July 2018 Fishing Report

[Ham]

The White River below  Bull Shoals is fishing Great right now. I don’t typically enjoy fishing in the summer ; Crowds and slower than average fishing combine to ruin the fun for me. But for whatever reason, there are a lot of really nice fish in the water. I suspect the extended periods of generation due to springtime high water levels in BSL has had the fish feeding a lot and growing a lot. Maybe the new regulations are letting some larger fish stay in the river longer also. 

Lately, there has been higher generation during the heat of the afternoon, but dropping down to 2300 ish CFS the rest of the time. I love that water level ( roughly 2500 CFS) for many sections of the river. I can really work on them with Zig Jigs on 4 and 6 lb line. 

1/32 oz Zig Jigs have been doing most of the work lately and some 1/16 oz Jigs in the deepest and fastest stuff I am fishing. I haven’t even thrown the 1/8 oz Jig in quite a while. I’ve been starting with olive/ginger and have not needed to change colors all day. I throw the 1/32 oz on 4 lb P Line CX Premium and the 1/16 oz on 6 lb Nanofil with a 4 or 6 lb P Line CX Premium leader.  

The cherry on top for me is that I have found a couple “new” areas of the river to fish. I’m still working out some of the details, but they seem to be full of fish and set up well for the ways I like to fish. I’m not sure there is a bad section of the river to fish, but I do like getting away from the crowds and the boat traffic. 

I trust Kris Nault when he tells me the upper river has a much higher % of Brown trout, but I’m finding a few south of the Hwy 62 bridge. Still the vast majority of what I catch are Rainbow Trout. 

The Good Old Days are right now. Head to the White River and catch a bunch!

 

[Ham]

[Ham]

[Ham]

[Ham]

[Ham]

[Ham]

Hey Marty, 

The Long pole would work like a Champ. They bite all day long. The water level would likely be good all day. 

Just saying

[BilletHead]

25 minutes ago, Ham said:

Hey Marty, 

The Long pole would work like a Champ. They bite all day long. The water level would likely be good all day. 

Just saying

          Oh Man,

 Twist my arm why don't you . We have another buddy who had a good time with the long rod yesterday at Taney. He just had to text me with results and I am glad he did! Getting ready for the Western journey in a couple of weeks but may have to do a little wade trip next week on Mrs. BilletHeads day off. Camper goes on tomorrow and don't want to haul the boat all over with that on the truck. Thanks for sharing this Ham,

  BilletHead

[netboy]

4 hours ago, Ham said:

But for whatever reason, there are a lot of really nice fish in the water. 

 

Those are some nice ones Ham.

The new regulations seem to be helping and they are also stocking larger fish. I watched the truck from Jim Hinkle hatchery dump a load at the Cotter boat ramp last week and they looked to be 12-13" instead of the normal 10-11". The driver said they have increased the size of the stockers. Don't know if that is also the case with the trout from Norfork National hatchery.   

[Greasy B]

Nice fish. 

It would break my heart and flip my world view on its head if fish that pretty are fresh from the hatchery. 

With lots of water, lots of food and an astonishing growth rate I always figured it took a couple of months to go from pellet pale to rainbow brilliant.