Arkansas Fly Fishing Columns by John Berry

Winter Trout by John Berry

When I woke up this morning it was nineteen degrees. The high today is forecast to be thirty two with snow expected tonight. I called the dams and noted that there was one generator on at Bull Shoals and none on at Norfork. This is the weather I have been waiting for. Nothing clears my favorite spots like a little cold weather. I gathered up my wife, Lori, and my Yellow Lab, Ellie, and headed for the Norfork. When we arrived, we were pleased to note that we were the only anglers there. We did have a little company. There was a group of three biologists from Fayetteville there doing research for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission on food sources in the river.

Lori was wearing everything she owned and I was similarly dressed. It had been sunny earlier but it was beginning to get cloudy and the wind had picked up. It was definitely getting colder the longer we stayed there. Ellie didn’t know the difference.

We walked far upstream and began fishing. Lori started with an olive woolly bugger but had no luck. I started with a size 20 scud and caught a fat 15 inch rainbow on the first cast. The splashing fish flipped Ellie’s switch and she jumped in the frigid water to retrieve the errant trout. After some spirited conversation with my dog, I was able to land the bow. I thought to my self this is going to be easy. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Though I fished the fly for some time, all I caught after that were some small, recently stocked, cutthroats. They were so small Ellie didn’t even pay much attention. She has become jaded and only gets excited over good fish. Lori moved over near me and began nymphing. She picked up a few nice fish but nothing spectacular. I tried a few likely spots nearby being careful to not disturb some spawning rainbows or walk through the redds. Nothing!

We decided to work our way down stream. I walked to a favored run and tried the small scud. There were no takers. I tied on a lime trude (chosen based on my ability to see it). I immediately started to pick up some small stocker cutts. This was a gas and I was really having a good time. Then a trophy Cutt hit my fly and I was having a great time. Ellie heard the reel screaming and went berserk. I was fighting the fish and screaming at her at the same time. She relented and allowed me to land the fish, a gorgeous fat nineteen inch male. It was all I could do to keep her from taking the fish. I removed the barb less hook and released the trout after carefully reviving it.

Meanwhile Lori was nymphing a nearby run. She tagged a few decent trout. Then she hooked a really good fish. It fought like it was possessed and she thought it was a large brown until she brought it in and realized that she had just landed a trophy sucker. The fish flounced just as Lori tried to release it snapping her 6X tippet and taking her fly in the process. To add insult to injury she got her gloves wet in the process. I traded gloves with her as she is more sensitive to cold than I am. (Note to self: put an extra pair of gloves in jacket.) Lori carefully rigged and tied on a size 20 Dan’s Turkey Quill Emerger.

She walked over to the run I had been fishing and began casting. She quickly picked up a few small cutthroats. Then she felt a strong take. Her reel started whining and Ellie perked up. The Lab scanned the run and saw a large Cutt jump out of the water in a vain attempt to throw the small hook. She dove in and immediately began swimming toward the swirl. I called Ellie back and held her by the collar while Lori fought and landed the trout, a fine twenty inch Cutt. We took a photo and carefully released the fish. She fished a while longer and landed a nineteen inch rainbow. By this time it was getting late and we began walking out. We got to the car at sunset. By the time we removed our waders and packed our gear, it was dark.

We hadn’t let the cold bother us and we had a good day. We caught some nice fish and had a pleasant outing with Ellie. We tried several methods of fishing and most worked. The next time you are watching the weather and it looks a little foul outside; don’t let it prevent you from catching some nice fish.

Springtime by John Berry

This has been the wettest winter that I can ever remember. Except for a five day reprieve around New Years day (during which Lori and I fished four days), they have been running full bore twenty four hours a day from Thanksgiving until well past the end of February. The lakes are now at pool and there should hopefully be a little wade fishing before the spring rains begin. While I have been doing most of my guiding from a boat this winter I occasionally have a client that doesn’t like that and insists upon wading. In those situations I take them to the Spring River.

I don’t know why the Spring is not more popular than it is. During the Fall, Winter, and Spring this river fishes well and is rarely crowded. Of course, Summers are a horse of a different color. This is the season of the aluminum hatch, literally thousands of canoeists are set free daily to travel downstream without the foggiest idea of how to steer their boats. As a result, angling on the Spring during the Summer can be a chaotic if not perilous proposition.

Last week I had a client that wanted to wade fish and with eight generators on the White running around the clock and two on the Norfork my best bet was to fish the Spring River. We got an early start, ate a hearty breakfast and drove from Cotter to Mammoth Spring Arkansas. We went to the Dam Three Access just south of town and after donning our waders started following the tracks downstream toward the Curtis Water, a remote, seldom fished section located between the Dam Three access and Bayou access. It can only be accessed by walking in or by canoe. We carried lunch and some soft drinks with us. We walked a couple of miles until we passed the other anglers. We now had a huge stretch of remote water to ourselves. We scrambled down to the river and started fishing.

