JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 2/14/2014

During the past week, we have had snow, brutally cold temperatures and heavy winds (to include lake wind advisories). The lake level at Bull Shoals fell three tenths of a foot to rest at a foot below seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is thirty seven feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock Lake fell seven tenths of a foot to rest at one and four tenths feet below power pool and seventeen and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell nine tenths of a foot to rest at one and seven tenths feet below seasonal power pool or eleven and three tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had significant wadable water over the weekend. Norfork Lake fell nine tenths of a foot to rest at one and six tenths feet below seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty seven and eight tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had significantly more wadable water.

The water level for the top of power pool has been reset lower for some of the lakes in the White River system. They have been generating on all of the lakes on the White River system to respond to the increased power demand due to the cold weather. All of the lakes on this system are below power pool.

The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam was closed from November 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014 to accommodate the brown trout spawn. The State Park was seasonal Catch and Release for the same period. There are numerous redds around the area. Please use care when wading to avoid disturbing them.

On the White, the hot spot during the low water over the weekend was the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam. For the rest of the week the hot spot was the section from Wildcat down to Cotter. The hot flies were olive woolly buggers, Y2Ks, prince nymphs, zebra midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or red with silver wire and silver bead), pheasant tails, ruby midges, pink and cerise San Juan worms, and sowbugs. Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective (try a cerise or pink San Juan worm with a midge pattern suspended below it).

The Corps of Engineers have been running significantly more water during the week and that has benefitted the streamer fishing. To do this you need at least an eight weight fly rod, a heavy sink tip fly line and large articulated streamers. The idea is to bang the bank and strip the fly back to the boat. This is heavy work and requires advanced casting skills. Some effective patterns are sex dungeons and circus peanuts.

The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. With the cold temperatures, the smallmouth are very inactive. Carefully check the water level before entering Crooked Creek or the Buffalo River. There are no dams on these streams. They both have large drainages and are prone to flooding during and following any rain event. The water can rise very quickly.

There has been more wadable water on the Norfork. The most productive flies have been small midge patterns like zebra midges (black or red with silver wire and silver bead). Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective. Try a small bead headed nymph (zebra midge, copper John or pheasant tail) suspended eighteen inches below a brightly colored San Juan worm (hot fluorescent pink or cerise). There have been reliable hatches of small midges and caddis (try a size 22 Adams parachute).The fishing is much better in the morning and late afternoon and tapers off midday. Some anglers have been fishing heavy articulated streamers on sink tip lines on the higher flows to great effect. The siphon to accommodate minimum flow was damaged during a recent winter storm and is not functioning.

There have been reports of a minor shad kill on the Norfork tail water below Norfork Dam and conditions have been conducive on both rivers. This is a natural phenomenon where threadfin shad in the lake die and are drawn through the generators at the dam. These bits of shad produce a feeding frenzy. This usually occurs during extremely cold weather and high levels of generation. Watch for gulls hitting the shad as they come through the generators. The best flies are white shad patterns. The conditions are promising for a shad kill on both the White and Norfork Rivers.

Dry Run Creek has been virtually abandoned. Now would be a great time to fish it. Numerous brown trout have moved into the creek. The hot flies have been sowbugs, Y2Ks and various colored San Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot fluorescent pink and cerise). Use at least 4X tippet (I prefer fluorocarbon) to maximize your youngsters chance at landing a big one. Take great care to dress your children properly for the cold weather. Take frequent breaks to warm them up.

The water level on the Spring River is clear and quite fishable. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Be sure to wear cleated boots and carry a wading staff. There is a lot of bedrock that can get very slick. The hot flies have been olive woolly buggers with a bit of flash, cerise and hot pink San Juan worms and Y2Ks.

Remember that the White and Norfork Rivers and Dry Run Creek are infected with didymo, an invasive alga. Be sure and thoroughly clean and dry your waders (especially the felt soles on wading boots) before using them in any other water. Many manufacturers are now making rubber soled wading boots that are easier to clean and are not as likely to harbor didymo.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years. 

IS SPRING AROUND THE CORNER

BY JOHN BERRY

There is no doubt that this has been the meanest winter in memory. I have had more trip cancellations than I have ever had due to the weather. I knew that the times were tough, when I got a phone call from some long time regular clients from Minnesota. They had not seen temperatures above freezing in over forty days and they thought that Arkansas was not a lot warmer. The kicker was that there had been yet another bitter winter storm in the Midwest that had dumped impassable snow and ice between here and there. That has been the story all winter. While there are a few brave souls out there that that have the gear and the intestinal fortitude to deal with winter weather like we have had, there are even fewer that want to get on the road, for a major road trip, when there is ice and snow about. 

There may be a silver lining in this storm cloud. When I sat down to write this article, it was fourteen degrees. The weather forecast was for sunny skies and a high of thirty nine degrees. That is the first day with above freezing conditions that I have seen for a while. Better yet, the forecast for the coming week calls for much warmer conditions. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel? I certainly hope so! This trend is certainly not in sync with the Groundhog Day prediction, which called for six more weeks of bad weather. 

