At the time of writing this report, the fishing is overall very good indeed. The colder nights may make early morning fishing a bit slow, but as the day warms up then expect fish to feed hard. At this time if the afternoon temps rise well then expect some great hatches of micro caddis with plenty of fish surface feeding, particularly late evening into darkness.

Yesterday on the river was one such day and the last two hours of daylight produced some great surface fishing with many rainbows in the 15 to 17 inch class, and browns up to 18 inches. It was very pleasing to see many good rainbows that have survived the initial stocking period. There is no doubt, despite what many fishers believe, that there is still a good number of 'bows in the White River system.

I can only give you this advice if you aim to connect with many of these fish: In areas that are heavily fished, and during a great deal of boat traffic, the better fish shut down and will not feed. You have to figure out what l call the "rest period". Once those fish have settled down from the traffic they will come on to feed.

You might also seek out places on the river that are less pressured and in zones that give you good shallow shoal areas. Many of the better browns at this time are found in such spots. This week has also seen some good class cutthroats on both the White and Norfork. I have seen many cuts caught around the 15 to 18 inch mark.

Water flows have been very moderate overall with many hours of low water to access by wading. Bright cloudless days with bright sun may make the fish a little spooky at times, so take note of the conditions and fish accordingly. Smaller fly patterns and fine tippets are needed, not to mention avoiding showing your presence.

So far as the White river is concerned overall, the fishing as l have said is very good. The Norfork has both good and bad days, some of the water quality on release is not so good and it will shut the fish down. Overall wade fishing has been good. So far as the actual fishing is concerned, pretty much we have stayed with floating lines this past two weeks.

Here are my tips so far as what to do to take advantage of the conditions at this time. If you are fishing slower shallow water zones then use a leader/ tippet length of 10 ft or more. I will frequently use 15ft total. As said, fish will very likely be spooky in these zones. Fly lines cause shadows on the river bed and also cause an audible sound when they land on the surface, not to mention the effects of drag on the surface which are a no-no!

Fish small soft hackles and general nymph patterns in sizes 14 to 18 without drag and you will catch fish. Avoid at all cost big bulky indicators. Do not use them if you can avoid it. In many cases you will be able to sight fish in these zones. In deeper water and zones that have good surface disturbance then standard nymph techniques using scuds, sows and again general nymph patterns will work. You may need to use a indicator if you are not used to watching for takes via the fly line or leader.

High stick and rolled nymph techniques are without a doubt the way to go if you want your bug to fish as natural as possible from both boat and bank. It is a very disciplined way to fly fish and will take some time to master, but well worth it.

In the event of a caddis hatch or the return of ovipositing females, then you will have a number of options. You may choose to fish with small caddis dry fly patterns. Even though the naturals are very small the trout will readily take artificials from size 14 and down. Caddis emergers again in sizes 14 and 16 will work well, but fish them across and down. Fish need to have time to see a small fly. If it moves too fast then they will not see it.

The SLF caddis emerger in colors of olive and tan is a killer at this time. When out of the trophy zones (it's illegal to use two flies on your line in the trophy zones) fish two of them 3 feet on a suspended dropper. If you know how to fish wet fly patterns then this is a great time to fish them. Some of the fly patterns that will work very well include winged hares ear, Whickhams fancy, Invicta, silver march brown, and cinnamon and gold in sizes 12 and 14.

If you can get to the Bull Shoals dam area when generation starts then you have a good chance to catch a trophy fish as some shad are coming through at that time, but it may only be a very brief session of feeding activity. Many of the trophy browns may also be caught at this time with small fly patterns. If you are present when a rise of water takes place then you may well choose to fish a larger fly. Streamers and woolies are of course a good choice too.

Browns get very aggressive at this pre-spawn time. As a general rule, unless the fish are feeding on small midges such as the Norfork and Bull shoals dam zones, surface feeding fish are not that difficult to catch on these river systems, unlike some of the very heavily fished waters out west and in the Rockies, and those that have very good mayfly hatches. However, fish that have been in the system for some period of time have wised up, particularly to sub-surface fishing techniques, so bear that in mind when you rig up for that trophy. SMALLER FLIES AND FINER TIPPETS ARE THE WAY TO GO!

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.