The main lake is still in the mid forties at mid lake (point 24) however; going way up large creek arms the temperatures will rise to fifty to fifty-four depending on the sunlight and wind on that particular day.

A beautiful springtime White Bass

White Bass are starting to get in the mood to run but it is still halfhearted with a few in the creeks late afternoon and then gone tomorrow.  It will take some good warm weather for several days to get ‘em going.

I’ve talked with several bass fisherman throwing baits on primary and secondary points with most saying it’s real hit and miss right now.  Getting a few one day, and then nothing for a couple days.

Hard fighting Smallie!!!

I have been having increasing success with smallmouths, Kentucky’s, largemouth and spotted bass working the usual bread and butter places.  Namely, the sides of secondary points that are not too far back from the main lake or large creek arms.  Smaller size 6 Pink and white clousers are doing well, as are smaller weighted crawfish patterns.  The trick is keeping the bait in the strike zone. With the boat over 35 feet of water and casting towards shore and a very slow retrieve.  Most takes are coming when the bait is nearly under the boat while making three or four short strips and then letting the line slip out again.  Fishing this way, it may take three or four minutes to retrieve a cast. Keeping the boat moving extremely slow for a near vertical presentation is the trick!

The beauty of fishing this way is you never know what else you’ll get.  Crappie and carp are also taking the same presentation providing loads of fun on medium weight tackle!!!

The White River, as usual, is producing nice rainbows and medium size browns on just about anything you want to throw at them.

Green, brown, and black buggers are doing well and it looks like the caddis hatch is not too far off.  Make sure to bring some soft hackles with a little green in them and let ‘em swing, expecting hits on the end of the swing when the bait rises toward the surface!  Bring some small dries with you too, if your eyes are good enough to see those little suckers.  I’ll have to wait ‘till hopper season!

This time of year, you can depend on the power generation schedule to be less than dependable.  The lakes are all just about right at pool.  Make sure to watch not just Bull Shoals, but Table Rock and Beaver on a daily basis to try to get a handle on what they are doing to help you make a better prediction.  Keeping an eye on the four-day forecast and the real time generation and comparing them with the schedule, may give you a better insight to what is really going on.

Water levels in both lakes is at or below power pool, and
the 4 day outlook for generation shows very little change in water levels, this
should allow for some wade-able waters this week.

The outlook for the Norfork is generation during the morning
hours then remaining off until six or seven.
Bull Shoals is running small amounts all day long, providing some wading
opportunities, but be very careful though,  as they are moving it up and down some
throughout the day

I’m getting  reports
of  White Bass and crappie being caught
on Bear Creek on Bull Shoals Lake, however, I have not had the opportunity to
verify that first hand.  I did make a run
up Shoal Creek (mid lake) and found the water temperature to be around 55 in
the very shallow and most northern part of the lake.  Main lake temperature is still 45 to 47 in
most parts of the lake, but should be warming up with the warm weather in the forecast
for the next few days.

Hopefully, if the warm weather patterns continue, the lake
should warm, and the fish should start to move in earnest????   I’ll keep ya posted on that.

The good news is, the fish had plenty of cover to do their spawning, and the young have plenty of places to hide.  At this point, I would say just about everything except the catfish have completed spawning activities, and are hanging around the abundant cover while they recover and rest.  More good news is that there seems to be a good supply of threadfin shad moving around the shallows, giving the game fish plenty to dine on.

The lake has cleared up considerably in the last two weeks and has gone from the color of chocolate milk to “rather clear” considering all the debris that washed in.  I have not noticed a lot of fishing activity-taking place, but I do want to say, do not let the rain and high water deter your spring and summer vacation plans.  Fishing high water is just another way to test your fishing skills, adapt your presentations, whether they are live bait or casting fly’s.  Let’s face it, it is easy to do the same thing, year after year, but what do you learn?  Yeah, it’s harder to go out and try new things, to adapt to new challenges, to fish in ways you may not be familiar with.  But, isn’t that what’s it’s really all about? 

