Bull Shoals Lake:
(East): 78 degrees, normal, dingy; all species slow. (West):
75-78 degrees, normal, clear; black bass good on jigs and
soft plastic lures; walleye fair on jerkbaits; catfish
fair on nightcrawlers; all other species slow.
Report provided by Bull Shoals Boat Dock:
There seems to be some changes on the lake this week. The
thermocline is aprox 30 to 34ft with good oxygen from 0
to 50ft. Water clarity is fair to good on the main lake
and a bit stained in the back of the main creek arms. One
major change this week is the lake water temperature has
been dropping, 87 a week and half ago, to 79 to 81 today.
BASS- Top water is still
producing in the early A.M. Along with crank baits, jig and
craw, jig n pig, spoons, drop shot and an 8" worm. Live baits that are working well are
crawdads and night crawlers rigged on a #4 hook and a #5
split shot. Fish are schooling, look for fish that are surfacing
(chasing shad) and work a crank bait, rattle trap, spoon
or top water.
WALLEYE- Best baits for these fish have been bottom bouncers
rigged with night crawlers and spinning rigs, also vertically
jigging spoons have been catching fish. Look for walleye
in the 32 to 38ft range. Trolling deep diving cranks baits
should also produce.
CRAPPIE - Some crappie have been coming into the dock, I
just don't think too many people are fishing for them. Look
for fish on the brush piles using live bait on a slip bobber.
Try varying your depths from 15 to 25ft
CATFISH- Some really nice cats have been coming in these
last couple of weeks. Live bait on the bottom or on trotlines.
Trout - Fishing has been excellent; with low water conditions
in the A.M you can anchor and catch a bunch. Also live bait
fishing can produce some good browns right now. There has
been generation in the afternoons were you are able to drift
fish.
Report provided by Davy Wotton:
Barmy days are here that's for sure, days of hot humid weather
and then heavy rain storms, you never know what we are
going to get right now. One of my friends in NJ told me
today that they have had unreal rain falls, rivers blown
out and little chance to fish. One of the reasons why he
is looking to relocate here to AR, he loves the White river
Others may not agree with me but l do believe that we are
seeing the effects of global warming issues. Ok, let me
get you up to date with the Bull Shoals dam habitat project.
Read the full report
Hello Fly Fishers!
This is a project that has been in the works for a number
of years, so its not new by any means. Funds for this project
were allocated by the COE and bids were offered for the contract.
It was anticipated that work would begin early August if
a number of issues could be dealt with, one of which was
for the generations to be shut down from 6am to 12pm, which
at the time of writing is not likely. The last COE report
stated that August 17th may see work in progress, we will
have to wait and see. AGFC are the project leaders and will
determine what will be done by way of in-stream habitat and
shoreline structure placement. AGFC have also stated that
work cannot be undertaken during the period the dam zone
is closed for the spawn.
Many reports did suggest that work would begin this week,
and in consequence many Fly fishers have been waiting to
travel and fish this anticipated low water. As soon as l
know otherwise l will update the report.
As a rule we normally would see high generation during this
month due to increased power demand, go figure. The 3 main
lake systems above BSD are more or less at pool, so flood
control is not so much a issue unless we do see again heavy
rain falls that raise water levels downstream, which can
determine water release from BSD.
This coming Wednesday the 12th at 10am at the Norfork National
Fish Hatchery there will be a ceremony to officially announce
the beginning of the Dry Run Creek enhancement project, which
is a cooperative agreement between the USFW, the Friends
of the NNFH and the AGFC. Dave Whitlock was contracted to
undertake the design and in-stream habitat structures which
the AGFC will undertake to install. Further there will be
additional work undertaken to build a boardwalk at stream
level some 130 ft upstream from the existing deck for those
who are mobility impaired. The existing structure serves
little worth for this purpose.
Given confusion by many visitors let me explain what the
current regulations are for mobility impaired anglers who
wish to fish DRCreek. They are. You must have a permit from
the AGFC that determines you are disabled. You are only permitted
to fish from the existing deck. Regulations for all are single
barbless hooks, no bait period, natural or artificial. It
is strictly catch and release.
