John Berry

It is definately a tough decision.I have fished both and I love each of them for differant reasons. They should both be on your personal list of places you must fish in your lifetime. You would definately catch more and bigger fish on the San Juan. But casting small dries at wary fish on a secluded mountain stream melts my butter too.

Point well taken! Benny has supposedly already spent $160,000.00 trying to fix this problem and I think that is the tip of the iceberg. My concern is that, when everyone is finished fining and suing him, will he have enough money to fix the problem. I do not want to hurt this guy. I want to hold his feet to the fire and make him fix the crisis he created. He has endangered the gem in the crown that is our Natural State.

I tie them in size 10 because I can cast them with a four weight. I use small chenile and over size hackle. That gives me a larger hook gap but I still have the look of a large bug. I have been tying them for twenty years the copper flash shows up well in off color water. I must say that the copper bead is a relatively new development. Give them a try!

With 100 degree heat in Oklahoma, Southwest Power is running more water than they have in a year. This is good news if you like to fish from a boat and not so good if you like to wade. On Monday, I had a client that wanted to wade. We launched my boat at the Rim Shoals Boat Ramp and motored up to Red Bud Shoals. We waded out and fished Copperheads (brown woolly buggers with a black tail, brown hackle, copper bead and copper flash) and olive scuds size 18. We caught plenty of fish and had the river to ourselves. We tried hoppers and soft hackles with no luck. All in all a very good day.

Welcome to the area. I apologize for taking so long to respond to your posting but I have been guiding non stop for the last few days. The best way to familiarize yourself to fishing in the area is to join the North Arkansas Fly Fishers. We are a Federation of Fly Fishers affiliated club and offer an array of options. We meet on the third tuesday of every month at the Van Matre Senior Citizen Center in Mountain Home at 7:00 PM and you are cordially invited to attend. We have planned fishing outings every month, classes and speakers at every meeting. It is a great place to ask questions or meet a fishing buddy.

My daughter went to college in Knoxville and over the years I have fished there often. The first thing to note is that this is totally differant from fishing the San Juan. The fish are much smaller and less numerous. That said, it is a wonderful place to fish. Miles and miles of beautiful mountain streams and native Brook Trout. If you are willing to walk a mile or so you can find solitude something missing on the San Juan. The fishing is tricky. The fish are spooky and wild. This is challenging dry fly fishing! I love it. My wife and I were married on the bank of the Little River in the Smokies and go there every chance we get. Stay in Townsend Tennessee. Leave Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg alone. Check out Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area on the little River. Little River Fly Shop is a great place to check out conditions. I once backpacked up Hazel Creek Trail. It was an incredible adventure!

Last night, I sat and talked to my friend Leon Alexander. He is a member of the Norfork Planning Commission and has been the key whistle blower in the continuing saga of the pollution of our beloved Norfork River by Benny Doyal, the irresponsible developer of Norfork Overlook Estates. Last friday we had a five inch rain event in the Norfork area. The resulting deluge washed away all of the silt fences and erosion controls that had been erected to correct the devastation that had occurred on the site by Mr. Doyal in his illegal development of the tract in the proximity of the fragile ecosystem we know as the Norfork River. The result was that the dams on the sediment basin failed and tons of topsoil poured into the Norfork. All of the Hydromulch that had been applied to the mountain side was washed away. As a result of citizen complaints, an inspector from ADEQ visited the site on Monday to review the damage. He issued a memorandum that said that Mr Doyal was in violation of an emergency order issued in May to cease polluting the Norfork River. In an article in today's Baxter Bulletin Mr Doyal claims that he was in compliance with the order and his work had been approved by the ADEQ. ADEQ has not issued a stormwater permit for the site. Mr Doyal says that the rain event was overwhelming and the pollution will occur everytime that a rain like that occurrs. This is not acceptable. It is obvious that Mr Doyal is trying to do as little as he can. It is my opinion that Benny has committed a crime and must be held accountable. He must be required to fix the problem and should pay damages to the State. He is perilously close to destroying the most precious asset we have. The Norfork is the absolute best Trout Stream in the area and one of the best in the world. Word on the street is that TU has mailed an intent to sue. I hope they have. I generally want to give anyone the benefit of the doubt but that time has passed. It is time to get serious with this guy. I think he needs a wake up call!

