ROD REPAIR BY JOHN BERRY

I guided two anglers from Nashville, Matt and Mike, this week. I had fished with them before and they are very enthusiastic and competent fly fishers. We spent the morning at Rim Shoals and it was on fire. I netted around seventy trout before we stopped for lunch. The water was rising and I checked the generation on my IPhone. I saw that there was a push of around 11,000 cubic feet per second headed our way.

I was concerned that the water may come up dirty and suggested that we spend the remainder of the day wading the Norfork. They were staying at River Ridge Inn which is on the Norfork Tailwater and we decided to wade the lower river behind the lodge. We drove to the lodge, wandered up and chose a nice run nearby. The fishing was not as spectacular as we had on the White River but was good in its own right. We caught some nice trout and had a large section of river to ourselves for the afternoon.

While casting at a nice brown, Mike caught the bottom and tangled his line in the process of freeing it. I took his rod and sat on a large rock on the bank while I untangled the line. I invited Mike to join me while I worked on his line. When he sat down, he managed to break his beloved Sage Z-AXIS fly rod. I explained how to send it back to Sage to have it repaired under the warranty. He then walked back to the lodge and got his back-up rod so that he could continue fishing.

I thought about my history with broken rods. My first was also a Sage. In my case an RPL nine foot six weight. I left it on the roof of a rental car in Yellowstone National Park while fishing near Buffalo Ford on the Yellowstone River. I watched, in horror, through the rear window as a large pickup truck rolled right over it. The week I got it back from Sage, after a seven week trip to Bainbridge Island, Washington for repairs, I managed to put it into the whirling blades of a Hunter ceiling fan as I was rigging it for a night fishing trip for big trout on the Spring River.

My next victim was my beloved Sage four weight nine foot Light Line fly rod, my all time favorite fly rod. Once again I left it on the roof of my car, when I was fishing at Rim Shoals. I am seeing a pattern here. I didn’t discover that it was missing until I got home and was unloading my gear. My rod was mysteriously missing. I raced back to Rim to find it on the road crushed.

I sent it back to Sage for repair but they could not fix it as it was made from Graphite II, which by then had been replaced by Graphite III. For a princely sum, they made me a new Light Line from the Graphite III but it was not the same. I ended up buying a new Sage ZXL, which I now fish, in lieu of the Light Line.

The next rod that I managed to break was my wife, Lori’s, Orvis Far and Fine. In this case, I closed a car door on it, while we were fishing at McClellan’s. Automobiles seem to be a death trap for fly rods. It is much harder to explain to someone else (particularly a fly fishing wife) that you broke their rod. They can be so judgmental. I sent it back to Orvis for a free repair that made it as good as new.

Finally there are our TFOs. We have five identical nine foot, five weight, two piece, Lefty Kreh Professional series fly rods that we loan to clients. As client rods, they suffer an inordinate amount of abuse and two or three get broken each year. We have no sentimental attachment to them, as they are just tools for our guide business. We send them back for repair and get them back within a week.

As you can see, broken rods are an integral part, of the angling life. Don’t let a broken rod get you down. They can usually be easily and economically repaired.

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

BECK'S SUPER BUGGER

THREE IN A BOAT BY JOHN BERRY

For most fly fishing guides the maximum number of clients that they will guide in a boat is two. Fly casting in close proximity to other fly casters is problematic at best. With two anglers in a White River Jon boat, the casters are approximately twelve feet apart. That distance is reduced to six feet apart, when you add another angler. The problem generally occurs, on the back cast, when the line of one angler crosses the line of another, resulting in a monumental tangle.

You can also encounter a major tangle, when one angler hooks a fish and it swims into the line, of another angler, resulting in the dreaded “Arkansas Double”. This is where both anglers are hooked to the same fish. This usually results in a lost trout or several minutes on the bank trying to untangle the two lines without having to rerig both lines.

In addition, most fly fishing guides have changed over to jet motors to allow them to navigate through shallower water. The problem here is that the jets are much more effective when running wide open but are not as well suited to making small steering adjustments, when the guides are drifting.

As a result, most of the fly fishing guides that use jet motors have mounted oars on their boats, so that they can steer effectively, when drifting.  With the oars mounted on the boat, the guides sit near the center of the boat (usually on a Yeti cooler) to row thereby eliminating the space in the boat, where a third angler could fish.  There is now only room for two anglers.  There are still a few guides that use propeller driven motors and do not use oars.  I am such a guide.  I get requests from time to time to guide three anglers in the boat. They are usually family groups that want to fish together. I charge more for a group of three to cover the additional expense for lunch, flies and terminal tackle.

