Phil Lilley

During the past week, we have had a major rain event (three inches here in Cotter), cooler temperatures and heavy winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals fell rose four and five tenths feet to rest at five and six tenths feet above seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is thirty and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock rose six tenths of a foot to rest at two feet above seasonal power pool and fourteen feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake rose four and five tenths feet to rest at five and six tenths feet above seasonal power pool and seven and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had much heavy generation this week with no wadable water. Norfork Lake rose one foot to rest at five and two tenths feet above seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty one feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had no wadable water. The water level for the top of power pool has been reset for the lakes in the White River system. All of the lakes on this system are below seasonal power pool and we should encounter lower levels of generation on them with wadable water. The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam is closed from November 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016 to accommodate the brown trout spawn. The State Park will be seasonal Catch and Release for the same period. All brown trout must be immediately released. In addition, night fishing is prohibited in this area during this period. On the White, the hot spot has been Rim Shoals. The hot flies were olive woolly buggers (#8, #10), Y2Ks (#14, #12), prince nymphs (#14), zebra midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or red with silver wire and silver bead #16, #18), pheasant tails (#14), ruby midges (#18), root beer midges (#18), pink and cerise San Juan worms (#10), and sowbugs (#16). Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective (my current favorite is a hot fluorescent pink or cerise San Juan worm with a black midge suspended below it). Conventional wisdom states that hopper fishing begins in late summer. I reject this idea and fish them all year. I favor shorter leaders (seven and a half foot 4X) and a stiff six weight rod to proper deliver these weighty flies. My favorite flies are Dave’s hoppers (#10) and the western pink lady (#8). To increase hook ups I always use a dropper. I am currently using a ruby or root beer midge in size eighteen on a three foot or longer tippet (depending on the depth of the water I am fishing). The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are higher. With the cold weather, the smallmouths are less active. Carefully check the water level before entering Crooked Creek or the Buffalo River. There are no dams on these streams. They both have large drainages and are prone to flooding during and following any rain event. The water can rise very quickly. The Norfork has fished much better of late now that the lake level has dropped enough to prevent the leakage around the flood gate that was being repaired. It has had no wadable water. The most productive flies have been small midge patterns (#18, #20, #22) like ruby midges, root beer midges, zebra midges (black or red with silver wire and silver bead) and soft hackles (#14, #16) like the green butt. Egg patterns have also been productive. Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective. Try a small bead headed nymph (zebra midge, copper John or pheasant tail) suspended eighteen inches below a brightly colored San Juan worm (hot fluorescent pink or cerise #10). There have been reliable hatches of small midges (try a size 24 Adams parachute) and caddis (try a size 18 elk hair caddis). The fishing is better in the morning and late afternoon and tapers off midday. My favorite combination has been a cerise worm with a Sunday special dropper. There construction project at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery is complete. It has seen less pressure with school back in session. It still fished well. The hot flies have been sowbugs (#14), Y2Ks (#12) and various colored San Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot fluorescent pink and cerise #10). While you are at the creek you should visit the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. It is fascinating. Be sure and remove your waders before entering to prevent the spread of aquatic diseases. The water on the Spring River is navigable. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Canoe season is over and fishing is better. Be sure to wear cleated boots and carry a wading staff. There is a lot of bedrock that can get very slick. The hot flies have been olive woolly buggers with a bit of flash (#10), cerise and hot pink San Juan worms (#10) and Y2Ks (#10). Remember that the White and Norfork Rivers and Dry Run Creek are infected with didymo, an invasive alga. Be sure and thoroughly clean and dry your waders (especially the felt soles on wading boots) before using them in any other water. Many manufacturers are now making rubber soled wading boots that are easier to clean and are not as likely to harbor didymo. John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.

