John Berry Fishing Report 9/13/2007

[John Berry]

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 9/13/2007

There has been a bit of rain in the twin lakes area but this has resulted in little change in the lake levels. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam has dropped three tenths of a foot to rest at two and four tenths of a foot below power pool at 654.00 feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake has risen four tenths of a foot to rest at two and two tenths of a foot below power pool. Beaver Lake has dropped two tenths of a foot and is now at four and one tenth of a foot below pool. The pattern on the White River has been for no generation or low levels of generation in the morning and then to spike it with a bit more generation in the afternoon and early evening, when there is peak demand for electricity. This has created some limited but excellent wading on the White. Norfork Lake has remained steady at two and eight tenths of a foot below power pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern is to turn the generators off in the morning and to run a bit of water in the afternoon and early evening. This has created some excellent wading opportunities on the Norfork early in the day. The forecast is for cooler weather and sunny skies. With the existing conditions, I would hope for some low water on both rivers.

On the Norfork, the dissolved oxygen levels continue to drop. This is most critical during periods of no generation. Last week, the dissolved oxygen level hovered around two parts per million. There were a couple of instances where it dropped below one and a half parts per million. On the White River the dissolved oxygen has continued to drop. It has averaged four parts per million most of the time. There were several instances where it went below four parts per million. Great care should be taken to prevent stressing the trout particularly near the dam where the dissolved oxygen will be the lowest. Fish should be quickly landed and carefully revived before release.

On the White, fishing has been excellent. The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam has been red hot. The story here has been large terrestrials. Grass hoppers and large ants have been the most productive flies for top water. The best flies for nymphing have been black zebra midges with silver wire and silver beads and olive scuds all in size eighteen. There has not been much really high water on the White.

Further down stream, the section from Cotter to Rim has been producing a lot of fish. Here again, the story has been the big hopper patterns. If you are fishing above the Catch and Release section, I recommend that you tie on a dropper at the hook bend of the hopper with an eighteen inch 5X tippet. The best fly for this technique is the black zebra midge in size eighteen. My clients have also done very well swinging a size fifteen partridge and orange soft hackles.

On the Norfork River, the fishing has been a bit slow. With the only reliable wadable water, it has been getting a lot of pressure. During the week, it has not been as bad but the weekends have been a zoo. The best place to fish is still McClellan’s but it is difficult to get there. A lot of anglers have been walking in from the Handicap Access. I saw a couple of guys get caught in high water as they were walking in this week and they looked pretty wet when they got out.

The hot flies here are black midges as small as you can tie them (size twenty eight or smaller). With something this small you will have to go to 8X tippet or smaller. When you cut the tippet, do so at a forty five degree angle to create a point at the end of it. This will be easier to thread through the hook eye of these small flies. Other flies to try are worm brown San Juan worms and size twenty orange scuds.

Dry Run Creek is fishing well. As the weather cools you can expect a lot of large Brown trout to begin moving up into it to spawn. Egg patterns, sow bugs and San Juan worms are all good producers here. Most of the big fish are lost in the netting process. Take the biggest net you can find and do not forget the camera.

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

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas. He has been fishing our local waters for over twenty five years.