Phil, It very much depends on how much and when they generate. Right now they are generating for a limited time in the afternoon which gives you plenty of wading opportunities all day. When they are generating more water for longer periods of time then I will boat. The Little Red is a smaller body of water than the White and can be tricky to float. I much prefer wading it.

It sounds like you are planning to hit all the right places. The generation pattern is to run some water each afternoon. I would fish up by the dam in the morning. My suggestion would be the catch and release section. It has a great population of wild brookies. Fish soft hackles (the red butt)and sowbugs. In the afternoon, try Cow shoals it has a lot of browns (that is where they spawn). I like to walk either down stream or up stream to get away from the crowds. My favorite spot to end the day is Swinging Bridge. I generally fish down stream. I like red asses, sow bugs and olive woolys. This is where I caught my first dry fly hatch. A spectacular caddis hatch on mothers day.

I use the Turn On indicators. They are a two piece foam indicator with a rubber band holding them together. They can be added after you tie on a fly (try that with the tooth pick kind)and can easily adjusted for differant depths. I use the big ones because I can see them. They are expensive ($1.50 each)but I think they are worth it.

Cotter's Big Spring recently underwent a major redo by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and believe it or not the flow was increased. The AG&F tapped into some local springs to increase the flow. It is spring fed and very much affected by the water table. We are in the middle of a drought. It is still the best place to cool off on a hot summer day. It was established as a catch and release area like Dry Run Creek. Unfortunately the very problems we are talking about erratic flows plus warmer water temperatures (Crooked Creek is a warm water stream)will never allow it to reach the level of Dry Run Creek which is sustained by all of the discharge of the National Fish hatchery.

The heat is producing greater demand for electricity to run air conditioners and for cool water to cool the lower White so both dams should be active this week. to Predict generation look at the weather report for Oklahoma. If the hot weather continues they will generate.

There are some situations where you have wild trout that will be easily spooked if the detect any movement. I do not feel that is the case around here because we have so much pressure they are accustomed to seeing a lot of anglers. While they may be spooked at first, after a while you become part of the scenery. In fact around here in the catch and release areas some surprisingly large trout will hold just down stream of you and wait for you to kick up some food. The San Juan shuffle or Taney shuffle is a killer technique but not very sporting. What you are talking about is wild remote streams like those in the Smokey mountains where very skittish wild trout will disappear for hours if they see you. The locals up there wear camo and crouch behind rocks to make a presentation. The San Juan gets plenty of pressure and the only time you will be on your knees is when you are praying for some cooler temperatures.

There is no typical condition. Every day is differant. I never know what to expect when I wake up every morning. I would encourage you to rent a white river boat rather than try and make something else do. I teach a river boat safety course at the FFF Southern Council Conclave every year and I have heard some real horror stories.When in doubt use the best boat for the circumstance and do not take chances. You only have one life. Make it last.

The extra protection on waders is most useful when you are doing a little bushwhacking to get to more remote sites. This is something that I do. As far as getting on my knees, the only time I do this is when I am fishing up in the Smokies. I have fished the San Juan and it is incredible. Possibly the only place that I have fished that I thought was as good if not better than the Norfork.

I would recommend a traditional White River Jon boat. They are twenty feet long and generally run fifteen horse power out board motors. This section of the river fluctuates a lot and can be quite low at times. I observed someone launch a bass boat at rim shoals a couple of years ago. He terrorized the other anglers for about thirty minutes before he hit a rock and took out his transom.

The same guy, Guy King was the center of controversy before and is at the center now. The fight is now being led by the friends of the White and Norfork (Crooked Creek is a major tributary). Alas Dave and Emily moved to Oklahoma a few months ago.