I prefer to think that it is a harbinger of spring. I am ready. During the last three months I have not been on the river that much. I went out on some ridiculously bad days just to get in a few precious hours on stream. I fear that I have spent more time in the gym than I have on stream. All of that is about to change. 

There is another condition that will change due to the general warming. That is the increased level of generation that we have experienced for the last few weeks. This has been due to an increase in power demand due to cold conditions. With milder weather, we can expect less generation and maybe even some wadable water. This is a definite possibility, with the low lake levels we have. All of the lakes in the White River are currently below power pool. 

Warm weather and low water, how could anything make it better? How about some dry fly action? It just so happens that our most prolific and important hatch of the year is due to arrive in just a few weeks. The Rhyancophylia caddis usually arrives in Mid-March and stays around for several weeks. This is a large green caddis. The adult is best imitated by the green elk hair caddis size fourteen. I like to fish for them, when they are in the emergence, with my signature fly, the green butt. Before and after the hatch use a green caddis pupa pattern also in size fourteen. 

This nexus of favorable conditions is already the main subject of conversation among guides and other serious fly fishers. We are all suffering from near terminal cabin fever and this may be the only thing that can save us. Toward this end, we have been tying flies like crazy. I have taken the time to hunt out my broad brimmed hat and sunscreen. I don’t think it is time to put away my heavy winter clothing just yet but I do feel like I can eliminate a layer or two in the coming days. 

Come on, it is time to get out on the river again. It will be warmer with lower water and the possibility of some top water action. It is my version of heaven. 

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.

OPENING DAY BLUES

BY JOHN BERRY

Last Saturday was opening day. For the uninitiated, this is an annual event. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission closes the Catch and release sections below Bull Shoals dam from November 1 through January 31 to protect the brown trout spawn. Back in the day you were allowed to fish these big fish when they were on their redds. It was decided that this fishing pressure during the spawn was not helpful for the goal of naturally producing brown trout, our trophy fish. During the spawn, the browns do not routinely feed. Instead they are more interested in reproducing. Therefore on opening day we are angling for trout that have not been fished over or fed for three months. These are not a bunch of stockers. These are large brown trout concentrated in one section of the river. 

That is the good news. The problem is that there are several anglers that have figured this out. This means that it can get a bit crowded. When they are running water on opening day, this quickly translates into an anything that floats kind of day. When they are not generating, it can get covered up with wade fishers. 

My wife, Lori, and I try to fish opening day every year because we feel it is a great chance to land a trophy brown. In the past Lori has done well when fishing from the boat (with me handling the boat and her fishing). I have done better on the wade trips because I have more of an opportunity to fish. The forecast this year was for lower conditions. They were to run about 700 cubic feet of water per second or minimum flow. The weather was forecast to be nasty, with a high of 51 degrees, rain and lake wind advisories. 

Lori was not particularly enthusiastic about the conditions. She was concerned about the crowds on low water, the increased volume of water from minimum flow and the cold and wet conditions. I told her that the weather might deter a lot of the crowd and the weather would not be too bad. I had not waded that area under minimum flow. We agreed to drive over and have a look. If it was too crowded, we would go somewhere else to fish. We waited until after lunch to see if the early crowd had left the river. 

When I dressed for the afternoon, I made an error. My base layer was short sleeved and I wore a vest in lieu of an extra fleece jacket. That meant that I only had one layer, a medium weight wool sweater on my arms. In addition, I wore a baseball hat instead of my much warmer Elmer Phud hat. I realized my mistake, when I stepped out of my suburban at the access. The temperature had dropped to 39 degrees, the wind was howling and there was a slow steady rain. I decided to tough it out. 

The area was not too crowded. I counted about a dozen other waders. We walked down to the river. Under minimum flow the water was much heavier than in the past and wading was much tougher. Most of the anglers were hugging the near bank. There were a few anglers had accessed a gravel bar by boat and a few good waders had waded over. They were all hugging the edge of the gravel bar. We waded close to the near bank. 

I hit a deeply colored twenty inch rainbow on my second cast. Early success is usually a bad omen. This was my last fish on the fly that day. I then made my second mistake of the day. I invited Lori to fish below me. I thought that the wading might be a bit easier for her. She commenced to use her Winston fly rod like a vacuum cleaner and sucked up every trout in her path. As I followed her, I did not get another bump. She did not hit anything of any size. The same went for the various anglers around us. I saw a few fish landed but no large trout. 

The wind shifted and was now blowing the rain into our face. My hands were taking a major hit from the wind and the constant rain. My fingerless wool gloves were soaked and my fingers were getting stiff. I was beginning to get chilled and I was not enjoying myself. I cranked up my line and waded to the bank. I tucked my rod under my arm and put my frozen hands into my hand warmer pockets. I walked around to generate a bit of heat. It helped a lot. 

