Fly Fish Arkansas | White River Fly Fishing

This website was down for a few months but we are up and running again and White River Fishing information will be coming at you again.

River Info: Believe it or not flows are low and there are a few wading spots on the river but bring your kayak, float tube, raft or boat as many of those spots are only accessible by a water craft. The lake is very high at this time 693.78 (top is 695) in 2012 the lake topped out at 696.5 with flows of 40 to 50K cfs currently as of this morning 2255 CFS

Fishing Report June 6:

Looks like we beat last years record for rain which was the second rainiest year on record. Which means this years record beat last years record so 2020 is not the 2nd rainiest year on record. With that being said our two lakes are at the top of the flood pool with flood gates currently open on the White at Bull Shoals. The C.F.S. has roughly been about 9 units of water. Two of the generators are also down which means some pretty warm water is mixed in with the colder water. That of course makes catching on the spillway side of the dam a little tougher. The water seems to start mixing up in the state park. After that catching on the right side of the river (looking down) gets much easier.
I’ve been fishing with two 3/0 split shot using Cortlands Top Secret 4X tippet with an eggs and various colors of SJ Worms on roughly 10-11 foot leaders from indicator to first fly. The extra unit of water is covering some areas of the river that normally do not see any water but it does force up cane worms from the ground which of course trout love to eat. I’m looking for shallow areas of the river which includes some areas in the middle of the river. Island or even submerged islands are a great spot to look for. The catching can get tough if the water bumbs up a bit which causes the river to get mossy so I make a run down stream to get in front of it Then make a run back upstream one the water stabilizes. We are catching some pretty good fish both bows and brown trout but not like in years past when the flood gate water was at 10 or 12 units of water and covered even more ground. Unfortunately that kind of water starts to get really close to homes and buildings. The C.O.E. has done a great job this go around of containing property damage.
Be careful on the river in these flows as your drifts are moving pretty fast so be aware of what is below you. There are also lots of trees that have fallen into the river as well. Trees can get one into trouble in a hurry.

Jimmy T.

Terrestrials: These are the little creatures that end up in the water and are taken by fish and they have been on fire since we began getting this weak flow water. The picture to the right is of just a few that Fly Fish Arkansas has been fishing with the past two months. On the left is a parachute hopper and on the top is a Daves’ hopper and to the right is a bulbous bi-visible and at the bottom is the chernobyl ant. Other terrestrials such as foam ants, beetles and large spiders would also work on the White River. This past weekend on Saturday I took a local gentleman fishing and tied on (4) terrestrials. I soon learned it was not so easy to cast and was envisioning one heck of a tangle either via a bad cast or a trout taking the first fly. I cut off two of them which made it much easier to cast and easier to take out of a fishes mouth.

This fish was hooked with a parachute hopper which I’ve had much luck with. The water this morning was fluctuating rapidly with fish taking flies on the rise and slowing down on the drop which is normal. Dean and I continued fishing after changing to a dropper below the hopper. Fisherman coming into the shop this week have been using various types of midges with a black, purple copper zebra type midges producing well under chernobyl ants. Generation this week has been heavy in the afternoons with little flows in the mornings when the terrestrial action is the best. This past monday generation was off till 1:00 and yesterday it was off till 1:00 p.m. as well. This morning there is one unit on and it is scheduled to be on like this the rest of the day. We did have a front come in and bring us some much needed rain which soaked in nicely taking us off of our burn ban. We were a tender box. I don’t have a clue what will happen with generation this weekend but the past two holiday weekends saw generation so who knows what will happen this weekend. Temps are much lower- 62 f at this time with highs predicted in the upper 70’s and lows in the morning in the lower 50’s. Saturdays highs will be around the mid 80’s with lows in the 60’s and on labor day highs in the 90’s and lows in the mid 60’s. I wouldn’t think there would be much power demand. By 5:00 P.M. this afternoon though we should have our answer.

There is no rain in the forecast until much later in the week so it looks as though a good week is in store for the Ozark Mountains and for fishing this week. Drop by the shop for fishing info or flies or just to say hello.