Ok lets go fishing. White river. As of now we see lower
generations from 12 am to given times later in the morning
when generations are increased, at times to max 8 gates open.
this give many options from the dam downstream if you figure
out where to be related to fall and rise of water. Each day
will differ so you do need to check out what is going on.
I do know that for many this is very confusing. It is not
so much how many gates are open it is the CFS flow rate that
matters. We can see for example 6 gates open at say 8,000
cfs, or 6 gates open full at 15 or more cfs. I will tell
you that rising water will very likely be very trashy and
not much use for FF fishing.
Northfork river has been seeing good periods of low wadable
water but also max high generations. This can be a very dangerous
river when water rises so do take great care if you are wade
fishing way down from the dam and cannot hear the horn sound
to tell you generation is going to start. If you see hear
the horn or are at any place and water rises you need to
get going in a hurry, do not twice think about that last
cast. We lost a angler here recently because of rising water.
Fishing During lower water levels and when fishing clear
clean water many fly patterns will work at this time of the
year. If fishing indicator techniques, then such patterns
as sowbugs, scuds, prism, whitetail and DW hot head midges,
Dynamite and San Juan worms, GRHE will do the business to
5 or 6x tippets. Shallow water zones fishing riffles then
go with soft hackles and many generic dry fly patterns such
as caddis, hoppers, ants and flies of that nature. We have
seen late evening some real good surface activity and here
again dry, soft hackles and wet fly's will catch em. If you
are not fishing in a trophy zone then try a dry dropper method,
this can be killer at times. Hoppers will before too long
become of great interest to the fish, and often trophy Browns
will oblige.
High water situations, well the deal is to get the fly close
to the river bed, here again Dynamite and SJWorms, sowbugs
and Prizm midges in sizes 12 and 14 will as a rule catch
well. The other deal when fishing high water is to know were
to locate the fish, so look for the slower back water zones,
in and around islands and visible structure. Long leaders
are mandatory as much as 12 to 15ft at times from indicator
to fly with added weight, longer rods of 10ft will make life
way easier than shorter rods when dealing with long leader
systems. Looking at the rivers in general.
White river at BSDam continues to produce trophy Bows, all
be it they are not so easy to catch as they once were, they
are well wised up. Recently we have been catching many trophy
Browns in this zone and below for the reasons that it is
the time of the year with the reducing daylight hours that
these fish are starting to move upstream to the spawning
grounds, they instinctively know that they also need to pack
on weight for the spawning rigors and the long winter period
which offer the fish way less food base. Typically also at
this time of the year stocking intensity for Bows is high
so right through the system there are plenty of fish out
there, and as l have already stated here the Browns are more
likely to take during the day time periods and particularly
early evening and into dark, more so when we see days of
diminished light conditions. Recently a Bow of 12lb 3oz was
caught and Brown near on 20lb, all be it both were not caught
on the fly rod, but they are out there, you never know.
Northfork river. Low water will see good midge hatches here,
both small soft hackles, midge and midge emergers on sizes
16 to 22 will do the business most of the time along with
sowbugs and scuds in small sizes. Color may be a issue at
times.
OK, that about it for now. I am off to Montana later this
month for my usual two week break before the busy guide season
this fall and early winter. As much as l love to fish our
river and see my customer catch fish, there is for me a need
to go and visit some of my favorite haunts out west, all
be it for some of that time l have to work to produce a new
DVD
Stay safe and tight lines. Davy.
Clearwater Lake:
Water is 78 degrees, normal, clear; all species slow.
Lake of the Ozarks:
(Bagnell Tailwater): 75 degrees, dingy; black bass and crappie
slow; white bass and catfish fair. (Glaize): 77 degrees,
dingy; black bass, crappie and catfish fair; white bass
slow. (Gravois): 77 degrees, dingy; crappie good, but small
in size; black bass and white bass slow; catfish fair.
