Often as not we face cold days and at times wicked wind chills out there. Generation schedules can vary from zero to high water conditions, we never know what we may see at this time.

The great expectation is that we see a shad kill. Given the colder weather conditions and lake temperatures at this time, the odds are we will see a shad kill provided we also have generation. Shad can be seen in low generations, all be it l do like to see some higher water flows as this faster running water does increase the catch rate.

Trout do wise up to what it is we do to try to catch them, the faster the water flow the less time the fish have to figure out that a fly is not a real shad.

Many fly patterns can work at this time. There may be days when surface fished patterns are the killers other days your flies need to be fished at depth, either with indicator dead drift or as free drift. For this choice we can use dry lines, intermediates sink tips and at times full sink lines.

You may also see on any given day when there is a shad kill the trout chop and change from taking the naturals off the surface to looking for them closer to the river bed.

The perfect situation is when we see moderate numbers of shad present as that often will keep fish interested all day, if we see a surge of shad then often as not if you are not there when it starts the fish will become gut full and show no interest further until they have digested stomach contents.

If there is a good shad kill then for many miles downstream from the dams you will see shad and also feeding fish, the dam zones are not always the best places to be at this time.

Bull shoals dam trophy zone will open Feb 1st. Its kind of this deal there when it does. low water will as a rule see many anglers there wade fishing, high-water will see a great deal of boat traffic which often as not will shut the fish down, there is a limit to what disturbance fish will put up with.

Other than that, the fishing the past few weeks has been overall very good, we have seen low to moderate levels of generation for the White and many days zero for the Norfork, which has provided for good wade fishing opportunities.

I have fished the White this past two weeks from the Bull shoals park zone, Rim Shoals to lower Buffalo shoals. Plenty of fish through the system, mainly Bows at this time of good average size a number of those fish in the 15 to 18 ins size range.

Brown trout more or less have now spawned and are settled down for the best part in a shut down mode. The major food sources out there are dormant, unless we see a shad kill which would encourage those fish to take advantage of the food source. That is not to say that trophy Browns cannot be caught as we have seen some very nice fish caught.

You may find during a day out there that there are times the bite is good and others not, often this is due to the fact that Bows can be more so collected in given zones and not in others. Also as water temps drop fish are less inclined to feed, often as not the most productive times are when there is a rise in atmospheric temperature, even a few degrees can make the difference, also days which are dull and overcast will differ from those when we see sunlight influence into the water.

You may well find you locate a zone and catch well then for the next few 100 yards not a touch, there for track back to the productive zones. Fish will often be found in the shallower shoal and riffle water.

Unless fishing low water the odds are you will see no surface feeding activity, if we do it will almost certainly be to a midge hatch. possibly a BWO emergence. Best options when fishing low water will be sowbugs and scuds and midge pupa patterns, using 5/6x fly sizes from 16 to 22 in the case of midge emergers and BWO.

When fishing higher water zones drift fishing l will go with two fly combinations of Dynamite and San Juan worms and chironomids in sizes 12/14, which can be Prism and Whitetail midges, black, red, and at times orange will work.

The deal is to make sure your fly is tracking close to the river bed, as often as not at this time of the year fish will not be inclined to move far, you need the fly to track into the trout's eye level zone. Which means we may have to adapt the added weight for the rig related to depth and speed of water.

In the case of trophy zones then remember it is a one fly rule.

We do have a change in regulations this year. Brown trout need to exceed 24 ins before they can be harvested, and then only one fish per angler. Given the growth rates we saw this past year, then we should see a greater average of Browns in the 14 to 24 ins size range, which is good. The Arkansas Game and Fish have now determined that the rivers will be looked at as Trophy Brown trout fisheries.

OK, If we see any big changes l will add further to this months report.