Arkansas Game And Fish Commission

[Phil Lilley]

Weekly Fishing Report

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Randy Zellers (501)223-6406, e-mail: mailto:rdzellers@agfc.state.ar.us

White River: Mountain River Fly Shop said the cold weather should mean plenty of water coming through the dam, which means the Upper End of the river will be host to a fair number of boats. Try to run up behind other fly fishers, don’t drive over their drift, get in line for a drift and don’t cut in. Then everyone can have some fun. Fishing has been very good on the White. The trout are definitely hungry. Red White Tails have been very popular, egg patterns continue to do well, particularly the Flashtail Mini Eggs and Unreal Eggs. Red Head Olive Woolly Buggers are working extremely well also.

Gaston’s White River Resort said trout anglers have seen many water conditions lately. Anytime between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., two to four units are generating. Around 9 a.m. until noon, the dam will shut down and the water level drops. However, the trout are still feeding during low water periods. The bulbous bivisible is working well for fly-fishermen where creeks run into the river. We also recommend the partridge and orange soft hackle, gold ribbed hares ear, copper john, copper zebra midge, Y2K bug, the sow bug and the draggin’ egg. During high water, try peach or white egg patterns, white and pink micro jigs and San Juan worms. Nightcrawlers are doing well for the bait anglers when the water is low. Yellow Power Bait has also been effective. Some other lures being used are No. 5 silver or gold floating Rapalas and Smithwick blue-backed Rogues. Any minnow-shaped lure has potential.

Anglers White River Resort said water conditions are normal with little generation. Trout fishing has been excellent on yellow and pink Power Bait and drop rigs.

Sportsman’s White River Resort said water conditions are normal with two generators running daily. Trout fishing is very good on Power Bait, Rapalas and jigs.

John Berry of Berry Brothers Guides said generation has varied quite a bit. Some days have seen one or two spikes of heavy generation followed by periods of low generation. On other days, there have been short periods of very light generation. This has created some great wading opportunities and some excellent boating opportunities. It has been extremely cold and incredibly windy with a couple of warm pleasant days thrown in that allowed for some great fishing. The catch-and-release area below Bull Shoals Dam opened Feb., 1. Please avoid walking through the redds (spawning beds recently filled with fertilized eggs by brown trout). Now is a particularly vulnerable time for the eggs and they need to be left alone so that they can hatch and become big brown trout. The shad kill usually occurs some time from January to March during periods of very low temperature and high generation. This generally happens just after the brown trout spawn when they are very hungry. It is usually the best time to land a huge trout. This is not a reliable phenomenon and sometimes there is no shad kill. As yet, there have been no shad observed. One of the early indicators is gulls converging below the dams to feed on the shad. The best flies to use during the shad kill would be large white streamers. Be sure to carry both floating and sinking flies. There have been several reports of great fishing on black zebra midges with silver wire and silver beads and olive woolly buggers. Rim Shoals was fishing very well. The hot flies for this section have been olive woolly buggers, olive scuds and black zebra midges with silver wire and silver bead. The deeper holes along the first island have been productive, particularly with Y2Ks. On high water, the hot fly has been the San Juan worm in cerise.

Bull Shoals Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 651.94 feet MSL.

Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock (870-445-4424) said bass are biting well on crankbaits in 5 to 15 feet of water on overcast days. Hula grubs and Carolina-rigged French fries are working fairly well in 10 to 25 feet of water. Walleye are biting fairly well on spoons fished over large flats in 35 to 40 feet of water. Bottom bouncers baited with nightcrawlers are working well on walleye as well.

Lake Norfork: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 547.66 feet MSL.

Cranfield Junction Bait and Tackle (870-492-5141) had no report.

101 Grocery and Bait said the surface water temperature is in the low 40s. Live bait trolled slowly under planer boards has worked well on stripers, but the bite is over by 8 a.m. The fish are holding in less than 50 feet of water. Walleye fishing has been slow, but jigging spoons and ice fishing jigs are doing a good job for some. Just remember do it slow. Crappie fishing has been fair using small minnows and jigs. White bass have been fair using jigs. Largemouth and smallmouth bass have been fair on deep-diving crankbaits and jigs.

Norfork Tailwater: Gene’s Trout Dock (870-499-5381) said the water is clear and low with very little generation. Trout fishing is still good on corn and nightcrawlers. Fly-anglers are having luck on sow bugs and woolly buggers.

