Zack Hoyt

The river level is 10.93 feet and a flow of 119 cfs. This is about 1.5 feet below the low water bridge at Kelly's Access. Smallmouth fishing continues to be very good on the creek. Crawdad patterns bounced on the bottom along with Clouser Minnows (both Deep Minnows and the Darter series) and KC's Slider have been picking up some good fish.

The river is very low from the headwaters to the Highway 14 bridge. Much dragging will be experienced. After the bridge the water level is low but floatable. Be aware that you may have to drag your boat in places. River level is 2.64 feet and flowing at 139 cfs near Harriet at the Highway 14 Bridge.The really hot weather has pushed the best times for fishing to early morning and late evening. Soft plastics such as 4" Zoom lizards, baby brush hogs and tube baits in greens and brown shades are working best.Fly fishing is good with top water stuff in the evening and subsurface flies all other times. Crazy Dads, Clouser Minnows and muted colors of Sparkle Grubs are working best.

The river level is 2.44 feet and a flow of 31 cfs at the Grandview Bridge. This is normal for this time of year. Floating is still possible but there will be dragging involved. The fishing has been consistent with soft plastics with a Zoom 4" lizard in green pumpkin or watermelon red working best. Fly fishing with smaller flies (sizes #4-#10) will get you as many sunfish as you care to catch. Popping bugs, streamers and San Juan worms are the best bets for sunfish on a fly rod.

Beaver Lake level is 1116.82 feet which is almost 4 feet under Conservation Pool level. Table Rock Lake continues to be about a foot into the flood pool making some areas tough to wade at Beaver. Water releases have been in the afternoon with wadeable water most mornings. Gray bead head sowbug/scuds, Zebra midges in blue dun and marabou tail midges have been picking up a lot of healthy fish. Most days the fish are holding tight to the bottom. As the day goes on switch to darker beads if fly fishing and muted colored lures if you are spin fishing. The flash seems to be turning off the fish later in the day.

Lake level-551.25ft Generation has been starting around 2:00pm which is giving anglers plenty of low water wade fishing. Hoppers, hoppers, hoppers! Use a grasshopper pattern with a scud/sowbug as the dropper. Try various sizes &/or colors for the hopper. Some days they'll go for a size 4 yellow and other days it might be a size 12 tan. Some suggested hopper patterns to try are; Chubby Chernobyl, Rainey's Grand Hopper, Charlie Boy and Dave's Hopper.

Lake level: 653.61ft. Bull Shoals lake is right at conservation pool, which is 654.0ft. Generation has mostly been around the clock with some low water early in the day, especially on the weekends. Generation has been averaging 1-3 soft units with some wadeable water. Hopper patterns seem to be part of the setup while fishing. Try a hopper/dropper rig with a scud/sowbug or zebra midge as the dropper. The hopper will be your indicator if you get a strike on the subsurface nymph. Varying the size and color of your hopper pattern can improve your success. Suggested patterns: humpback scud, BH Simple Sow, zebra midge, Rainy's Grand Hopper, Charlie Boy Hopper & Dave's Hopper.

Guys, Bobber is the real deal. If you get a chance to take a class from him, definitely do it.

Sorry on the slow reply. Looks like the awesome guys on this board have you covered. I second the canoe idea. Bryce there at the store and Spider Creek(same owner) will hook you up with everything you need. Canoe traffic can be hectic on the weekends, but the trout have been very healthy this year. Kings is very low and even though we might get rain this weekend, I would opt for the Tailwaters. And thanks to Wily and RPS for the name plug.....

I like going upstream of Hwy62. Downstream of 62 is very shallow for a long way.

Water is pretty darned low. Lots of dragging.

The lake level is 655 ft. just about a foot still into the flood pool. Water releases have been light in the morning and higher in the afternoon due to the heat and more a/c's being on. Nymph fishing has been the best with midges and sowbug/scuds ruling. Best colors are gray, tan or olive. There has been some top water action with midges and small grasshoppers. Try throwing a midge dry such as a Griffith Gnat to rising fish. Where there is grass near the bank try plopping a small tan or olive hopper pattern near the bank. As the water rises streamers are picking up a few fish. Throw a sink-tip or full sinking line to keep your fly down in the water column.

The upper and mid sections of the river are extremely to very low right now and the lower section is low with the level at Hwy. 14 being 2.84 ft. and 196 cfs. Late evening and early morning are the best times to fish. Take time for a swim in the middle of the day. Streamers such as Clousers and KC's slider are working very well. Use colors that mimic the naturals in the river - tans, olives, white and gray.

