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Additional White River Area Information
Davy Wotton's Web Site | White River Home Page | White River Lodging Directory
Davy Wotton's
White River & North Fork River Fly Fishing Report
Updated about once per month, or as conditions change.
Current Report: August, 2007
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Hello Fly Fishers!
August, brings with it the dog days of summer, heat and humidity are not always conducive
for good trout fishing, particularly as we see water temperatures rise. Trout are a cold
water species and as a rule prefer optimum temperatures from 50 to 60. High water
temperatures reduce the available oxygen content, and that will stress fish, they become
lethargic and are reluctant to feed.
Fortunately for us, our rivers, unlike many others are tailwaters and are subject to
generation flows that will as a rule maintain both adequate water temperatures and oxygen
levels that the fish are comfortable with.
Even so you will find that Trout at this time of the year may well cease to feed actively
during the heat of the day.
Much of the food base that trout eat will also become non active during periods of high
heat and intense light, which in simple terms means the best options to fish will be early
and late.
That is not to say you will not be able to locate and catch fish during other times, but
to do so you will need to look for comfort zones, and they will include those that create
agitation within the water column, such as fast moving water over shallows and riffles.
They will also seek out moss beds and cover from the direct effects of light around
structure, under overhanging vegetation and places of that nature.
These are the primary places to concentrate your fishing efforts.
Days that reduce the effects of direct light influence, with cloud cover will be as a rule
good days on the river.
Given the above information a good course of action will amount to this.
Fish the known zones both with dead drift nymph style fly patterns. You may have to also
reduce your tippet to 5x or less, and fish smaller flies before the fish will take your
offering. During the periods of the day when things are slow.
At others times, early and late, as a rule the fish will be hungry and many other methods
may be used, larger flies and flies that are worked such as soft hackles, wet flies and
streamers.
This time of the year is also a good time to prospect with surface fished flies. There are
many terrestrials that find themselves trapped on the water surface, hoppers, ants, leaf
hoppers and many others. Fish will be found often very close to shore lines at this time
looking for those bugs.
Ants and hoppers are favorite to use at this time.
In fact two evening ago l fished at Rim doing just this, working within inches of the
shore line with various flies, which accounted for 7 lovely Browns and a bunch of Bows.
You may well find that the period after the sun has dropped out to ward dusk time, that
there will be a great deal of surface activity all over the river, as a rule the fish are
not that fussy, so far as the fly you use, but you have to be able to fish the fly within
the zone of vision the fish are looking at.
In this situation you can go with generic dry flies, soft hackles and wet flies. The deal
is to give the fish in the zone you are fishing plenty of time to see your fly and rise to
take it.
Soft hackles and wet flies are best worked with a very slow retrieve, dry flies dead drift
in the area of activity.
Midge emergence also at this time may be large, and here l would suggest you use soft
hackles, 16s to 18s that are black and silver combinations, simple black thread bodies
with a flat silver rib and a few turns of black hen hackle, this fly can be and is a
killer at this time.
Want to nail a trophy Brown, this is the time of the year to go for it, if you are able to
stay out on the river and fish. Those big fish know that fall is on the way, and that is
the time they will start to move upstream to the known spawning zones, it is as if a
trigger tells them to feed hard during this period before the food base starts to decline,
before they are more so interested in the rituals of the spawn.
No matter how large a fly you use a large Brown can eat it. l frequently use flies that
are anything from 4 to 6ins in length. They are not weighted as such but flies that
contain elements of light weight fly tying material. Marabou, streamer hackles and muddler
heads.
Easy to cast flies. which really is something you need when fishing during the dark hours.
As a rule l will go with a dry line most time, and on occasions a intermediate. Big fish
will see the fly regardless of its position within the water column, they can also sense
movement.
The deal is not to let the fish know you are there, so careless wading and splashing
around, flash lights and all else is not a good approach to start with.
Running a boat during darkness on these rivers can be also very productive, but make very
sure you know where you are, as often as not heavy fog may well descend and you can become
very disorientated if you are not familiar with the surroundings.
High water flows may also float large logs and debris, and that is not something you wish
to run into either.
It is not something l would recommend unless you are well experienced, as you can become
totally lost, and worse still you sink the boat.
The same also applies if you are wade fishing, make very sure you know where you are and
how to return from whence you came.
Generation schedules have been up and down, so you will need to check in for what is going
on for the reports at 870 431 5311 for the current status.
OK, guys, that's about all for the fishing report this month. I myself will be fishing the
rivers in MT this month, and will be back here in AR ready for the fall season, which can
provide us here with some of the best fishing of the year.
Tight lines.
Davy.
American International Schools of Fly FishingAbout 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.
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White River Area Information
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