Col Ron

I'm glad you took the time to write it. I use similar on the White and it also works well. The White in the catch and release has been very spotty, unless you are in the "kiddy pool" just down river of the shoal on the Baxter County side. In the kiddy pool, wholly burgers always work well. Thanks for the information Phil. Col Ron

Jason: I love yellow perch. Can you give me more information on how and where? Appreciate it. Col Ron By the way, fished Pomme this last weekend with very good friends of ours. The boats were unbelievable and had little courtesy. FIshing was not good.

Saluki: I know your area well, my son graduated from Carbondale. I hunt in Giant City almost every fall, except last year. Tried Arkansas deer. I will be back in Giant City, two weeks before shotgun season with the bow. We caught several Smallies today, fishing for walleye which were 17 to 18 inches. Nice fish, immediately released. Colronguide.com

Mic, I concur. There are great people in public service. I did my best to serve the people of Illinois and the Illinois State Police for nearly 30 years. Colron

I wanted to pass along to you what I have been doing since I posted this topic. I have been in communication with Little Rock, Army Corp, who really listened and I wanted to take back my comments. They are listening and do care, about the users of the river system. A gentleman from the Army Corp called me after I sent him a long email about the problem and promised to look into the problem. 8 days ago, if you were below the B.S. dam, they tested the system for 4 hours, driving us nuts with the horn, but found some "issues" with the system. They thought they had it fixed, until this last Sunday, when the water was generated and no horn. I again talked to the A.C. on the call box on the Baxter County side. They ran tests again yesterday, starting up each unit, determining which automatic system was malfunctioning. I received a call today from Little Rock, stating they will not quit until the system is reliable. Secondly, the A.C. shared with me that they have had several high level meetings about rapidly notifying the users of the river. To my surprise, they are looking into a software program to text signed up users on cellphones when conditions change at the dam. I congratulated them for listening and to please press on and use whatever technology exists to inform as many people as possible. Nice job Corp, thanks for listening. Colronguide.com

That is an interesting twist. Related to them?

After reading about the death on Bull Shoals Lake, I was shocked at what I saw today on the White RIver, Baxter Cty side, at the boat ramp by the dam. A father, I presume, unloaded a plastic tub-is the best way I can describe it- had three molded plastic seats in it. About the size of a kitchen table. I was fishing with friends down stream about 100 yards from the ramp. Three kids, about 12 to 14 years old, wearing no life preservers, got in the plastic tub manned with three small wooden oars. No water was generating. As the three young kids drifted by us, I asked them if they had life preservers? The answer was no, with a smirk and mind your own business. They threw out an anchor about 30 yards down stream of us and started to fish with worms and live bait. My friend asked, what are you fishing with? They responded, worms and eggs. They were advised it was illegal, and reloaded their hooks with worms and continued fishing. Within an hour the water was suppose to go up to 2 or 3 generators. Fortunately, I had the Conservation Police phone number on my phone and quickly called them. An officer arrived as fast as he could from Mountain Home. He was able to get them out of there before they turned the water on, fortunately. How ignorant can these parents be? Signs all over, no bait, power bait, etc. And especially putting these three young kids in harms way with no preservers. Here's my sign, "Stupid". I don't blame the kids, I sure hope the parents get a hefty fine to dent their thick skull. Colronguide.com

Agree to all the comments, relax, most are just making a joke. Bottom line is, August temps in June = poor fishing..Period. I would suggest not wasting to much fuel, from the dam to Lead Hill, which I fish, it doesn't matter, fishing is difficult for walleyes. Something we can't control. Normally, June and July are good, not this year. The water is only going to get warmer. Col Ron www.colronguide.com

Right now the fly to go to is the Pheasant Tail, followed by the 22's zebra midges. Also try some dry flies with green on the body, size 20's. White River Special also doing real well were you have a fast drift.

Thanks, nice job...

Details, Details, Details.......

I haven't made the switch over to tadpoles, may try them however. Leadcore is not the most easiest to work with, especially difficult when you snag a surprise tree or rock pile. Mattie, which tadpole do you use, #1 or #2, and how true is their depth chart?

Agree Mike, always hope you are doing well. I dropped down to 8# leader, added a little more flash, and are speeding along at about .5 mph.... The fatter the crawler the better, I bring in flats from Minnesota. Col Ron

To be quite honest, it is a little slow right now. Bass are biting like crazy, so much I can't keep them off the hook for a walleye to bite. The walleyes are showing up from 25 to 30 FOW.

