John Berry Fishing Report 12/27/2007

[John Berry]

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 12/27/2007

We have had several days of rain and the lake levels on the White River system have continued their rise. The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam rose one tenth of a foot to rest at three and five tenths of a foot below power pool at 654.00 feet. Up stream, Table Rock Lake rose two tenths of a foot to settle at four and six tenths feet below power pool. Beaver Lake has risen one tenth of a foot to rest at seven feet below pool. There has been virtually no generation on the White for a week. This has severely hampered boat navigation but has created excellent wading conditions on the White River. We had a few windy days where there were lake wind advisories. Norfork Lake has risen five tenths of a foot to rest four and seven tenths feet below power pool of 552.00 feet. The pattern on the Norfolk has been for no discernable generation all week. This has created excellent wading conditions. The forecast is for cooler weather with the possibility of precipitation. With the existing conditions, we should have wadable water on both rivers.

With the low water, the fishing on the White River has been excellent. There have been precious few anglers and the ones that have shown up have had the river to themselves. Wildcat Shoals has been fishing very well. The deeper holes have produced some good fish with zebra midges in black with silver wire and silver bead and in brown with copper wire and copper bead. The slower water below the riffles has been a great place to fish soft hackles. The most productive soft hackles have been partridge and orange, green butts, and hares ear soft hackles.

Round house Shoals has fished very well. The water is so low that the back of the island has fished a bit slow but the front of the island has fished quite well. Beware of the bedrock bottom. It is very slick and studded boots are highly recommended. The deeper water has been a great place to nymph with Y2Ks, olive scuds and zebra midges. Soft hackles have also worked well here, particularly the partridge and orange and the green butt.

Rim Shoals has been a hot spot. There have been some really nice trout caught there recently. The deeper holes have fished well. The hot nymphs have been zebra midges, Y2Ks, olive scuds, egg patterns and pheasant tail nymphs. There has also been some nice streamer fishing. The streamers of choice have been the olive woolly bugger and the wool head sculpin in olive.

With no generation for such a long time, areas that are not normally wadable are now very accessible. One of the best is Buffalo Shoals. It is fairly remote and does not get a lot of pressure. It has incredibly good trout habitat and holds a lot of fish. Some anglers walk the railroad tracks up stream from the Buffalo City Access and scramble the bank down to the shoals. This is not for the feint of heart. I recommend taking a boat up stream from the Buffalo City Access and then wading around to find the best spots to fish. Anglers have been doing well on zebra midges, small olive scuds, Y2Ks, and red San Juan worms.

The Norfork has fished a bit better of late. With the low water on the White, wading anglers are more spread out and the crowds are gone. The dissolved oxygen levels are greatly improved. At the quarry park access, just below the Norfork Dam sowbugs and soft hackles like the partridge and orange and the green butt have been the go to flies. The Handicap Access has also fished a bit better. Here the flies of choice have been midges. Nymphs like the zebra midge and Norfork bead head have accounted for some nice fish. When the trout are hitting the top, Dan’s turkey tail emerger has been the go to fly. When you get tired of fishing with small flies try San Juan worms in worm brown or red, a Y2K or a western foam hopper.

Dry Run Creek has been fishing well. There has been virtually no one there. Now is a great time to plan an outing during the school break. It is a bit cold but there are plenty of trophy trout to make for the trip of a life time. The most productive method for fishing the creek is to high stick sowbugs, the main food supply there. Other productive flies are San Juan worms in worm brown or red and olive woolly buggers. Be sure and use at least 4X tippet and pinch down the barbs on all flies used. Take a camera!

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

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