I got such a request to guide three college buddies last Saturday. My partner, Dennis Schule, originally received the request but passed it on to me because he has a jet boat with oars and cannot accommodate three. It was with a bit of trepidation that I accepted the job. Guiding here is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. 

 

I met Pat, Brian and Scott the next morning at 7:30 AM at a house they had rented just off Denton Ferry Road. We loaded up their gear and chatted about their skill levels as we drove over to Rim Shoals. They agreed that three in a boat would be challenging and decided that they would fish two at a time. We started quickly and we were into trout almost immediately. After studying the situation they thought that they cast well enough to all fish at the same time. After observing them for a few minutes, I agreed. They were all accomplished casters and anglers.

It went flawlessly and we caught trout after trout. They would let the others know, when they were casting, to prevent foul ups on their back cast and took care to stay out of the way, when someone else was fighting a fish. It worked like a charm and turned out to be one of my best days on the river this year. We landed well over eighty trout (up to eighteen inches long) and had several doubles. We tried for a triple but just couldn’t get the last one in. There were a minimum of tangles and no drama.

We ended on a good note and planned to spend the next day wading the Norfork. Three in a boat can work but it requires that all three be skilled casters and constantly aware of what was happening.

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

CHECK OUT THIS FLIPAGRAM!

Wonderful day on Dry Run Creek with Scott, Falon and their father, Scott.  Many fish were caught and many memories were made to last a lifetime.

CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE THE FLIPAGRAM:

https://flipagram.com/f/fbvwimVZ2o 

GUIDE DENNIS TYING A RUBY SOFT HACKLE -- THANK YOU!

GREAT JOB AS A FLY FISHING GUIDE BY DENNIS SCHULE

One comment I hear a lot from my clients is that I really have a great job being able to go fly fishing all the time.  Well, as any fly fishing guide will tell you, we really don't get to fish that often during our busy time of the year, and here on the White River that busy time of the year has turned into 12 months.  We get the vacation clients that come to fish during the summer months.  We get the clients that love the fall fishing and then we get the really hard core fishermen who come during the cold winter months facing frigid temps, stiff lines and iced-up guides on their fly rods.

So getting back to the original statement about having a great job and getting to fish a lot, I have two answers.  Yes, I do have a great job.  I meet so many super great people and I really enjoy taking someone who has never fly fished a day in their life to the river and teaching them how to handle a fly rod and then watch them progress throughout the day and catch fish.   Of course, it's also a great day having experienced anglers in the boat who can pinpoint their casts and put the fly exactly where I tell them.  As for the fishing, I never fish when I have clients in the boat.  Many have asked me to fish but I usually decline.  

This brings me to this Tuesday.  I was off and my wife who is my favorite fishing partner had her schedule clear until later in the afternoon.   We decided to load up the boat and head to the river since it was going to be a beautiful fall day.  We arrived at the river around 9:30 and launched the boat.  We motored up river and started drift fishing one of our favorite spots on the river.  We usually catch a lot of fish in this location and after making the first drift with no fish I started to get concerned.  We motored back up stream and on the second drift we hit three fat sassy rainbows with vibrant fall colors.  My wife Mary, who is also our web page designer and maintains our page, struggled a little.  She had three fish on and lost all three.   Mary is an excellent fly fisher person and doesn't get a lot of credit for her fishing and casting skills.

Later in the morning we moved down river to another great spot and immediately started catching fish.  We had great water with less than one generator running.  This was a welcome flow considering what we have dealt all summer long.

 

By about 1:15 we had 17 fish to the net and decided to call it a day. None of the fish were big but respectable. Overall, it was a great day on the river with good company and lots of fish. The river colors were beautiful and we pretty much had the river to ourselves. So yes, I do have a great job. Especially when I can spend it on the river with my favorite fishing partner on a beautiful fall day.

A NICE RAINY MORNING BY JOHN BERRY

Since I took my job as the manager of Blue Ribbon Fly Shop, I have not been able to fish on my own. I have maintained my guiding schedule, so I get plenty of time on the river, but I have been too busy to fish myself. I really wanted a few hours on stream to get it all out of my system. I asked my assistant manager, Henry Seay, to cover for me last Thursday morning. He graciously agreed to do so.

I set my alarm for four o’clock. I rose quickly and hit the shower. When I was getting dressed, I peered outside and noted that it was raining. My crazy cat, Winston looked outside and decided to spend the day indoors. He may not be so crazy after all. Fortified with several cups of coffee and a light breakfast I left the house at 5:30 AM.