This is a sad state of affairs. We discussed this at the Cotter Chamber of Commerce and North Arkansas Fly Fishers. The local progress is due to our pristine lakes, rivers, and creeks. If we allow them to be destroyed progress will cease.

The rule of thumb (which the chart on flyflinger.com appears to be based on)is that the river rises about four miles an hour. I estimate that it drops about two miles an hour. The Home Waters book has the river mileage of all our local streams in it. With this imformation you can figure which section is fishable. I find that the generation charts on this website are very helpful because they tell you exactly how much water is discharged and when. 1000CFS is very differant from 3250CFS. If you call the dam and they tell you one generator is on, it could be either number or anything in between. There are other factors including rainfall and flow from creeks and tributaries that should be considered. If you are down stream from the Norfork you have to consider flow from it. Whenever you go through this process err on the side of conservatism. Whenever you are on the water be careful and constantly monitor the water level. Be safe!

That depends on the level of generation. At low levels, say 1000 CFS it gets even better. The problem is that they can crank it up to 7000 CFS without warning. I consider it unsafe to wade with any generation because the water level can change guickly. If you choose to fish under these conditions do so with a clear plan for escape and keep your eyes and ears open. You might even consider a PFD. I was walking out when the water came up last week and I fell in. I had studded boots, a wading staff, and almost thirty years of experience on this river. Be careful the Norfork can be a cruel mistress.

I took a client to the Norfork yesterday. it was my first trip with him and he is fairly new to fly fishing. We got to the river about eight o'clock. The first couple of hours were slow and he took a bit of time getting accustomed to high sticking nymphs. After fishing small nymphs with limited success, I tied on a worm brown san juan worm. On the first drift, we hooked a twenty four inch male rainbow in full spawning color. After a spirited fight we finally landed him. On the next drift, we hooked up a twenty inch cutthroat. He fought harder than the bow, but we prevailed. We caught two more fish on the worm then nothing. We switched to a size eighteen olive scud and the fishing got hot. We started tagging one fish after another (probably in excess of twenty five good heavy trout). The biggest was a twenty one inch cutt. The fishing was so good we decided to fish through lunch and decided not to stop untill the water came up. About two PM the water came up and fast. We returned to the access and leisurely ate lunch. We packed up and spent the rest of the day at Rim. It was good but nothing like the Norfork that day.

My wife, Lori, her sister, Terri and I went to Rim Shoals in the afternoon. I spent most of my time working with Terri as she is new to fly fishing but still managed to catch maybe a dozen mostly on a size twenty olive scud. Terri landed eight on the same fly. Mean time Lori was absolutely kicking butt with an olive woolly bugger. She landed about thirty fish. The largest fish was maybe fifteen inches. About four oclock my brother Dan showed up with a fishing buddy, Larry. When Lori, Terri and I left, Dan started fishing the water Terri and I had been fishing all afternoon. He pulled out a twenty four inch brown on an olive scud. Maybe we should have stayed a little later.

My wife lori is an avid fly fisher, liscenced guide, and has taught several ladies fly fishing classes and fly casting classes. She fishes with the Winston Joan Wulff favorite and loves it. She is about five foot five and weight appropriate. She finds most grips too large. I bought her a nice sage and the sanded down the grip untill it fit her hand. This is an option. If you were to consider a custom rod look at the grip on the Joan Wulff favorite. It is awesome. Designed by the top female casting instructor in the world specifically for women. Need I say more.

Good question! I never noticed that. I do know that they are an important source on the Spring. Let me do some learned research.

I talked with my friend Leon Alexander about the project. He is the treasurer for the Southern Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers and lives very close to the river. He has been very active in monitoring the situation since day one. He reports that substantial progress has been made to mitigate further run-off problems. There are silt fences, settling pools and they have seeded the area with grass. Of course none of this equals the pristine enviorment that existed before and there is still a lot of silt in the river. A recent article in the Baxter Bulletin noted that the Baxter County Zoning and Planning Commission was considering requiring storm water plan approved by ADEQ before issuing a construction permit. Let's hope they do!