John Berry

I have worn nothing but chest high waders for years but this year I decided to give the waist highs a try. They are much cooler and more comfortable. I concur with Danoinark in that if you are fishing in water over your knees you are probably in the wrong place. My only beef is that Simms doesn't make a waist high and I ended up with Orvis waders and they are not the same.

You need to fish the catch and release section below the dam. It is loaded with Brookies and according to the AG&F biologists the brookies are reproducing naturally. Yes that means wild brookies. My wife, Lori, and I got into them last winter and had a spectacular day.

There are several places on the river. I would try Bull Shoals State P ark it is just below the dam. There is also Quarry Park. It is near Norfork Dam. Both have great fishing and feature riverside camping sites. The reality of the situation is that this is a holiday weekend and it will be crowded. I do expect that you will find a spot at one of those parks.

If you want a good map on the White, Norfork,or any other river around here, get a copy of the Home Waters Book. It was published by the Mid South Fly Fishers (the Fly Fishing Club in Memphis). It contains detailed maps of all the rivers in this area along with detailed descriptions of every access and how to fish them. Each chapter is written by a guide on the body of water that he is familiar with (I wrote the chapters on the Norfork River and Dry Run Creek). All the proceeds go to conservation projects in the area. They are available at all local fly shops. As to flies, I think the sizes you are familiar with will work here. Our insects are pretty small. I generally fish size sixteen to twenty two on most of the flies you mentioned. The zebra midge seems to be the top producer now. I have not fished the trout crack pattern. Good luck!

I met a couple of clients at the Red River Fly Shop yesterday (a great place to start free coffee, great hospitality and good location at swinging bridge). They had never fly fished so we started with a quick fly casting lesson. We walked into the swinging bridge area and started with soft hackles. We caught a couple but the going was slow. We changed over to sowbugs and immediately started catching a bunch of fish. We ate a late lunch because we hated to leave the action. We sat at a picnic table in the shade at the fly shop and relaxed for a few minutes and then headed back in for the afternoon. The going was slow. We tried a few differant flies and finally settled on a copper zebra midge. It was really working and we ended up catching several fish. Though we caught large numbers(we didn't count), we didn't catch any large fish. We had a great time and plenty of action.

I would definately fish the White River below Bull Shoals Resevoir. They have been generating in the afternoon. Your best bet would be to start fishing in the catch and release area under the dam. This is the home of huge picky trout. Try soft hackles and midges. When they blow the horn, load up and head for wildcat shoals. This is twelve miles down river and you should have three to four hours before the water hits here. Try black zebra midges. When the water comes up head for rim shoals. This is twenty four miles from the dam. You should have another three to four hours before the water gets there. Try copper johns and zebra midges and don't forget to carry a few elk hair caddis. These places are all loaded with fish and moving around like this will give you a chance to fish a lot of differant water and catch fish all day. Good luck!

I fished the Norfork on thursday and it was gin clear and loaded with fish. I called my friend Leon Alexander of Norfork, Arkansas. He was the guy who stayed on top of this crisis. He put together the petition that got something done. He said that he visited the site, Norfork Overlook Estates and observed that the developer, Mr Doyle of Yelleville Arkansas had finally gotten the message. He observed that a lot of work had been done. Bales of hay were put up and a settling pond was under construction. There was a stockpile of materials to seed the site and it appeared that there was a serious effort to fix the problem. Maybe something we did got the word out and applied a bit of pressure. Good job Leon!

We went to the norfork and my client hit a nice fifteen inch brookie today on a worm brown san juan worm. He had shoulders and put up a heck of a fight. The brookies are my favorite.

I would make sure that I had some copper johns size 16, zebra midges size 18, olive scuds size 18, partridge and orange size 14. That should get you started. They have been working for me the last week. Good Luck.

Alas it was not me. In fact, it was my brother. We look very similar and both favor cigars. The main differance being that I light mine. He has a cabin near Norfork and was there this weekend. I wish we had met but I am sure that Dan did a good job familiarizing you with the problem.

When I have knots fail I first check my tippet. I generally buy Orvis because it is dated. This stuff is not like wine. It does not improve with age. I buy in small lots and make sure I use all that I have before buying new. I want to use fresh stuff. As for knots, no one mentioned the improved clinch knot. It is all I use and it works for me. Buy a copy of Lefty Kreh's Practical Fishing Knots. He is the source of all knowledge on knots.

Yesterday I fished Rim Shoals with my brother, Dan, and my friend Larry for a couple of hours. I started nymphing with a zebra midge because that was what was on my rod from my last trip. I caught a fish on the first cast and pumped its stomach to find it filled with sulphur nymphs. I tied on a pheasant tail size sixteen and caught a few fish. I switched to a Copper John size sixteen and it was gang busters. I started picking up fish after fish. It was non stop. I noticed several sulphur adults coming off, but the fish were not keying in on them. I switched to a sulphur dry and fished it for a while with no luck. Upstream my brother Dan had caught a few on Sulphurs but it was slow on the top.

