Generation Changes~Riding The Rise~Report

Greetings from Jimmy “T’s” Fly Fish Arkansas.  The leading guide service on the White River and your SHAD KILL Head Quarters.  Book your early spring fishing adventure today with an experienced guide. 870-404-8906

Generation changed yesterday.  At 2:00 pm generation was cut in half to 10,500 CFS from 23,000 CFS and at 1:00 am this morning was down to 4300 CFS.  The lake is a foot from normal pool.  The Norfork is scheduled for some shut down time today in the afternoon from 11:00 am till 5:00 pm  Bull Shoals is scheduled to ramp up generation in the morning and throttle back by noon and ramp up again later in the afternoon.   Should be a good day to fish.

Fishing this past weekend was good with lots of numbers of fish including some brown trout with the two biggest at 21 inches and 18 inches.  Marc and Aaron are getting pretty good with the fly rod in the way of casting, setting the hook and playing the fish.  Eggs were the big producers for the two days on lots of water.  We fished the upper end for both days with great weather and good company.

Aaron and 18 incher
Aaron and 18 incher

Jim,

Thanks for another memorable trip! The White is an absolute blast & I will be back there as soon as possible.

This is the 3rd time I’ve fished with Jimmy in the past 12 months & every time we’ve gotten into a ton of fish. Last year was the first time I’d fly fished & the first day I’d ever caught a trout, thanks to Jimmy.

Because of the varying conditions on the White it can be like fishing 3 different rivers the same day in the same place, so having a guide that knows the river as well as Jim is a huge advantage if not a neccesity if you’re unfamiliar with the river or want to improve your fishing skills.

Every time I’ve been out with Jim he gets us into the fish and more importantly, teaches you techniques that enable you to ramp up that learning curve on the White and elsewhere.

All that and he’s got a heck of a deal on those tungsten beads.

Aaron

Marc with 21 incher
Marc with 21 incher

Good job guys.  See you gents soon.

Riding The Rise

Riding the rise is one heck of a fun way to fish the White River in Arkansas below Bull Shoals Dam.  I don’t know if you’d call it a technique or even a style, but it can be some fast and furious fishing.  It’s hard core fishing for sure.  Riding the rise happens when generation goes from zero generation to heavy generation.  This rising water creats a feeding freenzy and the trout will eat just about anything.

Personally I like riding the rise when 4 to 6 units of water are started up.  I get on the leading edge of the water or about 18 iunches of the rise in the clearest section of the water and ride it for as long as I can.  We don’t take much time for lunch when we ride the rise or it can pass you by.  As the water comes up it churns up the bottom and dislodges the aquatic trout food such as sculpin, crawfish, sow bugs, scud, worms, midges and other trout snacks.

When fishing this rise just about anything tied at the end your tippet will work.  Most of the time I’ll use a two fly set up with an indicator or even a dry fly as the indicator.  A big humpy is a good fly to use as the dry.  Most of the time the two flies I rig fisherman up with are san juan worms in the tan color and a sow bug or a scud shotted above the flies about 18 inches.  A number 4 shot works well on a long leader of 9 to 12 feet below the indicator.

When fishing the rise i’m always fishing new water as it is not really feasable to run up and hit the same drift twice because the water will be trashy and mossy.  When riding the rise one must be careful not to take out a lower unit on the bedrock in the river.  Fishing this rise does take a little bit of practice and it helps to know where the main channels are in areas like Cane Island, Wild Cat shoals, Round House and at Rim Shoals.   Generation patterns must also be conducive to fishing the rise.  The past couple of years have seen lots of rain which has led to lots of generation pretty much all the time.  Normal rain patterns will bring back normal patterns of generation with shut offs during the evening with generation cranking up at 6:00 am or 7:00 am in the morning.

Working the rise in this fashion is fast paced and a highly productive method catching lots of fish and provides a good opportunity of hooking a good sized brown trout as well.  Riding the rise isn’t something you can plan for but is a handy skill to have when conditions permit.

Copy Right 2010

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Next month: Fishing for big fish on low water.  Sight Fishing.

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Fishing Special:  Two nights and a full day of fishing for two at River Cliff Cabin $448.00 plus tax on lodging.   Two nights for 4 and a full day of fishing with 2 guides $798.00 plus tax on lodging.  For the month of Feb only.

The Mission of Fly Fish Arkansas: To provide a Safe, educational and fun filled fishing adventure for the fisherman.  Book your trip soon by calling Jim at 870-404-8906.  Weekends are the first to fill up.

Sign up for the shad kill alert by sending an e-mail to shadkillalert@flyfisharkansas.com

Good fishing

Jim

One Reply to “Generation Changes~Riding The Rise~Report”

  1. Jim,

    Thanks for another memorable trip! The White is an absolute blast & I will be back there as soon as possible.

    This is the 3rd time I’ve fished with Jimmy in the past 12 months & every time we’ve gotten into a ton of fish. Last year was the first time I’d fly fished & the first day I’d ever caught a trout, thanks to Jimmy.

    Because of the varying conditions on the White it can be like fishing 3 different rivers the same day in the same place, so having a guide that knows the river as well as Jim is a huge advantage if not a neccesity if you’re unfamiliar with the river or want to improve your fishing skills.

    Every time I’ve been out with Jim he gets us into the fish and more importantly, teaches you techniques that enable you to ramp up that learning curve on the White and elsewhere.

    All that and he’s got a heck of a deal on those tungsten beads.

    See you next time!

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