August « 2009 « whiterivertroutdiva.net

August 30, 2009

Fishing Report 8-30-2009

Filed under: Fishing Report, Trout Fishing — Tags: fishing report, Trout Fishing — admin @ 3:17 pm

Fishing Report – 8/30/2009

As the habitat restoration project at Bull Shoals Dam comes to a close, the generation patterns are beginning to change slightly over the last few days.

graph1

graph2

What you can see from the graphs above, is that the pattern of letting the water below Bull Shoals Dam begin to fall out around midnight, and not be turned on again until the afternoon has been replaced with almost 2 days now of a relatively solid flow of approximately 2000 CFS, and negligible spikes.

In our area, a somewhat wider portion of the river, there is good wade access at 2000 CFS. That is also enough water to navigate by boat, although some shoals might require short stretches of having to drag.

Fishing, both spin & fly, has been very good.

For the bait fishermen, soft-shell crawdads, sculpin, shrimp & redworms have given the best results. Hot pink Nitro worms have been working well, too.

For those who like to fish artificials, the smaller Bouyant spoons in nearly any color, and Size 3 & 5 Rapala countdowns in Silver/Black and Gold/Black have been the top producers.

For fly-fishing, bead-head prince nymphs, around a size 12, have really worked well for quite a few of our guests, and the White River staple, the olive woolly bugger, has also been a go-to fly — either beadhead or non-beadhead. A few guests also reported that brown woolly buggers were working for them as well.

My prediction for water flow for the next week or so is as follows: The lakes are not particularly high, even with Bull Shoals Lake up 0.9 ft. to 654.9. However, you have to remember this time of year, decisions are made off the SEASONAL pool level, which is 656, not 654. In other words, the Corps doesn’t have to run water just to get the Bull Shoals Lake down.

Under these circumstances, control is back in the hands of SWPA for the time being, who will only run it for power demand. With the moderate temperatures we’re experiencing in the region, chances are the demands will be relatively light. So my guess is we’ll see similar levels for this week, anyway.

Remember, you can always get up to the minute information and explanations to help you interpret it at http://www.hisplaceresort.net/River-flow.htm.

We look forward to serving you!

Your White River Trout Diva

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August 26, 2009

A Summer at Cotter

Filed under: Ozarks stories, Trout Fishing — Tags: Trout Fishing, White River — admin @ 11:02 am

Well, this week I’m going to tell you a little story… Or, actually, I’m going to let my Daddy tell you a little story. You see, my Daddy used to trout fish the White River all around Cotter, long before I was born. I had no idea that he’d ever been here until after my husband Steve and I bought the resort in 2002.

I remember how excited he was, and boy, he had plenty to tell me about the area! (Come to think on it, there was plenty he would NOT tell me either… like how he got kicked out of one of the finer Cotter lodging facilities of the day… Hmmm… I’ll have to ask him about that again…)

Oh yeah, forgot to mention… after you read this, you’ll realize that I am indeed my father’s daughter. It took a man like this to create the White River Trout Diva…

I’ll let him tell y’all about it in his own words… enjoy!

A Summer at Cotter

By Bob Watts

It was the spring of 1955. Just got out of the Air Force for the second time. This last tour was about 4 ½ years. Didn’t get any trout fishing in as I was never stationed anywhere close to some trout. Do I like to fly fish for trout? Well, let’s put it this way — for many years, it was my second favorite thing to do.

My Daddy, Bob Watts in 1955 at the Cotter Big Spring Park

Didn’t take long for me to find out that they had built a power dam on the White River called Bull Shoals Dam. The river below the dam had been stocked with rainbow trout in 1951and the rumors were that the trout were growing at an unbelievable rate of a lb. or two a year. Couldn’t find anyone who had been there or was willing to admit it.