(Niangua): 77 degrees, dingy; black bass fair using white
or chartreuse spinnerbaits on windy points; crappie good
using minnows around brush; catfish good using stinkbaits
if the water is rising; hybrid bass fair, try using live
shad at Ha Ha Tonka in the evening for best results. (Osage):
77 degrees, dingy; black bass fair using white or chartreuse
spinnerbaits on windy points; crappie good using minnows
around brush; catfish good using stinkbaits if the water
is rising; hybrid bass fair.
Mark Twain Lake:
Water is 76 degrees, low, clear; crappie fair on jigs and
minnows in shallow water; channel catfish fair on setlines;
largemouth bass fair on plastic worms; all other species
slow.
Report Provided by South Fork Resort:
The fishing has picked up this week, at least as far as the
crappies. They are being caught pretty much in the same
pattern. Set your depth at about 12' and fish the outer
edges of the tree line. You might be in 14 foot of water,
or 40 foot of water. Just keep moving as you won't find
many pockets with a bunch of fish in them. Limits can be
caught, but you are definitely going to have to work for
them. We are still seeing fish in excess of 1 coming in
and the occasional 2+ pounder as well. If you are using
jigs I would start with anything and chartreuse�red,
blue, black. Make sure to tip it with a nibble of some
sort. Or a minnow! Catfish have been pretty tough all summer.
We had a few blues come in this week, all in the 10-12
range. The bass fishing has been hit or miss. We talked
with someone yesterday that hit them real good, catching
about 50 bass. Most of them were shorts, but that is still
a fun day of fishing. Rumor has it they have been scoring
on some white bass just before sunset as well. Go to the
usual haunts for them�islands, main lake points,
etc. The lake level is at 605.4. They are generating most
days so thats why we are seeing the level drop about 3" on
some days. They don't have a target level in mind, just
answering the power demand. It looks like we are set for
a great weekend weatherwise, but we have all seen how that
goes�look at last weekend. May as well enjoy it!
Lake Pomme de terre:
Lake level is normal, clear; black bass good on plastic baits
along the main lake points; walleye good on the flats;
white bass good on the flats in early morning or late evening;
catfish good on live baits; muskie good; crappie slow,
best on minnows while fishing near standing timber.
Report Provided by Pomme Muskie Guide Service:
The lake is finally at normal pool, water temperature is
generally from 82 degrees in the morning to about 87 in
the evening. Fishing has generally been pretty good.
White bass are surfacing in the mornings and evenings.
Bass in general have been hitting good fishing deep and
on top water in the mornings.
Crappie are doing good on minnows and jigs in about 25'
of water around the brush piles.
Catfish are hitting just about anything right now.
Walleye have been slow.
Water temperature has been too high to fish for muskies,
we quit fishing for them when the water reaches 80 degrees.
Stockton Lake:
Water is 76 degrees, rising, clear; black bass good on tube
baits and Texas rigs; crappie fair over structures in 15'
to 20' of water; walleye fair off points using bottom bouncers
and deep divers while trolling; all other species fair.
Report Provided by Thompson Fishing Guide Service:
Walleye- fishing has still been hit or miss probably because
of the weather we are having. We have been able to catch
a few keeper fish, but it seems lately we have caught a
lot of smaller fish, which is somewhat unusual. For thermo
cline information, read the last couple weeks' reports.
Main lake flats north of Googer and points on the dam are
your more consistent places. A good friend of mine has
been catching some walleye in the Cedar Ridge area. Jigs
and night crawlers or Lindy rigged crawler harnesses are
the best. You can try trolling some deep diving shad imitator
crank baits.
I have a question: Are any of you afraid of lightning? I
was on my way in yesterday about 15 minutes in front of a
real bad electrical storm and I saw several boats put in
and drive right off into the middle of it. Lightning can
travel a lot further than a person thinks, especially if
you are on the water. Just something I think about.
Bass- fishing has been so-so. You would think with the water
temperatures in the low to mid 80s and clouds overhead, they'd
really go crazy. On the two days that I got to go bass fishing,
I noticed that the bites seems to be more sluggish than normal;
I am talking about plastic worms or jigs. The crank bait
bite wasn't very good at all. The good fish that we caught
were between 15-18 inches. It is odd that we caught several
bass that were right under 15 inches and weighed a little
over 2 pounds. That goes back to the thing we talked about
last week reference bait availability and fish catch ability.
