John Berry Fishing Report
06/26/2009
We have had no rain and unseasonably hot weather
(high nineties). Most of the lakes on the White river system have fallen.
The lake level at Bull Shoals Dam fell eight tenths of a foot to rest at
fifteen and six tenths feet above power pool of 654.00 feet. This is twenty
five and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Up stream, Table Rock
Lake rose one tenth of a foot to rest at one and six tenths feet above power
pool or fourteen and four tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Beaver
Lake fell four tenths of a foot to rest at eight and one tenth feet above
power pool or one and five tenths feet below the top of flood pool. The
pattern on the White was for round the clock generation of varied flows
(3,000 CFS to 12,000 CFS). During the night and morning we have been getting
lower flows. The flows have been much heavier in the afternoon during peak
power demand. This created some challenging conditions for drift fishing and
some limited wade fishing. Norfork Lake has fallen two tenths of a foot to
rest at ten and five tenths feet above power pool of 552.00 feet or
seventeen and five tenths feet below the top of flood pool. Generation on
the Norfork has been limited, which has created some excellent wading. The
flows are heavier in the afternoon during peak power demand.
Remember that there is a new size limit on Brown trout. All browns less than
twenty four inches must be released immediately no matter where they are
caught on the White and Norfork Rivers. Only one brown trout may be kept in
the daily limit of five trout.
It has been dangerously hot this last week. If possible, fish early in the
morning to avoid the heat. If you must fish during the heat of the day, wear
loose fitting, light colored clothing and drink plenty of fluids (water is
best). Wear a broad brimmed hat and do not forget the sun screen.
The Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam has been productive this
past week. With the moderate flows we have been getting, anglers reported
success on midge larva patterns. The most effective were zebra midges in
black with silver wire and silver beads and red with silver wire and silver
beads. The best sizes were sixteens and fourteens. Copper Johns and pheasant
tails have also been quite productive. On higher flows, the hot patterns
have been hot pink San Juan worms and egg patterns.
The sulphurs are still in the upper river. They were sighted from the Dam to
the Narrows in numbers but were thinning a bit in the Rim Shoals to Cotter
area. This is our major mayfly hatch of the year. They are yellow/orange
insects. The hatch generally begins with size fourteen and ends next month
with size eighteens. The best way to fish them is with copper John or
pheasant tail nymphs before the hatch begins, when the nymphs are more
active. When the nymphs rise to the surface and begin to emerge, switch to
partridge and orange or pheasant tail soft hackles. When the trout begin
keying in on the adults, switch to sulphur parachute dry flies. With the
higher flows we have been getting the best action has been on the copper
John or pheasant tail nymphs.
The section from White Hole to Cotter has been very popular for float trips.
The preferred technique in this section is to bang the bank with large
streamers. The hot flies have been Kelly Gallop zoo cougars and other
similar oversized streamers. The secret is to get the fly down. Most anglers
use heavy full sinking or sink tip lines. To cast these huge flies and heavy
lines most anglers are using eight weight or larger rods.
Rim Shoals has fished particularly well this
past week. The sulphur hatch is still coming off on most days, but is
diminished. The trout have not keyed in on the adults but have been very
active on the nymphs. The best fly for this situation has been the copper
John before, during and after the hatches. With the higher flows we have
been getting here in the afternoon, the hot flies have been the hot pink San
Juan worm and Y2K.
Crooked Creek and the Buffalo River have fished extremely well this week,
particularly on Clouser minnows. The water has reached a much safer level
and has cleared substantially.
The Norfork River has received a lot of pressure this week. There has been
some great wadable water every morning and a lot of anglers have been taking
advantage of it. The most productive flies have been small black zebra
midges, Norfork beadheads and red micro San Juan worms. On higher water,
fish brightly colored San Juan worms and egg patterns. Olive woolly buggers
accounted for several nice trout. Remember that the water rise happens very
fast here. At the earliest hint of rising water, get out. Hopefully, you can
exit the river on the side where your car is parked.
