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.
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