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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: February, 2007
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Hello Fly Fishers!
Ok, guys we are well into the new year, and to say the least the climatic conditions that
we are experiencing one way or the other have made fishing out there not so pleasurable.
Along with that, heavy rain falls have well filled the lakes and water release has been
high due to that, along with generation for power for both the White and Norfork rivers.
That in turn has also reduced visitations by anglers to the waters.
The opening day at BSD saw the usual armada of boat traffic, which of course reduced the
catch rate there. As of now the pressure is low, which has allowed for better fishing.
Shad have been present at BSD way before the dam zone opened, and we are still seeing most
days some shad present, but little surface activity from the fish showing up on the
surface to take them, they certainly are taking them way below the surface.
In consequence of the high water situation here at this time wade fishing has been very
limited to say the least, but can be productive if you are in the right zone. Which as a
rule needs to be the slower back water zones and not those that water is moving at break
neck speed bank side.
You will be surprised how many fish will be found over flooded grass cover, and the back
waters off the main river channel.
At this time of the year the warm water creeks are not warm and many trout will run into
those sources, so always worth fishing those.
Running on high water on the drift is a different matter. So hear are a few guidelines
here for you guys to follow.
In the case of fishing at BSD with shad fly imitations you can go a number of ways.
The first is to dead drift with a indicator white fly patterns such as jigs, woolly
buggers and flies of that nature, and in doing so work with different depths.
Fish shallow drifts with out added weight, add weight to fish at greater depth. Some days
you may find the fish within 4 ft others they may well be way down to 8 ft plus, depending
on the zone you are fishing at that time.
And in consequence of that the more you know the depth you are fishing the better.
If you see sign of fish taking shad off the surface they go with floating fry patterns.
This can be great fun and often the way to nail a trophy Brown out there.
Dry lines and longer leaders are needed here, and a sure hook set.
If you are having no luck with the shad fly methods then change your ways.
One of the tricks to catch fish when we have high water is to make very sure your fly is
fishing at the right depth, and that you are also using a fly that the fish can see.
And that does not follow that you do need to use large flies. Many fish can be caught
using small flies this way such as scuds and sowbugs, San Juan worms and so on.
At the time when we have high fast water flows, fish have a very limited time to see your
fly and make the decision to take it. Half the battle is to have the fish to see your fly
to start with, here the deal is having the fly at the correct depth to start with for the
drift. It does not follow that fishing large flies is always the answer.
The way l choose to make my rigs is this. From a standard 9 ft leader, l will cut that
back to 5 ft, to that l will add my extended tippet length, which may be anything from 5
to 10 ft of 4x on average and may be 5 or 6 if l am fishing small flies.
Make sure you also add a stop knot. Best way is to use a surgeons knot about 8 to 12 ins
from the tail end. This will avoid your pinch on shot from sliding down to your fly.
If for example you are fishing say 8 ft of water, you cannot use the accepted way of
thought of using 1.5 the water depth, here your indicator would be 12 ft from the fly.
If you use longer rods as l do 10 ft, that does help some.
In this case you use weight to deal with this situation, with you indicator around 10 ft
from your weight added. By using the extended tippet section that will allow for the fly
to get down quick, which is why l cut back from a standard leader.
And you may well need at least one AA or a BB or two to attain depth during the drift at
times. 5/6 wt rods and at times a 7wt
High water days vary big time, some days the bite is real good and others it is slow, you
never know.
On the good side, high water does as a rule allow for fish to survive longer and also
promotes fish growth, so expect some real good fishing when we have lower water levels
which we will in time.
For sure l always look forward to the spring here on the rivers, the great caddis hatches
and midge fishing we have at BSD and the Norfork.
I will keep you posted if we see some changes. The recent rain fall this past week will
again cause a rise within the lakes, so expected high water flows for a time, with maybe
some days with cut back to more moderate flow rates and maybe zero.
And we need some warm weather, it has been a long winter so far here in AR.
Tight lines for now.
Davy Wotton
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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