I think the word on this mess is starting to get out. Yesterday the Arkansas Democrat (The Newspaper in Arkansas) ran an article on it. The ADEQ needs to stay on top of this. I understand that this developer has acquired land on the White River to do a similar development. This scares me!

According to my Home Waters book Swinging Bridge Trout Dock (501) 362-3327 rents canoes. Good luck!

I read in the Baxter Bulletin today that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) had issued an emergency order to the developer on the Norfork (Homeport Land Company owned by Benny G Doyal of Yelleville, Arkansas) responsible for polluting it. He is ordered to stop doing anything that causes sedimentation to run into the river. The emergency order states that the measures implemented so far are inadequate. The agency requires sedimentation ponds to collect runoff. It is about time for the ADEQ to get on this. Where are the fines? This developer is not going to do anything untill it hits him in the pocket book.

You may be on to some thing. I went back today and it was a little warmer but no discernable insect activity. We tried dries and we caught one fish. The soft hackles were working well but the nymphing was first rate. John Berry

I do not know what to tell you about what generation to expect on the Norfork. The lake is still very low and the White River temperatures are high for this time of year (they will run water on the Norfork to cool the lower White down). Those two items work against each other. I predict erratic generation. That said, the Norfork is still the best trout water around. Call every morning and fish it when you can. Be ready to leave on a moments notice should they start generating. The caddis hatch is on the wane. In two weeks I would be looking for the sulphur mayflies to start. Carry yellow sulphur parachutes size 14 and 16 just in case. Recently black midges in size 24 have been kicking tail. Nymphing with black norfork bead heads and black zebra midges has been productive. Good luck! John Berry

I took a couple of clients (husband and wife) fishing at Rim Shoals on the White River. This was the first time either had been fly fishing. We concentrated in learning techniques. Nymphing was the most productive by far. We caught fish on a number of nymphs zebra midges, small olive scuds, Y2Ks, and san juan worms. The most productive was the size 8 worm brown san juans. We fished a soft hackle (partridge and orange)and caught a few fish. We tried the elk hair caddis with no luck. We didn't see any insects but hoped that a few trout would still be looking up. The husband caught about fifteen while the wife caught 18 (welcome to my world). The largest fish was a 17 inch rainbow. We had to quit early because of their commitments. They left enthused and we booked another trip. John Berry

The fishing from the dock down stream is incredible. Starting at Otter Creek, the top of the catch and release area, I believe this section is the absolute best trout fishing in Arkansas. I frequently take clients here and often fish it with my wife, Lori. This is where I catch my big fish. Brookies up to nineteen inches, cutts up to twenty four inches and really big bows and browns. It can be a cruel mistress. The insects are small and the trout are picky, but the rewards are great. The problem here is that the good water is down stream from the access. When the water comes up you have to beat feet to safely get out. You will find yourself fighting rising water as you move upstream. Otter creek becomes a choke point and is too deep to wade with two generators. If you are late getting there you must walk through the pasture along Otter creek up stream untill you find water shallow enough to wade. I always carry a wading staff, a good idea whenever you fish tailwaters. The fishing guide Home waters has a good map of the Norfork and some detailed descriptions of this area along with some specific fishing suggestions. John Berry

I would say that there are three factors. Size, size and size. John Berry

Yesterday my wife Lori was guiding a lady at Rim Shoals. I tagged along because I didn't have a client. I stayed in the background and took photos of their fish. I fished a bit myself. I started with an elk hair caddis and took a half dozen but the wind kicked up and I got frustrated with fighting it. I switched to a zebra midge and began picking up fish immediately. I pumped a few fish and found a few small olive scuds. I switched to a size eighteen olive scud and began slamming fish. Over the next few hours I probably caught thirty. There were no large fish but plenty of action. The fish seemed to be in deeper heavier water.

I took a couple of clients on the Norfork on wednesday. The weather was pleasant with little or no wind. We concentrated on the caddis hatch and one of my clients caught an Arkansas Grand Slam (rainbow, brown, cutthroat, and brook trout on one day)on dry flies. This was the first that I have observed. The largest trout taken on the dries was a nineteen inch cutt. We took a twenty three inch bow on a woolly bugger. The other client fished nymphs and did well on the norfork bead head. They were happy campers. John Berry

Greg,Most of the fish in Rim are the sizes you mentioned. There are some larger fish but it is not the norm. As to the hatch, I have found that if I fish dries without a hatch I still catch several fish that way. The fish are looking up and are ready to hit the top. John Berry

All of the fly shops in the area have it. Check with Mountain River or Blue Ribbon. I was in both shops recently and I saw it there. John Berry

The first thing that you need to do is obtain the Homewaters book. It has a detailed map of the river and a major hole by hole description. You will find that in general the flies run pretty small here. There are plenty of midges. There is also a lot of top water here. Today, I took a couple of clients into the handicap access.We caught an Arkansas Grand Slam (rainbow, brown, cutthroat, and brook trout )on dry flies. Hunt out deep holes with a little current. John Berry