Bear, I use to all the time on the call box by the gate that goes to the B.S. dam. The call now goes to Table Rock. Inside the dam, they have no idea if the horn goes off or not. Their response is always the same, "it is suppose to".

I don't cross the White river either, in the catch and release area, up by the dam, it is a real long haul and would certainly lead you to floating down the river. I am normally out in the middle someplace, and do head to the closest shore if I get surprised. Yesterday, they started to run water at 2pm, 3 hours before the predicted generation, once again, no horn. I don't even bother calling them anymore. Also, a point of information, there are no operating engineers in the Bull Shoals dam. All operations have been moved to Table Rock dam and everthing is operated through computers at the Table Rock site. Employees were transferred, I know two that sold their houses in the Lakeview area and moved to Branson. That really doesn't have a much to do with this problem. The Oklahoma idea is great, however, here, they have trouble blowing the horn even once. I really do think if they cared, they would have an advisory board made up of fisherpeople, conservationist from the public and "listen" to what they have to say.

Wow, I read all the comments, I can assure everyone that my upmost concern is with those I fish with. Aside from that, let's go on. A great thought was brought up between myself and the gentleman that does a fishing survey for DNR. His last question is, do you have anything to pass on to DNR or the hatchery, etc. Think about this one, I think it really has merit. Wouldn't it be great if Conservation along with an app engineer, developed a phone app that gave you a signal, beep, whatever, five minutes before they let the water go!!! Many, many of us carry our phone with us on the water. The system would cost practically nothing for the State, they could even make money on it by charging $3.00 instead of 99 cents or $2.99. No horns, telephone polls, microwaves needed. I think it would be great.... Col Ron

I was out yesterday on the White River with a client. The fishing was great until the wind really started to howl at over 20 mph, which was approximately 1pm. We all know, "Water conditions are subject to change". As we were throwing Anna Ks down stream, about 300 or 400 yards from the dam, someone yelled out, get out, they are running water. Due to the wind, it was impossible to here the generators turn on. NO HORN!!! We managed to walk out supporting each other, my client was shorter than I, the water went over her waders. We all know the predictions of water generation are not reliable, I can live with that. What we cannot live with, literally, is the operating engineers not sounding the horn. Unexcusable. When we finally reached the parking lot, I used the call box by the fenced in area at the gate my disbelief/ anger. The operating engineer said the horn "should have gone off", it didn't. He then said they turned one generator on, it shouldn't have given us much of a problem. I told him how ignorant his statement was and if they continue not to sound the horn, people are going to get killed. Bottom line, be very careful out there, if you are close to the dam, don't assume the horn will be sounded.

I concur, eyewitness is the best proof. Maybe there are a few blue gills in the 30 foot range to fill out my limit!!! Com'on Man, this year is not a good year, hopefully, next year will return to our normal fishing pool and water level. Get ready for deer season..... cr

I guess two people think it has been good, Mike and Red's-for all the tackle he has sold from all the snags, break offs and lures lost in the trees. I should clarify my remarks, I don't fish for perch, bass, white bass, brim, bluegills, catfish. Considering all of those I have hooked up with I guess this has been a Great year too. Ron

Thanks for the report, no surprise. With the high water, a HORRIBLE year, don't listen to any of the B.S. Hopefully we can start all over again next year with a couple of more inches on our targets. Col Ron

No, sorry Marty, don't know K T Y. Glad to share though. Ron

Ham, That's what we did. Went out yesterday, at 1pm, came back at 5pm. I have heard from several people the afternoon bite was going strong. Sure enough, about 3:30pm, things picked up quickly, marking many more fish in the 25 to 35 foot range and picked up 6 walleyes, largest was 21. Nice to be back on the water but I was not going to join the zoo the last weekend. Ron

All the ramps are still open, the problem is parking. I would not recommend putting in on any of the ramps until Tuesday. I looked at Lakeview Marina and State Park today, they were parking rigs way up by the dumpsters and in the campground. One boat at a time in and out is causing some quick tempers, along with a few drinks in the sun. Since all the parking lots are still under water, it is really a mess on the weekends. The ramp by the dam and visitors center was worse, absolutely full, NO place to park, or even turn around. Brown, the same way, walk a long way to your car, people tried to park there cars up by the houses. Good luck if you are going out before Tuesday. Ron

Your memory is short,,,Bull was 9 feet below normal pool in February/ March. No matter what the Corp does it is always wrong. I have no attachment to them at all, I do know this one was on all the rain we received, period, no management team could have prevented this one. In 18 days I had 15 inches of rain in my gage in Lakeview. Unpreventable.