddis started popping and within a few minutes there were trout everywhere. It's amazing how quickly the trout react to a caddis hatch, almost like someone rang the dinner bell. Caught lots of rainbows, 1 cutthroat around 15" and a pretty brook trout that was 12". No browns so I missed the slam. Caught a few early on a size 20 parachute Adams and then switched to a size 16 elk hair caddis later. Here's a couple of the better rainbows...

Those are some big ones. Congrats to them.

I went out today around noon and was surprised at how good the caddis were coming up in the light rain we had. Fish were popping everywhere I looked. Caught a bunch of rainbows and 1 brown. Nothing huge but still lots of fun watching them come up.

New China Covid test kit..

Looks like it is off again this afternoon. I think they are holding water back to allow the rice farmers downstream to get in and plant their fields. Bull Shoals tailwater was low yesterday and even lower today. The lake is about 24 feet above normal so I don't know how long they can hold the water. Anyway we need to take advantage of it while we can.

Definitely starting to see less bugs hatching but still decent fishing. Numbers were lower but still some good ones coming up looking for the caddis.

Still lots of moss but it's not a problem when using a dry fly.

There have been fewer caddis hatching on the White river the last few days but still enough to keep things interesting. I fished a weed bed this morning where the caddis were coming up. The water was too deep to wade so I anchored the boat and drifted a size 16 elk hair caddis dry fly to the rising trout. It was a good morning with lots of rainbows, 1 average size brown and 1 cuttie. Here's a couple of the better rainbows...

Those are some fatties!

Dry flies are definitely my favorite way to fish for trout. I'd rather catch 1 on a dry fly than 5 under an indicator. It is really fun to watch them come up under the fly and either see their mouth open and take it or turn away.

The water was even lower this morning than yesterday so we had to take advantage. Launched the boat and tried the same area I fished yesterday but the fish were rising out in deeper water so we stayed in the boat and worked the area with elk hair caddis dries. I was drifting the fly close to the bank when I hooked the brown in the first picture. After I did the CPR on him I hooked the brown in the second picture 2 casts later. Don't think I have ever caught 2 nice browns on 3 casts. We finished the morning with lots of rainbows and another smaller brown. Size 16 elk hair was all we used.

It was unexpected, but I'll take the lower water anytime they decide to do it.

Well I can never figure out what SWPA has up their sleeves. Bull Shoal Lake is 24 feet above normal so I was surprised to see some lower water on the White river this morning. They were running about 8k cfs which is quite a bit less than the 16-24k cfs they have been running the last few weeks. I took the boat out and had to explore some new water as the area I have been fishing is now dry land. Caught a few here and there and then found an area where the caddis were coming up pretty thick. Caught a bunch of rainbows, 1 decent cuttie and 3 browns on a size 16 elk hair caddis. Looks like lower water again tomorrow morning, but who knows??? Here is a pic of the biggest brown...

I launched the boat at White Hole access this morning and ran downstream a bit. Caddis were hatching along the shorelines so I anchored the boat in a promising area and put on the elk hair caddis and had some fun sight casting to rising fish. It was fun watching them come up and look at it and either eat or reject it. Caught quite a few there just working my way downstream and resetting the anchor. Then I found a spot where the fish were concentrated in a shallow flat so I put on the waders and got out of the boat and had some fun with the dry flies. I wasn't counting but probably caught another 20 and missed a bunch more. Had one really nice brown take it and broke my 6x tippet when a small line loop hit the guide. Can't beat a good day of dry fly fishing. Here is a pic of one of better ones.