FALL IS FINALLY HERE BY JOHN BERRY

As I was pulling my trash receptacle to the curb, before leaving the house, for my job at Blue Ribbon Fly Shop, I noticed that there was a heavy layer of frost, on my Suburban. I don’t know about you but one of my least favorite things to do is to scrape the frost off of my windshield. I am invariably am running late and this makes me even later. To make things worse, I didn’t have on gloves so that my hands were freezing by the time I got the windshield clear. Was fall finally here! It seems like it was eighty two degrees a couple of weeks ago. 

Fall had actually arrived a couple of days earlier. I had a guide trip scheduled and the forecast was for a cool start (about thirty four degrees) and a high temperature of fifty one degrees. The day was exacerbated by heavy winds. They were forecast to be five to ten miles per hour. It looked to be a cold day. 

I had discussed the weather forecast with my wife, Lori, the night before. She thought that it would be brutal and that as this was the first serious cold snap that we have had, I would not be accustomed to the cold and would be miserable. She suggested that I dress as warmly as I could. I decided to take her advice as it made a lot of sense to me. 

I wore a set of polypropylene long underwear (top and bottom), a heavy fleece lined fishing shirt, a pair of flannel lined khakis, heavy wool wading socks, and L. L. Bean low quarter hunting boots. I thought for a time on what jacket I should wear and finally settled on my warmest down jacket. A pair of fingerless wool gloves and a waterproof, insulated winter hat, with a long bill and Velcro secured ear flaps completed my ensemble. 

I picked up my clients at River Ridge Inn and drove to Rim Shoals. The skies were overcast and the wind was howling (fifteen to twenty miles per hour). That sent the wind chill plummeting. It was even colder than I had thought it would be. I took a few minutes to rig my client’s rods with a ruby midge below a hare and copper nymph. I added a BB split shot and a strike indicator. I noticed that they did not have gloves and loaned them my sun gloves. They were not as warm as my fingerless wool gloves but were better than nothing. 

I launched my boat and we began fishing. We were into trout almost immediately. The fish did not seem to care about the cold start. As the day went on, my feet began getting cold. I should have worn my other pair of L. L. Bean hunting boots that are insulated and much warmer. My fingers got a bit cold but I was able to warm them from time to time in my jacket pockets. It finally warmed up in the afternoon and I was fine. Despite the wind we were able to land well over thirty trout. 

We finally got some cold weather and did not let the temperature or the wind interfere with having a good time on the water. Life is good!

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 11/18/2016

During the past week, we have had no rain event, cool temperatures and moderate winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals fell one and three tenths feet to rest at seven and four tenths feet below seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is forty three and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock fell three tenths of a foot to rest at six and one tenth feet below seasonal power pool and twenty and one tenth feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell two tenths of a foot to rest at six and three tenths feet below seasonal power pool and fifteen and nine tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had moderate generation in the afternoon with lower generation in the morning and limited wadable water. Norfork Lake remained steady at one and one tenth feet below seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty seven and three tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had low levels of generation late in the afternoon with wadable water every day.

Seasonal power pool has been reset for the lakes in the White River system. All of the lakes on this system are below seasonable power pool. With cooler fall weather and lower lake levels, we should see more wadable water.

The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam is closed from November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017 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, the bite has been spotty. Some days have been excellent and some poor. The hot spot has been Wildcat Shoals. We have had some wadable water. 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 hare and copper nymph (#14) with a ruby midge (#18) suspended below it).

The best bet for large trout has been to bang the bank with large articulated streamers delivered with heavy twenty four to thirty foot sink tips (350 grains or heavier) on bigger water. You will need an eight or nine weight rod. This is heavy work but the rewards can be great.

The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. The smallmouths are still active. My favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. 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 wadable water every morning on the Norfork. The lake has turned over and there is a sulphur smell on the upper river and with lower dissolved oxygen, in that area, the bite has been slow there. 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. My favorite fly has been an orange egg.

Dry Run Creek has been less crowded with school back in session. A large number of brown trout have moved into the creek. 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 Spring River is fishing well. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Canoe season is over and there are fewer boats on the river. 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.

FISHING SHOES BY JOHN BERRY

I thought that I would share my opinions on footwear, for fishing from a boat. To find the optimal fishing shoes, you should consider a few things. First is that a boat is often a wet environment and you need either a shoe that will dry quickly or is waterproof. Next it should provide sure footing in this perpetually wet world. Finally they should be comfortable and fit your feet properly. 

I know of several guides and anglers that wear their waders, when fishing from a boat. I can make a lot of sense to do that especially when it is raining, when they can function as an effective pair, of rain pants. However, on a hot, sunny day they would be way too warm for comfort. When using waders in a boat, make sure that your wading boots are not studded as they tend to slip and do not provide sure footing. It would be like wearing roller skates. Most guides will not let you enter their boat, in studded boots, to prevent damage to the floor, of their boat. 

I have noted that several of my fellow guides favor flip-flops when they are in the boat. They are certainly dry quickly and are comfortable, in a lot of situations, but I do not feel that they offer a lot, of protection, in certain instances. On Monday, when I was working a corporate group for River Ridge Inn I noted that one, of the guides, was wearing flip-flops, when the temperature was in the low thirties and there was frost, on the ground, early that morning. That is just too cold for me! 