Dry Run Creek has particularly well this past week. The hot fly has been the
sowbug. Use heavy tippet (4X) and work a short line. This is a great place
to escape the heat. The creek is in a tight little valley with lots of tree
cover and deceptively cold water. It is always several degrees cooler than
any place else around here. It is even cooler, if you are wet wading. Do not
forget the camera. This is where your youngster can land the big one.
Fishing with a Strike Indicator
Generally, I get the inspiration for my columns from my most recent fishing
trip. This one is a bit different in that I got the idea for this column at
the barber shop. I was getting a little shaggy and my wife Lori suggested it
was time to get a haircut. I went to my barber, Kelly Kyle and she was
pretty busy. There were four guys ahead of me. Like any barber shop worth
its salt Kelly’s has a huge selection of magazines mostly about hunting and
fishing.
Since I had a little wait, I picked up a recent copy of Field and Stream. It
was a fishing issue, so I was interested to see what was in it. Field and
Stream is one of the oldest and most respected hunting and fishing magazines
published in the United States and has the largest circulation of any
outdoor magazine. It is the one periodical where all outdoor writers aspire
to be published.
I quickly found an article about fly fishing with a strike indicator. The
gist of the article was that fishing with a strike indicator was way too
easy and that the use of strike indicators had dumbed down the gentle art of
fly fishing. It just doesn’t present enough of a challenge to be considered
fly fishing. I think that it is writers like this that give fly fishing a
reputation as an elitist sport.
I, of course, took issue with the article. I often fish with a strike
indicator and have my clients do the same. It is not that easy. It took me
years to master the technique. There are many ways to fly fish that are
easier such as swinging a soft hackle or a woolly bugger. What
differentiates fishing with a strike indicator is that it is dead on
effective when done properly.
The hard part for most novices is that you have to set the hook. This isn’t
like crappie fishing where the bobber heads for the bottom and stays there.
When fishing for trout, the strike is much more subtle, particularly when
fishing a size eighteen or twenty two, as we often do here. The indicator
may not go down at all. It might stop momentarily of move slightly up
stream. When in doubt set the hook. There is just not that much time to
think about it. You basically have a half a second to lift the rod.
Another aspect of fishing with a strike indicator that is difficult, is
achieving a perfect drag free drift. The trout are basically lying on the
bottom facing upstream. As the food comes down stream, they will take the
morsels as they pass. Often there are multiple currents in the water. There
is a bit of fast water here and some slow water there. Often the fly is in
faster or slower water than the fly line. If the current grabs the fly line,
it can cause the fly to move too fast or too slow. If the fly does not drift
down stream at the same speed as the water, it will not look natural and the
fish will reject it. To compensate for drag, the angler must lift his line
and move it up or down stream to compensate for the difference in the line
and fly speed (mending). Therefore, to properly fish with an indicator, you
are constantly mending your drift.
All the while that you are waiting for the strike and constantly mending to
ensure that you are achieving a perfect drag free drift, you have to keep in
mind one more thing, line control. The concept of line control is that you
need a certain amount of slack in the line to achieve a proper drift. If you
get too much slack you will not be able to set the hook. As the fly drifts
down stream, you must strip in any excess line so that should you get a
strike you can effectively set the hook.
The writer did offer a couple of acceptable
methods for fishing nymphs. One was to fish them quarter and down. To
accomplish this you face down stream and cast a nymph on a weighted leader
down stream at a forty five degree angle to the bank. You let the fly swing
in the current until it is directly down stream and then recast the fly. It
is a tight line technique and you will feel the strike. This was the
technique that I used when I started fly fishing. It is easy and effective
but not as effective as fishing an indicator.
The other acceptable technique is high sticking nymphs without an indicator.
You fish it just as you would with an indicator except you watch the end of
your fly line instead of the indicator to identify any strikes. This is an
effective method favored by serious, accomplished anglers. My only problem
with it is that it requires the eyes of an eagle to identify strikes. There
are a lot of people that just don’t have good enough vision and reflexes to
fish like this. I fear that I am one of them.
The article also included some illustrations of a couple of methods for
rigging nymphs. Both were two fly rigs. I like to fish two fly rigs because
I think it doubles your chances to hook up. The only problem is that they
are not allowed in the Catch and Release sections that I favor.
