21 inch bow

Another convert to fly fishing

Hook ‘em Horns

Dry fly action on no generation Go Hank

Generation continues on the White River with a couple of days of shut off time till noon as work on the new bridge at the Norfork confluence with the White River has begun.  Perhaps we will see more days like this for wading opportunities.  Thursday began with a wading situation and predicted generation starting at noon.  Our first couple of hours was stellar with 40 fish or so to hand and a couple of brown trout to boot along with some upstream dry fly fishing.  When the water came up we headed down stream to stay in front of the rising water and fished at Three Chutes.  We saw 40 or 50 sulphers coming off the water but caught the fish on a bead headed pheasant emerger.  Yesterdays rise began with two units and three more were added.  Not sure how generation will work this weekend but do look for higher levels of generation as the summer progresses.  Currently there are two units down for repair so we shouldn’t see more than 6 units unless the C.O.E. decides the lake level should come down quicker in which case there are other alternatives to picking up the slack for the two units not currently working such as slough gates or flood gates or conduit gates.

Caddis are still hatching and now are mixed in with sulphers.  Pheasant tail flies have been working from time to time from Cane Island down as is the pearl midge and the blood midge.  Other red midges are also working and on weak generation or no generation dry flies such as elk hair caddis and sulpher flies are taking fish on the top.

Personally I am looking forward to heavy generation and 8 units.  It makes for some fast and furious fishing with great opportunities for bigger and better fish.

Other News: Our lake level is currently at 663.85 and is holding steady with small rises in the levels when flows are shut down.  It looks as though the pattern of a unit or two 24/7 is now in flux with power demand starting to rise.  I would warn folks that if you are coming to the White River to fish be very aware that our calm placid no generation water can change very rapidly and can rise from nothing to as much as 16 feet in a very short period of time.  The most common mistake most wading fly fishers make is that as the water begins to come up the fish will feed very well and the catching if very good and then when the fisher realizes that the water is rising is when the trouble begins.  Make your way to the nearest shortest high and dry land and wait for a boat to come by and hitch a ride.  DO NOT put yourself in danger.

Book your summer fly fishing and call Jim now at 870-404-8906

Stay Fishy my friends.

Jimmy T.

I put in at Wildcat yesterday and discovered some pretty mossy water at Tucker Shoals and the bottom of the Narrows.  We tried to fish but to no avail so we made a run to find clear water which we did at Cane island.  We drifted 20 yards and had our first fish on.  The catching was now on as Hank and Shirley went to town on the fish putting some good numbers into the net.  After lunch at the State Park we began our first drift for the afternoon but the water was coming up and stirring up the moss again so we stayed in front of it riding the small rise which was also very productive.  We fished our way back down to wildcat and came across this young lady on a stand up paddle board.   A first for me in the 18 years I’ve been guiding on this river.

I asked her how much practice it took to stand on one and she said it was easy.  Looks like it could be tough to fish from though.

Looks like some continued weak generation of up to 3 units is the new pattern.  Bumps in generation are causing mossy conditions for sure and when it hits the area you are fishing it might be a good time to go n search of cleaner water.  Caddis of various types seem to be doing the trick in colors of green.  A dark green dubbing on a TMC #16 with a copper bead and chartreuse wire or a similar version with a flashback or Davys’ winged emerger are pretty good choices at the moment.

Jim