The river level at the gauge is 2.64 ft. with a flow of 61 cfs. This is low and floating is difficult in a lot of areas. Water temperatures are hitting the mid 80's in the afternoon. The best times for fishing are early morning and late afternoon/evening. Crawdad, minnow and topwater flies are all working. Make sure you are using flies big enough unless you want to catch a lot of sunfish. Clousers, Clouser darters and crazy dads are the best subsurface flies and poppers and sliders are the best top water flies.

The lake level is 1118.35 ft, just under the conservation pool of 1120.4 ft. Water releases are occurring early morning and afternoon with the heavier amounts being in the afternoon. Table Rock Lake is still above conservation pool making wading difficult in some areas. The fish are holding close to the bottom and are very spooky with the bluebird skies. Best fishing is occurring when there is a breeze to riffle up the water surface. Best flies are still midges, sowbug/scuds and very small Woolly Buggers. Gray and olive/brown are the best colors for the nymphs and olive or black are the best colors for the streamers.

Anyone who can attend this, dont think twice about it. It is a great weekend and an awesome experience. I HIGHLY recommend volunteering. Here are a few pictures from last year.

Welcome from the NW corner of the state.

Touching story and yes, fishing can be very therapeutic. This is the reason Project Healing Waters, Reel Recovery, and Casting for Recovery are so popular and do so well. I would offer up possibly tying flies as well. Doesnt require standing, and you are still able to keep your mind off all the other troubles.

Yum Vibra King Finesse Tube Yum Houdini Worm Yum Big Show Craw Yum Wooley Beavertail

We did an overnighter early last week. Hope to get a few pictures added soon. Clousers were doing very well if anyone is planning on tossing the fly rod.

Buffalo River - The river levels are in flux due to rampant rainfall. Make sure you keep an eye on the river level as water can rise quickly after a heavy rain. The usual suspects for soft plastics have worked recently - lizards, tubes and brush hogs in greens and brown colors. Crawdad crank baits have caught a few good smallmouth and spinner baits are wotrking also. Fly fishermen working the rocks and logs along the bank are picking a bunch of smallmouth and sunfish. Use crawdad, minnow and popping bug patterns. Work your flies close to cover.

King's River - The recent rains have pushed up the river to great fishing and floating levels. Fly fishing has been fantastic using crawdad and streamer patterns. Crazy Dads, Clouser Minnows, Woolly Buggers have been working very well for smallmouth, spotted bass and sunfish. spin fishermen are using 4" lizards and tube baits and picking up some better fish. the best colors are watermelon red and green pumpkinseed.

Beaver Tailwaters - Water releases have been in the afternoon as the day heats up and the a/cs crank up. The lake level is seady around the consevation pool level. The tailwater level is stil a bit high to Table Rock Lake being a couple of feet into flood pool. Wading can be a bit tough in a few places so watch your step. Zebra midges in gray, black and olive are good bets along with the scud/sowbug patterns. Tiny woolly buggers in black, olive or gray have been working. Spin fishermen using crank baits are having luck with Rebel brown trout patterns and Teenee Wee Craws.

These guys have killer deals on boats alot of the time. Plus the owners are great guys. http://www.ozarkmtc.com/

I can elaborate alot on the thought process of water management. I work with it on an everyday basis doing civil engineering. The diff is my mistake might cause excess water on the side of the road or a non-functioning drainage basin......theres affects alot more. The last few years have been a big fluke in the equations used. The COE on more than one occasion has said they are not there for recreation purposes. Anyone who has tried to get a dock recertified or anything knows that. Diamond City has had many meetings on this same subject many times. If you run your business on the basis of a natural resource......you are gambling. Floods, low water, etc are all added affects.

The river is getting low so be ready to drag some if you float. Fly fishing has been very good. Clouser darter patterns have pulled in many, many fish. Black/purple, black/blue, Ozark shiner and crawdad colors have been best. The Electric Chicken Clouser has worked also. Pine Squirrel zonker flies have worked in olive and brown colors. Popping bugs have fooled many sunfish. Big black woolly buggers with rubber legs have pulled in a few larger smallmouth. Spin fishing has been good with smaller stuff like 4" Zoom lizards in green pumpkinseed. Beetle spins are working also.