The COE have funded for the Dam habitat project, which was a granted issue of some years ago.

There is a independent contractor undertaking the work in progress under the direction of the AGFC. So far as l am aware of there will be a shut down of generations from 6am to 12pm each day while work is in progress.

This may of course also determine limited parking and access to fish the zone, and while the in-stream work is in progress substrate disturbance may well trash the water, either way the fish will hang out there.

It remains to be seen at this time what exactly we will see take place.

The Dry Run Creek project should also see work begin early August. The required permits from the COE and USFW have been satisfied. Here again during work in progress we may have to close the upper section of the creek in the vicinity of the hatchery during the weekday work in progress.

I will post updates here early August when l am aware of the situation further.

OK so how has the fishing been. High water does of course more or less eliminate wade fishing options for the White, all be it there has been some limited access for the North Fork river.

Saying that overall the fishing has been as good as you can get, check out the trophy Bow (top of the page) l caught at Bull shoals dam, and there are many more of them.

Consistent levels of high water flush the system and maintain as a rule clean, cold water which is just what the fish need,. It allows sunlight to penetrate to the river bed, promotes the growth of aquatic vegetation and that in turn provides the habitat for the invertebrate food base, structure and cover for bait fish, sculpins and crawdads.

There is one other advantage when we see high water, and that is it reduces the growth of didymo, and flushes it off the substrate and moss beds. All in all it's way better for the river system as a whole.

Therefore going afloat is often the only option, all be it there are many options once you have the means to get around to wade fish. High water flows push water into back water flows and around many of the now islands, and it is here you will find many fish, and at times very large ones. Granted you are not going to get away with splash and crash in these slow water zones. It does require a stealthy approach.

Dead drift with regular nymphs, sow bugs and scuds are good options, and you may well see some fish surface feeding to small midge. Dries can be worthwhile fishing at this time.

We fished one such zone last week and it produced over 30 fish, Bows, Browns and two Cutts, all to sowbugs and dry caddis. Remember when out of the trophy zone you can double up with two flies here which is a good choice.

Fishing techniques while afloat will be dead drift with long leader systems in the general region of 8 to 10ft from indicator to fly, with added weight to get the fly down, unless you have a large fly that will do likewise.

Flies of choice will be Dynamite worms, larger sizes of sowbugs and scuds in the region of size 12, gold bead head hares ears, copper johns, regular San Juan worms, eggs and jigs will all work most days.

Pink, red, and orange dynamite worms seem to be one of the top options as of now.

The deal is when fishing high water is good knowledge of the zones the fish tend to congregate it given the water flow rates at that time and if they are rising or falling as that will determine the best options at any time.

Other options which have been producing some trophy Browns are to work shorelines casting streamers, you might also try some larger dries. It is a little early for the hopper fishing but you never know when a Brown may take a liking to your offering.

Other options are to fish worms on a short indicator set up. 2ft above the neighed worm set a small indicator, often as not Browns will take a natural tan worm fished this way.

Norfork river more or less the same as White during generations, when lower water levels midges, sowbugs, scuds and other smaller flies will be the order of the day set to 5 or 6x tippet sections.

Other options are if wade fishing are out for the White and Northfork to visit the Spring river system, and maybe Crooked Creek for small mouth.

Recently we have seen a number of boats sunk on the river system, and fortunately no loss of life, very fortunate as other anglers were on the water when this took place, but we did loose a fellow angler recently while fishing the North Fork river. Apparently he did not move in time from the river when water rose.

Both rivers and particularly the North Fork river should not be respected when ever water rises, take no time to vacate the river and do not look for that one more cast. A matter of minutes can make the difference between safety and finding your self in trouble.

OK, guys not much more l can add here at this time, if we see any changes l will update the report.

Stay safe and tight lines.