THINK OUTSIDE THE BOAT BY JOHN BERRY

One of the things that I hear every day is where can I fish, on this high water? The best advice that I can give is, to fish from a boat. They are safer, more comfortable and a more effective fishing platform than wading. However there are many anglers that do not have access to a boat or they just don’t like, to fish from one. Some fly fishers just prefer to wade fish. I am one of them. When I wade, I feel that I am one, with the river. I am one, of a few local guides, that will book wade trips. Sometimes I feel like I am the only fly fishing guide, in Baxter County, that owns a pair, of waders.

What do you do when they are running a lot, of water, and you don’t own a boat? I say think outside the boat. We are lucky here in that we have a lot of alternatives to wade, when they are running big water here, in the Twin Lakes Area.

The first stream that I think of is the Norfork Tail Water, the stream below Norfork Dam. Unlike Bull Shoals Dam there is no series of dams above Norfork Dam and as a result the Norfork draws down more quickly and is wadable more often and more consistently than the White. The trick here is that you need to carefully monitor, the SWPA (Southwestern Power Administration) website, to see, when the prediction indicates a period, of wadable water. I do this every day. I caught a nice opportunity yesterday. The Norfork was scheduled to be off until 10:00 AM. I got there at 6:00 AM and got in four hours of fishing before the water came up.

You can fish the North Fork of the White. This is the same stream but is the river above Norfork Dam. This is a great trout stream with some really nice wild rainbows. There is no dam on this section. It is a free flow stream, until it gets, to Norfork Dam. My wife Lori and I fish it from time to time and always enjoy it. My favorite fly here is a big stone fly nymph.

If you feel like driving a bit further, try the Spring River. This is a very special stream to me. It is a spring fed river stocked, with trout. This is where I learned, to fly fish, and where I met Lori. The only problem, with this river, is that it is very popular, with canoeists and kayakers. During warm weather it can get quite crowded with boaters that have little concern about disturbing your fishing. I generally reserve the Spring River, for colder weather, when there are fewer boats. My favorite fly here is an olive woolly bugger.

If you want something a bit closer try Crooked Creek. It is a free flow smallmouth bass stream. It is Lori’s favorite. The most convenient place for me to fish is at the Fred Berry Conservation Center. There is a Catch and Release Section there that fishes well. Make sure that your vehicle is outside the Fred Berry Conservation fence before 4:30 PM because they lock the gate then. My favorite fly for this section is the Clouser Minnow.

Finally another spot that probably has some of the most spectacular scenery around is the Buffalo River. This is a National River and is basically a National Park surrounding the Buffalo River. There are loads of accesses and 135 miles of river to take in. I prefer to fish the lower forty or so miles. In warm weather, there can be canoes and kayaks on the water but not as many as the Spring River. There is even a herd of Elk. My favorite fly here is the Clouser Minnow.

As you can see, there are plenty, of alternatives, to wade, when they are running water. I fish all, of them, from time to time, when I want some wadable water. Go out there and give them a try.