Next thing I knew I was on the road to Cotter, Arkansas. It was right on the banks of the river and should have been a good place to get some information on where some wade-able water might be that had public access. When I got there, simply could not believe my eyes. There was so much water coming down that river that a full grown elephant couldn’t have waded across! Well, I did see a boat dock, so I drove down to it to find out if the river ever got low enough that I could wade out and do a little fly fishing.

Well, I got good news and bad news. The good news was that the water during the week was low enough in the mornings to wade out and do some serious fly fishing. But about noon, the water started rising due to the power generators being turned on at the dam several hours earlier. You had about 10-15 minutes to get out of the water or else.

On weekends, the good news got better. The high water didn’t get to the Cotter area until mid-afternoon or so. However, the problem with the good news was that you had to find something else to do on weekday afternoons. Back then, Cotter had a population of less than a thousand. Not a whole lot going on. Hmmm… Wonder what the elephants did?

The bad news, according to the “experts” at the trout dock was that “trout here just don’t seem to like trout flies”. Seems the only way to catch ‘em was to rent a boat and motor, hire a guide, buy some worms, or crawdads, old shrimp, or some prepared baits and perhaps some small crank baits. And gosh, all those things were available right there at the trout dock. Now how lucky can a guy get?

Well, didn’t believe for one minute their “trout here don’t hit trout flies” story, so the next morning I located some beautiful shoals about a mile below the trout dock. Not another fisherman in sight. With water this beautiful, seemed too good to be true. Tied on a solid brown marabou streamer, waded out, and made my first cast. What happened next is borderline unbelievable but I’m going to tell you anyhow.

I made three casts and broke off on three trout! Now, it’s true that my leader was tapered down to 6x (only about 2 lb. test). On the other hand, I was no slouch with a fly rod, either. Over the years, had caught a lot of nice trout with 2 lb. test leader. Well, at this point, I was a nervous wreck, so I waded back to shore to calm down a little and tie on some heavier leader and a new fly. My hands were still shaking so bad I had trouble getting the knots tied. Knew right then and there I was right in the middle of a trout fisherman’s paradise.

For about the next three hours, I caught a couple dozen or so rainbows in the 1-3 lb range. And in spite of the heavier leader, still managed to break off on one more trout. Well, nothing good lasts forever and long before I was ready, here came the high water and ended my fishing for that day. I drove to town, checked out of my motel, & headed home. Loaded my camping gear, portable fly tying kit and, oh yes, a few clothes in the car and headed right back down to Cotter. I had a chance for a once in a lifetime experience in trout fishing and wasn’t about to let it go by.

Well, didn’t take long for me to develop a reputation for a guy who was catching a lot of trout. So, one afternoon three men from the Arkansas Fish & Game Commission showed up at my tent. They were making a promotional movie about trout fishing on the White River. It would be shown on various TV stations in some of the surrounding states. Then they asked the $64 question. Could I catch some trout for them in front of their movie camera? My answer was probably, but with no guarantee.

So the very next morning, there we were, about a mile above Cotter. They got the boat positioned right where I told them so out I waded to hopefully start the show. I was certainly wondering if I was about to make a fool out of myself. But then, if I did, it wouldn’t have been the first time. Now are you ready for this? On the very first cast, I hooked into about a 3 lb. plus rainbow. Whew! Guess good clean living finally paid off. Good thing, too. Was about to give it up as an unrewarding venture.

So a few minutes later, there I was, right next to the boat, getting ready to net this gorgeous trout when the guy with the movie camera hollered out, “Look up here at the camera and smile”. Well, I looked up but sure didn’t smile. I saw that this world class imbecile had forgotten to take off the lens dust cover. Not one frame of film had been taken. And if that wasn’t enough, they were getting low on film, one of the guys in the boat said he really needed to get to the shore to take a leak, and I just heard thunder. Good grief!

Now for those of you who might have said sometime in the past like “this guy (me) is not playing with a full deck” or something just as insulting, listen up! Almost immediately, I had what turned out to be a brilliant idea. Told ’em to go ahead and film me landing that trout. Then I would wade back to my starting point, and hopefully hook another trout. They could film this up until the time I was about to land the fish, then splice in the film that was taken about me landing the original trout. Hope you were able to follow all his.

