To say the least the weather has been nuts, from one day of bitter cold and north winds, to the next as perfect as you would wish for a winter day on the river. Water levels have been both high and low but overall there has been plenty of slots between generation on both rivers for good wade fishing access and floats. The worst of the fall debris has gone and overall you should find the river runs reasonably clean but not always gin clear as you would expect for both rivers.

This time of the year sees much of the moss beds start to die off and of course the vegetation along the bank side does likewise allowing for water to wash earth etc from the banks during higher water flows. So far as the fishing is concerned, well it depends on who you talk to. Some anglers are having great days others not so good. As a norm the invertebrate food sources in the river start to become dormant for the winter period, and in consequence the fish do likewise and are in no great hurry to chase or look for food sources.

The best options are to fish more in the mid to late afternoon periods as this is the time when a few degrees of temperature rise will normally bring about some feeding activity. Very cold early morning trips are not always the best bet at this time of the year. Just recently on a guide trip we fished for some 2 hours in a zone that I knew many fish were, very slow action to say the least, until around 2.30 pm, then the catch rate increased dramatically, same flies, and no difference in technique.

It's kind of a gamble if you like, to stick it out in the same area when it is slow but that can be typical in the winter periods. If however the temperature stays reasonably warm through the night and a warm day follows, then you may well find good fishing through the entire day. The Norfork should give you some good midge fishing for surface feeding fish, and that can also apply to the White river particularly late afternoon to dusk time provided the temps do not drop too low.

We have found some good pockets of fish during the past few weeks in the calmer water and back eddys. One day in question found a number of browns in the 12 to 15 ins range feeding in very shallow water for a period of over a hour. Small midge emergers and a dry fly called the Baby sun fly were just the ticket. My over all suggestions to you for fishing this next few weeks will be this.

If you are nymph fishing then aim to have your fly as close to the river bed as you can without hanging up on a regular basis. The closer you can place the fly to the fishes eye the more likely he is to take it. If you are fishing water with some color to it, fish a fly that has more color such as a pink scud or even a red one. If out of the single fly trophy zones then double up with a egg pattern and a nymph combination.

One of my chosen options at this time of the year is to fish a midge (CHIRONOMID) pupa in colors that range from black, gray, red and pale olive in sizes 12 to 18, attached to 6/7 tippet, this can be a deadly tactic in water that is around 4 ft or less. Again if out of the trophy zone then double up with two pupa in different colors, or a combination of pupa and scud etc. Pheasant tail nymphs may work well in various sizes with combinations of both body and thorax colors and hare’s ear nymph both with and without bead heads. For those of you who like to fish streamers and woolys, then slow is the name of the game and use a fly line that allows you do that. In shallow water zones a floater moving onto intermediate to sink tips as the water depth increases. Black and olive combinations will work most of the time.

Here is the tying recipe for two of my flies of the month.

Chironomid pupa.

Hook sizes 12 to 18.

Body. Thread color to suit. Wapsi UTC 70.

Ribbing. Fine silver or gold wire.

Thorax. Optional– two turns of peacock herl.

Hackle- Hen Andalusian, which is a dunny gray color. Black hen for the black midge.

Wind only one or two turns only.

Baby Sun Fly.

Hook sizes 16 to 20. Thread black

Tail 3/4 strands of Coch-y bonddu hackle.

Body. Dark fur from a wild rabbits forehead. Dark musk rat is also ok.

Rib. Black thread for the body

Hackle. Small Coch-y-bonddu. The hackle is a very dark furnace that is of a dark natural red with a black center.

Tight lines for now,
Davy Wotton

About Davy Wotton
Davy has been making his living as a full time fly fisher in one capacity or another for over 30 years. He has written many articles for all of the fly fishing magazines, created several unique flies and fly tying materials which he developed into a full scale manufacturing operation in his native country of Wales, and is a much-sought speaker around America at fly fishing functions and shows. Over the years Davy has fished in over 40 countries around the world but his choice for base of operation is right here on the White River. Davy operates his American International Schools of Fly Fishing in Flippin, Arkansas.