Jeff House

I am considering buying one of the new Waterdance Guide Packs from Fishpond and wondered if anyone out there has one and what you think of it? I don't currently own any Fishpond gear so any comments on quality of gear in general would be appreciated.

Although the majority of my time is spent nymphing on Taney, if the rises just get too numerous to handle I'll put on a dry. I've had mixed luck in these situations, sometimes the trout cooperate and I fool a few, while other times I can't even seem to get a look. The only dry that I have consistently done well with is what I would call a Parachute Midge. Nothing more than a small scud hook with a thread body (whatever matches the bugs at the time, but generally a light cream is my favorite) and a couple wraps of hackle or CDC on the top. I will often use a contrasting thread for a segmented body as to not add any weight to the fly. With a little fly dressing on the hackle or CDC this fly will ride partially submerged in the surface film imitating a midge trying to leave the water. While it can be a little hard to see in a choppy surface, it is often times the only dry that produces for me on Taney.

I have never been rude to anyone on the river before now and I'm not about to start even though it is frustrating. As I stated previously I have been known to politely explain the situation to people who I believe are shuffling because they don't know any better. The information has always been accepted politely the same way as it was given. As for assuming they are locals, I don't necessarily mean from Branson area, I guess by locals I'm incinuating that they aren't just tourists who are visiting Branson for the family vacation once a year. I fish Taney 2 sometimes 3 weekends a month and I see the same faces engaging in shuffling quite frequently. What city they are from is irrelevant. One more thing and I'm done with this topic. I by no means am a snobby flyfisherman who believes that my way of fishing is better than anybody elses, I started out fishing for trout with a spinning rod and bait and on occasion I still do if the circumstances warrant. I choose to flyfish because I like the challenge and the chase. I truly believe that shuffling is detrimental to quality fishing on any river or stream, but again, just an opinion of one person.

It would be nice to think that we live in a world where educating people about whats right or wrong would keep them from doing the latter. However, we don't live in that world. I agree that many people seen shuffling on Taney may not be aware of the bad situation that it creates and education may stop these people. Unfortunately the uninformed are not locals or regular visitors to Taney therefore only solving a small part of the problem. The majority of people I see shuffling have it down to an art form, have been doing this for some time and definitely know that it's frowned upon. My feeling is that most of the shufflers are frustrated locals who cannot catch fish in a sporting manner when the fishing gets tough. My advice, buy a book, read some fishing reports, ask your local flyshop for pointers........BUT DON"T SCREW UP MY FISHING BY SHUFFLING AROUND THE RIVER!!!!

As hard as a shuffling law might be to enforce at least it would get it into peoples heads that this is wrong. I wonder how many people go to Taney for the first time and see other individuals shuffling around the stream and just assume that it is an acceptable practice. I have been known to inform people that what they are doing is unethical. Generally they are people who don't understand that what they are doing is hurting the fishery and once informed they usually stop( at least while I'm watching!!). You can always tell the ones that already know that it's frowned upon by many because they are always looking around to see who's watching, these are the ones that I don't understand. I like to think that as a group flyfishers are conservation minded people who are able to enjoy the chase as much, if not more, than the catch.

Fished Norfork tailwaters on the 14th,15th and 16th. Only fished for a few hours each morning as my main reason for being there was spearfishing the lake. Water came on early on Friday so I only got a couple hours in but the fishing was good on #20 dk olive scuds. Nothing big but fish on almost every drift. Saturday and Sunday I fished until around 10:00 with no generation and the fishing was great. I fish Taney a lot but I sure enjoy the larger variety of trout in Arkansas waters (although I didn't catch a brookie all weekend). Caught a real nice 21" cutt on Sunday about 9:30, this was the biggest fish of my week fishing both Taney and Norfork for a few days. All weekend the small scuds in either a dark olive/ice dubbing or a gray/ice dubbing worked great for me. Was wondering for my next trip to Norfork if there is anywhere that produces good wading when they crank up the generators or if it's a boat or nothing at all?

While on vacation last week I fished taney the 8th, 9th and 10th. Waded the trophy area all 3 days until generation started late in the afternoon. Overall I'd say fishing was good but not excellent. Probably averaged 50 fish a day with 5 fish going over 18" ( but none over 20" )one of them being a fat 19 1/2" brown. Tried night fishing between about 10:00 and 12:30 on Friday night after I arrived and didn't catch a fish. I tried buggers, mohair leaches and even a white bunny strip streamer. I know some other folks have been doing well at night, I'm not sure what I was doing wrong (I'm new to this night fishing thing). Wondered if maybe it was too early in the night or if the 3/4 moon adversely affected the fishing? Now on to my main reason for posting. I saw more shufflers in those three days than I've ever seen before at one time. Even saw a dad teaching his son how to shuffle to bring the trout up to his feet. Saw one group (I've seen them before and I'm sure some of you have too) about 4 in the group standing shoulder to shoulder and working the North side of the river from outlet #2 all the way up to outlet #1. These guys look like locals, therefore ignorance of the situation is not an excuse. Do these people not realize that they are ruining the fishing for people around them or do they just not care? I heard lots of complaints about tough fishing from people on the stream, and when asked I tried to fill them in on what was working for me, even handing out some flies and palsa indicators. The bottom line is when you have numerous shufflers in an area they draw a large number of fish to their feet, taking them out of their natural feeding lanes. I realize that if shuffling were banned it might be a hard law to enforce but at least they would not be able to line up 4 deep and blatantly do it!! I'm sure this has been talked about numerous times on this forum but after witnessing it blatantly all weekend I just had to post. Has anyone talked to the powers that be about this issue?

