At last the 100 degree fahrenheit days are gone and what a hot
summer it has been, not that it messed up the fishing, mainly due to the fact we have seen
high water levels that kept the rivers in good shape.
Despite the heat it has been a incredible summer for the 13 year
cicada emergence, and a amazing number of hoppers in abundance that has kept the fish
active on the surface, hence many trophy Browns have been caught fishing hopper rigs.
Once again we also see the benefits of the 24 in. size regulation
for Brown trout. I have seen days out there when my customers have caught as many as 21
Browns in one single day of fishing, not to mention numerous numbers of Rainbows and
Cutthroat trout. All be it Brook trout are hard to come by at Bull Shoals trophy zone, one
of my regular customers did manage the White river grand slam recently.
Naturally the sustained high water has kept the river clean and
clear of trash which has been the main reason why we have seen such good nymph and dry fly
fishing, the only downside being the access for wade fishing. I am given to understand
that once the lake has reached pool we will see low water periods for the White river,
which will once again provide some awesome wade fishing options.
AGFC do report that we are seeing low levels of DO both at Norfork
and White river, not surprising given the high water levels retained in the lakes and the
subsequent level of intake before that water is released into the rivers. At the time of
writing AGFC have curtailed stocking at the upper end of both rivers for this reason until
the situation improves.
More or less what this means is you may experience little interest
of the trout to feed close to the dam zones, in which case you need to fish further
downstream.
As we move into fall typical tactics will include, working shore
lines for the trophy Browns with streamers, there is still a great opportunity to nail big
fish with hoppers and dry /nymph hopper rigs.
Remember that the Browns are on the annual upstream migration at
this time, often as not locate one and there will be many others within the same zone.
To be honest this past month there really is no one way to fish, far
from it. I have had days when combinations of sowbugs, scuds, white and prism midges,hares
ears, ptns, variations of SJ worms and prism worms have nailed em good, fish days of
between 60 and over 100 have been accounted for.
Other days we have messed around with dries, wet fly and soft
hackles. The above should remain same until we see water issues change and the temperature
levels fall below the 60s.
Once we do see low water levels then midge fishing will come into
its own as will fishing wet fly and soft hackles.
Tight lines all.
