netboy

Some interesting things I have learned about "brood stock" at our local hatcheries in Arkansas. I have talked with the biologists at Norfork Federal Hatchery, Jim Hinkle State Hatchery at Mammoth Springs and Greers Ferry Federal Hatchery. None of them have "brood stock". They do have a run in the hatchery that hold some big trout, but they are for tourists to feed and see and then they occasionally release a few in the rivers. The biologists I talked to said they get the eggs from Federal hatcheries that specialize in producing eggs. The biologist at Jim Hinkle told me they receive their shipment of fertilized eggs via FedEx in an Igloo cooler on overnight delivery and put them in the glass containers to hatch. Now that may not be the case in Missouri hatcheries but seems to be what happens down here.

That old boat ramp at the mouth of Dry Run creek is where they dumped them a couple years ago when I saw the browns. It's amazing how fast they appeared. Guess it's like ringing the dinner bell.

Here is an article about Dry Run creek from our local TU chapter's Web page... DRC 2021 - Arkansas White River TU Chapter 698

The kid even tied his own fly. The smiles say it all.😄

I don't think there is a published schedule here on the Bull Shoals tailwater since there are so many stocking points. Sometimes they dump them at the ramps and then sometimes they load them into the stocking raft and distribute them downstream.

Always a fun event if you are a fly tier... Sowbug Roundup |

I was at the Norfork Dam a couple years ago when they dumped a load of them at the boat ramp. They were all 5-6" and within a few minutes there were 3 or 4 big browns chasing them and gobbling up as many as they could. I talked to the truck driver and he said they come from the Greers Ferry hatchery on the Little Red.

I use a foam body for all my larger dry flies... Elk hair Caddis, Sulphurs and BWO's. Floats really well.

Yes, it's nice to see a few of them survive the brown trout feeding frenzy when they stock the little guys.

Norfork was scheduled to be at minimum flow all day today so I made a trip over there around 10am after it warmed up a bit. I assumed the Ackerman parking lot would probably be full, so I went to the Dam access. There were only 3 other guys there so plenty of room. Fishing was good and I ended up with a couple dozen, all rainbows except for this PB brook trout. He was 13" which is pretty big for a brookie. I don't think I have ever caught one over 10". The P&P midge was the best fly today but I did catch a few on top on a BWO. Also had an AGFC biologist come by for a visit in his canoe. He was taking a survey of fishing results. The colors didn't show up very well on the brookie. Too much direct sunlight I guess.

Size 18 BWO has been working in the afternoons lately.

Wow, this a fishing website... and a darn good one. Go fishing and post a report here or join a Facebook conspiracy page and post this other stuff over there.

Nice ones. This year I have seen more folks using the Euro method here on the White and Norfork. Guess I should give it a try.

😁😁

I buy all my hooks on Ebay from this guy. Great hooks and never had one fail. Great Flies | eBay Stores i

Wow. Take some pics of them dumping if you can.

Good luck to you guys' tomorrow. Post some pics.

I am still very confused as to when this Big Load of water is coming down the river. Beaver, Table Rock. Taney and Bull Shoals are all within power pool. I know if there is a big rain event, they will release water, but that is always what they do. Maybe something else coming??? Please let us know so we can plan for this event.

I am a bit confused. Looks like Beaver is currently at 1120.23. Isn't that the level they want it to be?

Think I will sit this one out.

I went to Ackerman this morning around 10 am after the water went down. Fishing was good with lots of rainbows and a couple of browns. I have noticed that the water is off colored when the generators are running and the river is falling. Then it clears up nicely when the siphon kicks in. I guess the intakes for the generators are at a fixed level of the lake and they are drawing off colored water from that depth. The siphon has 3 different levels they can draw from depending on O2 levels. Bottom line, if the water is off colored when you get there, wait an hour and it clears up nicely when the siphon kicks in. Best flies today were a peach colored egg with a P&P midge behind it. Here's a few pics. The male rainbows are still in their spawning colors. Nothing like what Phil caught yesterday, but still fun. 😮 .

Wow, that is a tank. Congrats. And Kudos on the good release. I have hooked a couple of big rainbows and one big brown in the last few weeks, but all 3 came off after a long fight. Tippet didn't break, they just shook the hook. Darn barbless hooks....

Nice setup I am doing good just to hit them.

They are pretty good eats. Almost as good as rabbit if cooked right. A .17 cal air rifle works great.

Not the first one for 2022, but my daughter caught her last one for 2021 Friday afternoon. We waded at the state park and had a good afternoon. Even caught some on top using a BWO.