Bill and I just got home from our White River trip. Yes, we came home early because Bill has a guide trip in the morning. But we fished all day yesterday and this morning. We started at the Norfork Tailwater ramp at 8 am. We met Brad Smith, fishing guide for that area. Brad helped us the past couple of years at our Healing Waters event and invited us to fish. We launched and headed to the dam. They were running water, lake level at 378.5 feet. I was throwing a 3/32nd oz sculpin jig and Bill had an egg fly/San Juan Worm combo under a float 8 feet deep. I caught a couple small rainbows right off the bat. Bill - nothing. The water was brown like Taney's was a few weeks ago. We floated on down with some success. We drifted down to McClelland's and boated back up. Caught a crappie at the line and another small rainbow. We drifted down past the handicap access this time before deciding to calling it. Caught a few small rainbows but it just wasn't worth staying. We thought the White would produce better so pulled out and headed to Norfork. We stopped and grabbed a bite to eat at Heidi's Ugly Cakes & Sandwich Shops. Nice place, good food and great gal - Heidi! Definitely a place to visit if you're in the area. Headed to Rim Shoals on the White. Water was cleaner and better color. We started at the ramp and drifted down throwing 3/2nd oz jigs. Colors used: sculpin/ginger, brown/orange. ginger and white. Caught fish on most colors but they were scattered. We drifted down to the mouth of Crooked Creek and boated back up. This time we drifted a new route and off the point of an island on a gravel drop, I saw a rainbow swipe my jig. Cool!! It was a nice one. But Bill hooked one at the same time and Brad went to help him net his fish. When he turned and saw what I had he exclaimed, "That a nice rainbow for the White!" It was broad and colored like a male rainbow getting close to spawn. Measured 18-inches according to my Photarium. We ended the day with maybe 24 trout between us, including a pretty cutthroat Bill caught. Great day, good company on an awesome river! Back at the lodge, guys started coming in from fishing and arriving for the weekend's trip. We stayed at Riley's Station outside Buffalo City on the White. We ate, watched a great football game and sent to bed. This morning, Bill and I headed to Wildcat Shoals access to meet Brad. We put the boat in at 9 am and yes it was still chilly! The breeze was moving the fog up river again but the sun quickly warmed everything up. We both threw a jig this time and we switched to a heavier weight because the water was running much harder than yesterday. There was quite a bit of debry in the river too - weeds, leaves and sticks washed in the lake from the edges and rising water. We drifted down and worked the bank and caught a few trout - one real pretty 13 inch brown came it. We headed back up and past Wildcat, on to the Narrows and tried our luck up there. Bill put on his float and fly jig. Neither of us had another bite. We packed up at noon and headed back. Don't know why the trout were as fussy as they were... but that's fishing. I bet the guys tear them up tomorrow!

Oh how things change quickly on our tailwater fishery. Two weeks ago, our trout just below the dam were fighting for their lives. Water quality was lethal for many reasons. I believe we've covered all the "why." (See my November 24th report for an explanation. ) But cold, windy weather last week has changed that, partially turning Table Rock over and sending good, oxygenated-water through the turbines and into our lake. Our weather during this Thanksgiving break was as crummy as expected with cold, rainy days and nights. The front still hasn't completely moved out. Six inches of rain fell, and now our lakes are on the rise, again. Table Rock is jumping up and expected to go past 918 feet Tuesday. The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers experimented Monday with various flows through the turbines to see how much water could be run while keeping the dissolved oxygen levels above four parts per million. The magic generation was 199 megawatts, lake level 710.34 feet, about 3.5 turbines, with a DO level at 4.34 p.p.m.. We will see this flow until Table Rock's level reaches 915 feet. During the time when the hatchery was having trouble with the water, staff moved some of their trout to other hatcheries while other fish were stocked in to Lake Taneycomo ahead of schedule. Needless to say, we have a lot of trout in the lake right now. These fish were stocked below Branson but have moved up lake and are being caught all through the upper lake. Even though it was rainy and cold, I took my six-year-old grandson fishing Friday and Saturday. We drifted from above the resort down to about Cooper Creek and caught quite a few rainbows on a pink Berkley Power Egg. That's right -- one egg on a #10 hook, 1/4-ounce bell weight tied on a drift rig. Jeriah caught his limit of four rainbows all by himself. Those who did get out and fish this last week, saw fish come in consistently. Monday afternoon I fished the entire lake from our place to Table Rock Dam. Drifting and throwing white and sculpin-colored 1/8th-ounce jigs, I caught four rainbows (two on each color) in different places, all above Fall Creek. I also drifted a #12 gray scud on the bottom and caught two more rainbows in the Narrows area above Fall Creek. Then I drifted a pink Power Egg on a drift rig below Fall Creek and caught three rainbows and a nice rock. I was most proud of the rock. My December forecast is bright with lots of trout in the lake and good prospects to see lots of running water for at least the first half of the month. Water quality is getting better every day. Monday afternoon when I was on the lake, there was a huge midge hatch. I had not seen that in weeks. After such a arduous fall season, we're all ready for our winter trout months -- the best fishing of the year!