Zack Hoyt

Beaver Lake Tailwaters near Eureka Springs, Ar Bull Shoals Tailwaters near Mtn Home, Ar Norfork Tailwaters near Mtn Home, Ar North Fork of the White River north of Mtn Home, Ar(in Missouri) Lil Red River in central Ark There are a few more.....others will chime in. You also have about a half million smallie streams.

Fishing from a boat is one of the better options when water is high. They still put canoes in when they are generating as well. I went out Friday evening for a while and tore them up. With little to no flow, streamers are a good option. If you are spin fishing, I have done very well on a small tube jig. Swing by the event and I will have a few plastics for you to try. Just reemmber the special reg area is from the Bathouse to Parker(no live, scneted, soft plastics).

So you would rather the guide up his price and more than likely not put forth the effort it took to earn the tip?

For the most part you can get a decent idea when generation will be by checking this site: http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx With water backed up from Table Rock like it is, there is very little wadable water to speak of when they are not genning. It gets tougher when they gen. That being said, you can still fish from the banks at the Dam Ramp, Bathouse access, and Parker Bottoms. Gen scedule has been low water most of the day then generation in the evening. As long as we dont get hammered with rain, it should stay that way. Not to mention it being fre fishing eekend, they try to keep generation low. We are having a fundraiser at the parking lot below the dam next weekend. Swing by and see us. We are doing silent and live auctions, etc. Ask for Zack or look for the guy who looks like an overgrown leprechaun.

Welcome to OA. Heard you did ell fishing this weekend.

Rim Shoals Resort does the water taxi service. http://www.rimshoals.com/dock%20services.htm As far as warm water.....Crooked Creek in on the outskirts of Flippin as well as the Buffalo River. Both are pretty canoe friendly.

The crew fished Beaver taiwlaters Sunday. Water was still pretty high and there was very little flow. Fish werent overly active and seemed very skittish. Probably due to the overabundance of boat traffic. Indicator fishing brought some fish to the boat. Very subtle takes. And I quote "almost have to set the hook before they hit the fly". Dark streamers did pretty well fished fairly slow. Fish were definately schooling. Would be into fish for 20-30 minutes and the nothing. Saw a handful of VERY healthy rainbows. Walleye were up and laying on the bottom. An interesting side note.....saw a few craneflys on the waters surface as well as the normal midges.

I always figured Red for more of a Dora the Explorer guy....... Hoping to get up your way in the next week or so. Feel like a float Russ??

MEant to post this and totally forgot. I have it setup for all the rivers around here. Set the tollerance at anything above 1.2ft so I get a level update every day. Thanks for posting.

What size is the smallest ippet you use in your leader setup? Might be your tippet is too small to turn over your weighted fly....giving it a serious hinge effect instead of a nice loop. I rarely go smaller than 2x-4x on my tippets. When throwing lake flies I go a bit larger. Just a thought. Edit: We are all amateurs.....whether we admit it or not. Fly fishing is a sport of opinions. What works for me might not do a thing for anyone else or it might help someone.

Let's take a step back......what part of your 7.5' rod's casting do you not like? Which TFO rod is it? What type of flies are you tossing? In my experience, alot of TFO's(minus the TiCR series and Axiom) are a med. to med-fast rod. Over lining a med rod could really slow the action. If said rod doesnt have ample butt strength to begin with, it will fold during casting. Basically you wont be getting the smooth cast and landing you are looking for and also it will limit your distance. Also it will take forever for your rod to load properly.....compared to what you might be used to. Just wanting to make sure we troubleshoot the basics before you jump into a whole new setup(lord knows we all need more rods ).

This is straight from the AGFC website: Beaver Lake Tailwater A fishing license and a trout permit are required to retain trout from any state waters or to fish in Beaver Lake Tailwater from Beaver Dam to boundary signs at Houseman Access. Licenses or permits are not required for children under 16. 2010 Regulations White River Beaver Tailwater: White River from 100 yards below Beaver Dam to boundary signs at Houseman Access. A trout permit is required. Anglers may use no more than one fishing rod or pole and must attend it at all times. No other devices may be used to catch fish other than as specified for the paddlefish-snagging season. Beaver Tailwater Slot Limit: From Beaver Dam to boundary signs at Houseman Access. Trout from 13 to 16 inches in length must be released immediately and may not be in possession in this area. Only one fish exceeding 16 inches long may be kept. Bait fishing allowed only with a single, barbless hooking point (barbed-shaft baitholder hooks allowed). Beaver Tailwater Special Regulation Area: Artificial lures only area/no bait zone. Approximately 0.5 miles below Beaver Dam to approximately 100 yards upstream of Parker Bend Access as indicated by signs. Only artificial lures with a single, barbless hooking point shall be used. Natural or scented baits are not allowed. Chumming is not allowed. Paddlefish Snagging Season: From Beaver Lake Dam, (from the Corps of Engineers “No Fishing Beyond This Point” sign downstream) to the first Corps boat ramp on the left descending bank: From April 15 to June 15, snagging game fish is legal. Snagging must be discontinued once two trout have been taken. Snagged fish may not be released. http://www.agfc.com/fishing/fish-management/trout_plans/places_trout/beaver-tail/beaver-tail-regs.aspx Powerbait, worms, marshmellows, corn, etc will all work. Articulated crank baits and spoons also do well. Check with Bryce there at the Dam store. He is a wealth of information.

