As predicted, the lake levels at Bull Shoals have now returned to target level and below.  This has meant significantly lower flows.  Many of you have asked if this has meant “dead-low” water; to answer your question, No, it has not been dead-low, but it has been fairly “wadeable” in the mornings.  Norfork has been off quite a bit, too.

Here’s a look at what it’s been doing for the last several days…

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As you can see, they’ve been running some, but not nearly the amounts they’ve been running through the summer.

As far as what to use?

For our fly fishers, quite a few things have been been working.  Folks are having the best luck with woolly buggers, and red San Juan worms.  Especially in the morning, when the levels have been a little lower, bead head midges have been working as well.

For our spin fishers, even with the lower water, things have not changed too terribly much.  The same white/hot pink mice tails have still been the most productive thing going.  Several of our guests have also reported good luck with the larger nightcrawlers, too.

For those who like lures, pretty much any kind of gold or copper Colorado/Buoyant spoon, or Blue Fox has been producing really well.

The weather has been cool in the morning, and warming up nicely in the afternoon.  It’s a great time to come fishing on the White River, and I hope we see you soon!

I’m going to make a prediction about the water levels here on the White River…

I typically don’t like to make predictions more than a few days out, but this seems like pretty much as easy a prediction as I’ll ever have the opportunity to make…  so, here goes!

Lake’s about 662 ft above sea level today…  Target is 654.  The lake’s been dropping about 8 inches or more per day.  Lakes above have hit pool.

I’m thinking 2 weeks or less to hit target.

So, when the target is reached; we’ll be in pretty mild weather…  Probably not a huge demand for power.  And once target level is reached, SWPA takes over…  and they don’t run water “jus’ cuz”; they run it to make money…  so they’ll sit on it…

So, sometime around 9/20 to 9/25, I expect to see drastically reduced flows…

Therefore; if you’re a higher water fan like me and you’re planning a visit, come now!  If you’ve been waiting for some lower water, I think your wait is about up!

Either way, I’ll be here waitin’… 

Your White River Trout Diva

Just wanted to give you a little update on the fishing conditions here on the White River…

The fishing has been good and consistent, with an average of 7 generators max.  It’s been pretty much the same flow pattern over the last couple of weeks.

Drift fishing with river rigs weighted with 1/4 oz. Sinkers has been the ticket; #4 Aberdeen hooks will take care of most everything you want to put out there to ‘em…

And what to put on the hook???  Well, it’s something that resembles absolutely nothing in nature, actually…  Berkley Mice Tails…  If you haven’t seen them; No…  they don’t look like mice tails…  not to me, anyway… 

But, what they look like to the Trout Diva doesn’t really matter, now does it?

They are simply a scented plastic worm with a Powerbait ball attached to one end; in a different color from the worm.  Doesn’t sound like much, does it?  Well, doesn’t look like much, either…  but they WORK!

White head / bubblegum body and vice-versa are working equally well for the spin/bait crowd…

For the flyfishers, San Juan worms in blood red and hot pink, weighted heavy and drifted deep under an indicator seemed to work the best.

And for Lure chuckin’?  Get those Size 9 Countdowns and Size 10 Extreme Action Slashbaits out of your tackle boxes and throw ‘em TIGHT to the bank…  did I mention TIGHT to the bank???

That’s all for now…

See you on the River!

Your White River Trout Diva

 

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Swift water passes through the basement of a home along the White River on Tuesday. / JOSH DOOLEY/THE BAXTER BULLETIN

 

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Fishing guide Donald Cranor prepares to unhook a brown trout after catching it just 28 seconds from the time he cast his bait into the White River on Tuesday. Anglers fishing below Bull Shoals Dam on the White River Tuesday reported good fishing. / JOSH DOOLEY/THE BAXTER BULLETIN

Anglers on the mighty White River backed up reports Tuesday of a fast, hard bite that came with a record flow from Bull Shoals Dam that made riverbed of land along the river that hadn’t been inundated since the dam began service in 1957.

Bull Shoals Lake crested Friday at 695.5 feet above mean sea level — 105 percent of capacity — and appeared Tuesday morning to be on course to fall to 693 feet by Friday, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman P.J. Spaul.

In the absence of substantial new rainfall in the White River Basin, Corps hydrologists likely will order the dam to trim floodgate releases again possibly today, Spaul said.

The Corps is required to hold back floodwaters probably for months, or as long as a river gauge on the White River at Newport remains above 12 feet, Spaul said. Thursday morning the river at Newport was measured at 28.3 feet.