Mountain River Fly Shop said most reports off Norfork continue to be fair at best, with many smaller fish being caught. Wading was wide open this week with the warmer weather, but generation started yesterday with the cold front pushing through.

Small scuds (olive, gray and tan), McLellan’s hunchback, Davys sow bug (gray) and small Kaufmann’s (brown or olive) have been doing well. Zebras and super midges have been productive, as well as WD40s.

John Berry of Berry Brothers Guides said the generation pattern on the Norfork has been a mixed bag. We had a few days with no generation and some days with a brief period of heavy generation. This has created excellent wading conditions every day.

The Norfork has fished a bit better this week. There have been some reliable midge hatches in the afternoon. Anglers have done the best with Norfork beadheads in olive (size 18), and zebra midges in black with silver wire and silver beads and brown with copper wire and copper beads. When the fish are keying in on the midge emergers in the film, Dan’s turkey tail emerger (size 22) have been killer. To change things up, try large San Juan worms in red and worm brown and Y2Ks. They frequently tempt large trout. Dry Run Creek, as always, has been the place to take the kids fishing. The warm weekend drew out a few youngsters. Those few that showed up did exceptionally well. The hot fly was a size 14 sow bug. Other effective flies were olive woolly buggers and San Juan worms. Be sure and use at least 4X tippet and carefully pinch down those barbs.

Little Red River: Lindsey's Resort (501-302-3139) said water conditions are normal with no generation. Trout are still biting well on wax worms with marshmallow combinations and crankbaits.

Jed Hollan at the Little Red Fly Shop said the Greers Ferry powerhouse is releasing water for hydroelectric power generation most days from 6-9 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. There have been no weekend water releases lately. Incredible midge hatches continue and the trout are rising to them all along the Little Red. Top-water "bug puppets" (flies) that are working include the midge (size 22, cream or black), caddis (size 18-20, tan) and Adams (size 18-20). Below the surface, try a red butt soft hackle emerger (size 14-16), sow bug (size 14-16, UV tan, peacock or light gray), copper john (size 16, red, green or copper), zebra midge (size 16-22, red, black or copper) and wooly bugger (size 10-12, olive or black).

Greers Ferry: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 458.43 feet MSL.

Tommy Cauley of Fish Finder Guide Service said the water temperature ranges from 30 to 42 degrees during the day. Some sunny weather and warm rains would really bring the bite back. Hybrids and white bass have been moving around with the cold weather, but are still schooled up and can be found by looking for concentrations of gulls over the water. Once you find them a jigging spoon will catch bottom-hugging fish, and a Buckshot In-line spinner, grub, hair jig and swimbait will catch suspended fish when reeled in very slowly. Crappie are biting in the late afternoon on sunny days around channel bends with pole timber and ledges with timber on them. Small minnows are working the best on the crappie. Walleye have slowed, but warmer water and longer days should see an increase in staging activity soon.

Beaver Lake : As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 1,113.54 feet MSL.

JT’s Crappie Guide Service (479-640-3980) said bass fishing has been best in the Big and Little Clifty area. Crawdad-colored Wiggle Warts and watermelon jigs fished along chunk rock banks have produced some bass. Points with timber have been holding bass as well. Try using suspending jerkbaits in clown or bone colors. Crappie fishing continues to be best in the river arms. The Neals Bluff area and Friendship Creek have been good spots. Look in shallow bays on warm sunny days around laydowns and brush piles. On cloudy days try around standing timber near the channel in 10-25 feet deep. The best baits have been minnows and Shineee Hineee jigs. White bass are still in their winter haunts along deep main-lake points. Indian Creek, Eden's Bluff and Point 12 are all good spots to look. On warm, sunny days, they may venture out to flats or in shallow bays. Jigging or casting spoons will work best. Stripers have been in Prairie Creek and south towards Monte-NE. Umbrella rigs with 3/8-oz. jigheads dressed with white grubs have produced well. Catfish are biting well along bluff lines on shad or liver.

Southtown Sporting Goods (479-443-7148) said water conditions are normal. Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs around brush. Bass are fair in deep water on jerkbaits and plastic worms.

LakeSWEPCO: JT’s Crappie Guide Service (479-640-3980) said bass on SWEPCO are a bit fussy on some days. Try crawdad-colored jigs or live minnows around pole timber. Shallow-running crankbaits have taken a few bass near the discharge. Bluegill in SWEPCO have been hitting crickets along timber and the deep channel on the east side.

Spring River: Marks Fly Shop said mayfly and caddis hatches continue to grow. Stable weather will move in soon along with consistent fishing results.