So, with that in mind, why not try something new?  Something like latching on to three or four, or even five feet of toothy gar with a fly rod and a rope fly.  With the water high, and the warm sunny weather coming, the gar are lazing around the flooded trees, just waiting for some unsuspecting passer bye to make the fatal mistake of coming just a little too close.  If you have yet to try targeting gar, you are in for some high voltage fun!  I guarantee, you will never look at gar the same way again, after you tackle them on a fly rod.

Twitch your fly, perpendicular to a motionless gar, and let it rest about eight inches in front of its nose and watch it come alive in an explosive strike.  They fight well, like to bulldog, then run like hell.  On a calm, clear day, expect to have several opportunities to tease a strike, many follow ups and a few “takes” if all goes well.  Don’t let lack of experience with a fly rod deter you, with a little practice, you’ll have enough ability to get the job done, and a whole new respect for gar, and even yourself, for giving it a try. We have everything you need, tackle and instruction, all included.

The Whiter River, as always, is fishing well.  Water releases are running between 12,000 and 16,000cfs, and should continue for some time to come.  Wading is out, but it’s a great time for a beautiful day of fishing from the Loch Leven.  Streamers do well in high water , as do eggs and San Juan Worms fished under an indicator just above the flooded grass.

Whatever, you choose, lake or river, it’s the perfect time for a day of fishing.  Remember to be careful on the lake, as there is still some timber floating around.  The river, as everyone (hopefully) knows, always demands respect and even more so with increased flows.

Good luck, and be safe!

I took a quick spin around the lake this morning to access the conditions, and found the main lake temperature to be 54 degrees.  Boaters should exercise extreme caution while motoring, as the lake is full of floating timber.  The flooding we experienced a few years back pushed the lake level to the top of the flood pool for extended periods.  The high water killed the trees causing massive buildups of debris, which is now being washed into the lake, causing hazardous boating conditions.

I also had a look under my dock with my submersible camera and saw absolutely nothing.  I have three large fish attractors hanging below my dock, which do an excellent job of attracting and holding fish.  I would assume the fish are holding in deeper water until the weather and water levels become more consistent.  

So what does all this mean to everybody wanting to go fishing?  Very good news, I would say.  The fickle weather patterns before this last storm, combined with low water temperatures, has delayed spawning activities for many of the different fish species.  Now, with the water spread out over shallower shorelines, I would expect to see a rapid increase in water temperatures (providing we get some nice weather).  The warmer water will be the key to the fish resuming their spawning activities, in earnest.

In short, the fishing could be explosive, in the next couple of weeks, with warm water and plenty of cover for the fish to spawn in.  Just as importantly, for the long term, the fry will have cover to hide in, causing a decrease in mortality, and a huge increase in fish populations in the years to come.

All in all, I would say the recent rains are a blessing for the lake, and fish, and those of us who love to chase them.

River fishing should get a shot in the arm as well.  Wading fly fisherman, who have been enjoying an incredible spring caddis hatch may be waving their fists at the increase in river water levels.  However, no one can argue with the fact that it has been a winter of extremely low flows, which provided weeks of excellent wading opportunities.  Now,  those fishing from boats get their crack at some higher water brown trout fishing!

Part of the beauty of fishing this wonderful lake is the range of species we have to fish for.  This fat carp took a minnow pattern in about ten feet of water and battled hard for several minutes before coming to the net.

These nice walleyes were right where they should be, and were taken in twelve to sixteen feet of water, just off main lake points.

With a storm about to roll in I only had a short time to test a new tangle fly,  I developed for gar.  Sight fishing, the second fish I cast to was all over this fly.  Although gar fly’s are tied on hooks, the hooks are not needed as the long and narrow snouts are not suited for “hook ups” in the usual way.  Instead, the fly’s are tied from combed out nylon rope or twine and the long bills full of needle sharp teeth get tangled in the fly.  Look for photo’s, recipe and tying instructions to be posted in the next few days.

The weather forecast calls for a sunny but cooler day tomorrow, followed by several rainy, but warmer days.  Spawning activities should increase for crappies and bass during the next week or so.  Those wanting to try their luck with gar on the fly, should look for the warmest water possible in north side bays and coves.  Main lake bluffs can also offer incredible action, and should not be overlooked.

