White River Report~Sulphurs~Annual Cicadas~Henrys Report~Tungsten Beads

SulphurThe long awaited Sulphur hatch has started this week on the upper end of the White River in Arkansas.  This event is late but then so was the Caddis hatch.  We will see over the next week or two how heavy this hatch can be.  Dry flies on lower flows is of course what most of us are hoping for but flows the past week and a half have been pretty heavy and not real conducive to wade fishing.  The PT or pheasant tail fly will be my choice fly as the dropper on the bigger flows and in faster water.

Earlier this week I walked out of the shop to unload my truck and heard the distinct sound of cicadas.  It was the first time I’ve heard them this year.  This is another fly the fly fisher should carry in his arsenal when fishing the white river.  This bug in our area generally has a whitish or grey underbody and can be deadly-especially during August when this bio-mass hits it’s zenith.  We are also seeing a few hoppers as well as ants.  We have these flies in stock in the shop (call to order or drop in).  On low flows the ant can be a great pattern especially with a midge tungsten bead dropper.

Flows have picked up this month with power demand and some rain to bring the lake levels up a bit.  Flows to 16,000 CFS have created some decent streamer water.  The lake level is at 661.35 MSL  and the new fluctuating power pool is 662.00 to 661.00 from June 15 thru July 15 when it drops down to 661.00 and stays there until Oct 1 and then goes to 659.00 The water has been pretty clear but I would expect some trashier water on sudden rises or heavier rises after extended mim. flow of a day or two.

Tungsten Beads should be in any day now and I know many of you are waiting for these.  I will make a post here as well as on our new Face Book page and will also send out e-mails

Henry’s Wading Report ( A very short one):

 

Last week I had family in town (13 people) made up of my 3 sons and my brother his 4 sons and grand kids. My kids are all fly fishermen while my brother and his brew lean toward hardware and boats.

Last week was a tough week for anglers maybe because of the full moon. My 3 and myself had a great half day using midges (rainbow warriors and pheasant tail), then changing to Woolly Buggers in faster water. Upon meeting up at lunch our little crew had netted and released 28 trout and lost 2 over 18″. My bro and his bunch worked hard to get 14.

Next day 2 from my brother side asked if I would teach them how to use a fly rod which I did and they went with my boys. When we met up for lunch the fly men had put the hurt on 36 trout while the spin guys could only come up with 8. This ratio continued for the next 3 days. This is first time I ever had a chance to actually measure the success rate of fly VS hardware.

By far the biggest producing fly was the PT (pheasant tail) midge. The new guys had a good showing with Woolly Buggers and both bought fly rods and reels to finish up the trip.

Life is good in the Ozarks (especially if your a fly fisherman)

Call 870-404-8906 to book your fly fishing adventure.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.