Armed with six weight rods and floating lines (sink-tips would have been better), my clients used seven and one half foot 3X leaders and eighteen-inch 4X tippets. We tied on heavily weighted bead head woolly buggers and a lot of lead and started dredging the deeper holes. I gave them a quick casting lesson that stressed the finer points of slinging lead. My clients began catching fish almost immediately. We fished hard all morning slowly working our way down stream. At noon we stopped for lunch along a small feeder creek. For entertainment we watched a pair of rainbows spawn only four feet from us. Our only intruder was a bald eagle slowly circling overhead.

We continued fishing our way down stream till about five thirty and then started walking out. My clients had had enough and we wanted to arrive back at the car by sunset. The final tally was impressive. Jeff caught eleven, his best day fishing in Arkansas ever. Jim caught fourteen and Eric landed twenty-seven. All in all, it would be a good day anywhere.

The next time they are running water everywhere, consider fishing the Spring River. You may have a day like we did.

Ruined for Live by John Berry

Last weekend my wife, Lori, my brother, Dan, and I taught a fly fishing school at the White River Trout Lodge near Cotter, Arkansas. This group was a bachelor party that had traveled from Texas and Louisiana to fish in the Ozarks rather than pursue less wholesome recreation elsewhere. There were eleven students nine of which had never held a fly rod. In the morning we had an abbreviated class room session. Lori talked about equipment and water safety. I taught knots and fishing techniques. Dan gave his introduction to casting with Lori and I assisting to ensure that all participants could cast. Lori grilled a tasty lunch and we donned our waders.

We drove the group to Round House Shoals in Cotter, Arkansas, Trout Capital USA, and rigged up the rods. We tied on some hares ear soft hackles that Dan had tied the night before. We chose Round House Shoals because there was plenty of room to accommodate that many anglers, the wading is easy, and there are plenty of fish. Dan located at the top end of the water and helped the fly fishermen there and Lori located on the lower end and assisted the fly fishermen there. I trooped the line roving from top to bottom to fix any problems as they came up.

As soon as we got on the water, we noticed that there was a hatch coming off. It was the Rhyanchophilia caddis. They are large (size 14) with a green body and a light gray colored wing. They were every where and the trout were keying in on them. This is one of our major hatches of the year and the first to appear. When local guides like Duane Hada, George Peters and I run into each other at local hangouts like The Sands this is a big topic of conversation. “Have you seen the big caddis?” “What time did they come off?” There had been sightings for weeks and we were ready. Our fly boxes were stuffed with the proper soft hackles and elk hair caddis.

Our students began hooking up immediately. The soft hackles were performing superbly. There were a few students that wanted to try dry flies and we quickly rigged them up on elk hair caddis. By this time the water was literally boiling with insects. It was like tossing a bottle of wine in a drunk tank. You weren’t going to get it back without somebody taking a pull on it. This fisherama went on all afternoon.

There were a few students that had a little trouble getting the hang of it. Dan, Lori or myself worked with them until they began catching fish. I don’t know how many fish were landed. It seemed like someone was always on a fish and everyone caught at least a dozen. Around four the hatch began to abate. We were still catching fish but the action began to slow down. By five they were ready to return to the lodge and savor a few adult beverages on the deck... It had been quite a day and they were worn out from the constant action.

On the way home, Dan, Lori and I discussed the class. We felt like it had been successful. Not just because of our instruction, but due in a large part to the hatch. There is nothing that brings it all together, like a great day of fishing. We had one concern. Most of these students had never been fishing and had no frame of reference. They thought this is the way it is every time you go out. They were ruined for life!

White River Boat by John Berry

It’s an awe inspiring sight, slowly emerging through the early morning mist a boat silently floating through the shoals. Two anglers are drifting their flies over likely spots as their guide expertly threads his boat through the water. Suddenly the surface erupts with the violent take of a large brown trout. A struggle ensues that will be repeated several times that day. Rainbows, cutthroats, and a chunky brook trout make it an occasion to be remembered for years to come. How many? The action is too fast and too intense for the anglers to count. Are they fishing from a drift boat on some renowned western stream? No they’re on a float trip on Arkansas’s White River fishing from a unique craft, the White River boat.