The more productive spots were secondary points in your larger
coves in about 15-20 feet of water.
Crappie- fishing has been pretty good for the most part.
Several friends of mine have caught close to limits during
the last week fishing deep timber. They caught a lot of the
little buggers, though (which is good), because that is the
investment for the next few years of fishing, so don't complain.
Crappie minnows on crappie jigs or on Aberdeen hooks are
the most consistent. When you find crappie in deep timber
or over deep brush piles, it is not too hard to find out
what they want to bite. When I say deep timber, or deep brush,
I mean around 20 feet, around the thermo cline.
Table Rock Lake:
(James River arm): 76 degrees, normal, clear; white bass
good in early morning or late evening near point 12 and
point 9, cast into or troll lure through surfacing fish
using shallow diving crankbaits, topwater baits and white
or shad-colored Rooster Tails. (main lake): 76 degrees,
normal, clear; white bass good in early morning or late
evening near point 9, cast into or troll lure through surfacing
fish using shallow diving crankbaits, topwater baits and
white or shad-colored Rooster Tails.
Report Provided by Table Rock Guide Service:
Fishing on Table Rock is very good right now. Some fish are
shallow early in the morning and can be caught on top water
and Carolina rigged Zoom centipedes and 1/4 oz Shakey heads
with Chompers finesse worms in green pumpkin and brown & purple
seem to working the best. White bass have been showing
up on main lake flats and points chasing the bait fish
on the surface. Top water lures and grubs will get the
strikes for the whites. Kentucky bass are on main lake
points 24 to 28 feet deep where they can be caught on drop
shot rigs. Jewell football head jigs in 5/8 and 3/4 oz.
in brown and purple flash and peanut butter and jelly with
5 inch twin tail chompers trailer in green pumpkin is producing
fish from 15 to 30 feet on main lake points.
Mid lake-Kimberling City Area Top Water action on the bass
has been good early in the mornings. Cordell Redfins and
Zara Spooks are working best on pole timbered points. Also,
try throwing a 5/8 or 3/4 oz Jewel football head jig in green
pumpkin and brown & purple in 20 to 35 feet of water
on the main lake and secondary points. If the jig isn't working
for you, throw a Carolina rigged Zoom centipede in green
pumpkin or watermelon candy in 18 to 25 feet. One of those
should produce strikes. Fish are out in deeper water where
they can be caught on drop shot and jigging spoons in 24
to 28 feet of water. Mostly Kentucky bass on the drop shot
and jigging spoon.
Lower end-Dam Area The smallmouth bass fishing has been
good on the the main lake points early in the mornings. Carolina
rigged Zoom centipedes in either green pumpkin or watermelon
candy fished in 10 to 18 feet of water on very flat gravel
points has been producing alot of strikes in this area. Kentucy
bass are being caught on secondary and main lake chunk rock
banks with a Shakey head worm and Carolina rigged Zoom centipede
worm around 18 to 25 feet deep. Some fish are also being
caught on top water baits on the main lake timbered points
and bluff ends over timber. Zara spooks and Cordell redfins
in shad colors are working the best. Some Kentucky bass are
moving to 24-28 feet where the drop shot rigs seem to working
the best.
Upper end-James River There has been alot of good top water
action early in the mornings on Zara spooks, Pop-R's and
chugbugs. Carolina rigged Zoom lizards and brush hogs in
green pumpkin and watermelon red in 10 to 18 feet on the
main lake gravel points has been producing alot of strikes.
Also try a Jewel football head jig in peanut butter & jelly
or brown & purple in 10 to 18 feet on the main lake points.
Crappie-Crappie are in 10-25 feet deep in around standing
timber on bluffs. Crappie jigs in white or chartreuse and
white and minnows are working best.
Trout-I'm catching some nice rainbows and a few browns on
a small rapala in the morning and also swimming a white 1/16
ounce jig. The trout in the trophy area will also take pink
or green micro jigs under a float and a zebra midge has also
been very good. Below the trophy are from fall creek down,
the trout are biting very good on night crawlers or power
baits. In the early morning you can catch them swimming a
1/16 ounce jig or little cleo spoon, in line spinners are
also good in the mornings.
