Last week I wrote about the dropping lake levels and the looming opportunity for lower water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Thankfully that prediction has come true. I checked the lake levels on Monday and I noted that Bull Shoals lake was only a half foot from the top of power pool and Norfork Lake was a foot from power pool. Even better, the flows on the White River were about a third less (around 12,000 cubic feet per second or CFS) than they have been for months.
That day I had the first day of a two day guide trip for River Ridge Inn. I opted to fish the White that day. I had been fishing the Norfork River for the past few weeks as it had been fishing well. The problem was that it had become very crowded of late. I thought that the lower flows would be a welcome change from the crowd on the Norfork. I fished at Rim Shoals and did well.
That night, when the guides gathered after the days fishing, one of them checked the water flow prediction for the next day and noted that the flows on the White were scheduled to be around 2,000 CFS. We were elated. We knew that flows like that would equal great fishing. The trout on the White had been feeding like crazy in the high water. In addition, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission had continued its stocking program, with the high water the fishing pressure and catch was reduced. This meant that there was plenty of fish in the river. I called Henry Seay, my assistant manager at Blue Ribbon Fly Shop to let him know about the coming low water.
Henry is an avid wade fisherman and takes every opportunity to wade and fish our local streams. He had been traveling up to the North Fork of the White River recently to find wadable water. He was excited with the prospect of returning to the White. With flows that low, he was sure that he could find plenty of spots to wade.
The next day we returned to Rim Shoals despite the rain. The first thing that we noticed was how much the river had dropped, about five feet at the ramp. I saw rocks that I had not seen in months. It took a few minutes to rerig the fly rods we had fished with the day before. I kept the same flies that we had used on Monday but switched out the lead split shot for a smaller one and reset the strike indicator for shallower water.
The first drift set the tone for the morning. We landed three spectacular trout and lost another. The next drift produced another three trout. I quickly lost count. I was netting one fish after another. There were several doubles (where both anglers have a trout on the line at the same time). This is the kind of problem that guides like to deal with. What was even more exciting was the size of the trout. They were mostly in the fifteen to seventeen inch range and they fought like demons.
It was nice to float lower water and I even noticed a few anglers wading in the area and catching trout. Life is good!
John Berry is a fly fishing guide for Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas, and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.
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