Seventeen floodgates stood open 2.2 feet high for most of the day Tuesday, releasing water at a rate of 37,800 cubic feet per second. That release combined with flows through five generators raised the total release to 42,000 cfs.

Good fishing

A tour of the river Tuesday afternoon found moderate damage to the biggest commercial docks on the river at Gaston’s and Stetson’s resorts. Ends of the docks that bore the brunt of the current crumpled, but neither dock had lost more than two boat slips.

Guides on the river Tuesday reported excellent fishing in eddies inside and downstream from any bend or breakwater in the river. Guide Donald Cranor said the water following over new ground apparently yielded lots of food that brought large numbers of fish to school downstream from the breakwaters.

A tour of the river with Cranor Tuesday afternoon found several guides using all tackle types, catching fish at a brisk pace. Guide Pete Cobb fishing with friends Moose and Tina Watson were observed pulling in trout in singles and doubles to the boat piloted by Cobb.

Fly guide Ron Yarborough reported catching and releasing 11 quality brown trout during an outing ending at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Cranor demonstrated the quick, hard bite twice for a Bulletin camera Tuesday — the first cast hooking a 15-inch rainbow trout in less than 90 seconds; the second cast took a 17-inch brown trout in 28 seconds.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Cranor guided Larry and Sherry Richards of St. Louis. The pair caught and released one 4.5-pound brown trout, a 3-pounder and several other fish in the 2- to- 2.5-pound weight range.

“I was surprised,” said Larry Richards. “We couldn’t rent a boat. I’d been fishing with Cranor a few years ago. I called him and he said, ‘If you don’t come right now you’re really missing out.’ ”

“He wasn’t kidding.

“We have never, ever caught them like that before,” Richards said.

Lake fishing

On the lake side of Bull Shoals and Norfork dams, veteran guide Darrell Binks said he and his guiding peers are finding the striper and hybrid striper bass bite on white spoons at a depth around 35 feet.

Bass and bluegill fishing is excellent in the brushy shorelines around the lake for the anglers who will go in after them. Binks said brush anglers are looking for any still water with a scum on it.

“About the only fishing the high water hurt is the crappie,” Binks said. “Those fish are as far back in the brush as they can get.”

“I saw a guy and wife (Tuesday) morning with a stringer of bluegill. Some of them were 10 inches,” he said.

Binks said he has some vacancies in his guide booking calendar, as do most lake guides, because of the rain that seemed never would end. During the past three days of relative calm on the lakes, though, Binks says he has not failed to take limits of striper and hybrid striper. The fish range from 8 pounds to 16 pounds, but most in the 8- to 10-pound range.

“The lakes have settled down just like they did in 2008,” Binks said. “There will be a lot of fish caught this season.”

Disaster averted

Spaul said communities along the river downstream from Bull Shoals Dam were spared an incomprehensible disaster by the presence of three Corps dams in the river’s main channel and Norfork Dam on the North Fork of the White River.

“It will be a few days before we know all of our peak inflows during this event, but we believe now that Bull Shoals Lake at peak inflow received runoff from the rain at about 400,000 cubic feet per second and Table Rock received a peak flow of about 300,000 cubic feet per second,” Spaul said. “The dams performed well.”

Spaul said the known inflow of 700,000 cfs stopped by the dams would clearly have created a disaster downstream on top of a continuing current disaster from wild flows from tributaries to the White and Black rivers.

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20110601/NEWS01/106010324/Twin-Lakes-Area-waters-stabilize-after-flood-anglers-report-good-fishing?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Written by

FRANK WALLIS,  Baxter Bulletin, www.BaxterBulletin.com

Yes, we’ve had some high water!  From what I’m told, it was more than has been released from the Bull Shoals Dam since its creation.  Maximum release was about 58,600 cubic feet/second.  Thazzalot!  (To put that in perspective, 8 generators at absolute maximum capacity is approximately 25,000 cfs…)

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The water did not get into any of our lodging, only the basement in my house, which was only a few inches.  Minor inconvenience only… 

Anyway, thanks to all for the concern; the emails and phone calls really meant a lot.  And a Special White River Shout Out to Ron & Dorothy K., and Stephen & Donna H.  These kind folks helped move stuff out of my basement in the middle of the night when the water was coming in…  Not exactly what I think people on vacation would necessarily want to do…  but they insisted, and it was really appreciated!