On another occasion, I saw another guide working on Dry Run Creek in a pair of flip-flops. First of all I don’t think that they offer very much protection from the abundant poison ivy. Second, I don’t think that they would provide secure footing, if you had to get into the creek, to net a big trout. I always wear waders when guiding there. I know that this is not fishing from a boat but the conditions here are similar because you are frequently fishing from the bank. 

Other guides fish in Crocs which offer a bit more protection. I tried wearing Simms wading shoes, which worked well in the boat. They are full shoes that offer a lot of protection, for my feet, and are quick drying. I found out that they marked the linoleum floor, in our kitchen, which did not please my wife, Lori. I switched to Simms boat shoes. They are similar to the wading shoes except that they are non-marking. 

When it is raining, I wear low cut L. L. Bean hunting shoes. They are waterproof and sure footed in the boat. For the last couple of years they have been difficult to get because they were the hot thing to wear on college campuses everywhere. Bean could not keep up with demand for a while. They are available now. When the weather turns cold, I have another pair of them in the eight inch tall model that are lined with Gore-Tex to make them waterproof and insulated with Thinsulate to keep my feet warm. Lori has the same pairs. 

In cold or wet weather, other guides will wear traditional British wellies, which are waterproof and high, on the leg. There are several that wear Muck boots, which are similar but heavier duty and insulated, which make the great, for really cold weather. 

When you prepare to go fishing, take a minute to consider what footwear to put on. It will help you be more comfortable and safe out there, if you make the best decision for the conditions.

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 11/11/2016

During the past week, we have had a minor rain event (a tenth of an inch here in Cotter), cool temperatures and moderate winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals fell two tenths of a foot to rest at six and one tenth feet below seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is forty one and five tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock rose one tenth of a foot to rest at five and eight tenths feet below seasonal power pool and nineteen and eight tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell two tenths of a foot to rest at six and one tenth feet below seasonal power pool and fifteen and seven tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had moderate generation in the afternoon with lower generation in the morning and no wadable water. Norfork Lake rose one tenth of a foot to rest at one and one tenth feet below seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty seven and three tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had low levels of generation late in the afternoon with wadable water every day.

Seasonal power pool has been reset for the lakes in the White River system. All of the lakes on this system are below seasonable power pool. With cooler fall weather and lower lake levels, we should see more wadable water.

The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam is closed from November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017 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, the bite has been spotty. Some days have been excellent and some poor. The hot spot has been Rim Shoals. We have had no wadable water. 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 cerise San Juan worm with a ruby midge (#18) suspended below it).

The best bet for large trout has been to bang the bank with large articulated streamers delivered with heavy twenty four to thirty foot sink tips (350 grains or heavier) on bigger water. You will need an eight or nine weight rod. This is heavy work but the rewards can be great.

The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. The smallmouths are still active. My favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. 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 wadable water every morning on the Norfork. The lake has turned over and there is a sulphur smell on the upper river and with lower dissolved oxygen, in that area, the bite has been slow there. 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. My favorite fly has been an orange egg.

Dry Run Creek has been less crowded with school back in session. A large number of brown trout have moved into the creek. 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 Spring River is fishing well. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Canoe season is over and there are fewer boats on the river. 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.

SOWBUG ROUNDUP FLY TYING CONTEST 2017 BY JOHN BERRY

As many of you know, the most important fly fishing event of the year is the Sowbug Roundup (the Friday night Shindig has also become the fly fishing social event of the year). It is a three day celebration of fly tying that is scheduled for May 23, 24 and 25 in 2017 at the Baxter County Fairgrounds. Fly tyers from throughout the United States will be there and we usually draw a tyer or two from abroad.  I am on the Sowbug committee and I believe that the next Sowbug Roundup will be the best one ever. It is our twentieth anniversary and we are pulling out all of the stops.

My job on the committee is chairman of the Fly Tying Contest. This has become an integral part of the show and I really enjoy doing it. I invite each of you to enter the contest. There are nine categories, nymph, dry fly, wet fly, streamer, smallmouth bass, bass, warm water, salmon/steelhead and salt water. In addition there is a best in show. The winners of each category and the best in show will receive a plaque (the perfect thing to hang over your tying desk). The real prize is the bragging rights for winning.

Rules have been kept to a minimum. The entrant must tie the fly submitted for judging. Each entry must include the name, address, phone number and email address along with two flies for each pattern submitted (they must be exactly the same size, color, etc). You need to include the recipe for the fly and instructions on how to fish it. You may submit as many patterns for as many categories as you want. All flies submitted will become the property of the contest and will not be returned. Any fly that contains insect parts (legs wings, etc.) will be eliminated from competition. Commercially tied patterns will not be accepted. The decision of the judges is final. Committee members and judges are not eligible to participate in the contest.