So here we were, starting all over again. This time it took me about half a dozen casts to hook a trout. Trouble was, it was only about half the size of the first one. So did what I could to make it look like it was much bigger, like let him get out in the swifter current, take more line off the reel than was necessary, and so on. Finally got to the point where they could splice in the original film. As loud as I could, I hollered, “Stop filming”.

So, is that the end of the story? No, it’s not. Glad you asked. Almost two months later, was fishing along one day when I noticed two young ladies sitting on the river bank. Could tell by the way they were dressed they were not locals. Wasn’t hard to figure out. Their husbands were probably out on the river somewhere fishing and drinking beer as fast as they could. Their thoughtful, caring husbands probably told their spouses that the river was probably too dangerous for them and after all, they wouldn’t be gone all that long.

Suddenly one of the ladies yelled out, “Hey mister, aren’t you that guy we saw on TV?” But before I could answer, guess it was the other lady’s turn. “Hey, how about catching a big one for us just like you did on TV?” Now, what I felt like saying was that sure lady, and while I’m at it, I pull a $20 gold piece out from behind your ear. But at this particular time, I was sort of their hero, so why spoil it? So, told ‘em yes, I probably was the guy on TV and yes, I would try and catch a big trout just for them. Gosh, seemed like I had been through this before.

Well, almost immediately, hooked a nice trout. And almost immediately, I started getting help about how to land that trout. “Don’t let it get away”, “Be careful, don’t lose him”, “Give him some line”, “Look out! He’s liable to break the line”, “Keep a tight line”, “Don’t let him jump like that”, and on and on. Hmmm… Maybe their husbands had a little better reason to leave the ladies behind than I first thought.

Well, I did manage to land that trout, showed it to the ladies, and then released it. Then my ego got an unexpected boost. “Gosh, mister. You just gotta be the best trout fisherman on this whole darn river.” Well, looked around, didn’t see anyone within earshot, so figured what the heck.

I agreed with ‘em.

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Cowboy Collie

Filed under: Ozarks stories, Trout Fishing — Tags: His Place Resort, Trout Fishing, White River — admin @ 11:01 am

Well, you know what they say; the more things change, the more they stay the same. Even back in the 50’s, there was “division”, if you will, between those who bait fish and those who fly fish.

It’s only fitting that my Dad would write about bridging that gap over 50 years ago, and finding common ground with others who truly love the White River, even if only for a day. It’s just the kind of man he is.

We could all learn something from him.

I’ll let him tell y’all about it in his own words… enjoy!

COWBOY COLLIE

By Bob Watts

Cowboy Collie in 1955 at the Cotter Big Spring Park

He was a big man, about 60, and always wore overalls and a wide brimmed straw hat. Lived right there in Cotter along with his two fox hounds. Apparently no wife. Walked with a limp caused by supposedly trying to ride a buffalo in a small circus back in his younger days. He fished the river about twice a week and had the reputation of catching more big trout than just about anyone else.

He kept about every trout he caught over about 2 lbs. Some would probably have gone at least 5. So what could one man do with all those trout? Well, sad to say, he fed ‘em to his fox hounds. Now that didn’t go over too well with a lot of the locals, especially the fishing guides, whose livelihood depended on tourists coming down there and all hoping to catch a big trout. Cowboy simply said he didn’t like the taste of trout and was sorry they ever built the dam.

I first noticed Cowboy in a restaurant located on the ground floor of the Waverly Hotel in Cotter. I usually had breakfast there about 6:30 a.m. and he would often be there having coffee. We never spoke. Believe one reason is that some of the locals figured that I might be a secret agent for the ATF. (Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms Dept) Yes, there were still several illegal stills operating in the surrounding hills

One morning, all of a sudden, he finally spoke to me. “Well, young man, have you been getting your share of the big ‘uns?” I could hardly believe he spoke to me. I replied something like “Well, I get a big one occasionally, but sure haven’t learned how to catch ‘em like you do”. (right out of Dale Carnegie). Apparently, I said the right thing.

