JimmyT

Did O.K till the wind hit and the water started white capping. Saw them Friday afternoon at copper johns. BTW Ryan there rents boats @ $75 or $80 for the day. We also have one that we rent as well if any one needs one while up here fishing. Jimmy T.

Michael, Good to meet you at the C&R area yesterday. Didn't realize that was doty with you. that was also me yelling at you from River Cliff Cabin. Kidn' you about your boat again! Good to hear you did well. Saw Dennis and Steve put in this morning. The wind today was a turd. Got the next two days and hope the water and wind cooperate. Phill, Met two of your buddies at copper johns yesterday. They were in a charger. Nice gents. did the psycho midges work for them? Those Red San Juans and the Eggs w/bead were our best producers for the day. Jimmy T.

No Shad Phill. Did hear some insist that fish were puking up shad. ????? Jimmy T.

Hey Phill, No word of any Shad coming through. I've been checking from time to time by driving up by the dam and have yet to see any. Did net this fish for a gentleman from Cape. I took his fly out of the fishes mouth and another fly which happend to belong to one of my fisherman who had the fish on for a good 10 minutes before it broke off. Jimmy T.

For some reason this past month we havn’t seen a whole lot of no generation days on the White. The lake level is low 648.00 or 6 feet below normal pool of 654 feet above mean sea level. Generation is sporadic with some weak less than a unit of generation up to a full two units of generation with lots of Yo-yo’ing of the water. Thus I’ve been spending a lot of time down river below Cotter where this effect is less obvious and does not affect the fishing quite as bad as it does closer to the dam. On the days when I can fish low water nearer the dam I do take advantage of this situation as the sight fishing for brown trout is much better. If generation does begin I can stay in front of the the water and continue to wade fish. My best low water flies are the Roo Scud tied by Leonard (taneycomonights.com), various colors of San Juan Worms and egg patterns, as well as midges. Mostly nymphing upstream with long leaders and shot. When fishing for rainbows on low water I rig up my fisherman with various colors of thread midges with tungsten beads and indicator. Higher water patterns also include the same flies with a long leader a little more weight. Some dry action is still to be had but there really hasn’t been the BWO action there should be. Probably because it seems like October all over again. I’m ready for november to show up. Perhaps it will get here in December or mabey we’ll cram it all into next week For complete report and blog click http://flyfisharkansas.com/blog Jimmy T. _________________ http://flyfisharkansas.com 870-404-8906 wishfish@wholedamarea.com

Thanks Dano. Jimmy T.

As I sit here at 5:30 in the morning the temp is 47. The leaves on the trees are just now changing and the fish are finally starting to spawn. Everything seems to be running a little late this year as usually by this time the fish are already in full spawn from rim shoals down and the leaves on the trees are normally in full color. The good news however is the temps have finally dropped as the first half of October was unusually warm. We’ve had some good steady rain this past week along with some heavy winds up to 35 mph which should abate this weekend as this low moves out of the area. This should also bring some sunshine and mid to upper 60 degree days. It will make for some comfortable fishing weather. During this past month I’ve watched the brown trout move at a rapid rate upstream to the spawning grounds and into various holding spots along the river from the top of Buffalo Shoals all the way to the State Park and somewhat at the dam. Blood midges 16 and down along with other various midges drifted under an indicator are working well as are SJ Worms. Generation has been mostly weak with a unit or two running pretty consistantly on the white and almost no generation on the Norfork. The White has seen a few days with no generation and the lake level has been pretty steady at just below 649 feet. Our latest rains have not really raised the lake level much. Weekends on the white and norfork have been crowded so if you can come during the week especially since your chances of getting some low water are better from tuesday thru friday. Don’t know why the corps is generating every weekend. As for November I’ve been tying up unreal eggs in various colors as they will work in a unit or two of water as well as no generation days. We are entering the time of year that sight fishing to big brown trout gets very exciting. It is also the time of year when large numbers of brown trout can be caught. November, December and January should be extra good for this since the spawn started late. After thanksgiving the rivers will be just about empty and the serious headhunter type fishers will show up. Jimmy T. _________________ http://flyfisharkansas.com 870-404-8906 wishfish@wholedamarea.com

