John Berry

After guiding or Sowbuging for eight straight days, I got a day off and my wife Lori and I headed for Rim Shoals. I had caught the caddis hatch there the previous day with a client and wanted to fish it my self. We fished caddis pupae for the first hour and drilled them. When we saw bugs appear Lori switched to the green butt and was having her way with them. I checked my box and sadly noted that I was out. The fly tiers dilemma, I had tied and given away about eighty at Sowbug but kept none for myself. I fished a partridge and green and did very well. I tried an elk hair caddis but it was so overcast I was having trouble seeing it. I switched to a green St Vrains caddis but just could not get anything going. The fish were definately keying in on the emergers and not the adults. I switched back to the partridge and green and finished the day well. We fished late and caught over twenty a piece. No big fish. They varied from twelve to sixteen inches long. All were brightly colored and fat. Life is good!

Being from Memphis, I have always heard that the Barbeque in Kansas City was good. I would really like to make the pilgramidge and try it out.

This is good information. Thank you for the clarification.

The sad truth is that bad barbeque in Memphis beats anything here. Beufords (which claims to be Memphis Barbeque) is a disappointment. KT'S and Brents are OK but neither is up to Memphis standards. Lori and I keep a couple of slabs of Corky's ribs in the freezer for emergencies. My brother Dan cooks a pretty good shoulder and always gives me a call when the smoker is fired up. My wife, Lori is working on her ribs and getting pretty good at it.

Dano, I am fishing a classic green elk hair caddis and the St vrain's caddis (also in green). This is an A. K. Best pattern that is basically an elk hair caddis with a hackle in front of the wing. It floats a bit higher and is a bit easier to see. I would recommend a partridge and green. The caddis coming off now have a pale to bright green abdomen and are a righteoug size fourteen. Good luck!

My wife Lori and I eat at the Rendezvous, Corky's, Little Pigs and Interstate Barbeque virtually every time we visit. Terry is right, its the ribs!

I floated a couple of clients from Cotter to Rim Shoals yesterday. In Cotter we caught several nice fish. At the bottom of Roundhouse we caught several really fat nicely colored rainbows on small sowbugs. Lunch at Rim. We fished Red Bud Shoals and picked up a bunch on black zebra midges and then the Caddis started coming off. We tagged several on the top but it was hard to get the drift in the boat with the high wind. We went down to the top of the riffle at Rim to wade and fished dries there. We picked up some really fine fish. An eighteen inch rainbow on the top. life is good!

Great sowbug. My observation is that if you were not wearing an orange Ozark Angler's hat you weren't squat. I have never seen so many! I got to meet a lot of really nice people. I ate a lot of really good sloppy joes and church lady cookies. I saw some fantastic tiers. Sowbug Rocks!

I am a commited gourmand and barbeque afficianado. I was on a barbeque team in the Memphis in May World Championship Barbeque contest for fourteen years and I have never heard of Yankee Barbeque. What is it? Barbeque is a time honored southern tradition, slow cooking inexpensive cuts of pork (beef in Texas)over a slow smokey fire. I am interested in finding out more about this yankee barbeque.

There are some great comments here on this situation. The gist of the matter is that the agreement though flawed requires that the developer fix this in fourty five days. I am a pragmatist. I want the pollution to stop. Oh sure, I would like to see this scoundrel hanging from the nearest yardarm but not before he fixes what he has broken. Our first matter of business is to stop the bleeding! My great fear is that this thing will get held up in court for the next ten years and all we can do is sit and watch the Norfork decline. At least this way something is being done!

The problem has always been that the property was worth milloins because it was absolutely the best fly fishing water in Arkansas and they were only getting five bucks a head.

I did not know that there was anything else to talk about!

I fish soft hackles with the classic greased line techinque. I never fish them as nymphs.

Please give me a call. I would love to take you guys out. I am not sure if the rapala counts as a dry fly.

I think I did see you guys. From the looks of the photo, I think y'all did quite well. Congradulations on the Grand Slam (brown, rainbow, brook and cutt in one day). My goal is to do it with a dry fly!

I fished Roundhouse this morning with one generator. My brother in law is visiting and he wanted to fish close to the house. We got on the river at sunrise. The water was wadable and the trout were cooperative. Olive Woollys and partridge and green soft hackles. We caught plenty of fish. We left at 9:30 to pick up our wives and eat breakfast at the Sands. As we were leaving the river I noticed some caddis coming off. If you want to avoid the herd on the Norfork, this is a pleasant alternative.

I took a client to the Handicap access this morning. When we got there it was really nice. There was low water, sunshine, and cooperative trout. We did a half day and cought some nice fish. By the time we walked out, everyone that came to town early for sowbug was there. If you want to fish it, take your own rock so you can have a place to stand. With Mac's closed it is putting additional pressure on the handicap access. As I left, I called the dam and noted that Bull Shoals had been shut off at noon. Some wadable water on the White would really help.

May I suggest that since you are visiting Cotter, my home town, that you give the White Sands a try. It is the only restaurant in town and does a great breakfast. Be sure and try their grilled Salmon and home made pies for supper.

In my humble opinion, Scotch does not require the use of branch water.

Salmo Trutta I do not think there is one easy answer. I would have to say that it would depend on the level of generation. At low levels I don't think that there would be much interference. But if a full eight hit I believe that it would affect the water temperature and therefore affect the emergence. The trout feeding would also depend on the level of the water coming through.

Welcome to my world. I do not know how many times that has happened to me at Mac's and other spots. On the White, you can always move down stream. On the Norfork, it is so short that when the water comes up it is over.

I feel your pain. I suggest three things to improve ypur stripping. I have noted that short stripps are better than long ones. Lets say a couple of inches rather than thirty. Also vary the speed. Sometimes strip wait a minute then strip again slowly working the line in. Other times strip quickly. The fish will tell you what they prefer on that day. Finally keep your rod tip low. Maybe an inch off the water. This will put a straight line between you and the fly and help in detecting strikes.

I fished the Norfork yesterday by myself. Lori was getting her hair done. The temps were warm and the parking lot was crowded. I walked into the Catch and Release area and it was not so crowded. I fished all of my favorite spots and caught maybe twenty. I broke off three fish. This is unusual for me. I generally have a light touch but the fish fought so violently it happened. The hot fly was a size 22 black zebra midge. I tried dries but no success.

It is my understanding that TU did try to purchase a small bit of land to allow for public access to this hallowed ground. No success. I fear this is going to be posted private land with little opportunity for us anglers. Crippled Caddis makes a good point. We do not need another overlook estates!

That is what I have heard. The concept that I heard was for a high dollar private development.