I drove into the parking lot at the Ackerman Access on the Norfork River at six and it was raining steadily. The rain didn’t bother me. My theory is that nothing thins the herd like a little rain. I was looking for a bit of solitude and was pleased to note that I was the first one there. The water was on the bottom and it was very dark. I didn’t have enough light to rig a fly rod, so I grabbed one, of my client rods that was still rigged from the previous day’s guide trip, on the White River.

I walked up into the Catch and Release section to one of my favorite spot. I caught my first fish on my first cast and my second one two casts later. It was nonstop action for about thirty minutes. I decided to move on to another spot. It was beginning to lighten up and I now could see well enough to rerig. I put on a cerise worm and a small tan scud. I walked out to some deeper water and began fishing. I was quickly rewarded with a fat and sassy sixteen inch rainbow. I began fishing the run and caught some really nice fish. About 7:30 AM I looked downstream and saw an angler walking up into the Catch and Release section.

It was time to move on. I walked further upstream and found another great spot to fish. The rain had picked up its tempo and it was beginning to soak through my hat. It was about sixty five degrees and it didn’t bother me. I began fishing the run and landed a fat twenty one inch brown that fought like a wild Comanche. I caught several really nice tout including a fifteen inch cutthroat.

By now, it was about eight thirty and time to go. I began fishing my way out. I stopped to talk to an angler that I had taught to fish a few years before. Judging by the success that I saw him having I think I succeeded in my task. I always enjoy running into my previous clients to see how they are doing. I caught several trout on my walk out and reached my car at nine. I had landed well over thirty trout in three hours.

I got in my Suburban and was in the shop at 9:30 AM. I had a day’s worth of fishing and was only an hour and a half late. I thanked Henry and decided that I would have to do that again.

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

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 11/13/2015

During the past week, we have had a major rain event (two and a half inches here in Cotter), cooler temperatures and moderate winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals fell six tenths of a foot to rest at one and four tenths feet below seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is thirty seven and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock fell four tenths of a foot to rest at one and five tenths feet below seasonal power pool and fifteen and five tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell four tenths feet to rest at five tenths of a foot below seasonal power pool and ten and one tenth feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had much lower water generation this week with marginal wadable water. Norfork Lake remained steady at one tenth of a foot below seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty six and three tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had wadable water every day.

The water level for the top of power pool has been reset for the lakes in the White River system. All of the lakes on this system are below seasonal power pool and we should encounter lower levels of generation on them with wadable water.

The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam is closed from November 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016 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 the White, fishing has improved with the lower water. The hot spot has been Rim Shoals. The hot flies were olive woolly buggers (#8, #10), Y2Ks (#14, #12), prince nymphs (#14), zebra midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or red with silver wire and silver bead #16, #18), pheasant tails (#14), ruby midges (#18), root beer midges (#18), pink and cerise San Juan worms (#10), and sowbugs (#16). Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective (my current favorite is a hot fluorescent pink or cerise San Juan worm with a black midge suspended below it).

Conventional wisdom states that hopper fishing begins in late summer. I reject this idea and fish them all year. I favor shorter leaders (seven and a half foot 4X) and a stiff six weight rod to proper deliver these weighty flies. My favorite flies are Dave’s hoppers (#10) and the western pink lady (#8). To increase hook ups I always use a dropper. I am currently using a ruby or root beer midge in size eighteen on a three foot or longer tippet (depending on the depth of the water I am fishing).

The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are a bit higher. With the cool weather, the smallmouths are active. 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. 

 

The Norfork has fished much better of late now that the lake level has dropped enough to prevent the leakage around the flood gate that was being repaired. It has had wadable water. The boat traffic has been reduced with better fishing conditions on the White River. The most productive flies have been small midge patterns (#18, #20, #22)  like ruby midges, root beer midges, zebra midges (black or red with silver wire and silver bead) and soft hackles (#14, #16) like the green butt. Egg patterns have also been productive. 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 #10). There have been reliable hatches of small midges (try a size 24 Adams parachute) and caddis (try a size 18 elk hair caddis). The fishing is better in the morning and late afternoon and tapers off midday. My favorite combination has been a cerise worm with a Sunday special dropper.

There construction project at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery is complete. It has seen less pressure with school back in session. It still fished well. The hot flies have been sowbugs (#14), Y2Ks (#12) and various colored San Juan worms (worm brown, red, hot fluorescent pink and cerise #10). While you are at the creek you should visit the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. It is fascinating. Be sure and remove your waders before entering to prevent the spread of aquatic diseases.

The water on the Spring River is navigable. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Canoe season is over and fishing is better. 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 (#10), cerise and hot pink San Juan worms (#10) and Y2Ks (#10).

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 for Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.