Flies, Rivers & More

Rivers

Here is a little bit about the rivers we fish and guide on.

Trout Fishing

White River

  • Beaver Tailwaters – Seven miles of trout water from the base of Beaver Dam to Houseman access. Very little flow without generation, a big spring creek without vegetation. Two power generators at the dam. A narrow river bed make wading pretty much impossible when both units running. Rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout are available, but rainbows are the predominate species. Very little, if any, spawning takes place, but carry-overs are common. Insects are not abundant. Some caddis, mayflies and stoneflies inhabit river along with scuds and sowbugs. Midges are the predominant species. New management regulations have stopped stocking of cutts and brooks with a slot limit for all fish. Hopefully bigger fish will be caught.
  • Bull Shoals Tailwaters – Ninety miles of trout river from the base of Bull Shoals Dam to Guion, AR. Big river with big flows from power generation. Eight units at the dam can produce flows of 24,000+ cfs. Numerous wading opportunities exist with flows with up to three units. Best fishing with 2+ units is from a boat. Good spawning takes place from browns and some from rainbows. Approximately 60% of browns in river are wild. Caddis, mayflies, stoneflies and midges are in the river along with scuds and sowbugs. Very good chance for catching big browns with streamers.

North Fork River

  • Norfork Tailwaters – A real trophy river. About five miles of river before entering the White River. Good chance of catching a rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout over 16 inches in same day. Very little wading opportunities if either of two units are running. Excellent catch and release area with many big fish. During the summer, fish come into the Norfork for a heat refuge from the warmer temperatures that can be found in the White.

Little Red River

  • Greer’s Ferry Tailwaters – Twenty-five + miles of trout water below Greer’s Ferry Dam. Home of the world’s record German Brown trout, 40 pounds 2 ounces caught by Rip Collins. Very little public walk in access once you get out of JFK Park at the dam. Good wade fishing at Cow Shoals and Swinging Bridge access areas and they have public access. Good moss beds and plenty of scuds and sowbugs make fishing for large fish with small flies challenging. All browns in the river are naturally reproducing.

Smallmouth Fishing

King’s River

Ninety mile river flowing north to Missouri. Great river rescued from destruction with the banning of gravel mining. Plenty of trophy smallmouth and rock bass along with largemouth and spotted bass in the lower reaches. There are all kinds of sunfish to fill in the slow times. White bass and walleye come up the river from Table Rock Lake to spawn in the spring. Have had trips where clients have caught nine different species of fish.

Crooked Creek

Hopefully this river can be saved from death by gravel miners in the lower section of river. It still is one of the best southern smallmouth streams in the U.S. Large fish are abundant and the chances are good that you will catch one.

Buffalo River

First national river in the United States. Riffles, pools, gravel bars and 600 foot bluffs are some of the characteristics of this river. There is some of the most spectacular scenery in the state along the river. Short side trips off the river can put you into caves and alongside a 300 foot waterfall. The Buffalo can go from a whitewater kayaker’s dream in the upper area to a family’s gentle weekend float. Smallmouth are the fish of choice with the chance to catch two to five pound fish. Overnight trips on the Buffalo can be a dream come true.

Flies

If I only had one fly to catch fish and eat everyday, it would be an olive wooly bugger. But that would be boring. Midges, caddis, mayflies, scuds and sowbugs in all their life stages work consistently. Sizes #20-#14 are standard. Egg patterns and aquatic worms are good attractor patterns. Summertime brings terrestrials, hoppers, beetles and such. Always bring bigger sizes and flashier patterns of your standard flies for high water. Don’t forget your big streamers for monster fish. We sometimes have a shad kill in the lakes and on high water your favorite shad or just white pattern works. Have both floating and weighted versions.

Smallmouth flies always include crayfish patterns. And then you can use a crayfish imitation. They also love minnows and hellgrammites, leeches and nymphs. Summertime don’t forget top water patterns, poppers and divers.