“Well, I’m going out in about 30 minutes, If you want to come along, meet me at Millers (the trout dock) in 30 minutes and don’t be late.” Then, as he was walking out the door, he turned and said, “And don’t be bringing that switch you use. I got all the tackle we’ll need.”

Holy smoke! I just got invited to go fishing with the best big trout fisherman on the whole river. And if that wasn’t good enough, I now had a new name for my very expensive fly rod – a switch… Oh well.

When I got to the trout dock, Cowboy was already in his boat bailing it out. Since the boat was kept in a covered dock, assumed it leaked. My first impression of the boat was that it was probably built around the beginning of time. There were some random splotches of a dull green color along the sides of the boat. Probably some very old green paint that had not yet fallen off, or some mold. I was leaning toward the mold, but before I could figure this one out, up the river we were going.

We stopped in some quiet water just off the main current. Cowboy threw out the anchor which was made from a Folgers coffee can filled with cement with an eye protruding out of the cement. Ohh-kay. Next he handed a rod and reel which could have handled at least a hundred lb. fish. Then, here came the bait. It was a peeled crawdad tail. Turned out that was the only bait he ever used!

Well, we hadn’t been there 5 minutes when here came a boat with 3 locals in it. One of ‘em hollered out something like, “You want one this morning?” Cowboy replied in the affirmative. Well, one what? Didn’t ask, as I had already learned that the less questions I asked down in that country the better. Saw Cowboy look at his watch and then it was back to fishing.

Now would like to tell all of you that we proceeded to catch a lot of big trout, but we didn’t. Guess even Cowboy had some bad days. After about 45 minutes, the largest trout we (actually Cowboy) caught was about 2 lbs. During this time, I did notice Cowboy check the time on his wrist watch several times. At one time, I thought I saw a Mickey Mouse imprint on his watch, but no. Surely not. He also started shading his eyes and looking upstream.

All of a sudden, Cowboy said, “O.K. Bring in your bait. We’re moving.” He then headed straight out to the main current and kept his outboard running at just the speed necessary to keep us from going either upstream or down. Yes, he kept shading his eyes and looking upstream. Then I saw something that was round and green floating down with the current. Cowboy suddenly grabbed his oversize landing net and netted – are you ready for this – a small watermelon!

Apparently, the 3 locals knew of a watermelon patch up the river somewhere and picked out a few. One was for Cowboy which they promptly threw in the river. Hey, thanks guys. The watermelon was delicious!

So here I was, in a boat that made ugly look good, with an old man who, after one glance, you just knew owned the boat, fishing with tackle that was an insult to all rainbow trout, using peeled crawdad tails which was, and still is, absolutely forbidden by all snobbish fly fisherman like myself, eating watermelon, and with my shirt stained all down the front with watermelon juice. My napkin happened to be what I was wearing. Come to think about it, my shirt wasn’t all that clean before the watermelon came along.

Anyhow, all I needed now was to have one of my fly fishing friends come by in a boat & see me. I mean, how embarrassing would that be? I would probably never hear the end of it. Oh, well. So kept right on fishing (if you can call it that) and almost before I knew it, it was a little after 12 & the water started rising. Now Cowboy would not fish in high water, so off we took to go back to the dock.

On the way, got to thinking. I really had a great time that day. Got invited to go fishing with a man who was close to being a legend in his own time. The weather was great and the scenery was outstanding. Got kicked off my fly fishing high horse and landed with only minor pain which soon went away. Saw a brand new way to order watermelon. Guess not too many people have ever seen anything like that. And to top it all off, realized that the fact that we did not have a very good fishing day was really not all that important.

Oh well, as the old saying goes, live and learn…

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