Over a thousand miles from the McKenzie River where the McKenzie boat (drift boat) was created as a way to access mountain streams, a boat evolved that is equally well suited to its environment. The drift boat was designed for trout streams that originated in the high mountains of the Pacific Northwest, which have a steep gradient, the boat’s high sides and rockered bottom allows it to turn on a dime to avoid obstacles. The white river boat evolved in the Ozarks, which are much older and lower mountains, and the gradient gentler the boat was designed to negotiate shallow shoals with ease. The White is a tailwater river and is subject to extreme fluctuations. The water can rise eight or more feet in a matter of minutes. You need a craft that can operate in a variety of water conditions on the same day.

I have seen modifications to some boats obviously inspired by drift boats, leg braces or extended railings all made with the idea of enhanced stability for standing casters. None seem to have caught on and the norm is to cast from the seated position. The low sides of the boat and raised seats create an effective position for casting. The boats judging by their boxy shape and straight lines have a lot in common with traditional Jon boats. They grew longer and thinner over time. This not only gives them an elegant look but also allows the boat to have a shallow draft and be narrow enough to fit through the tightest passages in low water. The length provides plenty of room for two anglers and a guide, though it is always a good idea to try and coordinate your casts. They have a unique raised transom that creates more propeller clearance and allows the boat to negotiate very low water.

While the rear seat for the guide is fixed, the other seats are freestanding and often removed for seating during the shore lunch. On the older boats the seats are directors chairs held in place by bungee cords, while the newer models sport padded swiveling boat seats mounted on stainless steel stands. The guide’s seat is normally higher than the passengers. This allows him to see over them so that he can avoid obstacles. When negotiating treacherous water the guide might stand to give him an even better view of the water ahead.

Engines used on the white river boats tend to be small by bass boat standards. This is not a boat designed for speed. Most boats have engines as small as eight horsepower and few are over twenty. The engine allows for travel upstream so that you can access water or drift through productive sections more than once. The constantly changing nature of the river and numerous obstacles make speed impractical. The motors are pulled up to avoid under water obstructions. For the ones the guide doesn’t see the motors are equipped with skeg guards to prevent damage to lower units. A recent innovation is the use of jet motors. Their lack of propellers allows them to run through incredibly shallow water. Their disadvantage is the cost to buy and maintain them. Four-cycle engines are starting to gain favor. (Starting in 2006 two cycle engines will no longer be manufactured). They run quieter and produce less pollution. The down side is they are a bit heavier and are therefore a bit more difficult to raise out of the water when avoiding underwater obstructions.

The guide drifts his boat downstream backwards. That is, he floats stern first. Since the long boats take so long to turn it is often more effective to avoid obstacles by motoring back upstream. To easily maintain this stern first drift, most guides utilize a drag chain at lower water levels that allows the boat to drift straight. This is a small section of chain attached to a piece of rope (rope and chain together are shorter than the length of the boat to prevent it from tangling in the propeller). This is then attached to the front of the boat with a quick release so that if the chain gets caught on the bottom the rope will disengage from the boat. There is a float on the rope to allow for recovery.

The older boats are usually 33 inches wide and are light and easy to push through low water but are not as stable in rough water while newer boats are up to 54 inches wide and therefore more stable in high water but are heavier and more difficult to push in lower water.

Six Flies Revisited by John Berry

About twelve years ago, I wrote an article, Six Flies, in which noted that I caught the vast majority of my trout with six flies. This is still true. Though I carry five fly boxes that are all loaded to the brim, I still catch most of my fish with six patterns. What has changed is the flies themselves. Half of the flies were unknown to me then and two of them did not exist. This says a lot about the dynamic nature of fly tying.

My original article listed the following: Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle, Woolly Bugger, Elk Hair Caddis, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear, Red Fox Squirrel Nymph, and Sow Bug. The first three are still on the list but the last three have changed.

I still fish Gold Ribbed Hares Ears. It is an ancient pattern probably unchanged in over one hundred and fifty years. It is an impressionistic fly to imitate the may fly nymph. It is relatively easy to tie and it works everywhere. That said I have to come to rely more on the Copper John. It too is a may fly nymph and is relatively easy to tie. With its copper wire abdomen, brass bead, and epoxy reinforced thorax it sinks like a rock and is virtually indestructible. The copper wire, peacock hurl and flashabou are all fish attractors. It is now tied in a variety of colors and sizes. I still favor the original copper wire versions in size 14 through 20 because it a dead on imitation of the sulphur may fly nymph which is our most important may fly.