I did a 9' 6wt. One other option you might look into is a line with a tad heavier head. I know when casting from a setting position or from a boat, false casting can be your enemy. The heavier front head will allow you to "shoot line" a little easier and turn over flies with ease. I did the Rio outbound Short on my rod, but there are Clouser, Bass, etc lines. Also the extra length over your shorter rod helps with roll casting, setting the hook, and castability on a 9ft rod. As far as rods, I am very partial to most of what TFO makes. Skimping on price on a rod might put you in a worse position than you are now. Just a thought.

I recently purchased a TFO 6wt Pro for smallie and larger trout streamers. I did some research on what line would be best suited for this. I am a Rio fan, so I looked at the Clouser, Bass, and Rio Outbound. I was looking for something that I would be able to cast pretty easily at shorter distances but still be able to punch out there in the wind. There is not alot of diff in these lines for the average caster(me). I opted for the Outbound Short. It seemed to have the best taper for repeated short distance casting, but also had a nice taper to the running line so it could be shot a longer distance. The nice thing about the Outbound is it is specifically designed for a double haul approach with no false casting. This is a blessing for leaded flies......false casting seems to attract the fly to the shoulder/neck/hed area. This is definately heavier than a normal 6wt line.....in fact it feels almost like a 7wt. This is good for slowing down the slightly faster action rods popular today. An added perk was the line, while being larger in diameter and weight, was still able to tie on a nymph and idicator rig and cast it out there in pretty windy conditions. Figured with all the smallie and streamer junkies out there, this might help someone. Definately let me know your thoughts on the Clouser, Bass, and any other streamer-esqe line you use.

I have a 3wt, but if there is wind, it is almost useless. A tad heavier line helps, but then you may as well bring a 4 or 5wt. I use a 6wt on the very windy days or when chunking streamers. Put a Rio Outbound short on it to help turnover the buggers. I have gone down after dark a few times, but not as often as I should. The bigger fish(be it rainbow, brown, or other) do tend to feed more at night. Drop me a line next time you are over and want to do some night fishing. I can bring the drift boat and row up to Parker Bottoms and drift back down.

It has been pretty tough fishing. The "water was down" in your second sent made me chuckle.....the only nice part about them generating is it gives the Tailwater a little current. It is still about 3' above optimum wading. We swapped over to streamers and long leaders or sink tip. It is gorgeous down there this time of year.

My favorite stretch is Wildcat to Cotter. Lots of good fishing. Rocks, weed beds, good current. It is also wadable in alot of places up to two units.

Hey CM, sorry for the delayed response. The goat trail has some serious erosion. Mike at Riversaide said he wouldnt even take his big Suburbans down there. Asked if it was City, County, or State ROW and he just laughed. Said maintenance had been done by the locals for a while. Kinda sad....I love fishing that stretch from 62 to Grandview.

The water is still a bit high for most fly fishing. It is at 6.88 feet. water temperatures are in the 65 - 72 degree range. Spin fishing with soft plastics and heavy weights is working.

Water levels are at 5.16 feet and slightly off color. This is about 1.5 feet over the best water level for fly fishing. Spin fishing with tubes and lizards on the bottom are working. Best colors are watermelon red and green pumpkinseed.

Water levels are still high in the mid section around Yellville. The level is 14.12 feet, 1.5 feet over the low water bridge at Kelly's. The water is slightly off color and the temperatures are around 65 - 72 degrees. Larger plastics such as brush hogs and tubes fished along the bottom are working in green and brown colors. Water is too high to fly fish in the mid sections, but from Pyatt and above fishing is good.

The tailwater level is high from Table Rock Lake being backed up and there is very little flow. The TW level is 918 feet, about 3 feet over normal. There is not much wading available except near the dam. Some type of watercraft will get you to many other wading spots. The best flies have been black/silver zebra midges and charcoal gray beadhead scuds. Spin fishers have had luck with Rebel minnow patterns in Rainbow or brown trout colors.

The lake level is 559.81ft, 7.8ft above power pool. Generation has been for approximately 8 hours a day which allows for some low water wade fishing. Nymphing with various patterns is the most productive method. Scuds, sow bugs, midge, caddis and mayfly patterns can all be fished with success. Look for insects emerging or observe how fish are feeding to help determine which fly to fish.

The lake level is 665.01ft, 11 feet above power pool. Generation has been around the clock with 3 units. Conditions are great for drift fishing with some wading in certain areas. Various caddis patterns are still working including BH Caddis, Z-Wing Caddis, Partridge & Green soft hackle and Elk Hair Caddis. Sulfur mayflies should start hatching soon so various mayfly nymphs will work including BH Pheasant Tail, Copper Johns and BH Hare's Ear. Streamer fishing with sink-tips should also be part of your arsenal.

Just rigged up a new 6wt for such fun. Need to get the boat out there.