As you know, we have had
some recent flooding, on the Norfork Tailwater. The double whammy, of the big
flows on the White (caused by flooding on the Buffalo and crooked Creek), which
backed up into the Norfork and the Corps of Engineers opening several flood
gates at Norfork Dam, caused some major damage, on the Norfork. Once the flood
Gates were closed and the ramps were cleaned up, fishing returned to the
Norfork.
I began fishing it as
soon as I could. As I floated it in my river boat, I noted many changes. I saw
wrecked or missing docks; trash hung up in trees, erosion and downed trees. I
also noted several major changes in the channels. Many were filled in with
gravel that severely restricted traffic. There were also spots that had been
scoured out and were much deeper now. I figured that once I began wading the
river I would note more profound changes.
I finally got my chance,
to wade part of it, on Tuesday. The day before it was off until noon but
this information was not included, on the Southwestern Power Administration
prediction, so I missed it. I was doing a two day guide trip and I always like
to wade one day and float the other, if possible. I had fished some novice fly
fishers Monday, on the White, in my boat, with limited success. I wanted
to do something different. That afternoon I checked the prediction and saw a
brief window of opportunity, on the Norfork. I was to fish a half day and that
worked out well.
My clients were game for
an early start and a different approach. I figured that Quarry Park would be a
bit crowded and opted to fish the Ackerman Access. It has always been a
favorite of mine. When we arrived, we noted that the river was up but that there
was no current. The White was so high the Norfork was backed up all the way to
the island in front of Charlie’s. The water looked deep but I figured that I
could hug the bank and make it to the island. The going was challenging and
there were a couple of spots where the channel had been scoured out around a
blow down. The water almost hit the top of my waders but we made it.
When we arrived at the
island, I was surprised. The pool in front of Charlie’s house (the kiddy hole)
was graveled in. The lower island had been washed away. About a third of the
upper island was also gone leaving a string of large boulders that had been
placed there to prevent this from happening. Most of the water was now moving
through the right channel (facing upstream).
It was like fishing a
new river. It was like a place that I had never fished before. I looked around
and noted some new spots that I thought would hold fish. We began fishing with
a cerise San Juan worm with a root beer midge dropper below it. There was one
false start that produced no fish but after moving to a new spot both anglers
were soon, into good fish. We caught several rainbows over twenty inches or
better and enjoyed ourselves a lot. Unfortunately, the water began to rise and
we had to leave immediately before the deep water we had crossed getting in got
any deeper. Somehow we made it safely out.
It had been a
challenging wade in and out. I would not recommend it to any angler. You would
be much safer kayaking down from Quarry Park.
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