John Berry Fishing Report 8/06/2008

[John Berry]

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 8/06/2008

We have had a week with no rain and soaring temperatures. The reservoir levels on the White River continue to fall. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam fell one and four tenths of a foot to rest at thirty two and seven tenths feet above power pool of 654.00 feet. This is eight and three tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Up stream, Table Rock Lake fell one and eight tenths of a foot to rest at five feet above power pool or eleven feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell five tenths of a foot to settle at seven and three tenths feet above power pool or two and three tenths feet below the top of flood pool. The pattern on the White has been to run all eight generators around the clock with high flows both day and night. While these flows made for excellent boating, there have been few safe wading opportunities on the White. Norfork Lake has fallen one and three tenths of a foot to rest at nineteen and three tenths feet above power pool of 552.00 feet or eight and seven tenths of a foot below the top of flood pool. The pattern has been to run two generators with occasional brief periods of no generation at night. This made for some limited wading conditions at night.

The story during the past week has been the heat. With temperatures soaring into the high nineties and hundreds, the best fishing was early in the morning. It was just too hot at mid day to stay out there. There is no shade in a river boat. The late afternoons were bearable and no where near as productive as the mornings. For those willing to bear the heat, the fishing has been excellent, particularly in the mornings.

The upper river from Bull Shoals Dam, through the State Park down to Cane Island Shoals has been a real hot spot. The better fishing is in the morning when it is much cooler the water flows are generally a bit lower than in the afternoon. Most are caught on midge or worm patterns fished under an indicator with a lot of weight to get it down to the bottom. Hot flies have been black zebra midges with silver wire and silver bead, San Juan worms in bright colors (cerise, hot pink and red). Many anglers were reporting success fishing sowbugs.

There have been several reports of larger fish being caught on streamers. Cast to the bank and vary your retrieve to figure out whether they want it fast or slow. Also work weed beds, drop offs and other structure. The hot new pattern has been Jim Mengle’s Ozark Sculpin. This is a fly combining a copper cone head nose, deer hair head, pheasant feather body and rabbit strip tail. You need to fish it on a sink tip or full sinking line to get it down to the bottom. Jim gave me one the other day and I cannot wait to try it.

The section from Wildcat Shoals to Cotter is producing well. There is still quite a bit of pressure here. The hot flies are trout crack, sow bugs, and zebra midges and of course brightly colored San Juan worms.

Another hot spot has been the Rim Shoals Catch and Release section. It has received a bit more pressure lately but it is no where near crowded except at lunch when a lot of guides pull in for lunch. With the shaded picnic tables and porta potties this is a great place to beat the heat for a few minutes.

The Norfork is not fishing as well as it has recently probably from increased boat traffic. Many people think that with only two generators it is easier to fish and navigate than the White River with eight generators. The reverse is true. The Norfork is much narrower and there are some channels around islands that are fairly tricky to negotiate. The White is very broad and there is generally plenty of room to navigate around obstacles and avoid other boaters.

Dry Run Creek is still producing some really big fish. This has been the most comfortable place to fish in the twin Lakes area. The narrow valley and heavy tree cover help keep the temperatures on the creek several degrees cooler than any where else around. Wet wading in the creek has been the ticket to beating the heat. The hot flies have been sowbugs and San Juan worms.

Practice water safety and always check conditions before you leave home.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over twenty five years.