netboy

We had minimum flow the last few days so fishing has been good. Wednesday was fantastic at the dam with lots of sulphurs coming up. Yesterday I went to the dam and they scheduled min flow to noon just like the day before....low and behold the sulphurs started hatching around 9ish and it was great for an hour or so and then the dreaded horn went off. Caught some really nice rainbows as well as a couple of nice cutthroats. After that I drove down to Roundhouse Shoals and had some good Sulphur dry fly action there. Today I didn't trust the schedule so I went downstream to Rim Shoals and ended the morning with a good day on Sulphur dries. I didn't take any pics as I was out in the middle of the river.

That was a great story and a great walleye. Congrats...and kudos on the release. It will be bigger next year and hopefully you will catch again.

Well I am certainly not much of an expert on spinning rods, but I bought 2 of these and they work pretty good. And with the high water we have now I guess I'll have use them again. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Okuma-Celilo-UltraLite-2pc-6ft-6in-Spin-Rod-CE-S-662UL-1/192899340780?epid=79624402&hash=item2ce9b259ec:g:QSgAAOSw68ZcwskC

She actually made a couple of jumps. I was surprised she could do that as fat as she was.

We will be on a river cruise on the Danube river in Europe from Budapest to Prague in August but if you come later give me a yell. If the water is down by then should be some decent fishing.

Water was up a bit this morning and really scheduled to come up more the next few days. I took the boat out this morning at Cotter and did some "fly fishing" out of the boat. Not my favorite way to fly fish as I put on an egg/midge combo under an indicator and then just watch the indicator as it drifts with the boat. But it does work... caught lots of rainbows a nice brown and this pig of a rainbow. I could barely get my hand around it to get the hook out and release it. I don't think she has missed many meals.

As far as a fly fishing guide I would recommend any of Dally's guides. https://theozarkflyfisher.com/guide-trips/full-and-half-day-trips/

Just out of curiosity what is "spaghetti and meatballs"?

Should have come, but it looks like you had a good day up there. Schedule says they are running a bit more water tomorrow, 50mw vs 7mw the last couple of days so not much dry fly fishing. Back to the egg/midge combo... sure will miss the dry fly action, nothing more fun to see them come up and take a dry.

Water was down again this morning so I went back to Rim Shoals. There were not as many sulphurs coming up as yesterday but apparently the trout were still looking for them. Caught some on the egg/midge combo early and then switched to dries around 9:30. Lost a really nice brown to a size 16 dry fly hook that decided to straighten out after about a 5 minute fight. Caught lots of rainbows, this 1 nice brown and a small Bonneville cutthroat. The Bonneville looks like it was from last years egg plant. Glad to see that some made it.

Those are some nice ones. Always lots of fun on the fly rod.

Might try White River RV park. They are across the river from Cotter and have a boat dock also. https://www.whiterivercamping.com/

SWPA surprised me yesterday afternoon when their schedule showed minimum flow until 7am this morning at the dam. So this morning I went to Rim Shoals. When I got there at 8am the water was still dropping out from the high flows last night. I waded close to the bank and caught a few rainbows on an egg/midge combo and then around 10 the water was low enough to wade out further. Sulphurs started showing so I tied on one of my foam bodied Sulphur dries and had good action until noon when I left. Caught a bunch of rainbows, 2 browns and 4 cutthroats. Here's a couple of the nicer ones...

We had our daughter's family here for the fourth. We did a kayak/canoe trip from Cotter to Rim Shoals on Friday and then a trip from Wildcat to Cotter on Saturday. Stopped along the way for some not so serious fly fishing and fortunately the sulphurs were still hatching. Had fun hooking them and giving the rod to the little one to bring them in. Obviously lost quite a few but she still got some in. Good fireworks and food and great 4th.

What type of fishing do you want to do? There are basically 3 types of guides up here... fly, artificial lure or bait.

Saw much fewer sulphurs hatching this morning. I think the hatch is finally starting to wind down. From my experience the Sulphur hatch this year on the White was even better than the caddis hatch which is unusual. My fly fishing buddies are saying the same thing. Hopefully this is a new trend. At any rate still had a decent morning with about 20 to the net including this nice rainbow and pretty brown.

I would think that the scuds will retreat to lower water levels as they have legs and are pretty mobile. I doubt that midge/mayfly/stonefly larva will move much as they don't have legs and may be at risk.

Well obviously my camera doesn't do well on close ups. It's just a foam bodied sulphur with some brown hackle. Good thing is you can skate it and it doesn't sink.

They were slurping them up yesterday (Friday) morning.

Momma said there would be days like this... That is what makes you wanna go back.

Yes I've seen that also. It may be that the bug wasn't drifting the same as the rest of them. Sometimes you just can't figure fish out.

During the peak of the hatch they can be picky because your fly is competing with so many real ones. It might take 5 -10 casts to get a rise. The fish are much more aggressive at the beginning and especially the end of the hatch.

Had a good morning today with minimum flow until 1 pm. Sulphurs really started popping once the fog burned off around 10. Lots of rainbows, 2 decent browns and real pretty cutthroat. All on dries. Here's a link to a short video of the bug action... all those swirls and dimples are nice size trout eating the flies. Also a couple of pics... This post has been promoted to an article

Hope you will be bringing a boat. Wade fishing will probably not be an option. If you want to fly fish then try big streamers or hopper imitations up close to the bank. If you don't have a boat I would suggest calling Dally's and booking one his guides.