The writer did not change my mind. I don’t think fishing with an indicator
has dumbed down the sport. I feel that it is just as challenging as other
techniques. I will continue fishing with a strike indicator as will my
clients because it is an effective way to catch trout. The best use of my
time that morning was spent getting a haircut.
Anthonee's Kitchen
I am always on the look out for new restaurants, particularly small locally
owned mom and pop places. I also want to find locations near places to fish.
The idea is I want to identify places to stop for lunch or on the way back
from fishing accesses. I had listened to Anthonee’s commercials on the radio
and I don’t really have a favorite dining spot near the Bull Shoals Dam
Catch and Release section. This is an Italian place, which Lori and I both
love. I asked her if she was willing to join me for lunch recently and she
said that it sounded good.
We made our way to Lakeview and easily located the restaurant. We didn’t
really know what to expect because no one we knew had eaten there. It is a
small brightly lit place. It is quite boisterous. All of the patrons and the
owners seem to talk loud and joke around. This is not the place for a quiet
romantic dinner. You order your food and pay at the front counter then seat
yourself. A waitress brings your food to the table. Everything is served on
plastic plates. Luckily we got real metal flatware with the items we
ordered.
I ordered the daily special, chicken parmesan ($8.00), which came with penne
pasta and home made marinara sauce. I also ordered a serving of tiramisu
($4.00). They had home made carrot cake that I also wanted to try but I
decided to try that on another occasion. Lori ordered the spinach penne
($7.00), a pasta dish with sautéed spinach, garlic and ricotta cheese.
I really liked my entrée. The chicken breast was thick and juicy. This dish
is usually served with a chicken breast that has been pounded until it is
thin and flat. I really liked this thicker version. It was covered with
melted cheese (Mozzarella) and slathered in their home made marinara sauce.
The side of penne pasta was really good. The marinara was excellent. I gave
Lori a bite and she was really impressed.
When she tried her entrée, she was a bit disappointed. The spinach penne was
a bit bland for her. She really liked the taste of marinara I gave her and
decided to ask the waitress for a bit of it for her pasta. The waitress
brought it out and Lori poured it over her pasta. She took and quick bite
and decided that was the way to go. She found her entrée excellent with the
addition of the marinara. When the owner dropped by our table to ask how
everything was, Lori told him about the addition of the marinara and he
agreed that he liked it better that way. He had the dish without it on the
menu because several customers requested a pasta dish without tomato sauce.
I turned my attention to my tiramisu. This is possibly my favorite Italian
dessert. It was brought to the table in a plastic cup. It had been frozen
and was slightly thawed. I am used to this being chilled and not frozen. I
was a bit put off by that. It was OK, but I wished that I had ordered the
home made carrot cake.
There were several offering on the menu that we didn’t try. They seem to
specialize in sandwiches. In addition to hot dogs and hamburgers they offer
polish sausage, Italian beef, pastrami on rye, Ruebens, patty melts,
meatball subs and gyros. They have other Italian specialties like Lasagna,
Spaghetti with meat sauce or marinara and spinach lasagna. They also have
baked potatoes, French fries, soups and tamales. Additional desserts include
Italian rum cake and cheese cake. Then there are the daily specials that
include meatloaf and stuffed pork chops. I want to go back and try the
spaghetti with meatballs and meat sauce. Most of the other patrons on the
day we visited had ordered sandwiches and fries and were consuming them with
great gusto. I want to try the pastrami on rye and the meat ball sub, on a
later trip. So much food, so little time.
Anthonee’s Kitchen is located at 6180 Highway 178 W. in Lakeview, Arkansas.
They open at 11:00 AM daily for lunch and dinner. They are closed most
Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Sunday, they are open for lunch only. They have
free Wi-Fi with your meal. There is no smoking and no alcoholic beverages
are served. The staff is friendly and attentive. I would recommend
Anthonee’s for lunch or dinner after fishing the upper White River.
John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over twenty five years.
John Berry
(870) 435-2169
berrybrothers@infodash.com
www.berrybrothersguides.com
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