DO low right now??

[Phil Lilley]

I've heard the Norfork Tailwater is not doing well right now- anyone know first hand?

[Guest Jim Traylor]

Phill,

The WQ guages don't look good. The lake is at a 28 year low and getting lower. The city of MT. Home is discussing how to get water out of the lake if it goes down another 3 feet.....

Jimmy T.

[Brian Wise]

Jim,

What do you mean by get water out of the lake? As in Mt. Home is going to use it?

Brian

[Guest Jim Traylor]

Use it for drinking water brian...

Jim

[Gabe Cross]

Although there is speculation on the oxygen levels on Norfork, I can say that in 6 years of reading the online gages, this year is the best with respect to DO (dissolved oxygen) in quite awhile. During high water, 5+ppm is the norm (4ppm is kind of a level they try to maintain on Norfork), and during low water I've seen 2.5ppm as the lowest reading lately. This may seem low, but I can remember 1ppm to .01ppm being the "norm" for several years. The Corp and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are doing what they can to keep levels as high as possible. This is why the lake is historically low: they've used releases to keep oxygen levels decent. Once the lakes completely "turn over", oxygen levels will escalate to 8-10ppm .

Now the water does seem greener than normal on Norfork for this time of year. This is a result of an algae-bloom in the lake (so I'm told). The water will clear up after the turn-over, and then all the excuses for slow fishing go out the window. Fishing is a little tough on the Norfork right now, but I think that's just fishing...it had to slow down at some point after an incredible year. Still, the fish are in great shape, and they are fighting strong most of the time...this doesn't happen during deplorable oxygen levels. Hope this helps.

Gabe