I seem to be fishing the Red Fox Squirrel Nymph less than before. I think that I like a lot of other fly fishers in the area I have discovered that midges are a more important food source than we ever realized. Sure we have been fishing midge emergers for years. Chuck Davidson, the Norfork River Keeper, introduced them to us over twenty five years ago. What we needed was a good midge nymph. That is where the zebra midge came in. I first noted them a couple of years ago. I now fish them a lot and catch plenty of fish with them. Initially they all were size sixteen and black now they are available in a variety of sizes and colors. I prefer size sixteen to twenty two in black with silver bead and silver wire and brown with copper bead and copper wire.

Twelve years ago the Sowbug was my go to fly. In fact, if you were stopped by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission enforcement officers and they inspected your fly boxes they could give you a citation for not being serious if you did not have sow bugs with you. Years ago when you waded out of the river there would be a dozen or so sow bugs clinging to your gravel guards. Now it seems that the sow bugs that used to inhabit the White and Norfork river have all but disappeared. They are still important on the Little Red River and Dry Run Creek and I always have them in my fly boxes. However, the food source that has superseded them is scuds. Scuds are essentially fresh water shrimp and the White and Norfork are teeming with them. I carry scuds in olive, tan, and orange (they turn orange when they die) in sizes 16 thru 20.

My list of six indispensable flies is now: Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle, Woolly Bugger, Elk Hair Caddis, Copper John, Zebra Midge and Scud. The thing that makes fly fishing so exciting is change. When I started fly fishing many years ago, my first rod was fiber glass, my first waders were rubberized cotton boot foots and my first flies were Gold ribbed Hares Ears. To excel at this sport you must embrace change. I believe that if I look at this list in another twelve years it will be very different from todays.

Yesterday I took my client, Greg, on his first visit on the Norfork River. Greg had taken a fly-fishing class from my brother, Dan, and me ten years ago but hasn’t fished much since then. We arrived at the river a little after eight AM and quickly donned our waders and waded far from the access to one of my favorite spots. There was only one other person that we encountered on our way in. It was a fellow guide, George Peters. He told us that he had just caught and released a nice eighteen inch rainbow.

We settled in and began fishing a variety of small nymphs. The going was incredibly slow. At ten thirty we had only caught one small rainbow. It was taking Greg a little time to get the hang of high sticking nymphs and we had missed a few fish. We decided to try a different spot. We waded to a short but very deep run nearby. I took the time to carefully rerig. I tied on a new eighteen inch 6X tippet and a size eight worm brown San Juan worm. I set the strike indicator for the depth of the water and I checked the lead wrapped around the leader just above the knot securing the tippet to the leader to be sure that it was snug.

I showed Greg where to place the fly. He made the perfect cast and the strike indicator drifted about two feet and before it went down like the Titanic.
He set the hook and all we heard was the reel screaming. The fish made a short violent run and rolled on the top. We both gasped! It was a huge male rainbow in full spawning color. Where it would normally have a pink stripe it was deep beet red. He had a pronounced kype that was rubbed raw from digging redds with his chin. I reminded Greg that he was fishing 6X tippet and to play the fish on the reel. After a spirited fight we finally landed the rainbow. He measured just over twenty four inches.

We decided to give the run another go and cast the worm back into the water. This time it drifted three feet and disappeared into the depths of the hole. Greg deftly set the hook and was rewarded with the sound of the reel screaming again. This fish ran further and fought harder than the previous rainbow. After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally able to net the beast. It was a fine twenty inch cutthroat. We fished the run a bit longer and pulled a rainbow and a wild brown out but nothing like the fish we caught earlier.

I looked down stream and noted that George had moved out. He had been in my favorite spot to fish dry flies. I gathered up Greg and we walked over to the run. We tried hoppers and some small dries. We had a few refusals but no takers. After about thirty minutes, we decided to go back to our original spot and see if we could make some thing happen.

We got into position and were immediately into a nice fish. We landed it and several others. It was happening! About noon, I started thinking food. About this time Greg hooked a big one. This trout was having his way with us. We waded into quieter water so that it would be easier to land him there. He made one long run after another. We finally saw him and realized that we had hooked a really nice Cutthroat. He was substantially bigger than the first and had a much larger girth. After a spirited fight, we finally landed him and he measured a righteous twenty two inches. We decided to fish through lunch and stay there until the water came up even if it took a couple of days.

About two PM, I noticed a change in the sound of the water. It was coming up. Greg cranked his line in and we walked back to the access. It came up fast. I set up lunch and we sat down for the first time that day. It was nice to relax and talk about the successes of the day. We loaded up into the car when we finished and drove over to the White River to fish at Rim Shoals. We caught fish but it was nothing like the action on the Norfork that day.

BERRY BROTHERS GUIDE SERVICE Fly Fishing For Trout

BERRY BROTHERS GUIDE SERVICE
Fly Fishing For Trout