I ran into Dylan Stanley, an accomplished angler from Searcy. I watched him fish through the run that I had just fished. I am embarrassed to say that I was relieved when he did not pick up a single trout. He walked up and I told him about my embarrassment and we had a good laugh over that. We talked about his past success with big fish on opening day. He also said that he had been on stream at 5:30 AM and had achieved early success having caught four browns over twenty inches (nothing over twenty three inches) and about fifteen rainbows. The fishing had definitely been better early on but had been crowded. Dylan said that he had counted forty two anglers at day light. Lori started to get cold and we left around five o’clock. 

This year’s opening day had not been a major success. We got there late and I had not been properly dressed. There is always next year. 

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local waters for over thirty years. 

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 2/07/2014

During the past week, we have had rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, brutally cold temperatures and heavy winds (to include lake wind advisories). The lake level at Bull Shoals fell four tenths of a foot to rest at seven tenths of a foot below seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is thirty six and seven tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock Lake fell one tenth of a foot to rest at seven tenths of a foot below power pool and sixteen and seven tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell one tenth of a foot to rest at eight tenths of a foot below seasonal power pool or ten and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had significant wadable water over the weekend. Norfork Lake fell four tenths of a foot to rest at seven tenths of a foot below seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty seven and five tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had significantly more wadable water.

The water level for the top of power pool has been reset lower for some of the lakes in the White River system. They have been generating on all of the lakes on the White River system to respond to the increased power demand due to the cold weather. All of the lakes on this system are below power pool.

The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam was close from November 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014 to accommodate the brown trout spawn. The State Park will be seasonal Catch and Release for the same period. All brown trout must be immediately released. In addition, night fishing is prohibited in this area during this period. On February 1, 2014 this section opened to fishing. These trout have not been fished over in three months and are eager to feed.

On the White, The hot spot during the low water over the weekend was opening day in the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam. The hot flies were olive woolly buggers, Y2Ks, prince nymphs, zebra midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or red with silver wire and silver bead), pheasant tails, ruby midges, pink and cerise San Juan worms, and sowbugs. Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective (try a cerise or pink San Juan worm with a midge pattern suspended below it).

The Corps of Engineers have been running significantly more water during the week and that has benefitted the streamer fishing. To do this you need at least an eight weight fly rod, a heavy sink tip fly line and large articulated streamers. The idea is to bang the bank and strip the fly back to the boat. This is heavy work and requires advanced casting skills. Some effective patterns are sex dungeons and circus peanuts.

The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. With the cold temperatures, the smallmouth are very inactive. Carefully check the water level before entering Crooked Creek or the Buffalo River. There are no dams on these streams. They both have large drainages and are prone to flooding during and following any rain event. The water can rise very quickly.

There has been more wadable water on the Norfork. The most productive flies have been small midge patterns like zebra midges (black or red with silver wire and silver bead). Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective. Try a small bead headed nymph (zebra midge, copper John or pheasant tail) suspended eighteen inches below a brightly colored San Juan worm (hot fluorescent pink or cerise). There have been reliable hatches of small midges and caddis (try a size 22 Adams parachute).The fishing is much better in the morning and late afternoon and tapers off midday. Some anglers have been fishing heavy articulated streamers on sink tip lines on the higher flows to great effect. The siphon to accommodate minimum flow was damaged during a recent winter storm and is not functioning.

There have been reports of a minor shad kill on the Norfork tail water below Norfork Dam and conditions have been conducive on both rivers. This is a natural phenomenon where threadfin shad in the lake die and are drawn through the generators at the dam. These bits of shad produce a feeding frenzy. This usually occurs during extremely cold weather and high levels of generation. Watch for gulls hitting the shad as they come through the generators. The best flies are white shad patterns. The conditions are promising for a shad kill on both the White and Norfork Rivers. 

Dry Run Creek has been virtually abandoned. Now would be a great time to fish it. Numerous brown trout have moved into the creek. The hot flies have been sowbugs, Y2Ks and various colored San Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot fluorescent pink and cerise). Use at least 4X tippet (I prefer fluorocarbon) to maximize your youngsters chance at landing a big one. Take great care to dress your children properly for the cold weather. Take frequent breaks to warm them up.

The water level on the Spring River is clear and quite fishable. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Be sure to wear cleated boots and carry a wading staff. There is a lot of bedrock that can get very slick. The hot flies have been olive woolly buggers with a bit of flash, cerise and hot pink San Juan worms and Y2Ks.

Remember that the White and Norfork Rivers and Dry Run Creek are infected with didymo, an invasive alga. Be sure and thoroughly clean and dry your waders (especially the felt soles on wading boots) before using them in any other water. Many manufacturers are now making rubber soled wading boots that are easier to clean and are not as likely to harbor didymo.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.

FLY TYING CLASS AT ASU RESCHEDULED

BY JOHN BERRY

Due to the brutally cold weather, the Fly Tying Class originally scheduled for January at Arkansas State University Mountain Home was cancelled. As a result, I have scheduled a fly tying class at Arkansas State University Mountain Home on Thursday February 13, 20, 27 and March 6 through the Continuing Education Department. The classes are scheduled from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on the ASU campus. Contact the Continuing Education Department to enroll.

John Berry