Blue Ribbon Fly Shop February 23, 2010 Fishing Report

[Blue Ribbon Fly Shop]

White River - February 23rd, 2010

RECORDED: 40 ° FISHING: Great

Life has certainly been busy in our little corner of the world as of late; it seems as though the majority of people in this country start looking for relief from their cabin fever in late February and early March. The fly shop has been peppered with inquiries, guide bookings and requests for information. It is nice to see that the interest in fly fishing that really exploded in the early 2000’s is coming back strong. There really are few other activities that provide so much enjoyment at a relatively low cost. The fly fishing industry is focused on creating high-quality equipment at affordable prices, so there has never been a ‘cheaper’ time to get involved in the sport.

Lake levels continue to drop slowly, despite near-constant generation at Bull shoals and Norfork Dams. We have had some rain of late, but nothing to cause flooding and major runoff. Because it looks like the weather will be dry for awhile, we will most likely start seeing wading opportunities open up this week. Norfork has started shutting down around noon just recently, and the water is staying low for most of the afternoon, so wading is already becoming a possibility. This trend on the Norfork just started, but as long as lake levels stay near power pool, there should be plenty of low water fun in store. I do not want to jump the gun, but maybe…just maybe, we are on the cusp of a dramatic shift in water conditions. There are scores of anglers chomping at the bit to get out there and wade, but there is no sense in me stressing out about something so out of my control like water flows. Regardless of what happens over the next month, I have to be ready to produce fish on all water conditions. Still, I wouldn’t mind some slow-paced, low water fishing about now – my motor needs a break.

I’ve been out on the water several times over the last week, and the fishing is really good on the upper White right now. The shad are not coming through, which is most likely a reflection of the warmer weather that we saw from the 18th to the 21st of February. The weather has cooled off significantly, so I seriously doubt that the shad kill is over – if that was the case, this would have been one of the shortest shad kills ever to occur. White streamers are still working at times, especially if the flow surges upward. The consistent shad pattern bite is on hold temporarily, but ‘standard’ high-water flies like San Juan Worms, Miracle Flies and eggs are really producing. I’ve also tried a bead head soft hackle as a dropper, and that pattern is also picking up plenty of chunky trout.

Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions about the upcoming fishing. March is typically an amazing month, whether the water is high or low. When the lakes are holding at or near power pool levels, releases become even more unpredictable, so be ready to jump from spot to spot based on current conditions if you come to the area for a trip. There should be some wading available on both rivers over the next couple of weeks, but Norfork will offer up longer periods of low water than the White will. The new brown trout regulations put into place just over a year ago are starting to show their merit on both rivers, so there are scores of browns in the 17 to 22-inch range ready to be caught. Our fisheries are by no means perfect, but at times like these, when decent conditions and hot fishing converge, there may be a no more fun place to fly fish in the country. Most folks are still looking at two or three more months before trout fishing is even a possibility, so we are truly lucky to experience incredible action all year long.

Blue Ribbon Fly Shop

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