Zack Hoyt

Generation has increased from 3400 cfs on the 4th to 6500 cfs by the 7th through the 10th. High water tactics from a boat with nymphs and streamers is the better option. Fly selections include: San Juan worms (tan, pink & red), Egg flies (pink, orange & peach), copper johns (olive & black), Bh pheasant tails, Arkansas sow bug (tan & grey), zebra midge (black, tan & grey) all in sizes 10-16. Flies for streamer fishing include; wooly buggers, zonkers, slumpbusters and various sculpin patterns. Sizes 4-10. Look for shad to start coming through the generators and match these baitfish with various white streamers including; Arkansas bead heads, zonkers and Davy' Shad.

Heavy generation with flows averaging 6600 cfs most of the week have made fishing challenging. High water techniques from a boat is the only option. Drifting nymphs under a large indicator and split shot or fishing streamers with a fast sink-tip or full sinking line are two of the better techniques. Flies to try: egg fly (orange, pink or peach), San Juan worm (tan, pink or red), copper john, red fox squirrel nymph, humpback scud, simple sow bug and zebra midges all in sizes 10 - 16. Flies for streamer fishing include: zoo cougar, wooly buggers, slump buster, Arkansas bead head, Davy's shad and zonkers in sizes 4-10. Keep an eye out for shad to start coming through the generators and fish white streamers, either under an indicator or with various retrieves on a floating or fast sinking line. For safety, always wear your pfd during high water and maintain control of your boat at all times.

Heavy generation with flows averaging 22,000 cfs all week have made fishing from a boat the best option. High water techniques with nymphs drifted under a large indicator and split shot or stripping streamers with a fast sinking line two of the better options. Fly selection: Egg flies(orange, pink or peach), humpback scuds, sow bugs, copper johns, zebra midges, zoo cougars, wooly buggers, slump busters, Arkansas bead heads, Davy's shad and zonkers. Look for shad to start coming through and fish a white streamer, either under an indicator or with varying retrieved with a floating or fast sinking line. For safety during extremely high water, always wear your PFD and maintain control of your boat at all times.

Great pictures. You are a braver man than I......great looking boat as well. I am a tad partial to a Hyde.

Looks great Steve. We are working on updating ours as well. Looking forward to seeing you out on the water.

Hahaha. Was just catching up. I do a few Ginger soft hackles that I use copper for. As well as some smaller stonefly nymphs....no nymph pics currently. Also on a few crawfish imitations. It tends to lend itself to the orange/burnt orange color. Of course I really dont know that trout care a while helluva lot. Alot more goes toward presentation than fly IMO.

When I was boy we got the living hell beat out of us...and we turned out gran.........ok bad example.

There are definately times I will use copper.....just not alot.....and even less imitating a midge. Threadjack..... I honestly think the ribbing(attempt to make the segmented body stand out) goes alot farther than the bead color........in alot fo midge patterns. This is a whole other thread in itself.....lol. Threadjack..... There is alos the marketing aspect. Tungston and now colored beads are far more popular than the normal copper. Similiar to how we have got away from lead, but years ago it was very popular. Fly tying in its earlier stages was an art of matching as close as one could with what was avaliable. Copper was easily accesible and worked. Of course, tying and the surrounding understanding is a bit more subjective than even casting and rods.

Gotcha, gotcha. Forgive my dissetation. I did do a little research and grabbed some catalogs just to see what the mainstream had.......very few patterns tied with copper. None in the midge catagory......very interesting.

I prefer gold or silver/chrome on most of my midge patterns. I think copper tends to be a bit to dark under the water. IMO the head of the insects will have a slightly different color than the body.....case in point....why are alot of Brassie's tied with a gold bead head and copper body? I prefer the way a gold head or chrome head looks. I think they have just enough attractive properties to grab the fish over a duller copper head. Also, and just my thoughts, alot of insects will turn an amber to copper color when they die or are dying. I tend to see a dull copper when the insect has been dead a while. I wonder if the fish realize this and wont key in on it since most of the nutrients have already left the food source. As far as other midge patterns......I like using a RS2 or Mercury RS2 when I am doing a multi fly setup. Also a fan of the WD40....especially when they are sipping just subsurface.......just under a midge dry. That make any sense at all???

To me, it would be kin to walking out to Taney and if smoeone is fishing illegally.....walking up and punching them in the face, or if they were in the boat, attempting to sink it. I draw the line at forcefully imposing my will upon someone. This guy has a long history with Greenpeace....but they disowned him because he was far to radical. There was a very good article in the NY Times about him and his actions.

Not 100% sure how I feel about this. After the Commision threw anything the staff had to say about recent decisions out the window........what would make me think they would decide to act any different?? http://agfc.wordpress.com/ Public meeting January 11th in LR.

From the Harrison Daily Times..... Marble Falls district elects commissioners Staff Report Published: Thursday, January 7, 2010 6:08 AM MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls Sewer Improvement District elected commissioners during a community-wide public meeting at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, at The Hub Conference Center at Marble Falls. Commissioners include Donnie Crain, Vince Law and Valerie Honeycutt; only Honeycutt has previous experience as a commissioner. Crain estimated 25 people, residents and property owners, were at the meeting. During the meeting, former commissioners gave an update on the status of the sewer improvement district, the sewer system, and the options available to address the system’s current issues. One of the sewer improvement’s lift stations was disabled during the January 2009 ice storm and sewage has been flowing into a tributary of the Buffalo River, according to officials with the Department of Environmental Quality. Crain said the district is served by two lift stations. The lift station serving the motel and other facilities at the top of the hill continues to function. He said the disabled lift station was used by 20 chalets, including some that are not occupied full-time, a five-unit apartment complex and a 24-unit apartment building. Since the meeting, Crain said a letter was sent to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality notifying the state agency of the district’s new commissioners, which he called an important first step in bring the district into compliance with state authorities. The district is currently consulting engineers to develop a plan and necessary financing to address the system’s faulty lift station. Upon completion of the plan, the district will announce and hold another community meeting to present the plan and receive community feedback.