Crappies are moving in under the docks and into shallower water and many are still with eggs.  With the water as low as it is there is very little brush in the water.  Without cover I expect them to spawn a little deeper and perhaps in a little cooler water than they normally would like to.

Largemouth bass are starting to move to the shallows but I have not yet noticed any beds being made, and I would expect them to spawn a little deeper as well.

Smallmouths have been fairly dependable, and can be found in about 12 feet of water and should be moving much shallower in the next several days.  Expect some fast action on some very nice fish this year.  I’m always impressed on how hard a 14” smallmouth will fight, they really are incredibly fun to fight with fly fishing gear.

Walleye have been done spawning for a while now and are starting to put on the feedbag.  They are taking slow moving grey and olive as well as pink and white Clouser’s in 12 to 20 feet of water.  Their bellies are empty so they are not feeding hard yet but they can be coaxed into hitting a very slow moving bait.  Many of the hits come during a long pause using sink tip and full sinking lines.  The floods we experienced a few years ago provided cover for newly hatched fish as evidenced by the large number of walleye in the 18 to 20 inch range.  Best not to take that for granted as the low water years like this one, will not produce the numbers of large fish like we have this season.   It’s going to be a little harder to find the nice ones in a couple of years.

White bass are showing up in post spawn locations in 12 to 20 feet of water, however have been hard for this angler to locate.  They did not show up in their usual locations and I would suspect, are done spawning for the most part.

From this point forward, the lake should come alive with activity which should continue for the next several weeks.  Fish should continue to move  shallower, until the spawn is complete, the next six weeks should be the best of the year.

Carp are of course moving shallow in groups, to start searching out spawning locations.  I hooked into a 12 pounder a couple days ago on the main lake bluff.  I fought it for several minutes on my five weight before getting tangled with a piece of old mono.  If you have not yet tried carp on a fly rod, you need to give it an honest shot.  Contrary to what many believe carp are extremely intelligent fish and very wary.  Most are seen during the spawn wallowing in the shallows or eating corn or rabbit pellets at the local marina.  I can assure you, that is not their normal behavior, expect to work hard for your takes and even harder when you are lucky enough to get a hook up.  They don’t have the glamour, looks, and speed of a smallmouth bass, and they never jump when hooked.  But, they fight like hell and never give up, on top of that, they are much harder to fool than a bass.  Any carp taken on a flyrod should be considered a well earned trophy!

This fine looking 18” smallie was the first to say hello, followed by this sweet little 20” walley.  I can tell you this: fish this size are a lot of fun on a fly rod!  They stayed deep for a couple minutes until finally showing color about six feet down.  All of us who fish can appreciate the “wonderment” of just what it is we’re hooked on to, while we wait for the fish to make a showing.    If anything in life can turn the clock back to being a kid again, it’s those moments waiting to see what it is.  All the while, silently chanting “lord, just let me get a look at this thing”.  Funny how the chant turns to “lord, let’s get this thing in the boat”. 

I never know for sure whether it was location or switching to a brighter colored bait, but this little yellow/white Clouser Deep Minnow did the trick.  Both fish came from about 16 feet of 48 degree water (surface temp).  With some luck the sun will warm this water and we can start seeing fish move to where they should be, until then, deep and slow remains the name of the game.

Although often overlooked for fancier fish, I happen to think the drum is a pretty good looking fish.  Down south in the gulf, it’s cousin the redfish is all the rave and it’s not a bit prettier than this guy here.  Both are very hard fighters, preferring to take the fight to the depths rather than the air.  What they lack in glamour, they make up for in spunk!  Not only that, they behave rather well in the boat and seem almost eager to have their picture made.  

The other news is, the white bass have not made their move into the shallows yet, but the bright side is that we still have that to look forward to.  Comparing last year’s notes to this year, it seems we are about ten days behind and that may be extended a few more days with the cooler weather in the forecast.  The lake level is just shy of 651’, which is just three feet under pool, but is about six feet under last year as well as the five year average for this time of year.