To participate, all you have to do is send your flies, recipes and fishing instructions to me, John Berry, at 408 Combs Ave. Cotter, Arkansas 72626 or you can drop your entries off at Blue Ribbon Fly Shop at 1343 East 9^thStreet Mountain Home, AR 72653 by Wednesday February 15, 2017. The winners will be announced on Friday March 25, 2017 at the Sowbug Roundup Shindig which will be held at St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church beginning at 6:00 PM. This event has become the top fly fishing social event of the year.

The idea behind the fly tying contest is to identify and acknowledge those talented tyers among us that nobody knows about. In the past we have discovered talented local tyers like Chad Johnson who is now a judge. Last year’s discovery was Tradd Little, who won five categories at the age of thirteen. He is returning this year.

My only regret is that, as a committee member and judge, I cannot enter the contest. I hope you enter and join me at Sowbug.

THE THRASHER BY JOHN BERRY

A couple of weeks ago I guided Susan Thrasher. She is a repeat client. I always enjoy fishing with her because she is a guide (she owns a nice lodge on the Caney Fork River in Lancaster Tennessee) and is also a Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Casting Instructor. To say that she is an accomplished angler is a bit of an understatement. In addition, she had career as an executive in a large international engineering firm.

We fished the Catch and Release section at Rim Shoals and it was a gorgeous day. It was sunny with no wind and a high temperature of seventy two degrees. I rigged her rod with the usual suspects, a ruby midge below a cerise San Juan worm (the flies that I have been fishing with great success for months). We began drifting and were into nice fish immediately. The hot fly was the ruby midge.

After a while, she asked if she could use her favorite fly. Now my business philosophy is that the day belongs to the client, so I said sure. She ties a size fourteen black thread midge with a tungsten bead on a scud hook and has had great success with it on the Caney Fork and other rivers. She wanted to see if it would work on the White. The fly was way bigger than the midges I have seen, on the White (the ruby is a size eighteen) and I was interested to see, if it would work here. We clipped off the ruby midge and tied on her fly. We were into fish immediately and fished that way for an hour or so. In the process, we caught a lot of trout.

She wondered if her fly would out produce the ruby midge. I proposed a simple experiment. We would rerig her rod with her fly as the lead fly and the ruby midge as the dropper. Once again, we were into fish immediately. We didn’t count but it was pretty apparent that her fly was catching the majority of the trout. We replaced the ruby midge with another of her large black midges.

We noticed that several trout were hitting the strike indicator. We went back to my suburban and got an extra rod that we rigged with a Western pink lady grasshopper and used her fly as a dropper. We took a couple on the hopper but the black midge caught even more trout.

I was intrigued and asked the name of the fly. She said that she really didn’t have a name for it but often referred to it as the miracle midge. I knew of another fly pattern with that name and suggested that she call it the Thrasher, her last name. She liked that.

We fished until around four PM. She landed well over sixty trout most, of which, were caught, on the thrasher. As other boats came in with friends of hers, in them, they asked if we had fished with her fly and how well we had done. I answered yes and very well. It was what they had expected.

Sometimes we learn of new fly patterns, in unexpected places. I took the fly that was still, on my fly rod, below the grass hopper and gave it to my commercial fly tyer at Blue Ribbon Fly Shop to reproduce. I want to fish it myself and see if it works for me too. I think it will and that it will be a fly that earns its own keep.

JOHN BERRY FISHING REPORT 11/04/2016

During the past week, we have had no rain, warm temperatures and heavy winds. The lake level at Bull Shoals fell one and four tenths feet to rest at five and nine tenths feet below seasonal power pool of 659 feet. This is forty one and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Upstream, Table Rock rose two tenths of a foot to rest at five and nine tenths feet below seasonal power pool and nineteen and nine tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver Lake fell four tenths of a foot to rest at five and nine tenths feet below seasonal power pool and fifteen and five tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the White, we had heavy generation in the afternoon with lower generation in the morning and no wadable water. Norfork Lake remained steady at one and two tenths of a foot below seasonal power pool of 553.75 feet and twenty seven and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. On the Norfork, we had low levels of generation all day with wadable water every day.

Seasonal power pool has been reset for the lakes in the White River system. All of the lakes on this system are below seasonable power pool. With cooler fall weather and lower lake levels, we should see more wadable water.

The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam is closed from November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017 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, the bite has been spotty. Some days have been excellent and some poor. The hot spot has been Wildcat Shoals. We have had no wadable water. 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 cerise San Juan worm with a ruby midge (#18) suspended below it).

The best bet for large trout has been to bang the bank with large articulated streamers delivered with heavy twenty four to thirty foot sink tips (350 grains or heavier) on bigger water. You will need an eight or nine weight rod. This is heavy work but the rewards can be great.

The Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek are navigable. The smallmouths are still active. My favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. 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 wadable water every morning on the Norfork. The lake has turned over and there is a sulphur smell on the upper river and with lower dissolved oxygen, in that area, the bite has been slow there. 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. My favorite fly has been the ruby midge. 

Dry Run Creek has been less crowded with school back in session. A large number of brown trout have moved into the creek. 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 Spring River is fishing well. This is a great place to wade fish, when they are running water on the White and Norfork Rivers. Canoe season is over and there are fewer boats on the river. 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.