sfiser

There will be a white bass run soon. Mother nature hasn't let them do their thing yet, it doesn't all have to do with water temperature. A lot of it has to do with daylight hours and moon phases, those fish know regardless of water temp that its just not exactly the right time yet. We have had warm springs before and have had great white bass runs up the river those years as well all the way through April. Be patient, it will happen. Its programmed into their brains to run up the rivers, they don't just call that off due to some warmer than normal temps. Plus the water temp 15-20 feet below the surface is still super cold, just be patient.

TrophyFishR is correct. They are going to draw Bull Shoals down w/ flood gates "for an extended period of time" as the corps said. Once Bull and Table Rock get down to an acceptable level they will dump Beaver in and let its water flow through the system. I bet in about a month they will start pulling on Beaver (barring any large rain event). They know spring rains are coming and are planning for them, thus the flood gate releases at Bull and Norfork starting this weekend. The corp is a lot smarter than we give them credit for. The corps is in a tough spot because if the leave Table Rock and Bull Shoals at the levels they are at and we have another rain, we are in a catastrophic situation. As long as those 2 lakes have flood storage capacity they can dump Beaver into them if we get a huge rain and those 2 larger lakes can hold Beavers excess water. If Table Rock and Bull are both almost full and we get another rain, man that would be 2011 all over again.

Corps just put out a bulletin saying 4 gates will open 1 foot Saturday 1/16 and 4 more will open on Sunday 1/17 for a 30k CFS release. Will also be opening gates at norfork to make a 10k CFS release. Be safe out there if you decide to get out in that, fish can still be caught but use extra caution.

You will likely have wadeable water in the am, be on the lookout aswater rises fast at norfork and they are running each day beginning around 10am or noonish. If you are down in the catch and release area pay good attention to the water level as you can't hear the horn that far down.

there was an article or video posted by the corps on thier facebook page that said if they ran all 3 white river lakes (Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals) dames at full blast it would be around Halloween before they were all back to thier normal levels. Bull will be the last of the 3 to reach normal levels. Bull shoals isnt running "full blast" much and the flows are actually easing back down to around 5 units for parts of the day so it will likely be sometime in November before we see reliable wading windows. Norfork isnt that high so there is an option there for wadeable water but with the White being high, the amount of wader fisherman will increase dramatically at norfork. If you are comfortable in a boat/fly fishing from a boat the fishing is/will still be outstanding.

There are alot of great guides on the LR. Jamie Rouse and Matt Milner quickly come to mind. If anyone of those dudes is doing something you dont like why not just talk to them. One thing about 99% of the guides and especially the 2 listed above is they really care about the fishery and do what they can to protect it which all fisherman can respect. I agree with Rusty, be responsible around the spawn. The fish have it hard enough dodging powerbait every weekend, they dont need someone attempting to snag them while they are on the nest. Would you like someone trying to hook you while your attempting to pro create with your wife/lady friend?

they have been running about 1/2 a unit in the AM and its been fishing great (thats 25 MW on the chart). Later in the day its been coming up and getting fairly trashy around 3-4 units. If you can stay on that 1/2 unit flow or a little more the fishing has been really good with some caddis popping and the standard midges putting lots of fish in the boat. Once that rising water catches you it begins to get mossy and trashy in a hurry and the bite goes downhill till it passes or you run up above it.

I am hearing it may take into July before they bring beaver down. They are going to take it down a foot or 2 so they have some capacity if we get another rain then hold it. Bull shoals needs to drain its water before Beaver can drain all thiers. Right now the downstream flooding on the lower white is preventing Bull from dumping heavily. Historically, Beaver is the last of the lakes in the chain to drain.

looking at the chart it appears its at 917.7 right now, thier projection was a few days off!

they are currently open and will probably be open another 2 or so days

bull is only 6-8 feet high at the moment if you look at how the lake levels were adjusted to compensate for minimum flow. John is exactly right when he says "if they let floodwater out of beaver they cant put it back". Historically, Beaver is the last lake to be emptied after high water events, that is why we have had some summers where its high into July and August. They have to regulate the system to have Beaver lakes water run through at a certain time, basically they have to wait till summer or time it between rain events in the spring and that is rather tricky. The Corps has a masterplan online you can read about what they do during flooding, when they can let water go through the system, and how much can go through at certain periods to when they have to regulate water flow. It gets very technical and as we saw in 2011 it doesnt always work according to the master plan.

i would think total boat weight w/ trailer and motor would be somewhere around 1,000-1,200 pounds. I pull mine with a 04 nissan pathfinder 2wd with a v6 and it tows just fine. Midwest is probably close on tounge weight. I can lift the trailer of my Topwater pretty easily and move it around and thats with a 30hp jet, battery, and all gear inside

anyone been over the river today? web cam at his place looks like its pretty muddy. thinking of coming over tomorrow but not if its a mud hole!

hopefully we dont end up with a bunch of dead largemouth and smallmouth as a result of this contest......

Thanks for the info guys

Hoglaw, how hard would it be to get a river boat with a jet engine on it up the shoals if i put in at twin bridges? I have a Topwater trout boat with a jet on it and I'm thinking that could be an option but i dont want to beat the heck out of my boat either.

boat is sold

its been on craigslist for a few weeks now and has gotten some activity but no one has pulled the trigger yet. I fly fish most of the time now and spend alot more time in my trout boat and not enough time in my bass boat!

2007 Champion 200 Elite. 225 Yamaha HPDI w/ 274 Hours on engine, compression of 115 on each cylinder. Serviced in early December. Hydraulic Jackplate, Hot Foot, Minn Kota 101 Fortrex trolling motor, Lock R Bar, Big screen 10.5" Lowrance LCX113 HD on RAM mount in bow, 7" screen LCX 27 HD on RAM mount on console, custom cover. Boat has been well taken care of and serviced twice a year since purchased. If interested, please call 479-366-2110. Boat is located in Rogers, AR. more pictures can be seen in the add on craigslist. $23,500 OBO

How crowded will the river be this coming weekend with that sounthern fly fishing conclave in Mt. Home? Thinking of coming over with my boat if there is a little water running this weekend but I dont want to be dodging 10 boats in every hole and fighting for a spot to fish. I havent ever been over during that weekend but have heard some folks say that its not as well attended as it used to be. Just wondering if I should come fish or wait till next weekend if it brings in a big crowd.

has anyone ever put a boat in at the dam when they were generating and fished? Thinking of putting my jon boat in one afternoon when they are running some water and fly fishing. Anyone have any thoughts or input on that?

White is a better hopper river for sure. You can catch them on Norfork too though. Use a little smaller hoppers and dries at norfork than you would the white. The norfork has a good population of cutthroats that love rising to dries, which that right there alone makes it worth fishing. Use a dry dropper with a midge hanging off the back and you will catch em

that first pic is a rainbow. Absolute giant too. Was that your norfork fish?

I just ordered a new topwater and my seats came from Deans. They werent nearly as pricey as I thought they were going to be, still not cheap though