Summer if I remember correctly.

Water levels are very good in the middle section for fishing. Water temperatures are in the mid to low 40's. Lures on the bottom fished slow should pick up smallmouth. Water flows are just a tad high for fly fishing in the mid and lower sections.

Water levels are very good for floating and fishing. Water temperatures are in the low 40's. Any fishing you do will have to be very slow as the temperatures drop. Soft plastics and jigs are the best bet this time of year. Fly fishing will be tough unless you have a sinking line and heavy flies. You want to be on the bottom.

Generation has been erratic at best. Periods of lower water, followed by a releasing of larger amounts. Nymph tactics from a boat with San Juan worms, scuds, sow bugs, Pheasant tails and zebra midges (sizes 12 - 18) have been delivering good fish. Also try streamer fishing using wooley buggers, slump busters, zoo cougars and various sculpin patterns (sizes 6 -10). Concentrate on various bank structure such as boulders, root wads and lay downs.

COE has been generating for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evenings. The fishing is best between high water events. Try nymphing with small scuds, sowbugs, pheasant tails and zebra midges (sizes 14 - 20) using 6x or 7x tippet with a 9 to 12 foot leader. Use as small an indicator as possible in natural colors like white, blue or black to spook fewer fish. During periods of high water, drift fishing from a boat is the best option. Try high water nymph tactics with larger flies such as Chamois San Juan worms, scuds, sow bugs, zebra midges and pheasant tails (sizes 12 - 16). Concentrate your drifts along the slower current seams along channel banks and drop offs.

Welcome to the forum. Don;t discount all the killer smallmouth action in your backyard. Looking forward to hearing the reports.

Truly hate to hear this Mike. It is bad enough seeing small businesses going down, but a fly shop is an institution.

SO3, my "real" job is doing civil engineering.......so I can preach on erosion control measures all day!! Suffice it to say, there is absolutely no reason he should have been out of compliance. Especially after what happened with the norfork last year.

This is the Aug 2008 agreement. http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/ftproot/Pub/WebDatabases/Legal/CAO/LIS_Files/08-093.pdf

ADEQ sues developer over run-off By DWAIN LAIR dwainl@harrisondaily.com Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 6:08 AM YELLVILLE – The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has filed a lawsuit seeking a quarter-million dollars in damages from a Marion County land developer. According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 30, in Marion County Circuit Court, the ADEQ is suing Jerry K. Ott for a 20-acre subdivision, The Bluffs at Rivercliff, that is being developed on a steep hillside immediately downstream from Bull Shoals Dam. The lawsuit says runoff from the subdivision drains into an unnamed tributary that empties into the White River. “Money damages cannot adequately compensate the people of the State of Arkansas for the damage being caused to the White River and other waters by continuing, unchecked sediment runoff from the subdivision,” the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit says an ADEQ inspector initially discovered environmental violations of state regulations for erosion and sediment control during a Feb. 19, 2007, visit. At that time, the lawsuit notes that Ott was operating under a permit for a small development under five acres. The lawsuit said the violations continued at inspections July 9, 2007, and Aug. 7, 2007. The ADEQ alleges the construction site had grown to 15 acres of disturbed areas, and Ott didn’t have an appropriate general permit. The lawsuit said corrective measures were in place later that fall, and a large site general permit was issued Nov. 21, 2007. But inspections Dec. 19, 2007, and Jan. 9, 2008, found effective sediment and erosion control measures had not been installed or maintained. The ADEQ instituted administrative enforcement proceedings, which were settled by a consent administrative order dated Aug. 6, 2008. An exhibit in the file shows the permittee agreed to pay a civil penalty of $9,850 and correct the violations. The lawsuit allowed Ott to pay the penalty in $500 payments, and it says he made two payments in November 2008. The lawsuit says Ott failed to make any more payments or comply with terms of the consent order and bring the subdivision into compliance. The lawsuit says Ott still owes $8,800 from the original consent order plus $221,000 for violating the consent order, an amount the lawsuit claims is continuing to accrue at the rate of $500 per day until he complies with the consent administrative order. The lawsuit also seeks pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and costs of collections, including attorney’s fees. The lawsuit alleges that sediment-laden runoff is a major source of water pollution, and turbidity from water runoff “particularly affects trout populations in the state's rivers and streams.” The lawsuit filed by attorney Matthew K. Brown states, “a nuisance exists where the conduct of one landowner unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of lands of another and includes conduct on the property which disturbs the peaceful, quiet and undisturbed enjoyment of nearby property.”

From my understanding, part of the slab is going to be left on either side. They are just taking a hunk out of the middle......so to a point the water flow is still restricted. this will also cause gravel build up on both side of the remaning concrete "bridge" which should mean easier access for boaters to put in and take out. I haven't been up there recently to see how the construction goes.