Lake Taneycomo:
Water is 50 degrees, normal, clear; upper lake: trout good
on flies and Rooster Tails, black/chrome or blue/chrome
crankbaits work well at night; lower lake: trout good on
orange, chartreuse or bubblegum colored Power Bait and
live bait.
Report Provided by River Run Outfitters:
Weather projection through the weekend is for hot, humid,
mostly clear days. Slight chances of pop up showers, but
mostly to the north and northeast of us. Water generation
so far this week has been to come on at 2:00 p.m. and that
is the projection again for today. Two generators on to
start followed by two within the hour. Jim came in Sunday
after I had posted the fishing reports. He had John and
Charlene out again, from Carl Junction, MO. Both are pretty
new at this (might be their second time), so they worked
on casting, line management and hook sets for a while.
Boated several fish on the gray and olive browns scuds.
Think Charlene is into fly fishing for the long haul. She
came back and purchased the Temple Fork Casting for Recovery
rod, a reel and some fly line�.looks serious. Stan
was out yesterday with Norman from Indiana. He used to
fly fish and decided he wanted to get back into it again.
And that he did. They had a good half-day outing on the
rusty and P&P midges. Meanwhile, I sneaked away from
the shop to fish for 2-3 hours. Wonderful day. just being
in the water. Did have a very good day on the P&P midge.
Very few things did not work for me. Fished the black wooly,
olive wooly, and the crackleback all under the sinking
leader. These all worked, especially the black wooly. Water
was a little dingy when I first got out. Once the water
cleared and the sun came out, P&P was hot!
Truman Lake:
The Lake is clear; crappie fair off the bluffs and around
brush piles at 12' to 15' depths using minnows; black bass
fair off secondary points at 6' to 10' depths using jig
and plastic worms; catfish fair using cut baits; white
bass and hybrid striped bass slow.
Report Provided by Sterett Creek Marina:
The fishing here on Truman is like the weather this week,
it's great. We have been seeing lots of fish come in this
week. We have had some good rain but it hasn't affected
the lake, water clarity is perfect. They are calling for
good weather the rest of the week so it might be the right
time to get on the lake and enjoy mother nature at her
finest.
LAKE LEVEL: 706.51
WATER TEMP: 81 deg.
WATER CLARITY: Clear to light stain.
BASS: Last nights Hawg Fights netted some real nice fish.
Doug and Ozzie Wallace weighed in 9.77 lbs. for a winning
3 fish limit. Second went to Howard Love and John Pollit
with 7.98 lbs. Third went to Barkledge and Brownfield with
7.72 lbs. Big Bass went to Jamie Lehares and Chris Powell
with a 5.24 lb. lunker. The big worm is the top producer
this week. Fish are holding in 8' to 12' of water. Humps
and brush piles are holding fish along with points both main
lake and secondary's close to deep water. There is also a
top water bite in the early morning on the flat points in
4' to 6' of water.
CRAPPIE: We are probably seeing some of the best crappie
fishing of the year right now. It seems that every arm of
the lake in on now. There are fish on the bluffs in 25' to
30' of water down about 12'. There are also fish on the tree
rows on the end of the flats in 17' to 20' of water with
fish holding about 7'. Minnows are the best bait in both
areas. If you are looking for some good eating now is the
time to be here.
WHITES: The top water bite is working in the evening. Rooster
tails and Pop's are two baits that are working. The shad
are working on top of the water over the humps and are drawing
in some nice whites. There has also been some fish caught
trolling. The sassy shad and a medium sized deep running
crank bait are working on these fish.
CATFISH: Trot lines baited with perch fished on the humps
next to deep water are producing a few flats. Jugs baited
with cut shad are working in 30' of water with baits set
at 20'.
Lake Wappapello:
Black bass fair using spinner
baits, buzz baits and plastic worms
Bluegill slow using crickets
and worms
Channel catfish fair using live bait and night crawlers
and on jug lines and trotlines at night
White bass slow using
on small spinner bait
Crappie slow