So – Big Water is Great for Trout Fishing…  Yes, I’ve put out around 12 guided fishing trips in the last few days, and have been out 3 times myself…  Had a nice 6 pounder at the boat and lost him, caught a bunch of others.  Lots of really nice fish being caught all over the place.  Fat Rainbows and lots of Browns.  Haven’t seen any cutthroats yet(?) but they’re out there.

At the highest point (approximately 20 Generators run at normal output) my husband decided he had to catch some on his fly rod, and he did; just had to get the fly down to them.  I’ve been spin fishing myself…  basically, get your river rig with a heavy sinker and drag pretty much anything across the bottom and you’ll pick them up without a problem.  Stay a little tighter to shore or just below islands, etc.

Yes, we’re back to renting boats, because right now it’s dropped to about the equivalent of 12 generators as we speak.  Experienced operators only until it gets a little lower, but it is dropping daily.  Best thing to do if you’re not an experienced river boater is to take a guide – they are really getting into this big water, and the energy level is really high.  This is great trophy water, folks.  These guys are catching ‘em!

Folks are fishing from the bank, too.  Saw a little girl catch a good 3-4 lb Brown from someone’s yard!  Anyway, I have a few photos for you…

And yes, the first one is Dale, and yes, that is the boat beached by the sliding glass door to my house….  Like I said, it actually went in there a few inches, but once again – that house of mine is quite a bit lower in elevation than the resort’s lodging is.

So, that’s what’s goin’ on here…  Oh, yeah…  Before I forget; we just put up a new online reservation system for your convenience.  If you’re thinking of coming, you can make your reservation 24/7/365!  Kinda cool…  you can get to it from anywhere on the main website at http://www.HisPlaceResort.net

Once again, thanks to everyone who’s asked about us… we  just wanted you to know;

We’re Fine…  We’re Trout Fishin’…

Lots of people have been calling to ask us what’s going on with the River?  Well, I’ve decided this; Dams are Good, and I’m glad I’m near one.

Yes, there has been rain and severe weather in the region, but the worst has missed us for the most part.  No, we haven’t had any tornadoes here, thank God…  Wind did knock down a couple of our trees just the other night.  It’s been lovely the last 2 days, and went back to somewhat overcast today.

The White River in our stretch was muddy for 2 days, and we did have sticks, grass, logs, etc., floating past us on and off for that time, but it cleared up quickly.  They’ve been running 1 to 3 generators for the last couple of days, and the fishing is good.

Folks wonder why our conditions are better up here.  It’s simply just our location.  We’re only 15 miles down from Bull Shoals Dam.  There are only a few minor creeks between us and there.  (The larger undammed tributaries, Crooked Creek and the Buffalo River, are about 11 and 17 river miles down from us, respectively.)

“Dirty” or “Trashy” water conditions are cumulative.  In other words, the farther down a river from the dam you go, the more mud & debris enters it from the creeks and other tributaries.  Today (4/30/2011), you can see from our Live River Cam shot we have excellent conditions.

4/30/2011 Live River Cam Shot

But what is going to happen in the near future in regards to river flow?  For those who would like a really in-depth view, look at http://www.hisplaceresort.net/River-flow.htm.

But let me give you the Reader’s Digest version.  Beaver Lake and Table Rock Lake are on their way down, therefore, Bull Shoals is on it’s way up, expecting to crest around 5/11/2011.

So, they will be, at some point, running more water than the 1 – 3 or 4 they have been.  This is great news for you trophy fishermen and boaters!  I guarantee I’m going to be taking advantage of it…  Trout Diva needs some new fishing photos to share with you! The last time we had high water was some of the best trout fishing we’ve ever seen.

Give us a call and we’ll be happy to set you up with a guide.  The last time we had high spring flows, people who have never caught Brown Trout before were catching them right and left…  from 18 to 26 inches.  It was crazy!

And now that we’ve had 2 years with the new restrictions on Browns, we fully expect more of the same…    The trout don’t quit biting because of high water, they have to eat more!  It leaves them fewer places to feed efficiently, and makes the larger fish much less spooky, and somewhat more predictable.  It’s an opportunity you’ll want to take advantage of!

If you’re used to wading, it’s time to learn how to fish from a boat!  I have a video, Big Water Fishing (look here) showing you how high-water fly fishing is done!  We can also set you up with our top notch fly fishing guides.  Don’t let higher water prevent you from some of the best trout fishing you can experience.

We’ll keep you posted…