I was wrong when i said the hook was a Mustad (although they probably have one too). The hook that I like to use for scuds and sowbugs #18 or smaller is a Daiichi #1140. It has a little wider gap and the offset that I mentioned yesterday. I really believe that those two things work together to result in more quality hooksets when using small flies.

If you catch half the trout that you get to strike then you're actually not doing too bad. When the trout are sipping those scuds (especially in shallow water) they are very quick on the take and even quicker to spit it out. No matter how quick you are on the strike you're only going to catch a percentage of those fish. One thing that I do that I believe makes a difference is I tie my smaller scuds on an offset hook. I can't remember the exact hook # off the top of my head , but it's a mustad scud/egg hook with a a slight twist on the point section. I really believe that when using scuds size #18 or smaller this offset results in more hooksets. I'll check the exact hook when I get home tonight and post tomorrow in case someone wants to know.

I don't fish Bennett but 2 or 3 times a year anymore but I grew up spending almost every weekend down there fishing. There are numerous good spots on the stream depending on how you like to fish. For dry fly fishing two of my favorite spots are the far bank directly below the spring (from the spring to the first handicap access) and then in zone 2 the far bank from the hatchery outlet down to the whistle bridge. An elk hair caddis in a size #18 or #20 will generally produce if any fish are rising at all. Another favorite dry pattern for Bennett is the renegade in a size #18 or #20, for some reason this fly always seems to bring the fish up. For nymph fishing the above areas are real good also along with these: directly below the bridge (which is right below the dam in zone 1) facing upstream and fishing the pockets of deep water that are in between the bridge pilings and then the stretch of riffles from there down to the corner. I have also done very well fishing from directly in front of the whistle bridge( zone 2)there is a deep hole right before the water runs through the whistles. For fly selection I have done well on just about anything that works elsewhere. I use the same scuds that produce for me on the tailwaters and have done very well but at times these trout park fish seem to prefer a bright attractor pattern over a "match the hatch" pattern. Brightly colored egg patterns and mini-jigs will always produce. If nothing else is working for you try something in a white (doesn't matter what) these fish at times key on anything white because it resembles the fish entrails which are readily available due to people cleaning fish in the stream. Hope this helps a little.

What size motor would be the best choice for tailwater fishing with one of these boats? I see that most of them are rated for a 25 HP limit, but would a 15 HP be sufficient for motoring against the current? Also was wondering about stability, I want the boat for flyfishing and wondered if a lean bar could be rigged in the front for standing up and casting?

Try sight fishing the edges with the same small scud patterns that are productive for you in the outlet area. I find that the fish along the edges in the shallow water are almost always staking scuds. I usually fish a size #20 or #22 scud with no weight and half a palsa indicator set about three times the depth of the water being fished. This can be a really productive method and it's also a lot of fun sight fishing to some of Taney's trophy fish. I generally try to stand on the bank and stay out of the water when possible also, this keeps the fish in their natural feeding lies and not at your feet.

Thanks to all for the info on the jon boats. I'm going to try and check out the internet site tonight at work. At this point I don't know exactly what I want, just kind of doing some research. I may be looking to go used after i see the new prices!! I've always just been a wading flyfisherman on our tailwaters but with these long hot summers we're having the SWPA severely limits my quality fishing time. Thanks again.

I am interested in a jon boat for fishing on the tailwaters in Arkansas and also Taney. I have seen the long river jons used extensively on the White river but havn't been able to locate a dealer or even find any advertisements for these boats while searching the net. Could someone give me some good brand names of these boats and where I might find dealers?

That's the kind of fishing report I like to hear. Sometimes even I can catch fish when it's that easy! Can anyone give me an idea of someplace to camp for a night or two in that area. I know that it's a holiday weekend and a lot of places are already full, so I was wondering if there were any out of the way places where we might still have a chance.

Thanks to all for the advice. I was wondering if there was anywhere I could get a good map of the fishing areas on the river. I have been below the dam before but have never fished Wildcat or Rim shoals. I fish a lot of #18 - #22 scuds and sowbugs on Taney, good bet on the White as well? What sizes of midges and copper johns are the most productive? I'm used to fishing pretty small stuff at Taney. Any certain midge pattern you would tye plenty of? What about this Trout Crack pattern I've read so much about? Thanks again for the helpful info. Tight Lines

I am trying to decide between fishing the White tailwaters or the North Fork of the White next weekend for a coouple of days. I am worried about the number of canoes on the North Fork though so kind of leaning towards the White. Does anybody have any suggestions? I will be fishing with a friend and his son. What are our chances of being able to wade below the dam over the weekend , ie. water flows? Any suggestions or other info would be greatly appreciated.

Just wanted to introduce myself as a new member on this site. I have used the site occasionally for fishing reports or info. I have two time consuming hobbies, one is scuba diving (thus the deepdivr75) and the other is fly-fishing for trout. I am from the Kansas City area but spend a lot of time at Table Rock lake where I have a pontoon boat at Indian Point (used for diving). I fish Taney on a pretty regular basis and can't say enough about the incredible fly-fishing in the Trophy area. I have fished both the Norfork and the White tailwaters but have yet to unlock the secrets of these two tailwaters as far as production goes. I suppose it's mostly a matter of not spending enough time on those waters to figure them out, so I'll be interested in any helpful info I can get about fishing these waters.