Todd, Amanda and I got a late start on friday as they drove up from Eureka Springs. We put the boat in at 11:00 am and began with zebra midges (black and silver) and buggers (#10 olive) in a spot I had discovered with lots of fish two days before. It is a spot the bait fishers don’t fish for various reasons with the main reason being it’s hard to anchor in. Amanda began hooking fish right away and Todd soon followed with his own hookups. For an hour and a half we caught and released great numbers of fish until the bit slowed down and finally stopped. Guess we sore lipped them all. Todd said he sure would like to try for a brown trout so I took them to a spot. On his very first cast he hooked and landed a 21 inch brown trout on my Sage Z-Axis with a Ross Evolution 2 reel on it and Rio’s Rio Grande line. Keeping the fish off the ledges in this spot was the key to getting it in and we were successful after 8 minutes or so. Todds 2nd cast produced a rainbow which we got in quickly. The third cast produced an 18 inch brown trout. The San Juan worm weghted with a #6 shot 16 inches above the fly with an indicator another 12 feet above the shot for upstream nymphing and casting 35 to 40 feet into a pod of 8 or 9 brown trout is usually successful at this particular spot. The water then began to come up as todd hooked and released a number of bows at this spot. We then got into the boat and I showed him just how many fish were in this spot with two in the 8 to 10 lb range. We were fishing an area accessable only by boat with no wade in possibilities as the property around it is all private. The next day on saturday I put in at wildcat with three fisherman. A unit was on which came up to two units at lunch time. We fished with caddis pupae and larvae under a hopper dropper with all the fish caught on the dropper except for two. The hopper bite sure seems to have slowed down with the various cool fronts that have come through. Fish movement is in full swing at this time with brown trout everywhere on the upper end looking for a lie to hold up in and fatten up before the spawn. Fish down stream will soon begin to build redds and spawn. This well then move upstream and end at the end of January or early February. The fishing is getting good during low water periods. The pattern for low water seems to be during the week from tuesday throut friday with generation on saturday and sundays. It’s kind of opposite of what one would think it should be but I’m not complaining as any low water is appreciated at this time.

Hey Rusty, That one is in the river somewheres around Ranchettes. Have a new one though. Got two out of there friday. 21 inches and 18 inches in three cast before the water hit us. Am in TX and forgot to bring the usb connection to download the pics. Jimmy T.

PHW....The paraachute hopper in the same colors has also worked best for me. Besides the Bulbous Bi-Visible which worked best for me up at the dam and throuth to the narrows. Jimmy T.

Greg, It is thick at the dam and down through Hogslobber at gastons. At partee it begins to thin out but is in the river all the way down to buffalo shoals to some degree or another. Unfortunatly it for sure is being taken from the dam to Rim Shoals by fishers of all types. Have to change a few tactics to combat fishing in it such as smaller shot so it won't hang bottom but other than that it is still fishing well. Jimmy T.

The PAC 1000FS is for extended trips where carrying lots of gear is a must! Construction, materials, valves, thermal welded seams are the same top quality as the world's best whitewater inflatables made by AIRE. Even with the larger tubes and huge carrying capacity, the PAC 1000FS is so maneuverable you can easily propel it with fins for hands free fishing.more... Adding this info to the info above. What a great deal. Jimmy T.

Had a fisherman from Kansas yesterday... Larry. Great guy and good fisherman. SWPA saw fit on this day to run a half unit of water for us contrary to my plan of low water for the morning. After all it had been the pattern for the week to turn the water on later in the day. I was looking forward to sight fishing for some big boys in the seceret spot which produces so well for me. Nevertheless a good guide always adaps and improvises... We got a good start for the morning and I noticed the fish were hitting the water pretty hard for 7:30 in the morning. I rigged up the Sage Z-Axis with a Bulbous Bi-Visible (chernoble ant type fly) and we began getting hits right away. MMMMmmmmm I thought~perhaps they'll hit this fly in the c&r area up by the Dam. THEY DID. Consistantly and often. Numerous strikes for every drift. I headed right up to the wall to hit the hole up there. We hammered the fish (Larrys words). After many comparisons to the Madison, the San Juan and other rivers "OUT WEST" Larry who decided the White River was just as good as those rivers and a heck of a lot closer He is coming back in Feb. Here are three of the better fish. Larry did get a Slam. Dang those brookies are hard to get on the white.

Jeremy, I do know Gabe. He is helping me out with a two day trip weekend after next. Gabe is a good fisherman. He and I ran camera boats for the film shoot for Clint Wilkinson. The algae you see is didymo and after the high water of the winter it has come back and spread even further down stream. I did get to take a look at the C&R area a couple of days ago. You are right in that there are not the size of fish (bows in particular) that there was but it's not due to didy but due to a fish kill last sept. Davy Wotton, Steve Dalley, and myself were up there last sept. Davy had a bunch of DEAD fish in his boat with more past the 100 yard mark he could not get at. There are however a ton of fish up at the dam. A krap pile of them and they do bite on low water. The fishing has been tougher during generation and has been better down stream. Did fish at the confluence Just last week for half day and did pretty good. I think I posted a report on that one. In fact will be fishing down there one or two days next week as I start a 5 day trip with a long time fisherman. Good luck to Riverrunner and Jeremy. Jimmy T.

The show will be aired 4/21 two times and again the following thursday. It should have aired a week earlier. The schedule on VS shows it a week earlier. See General discussion or my blogspot http://whiteriverfishingreport.blogspot.com for the times it will air. Jimmy T.