It’s Freezing Out Here

DATE: Tuesday, 3/15/2005

TIME: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER: High 30s to low 40s, sunny, moderate wind, sleet, snow, and rain

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s at or near the dock, and at the riffle above the dock

HATCH: Moderate midge hatch, fish rising to hatch

ROD USED: Unknown

FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #24 pear glass bead head zebra midge, #24 pearl glass bead head green caddis pupa, #14 bead head mini woolly bugger

OTHER: I fished with Wayne and Slim. Slim and I started at the dock at McClellan's. Fishing was slow, but I finally got some hits downstream on #14 furnace cockleburr, and ended up taking 4 fish just downstream of McClellan's Dock. I moved up to the riffle, and cast the #14 furnace cockleburr quartering downstream and picked up one fish, and had another strike. I finally froze out and left for home and hot coffee. It was tough fishing in tough fishing conditions.

Anyone Want a Brittany?

DATE: Saturday, 3/12/2005

TIME: 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM

WEATHER: Mid-70s to low 80s, heavy winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s at or near the dock

HATCH: Moderate midge hatch, fish rising to hatch

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #14 olive gray Norfork River scud, #24 pear glass bead head zebra midge, #24 pearl glass bead head green caddis pupa, #14 bead head mini woolly bugger

OTHER: Wayne picked me up at 8:20 AM, and we were in the water by 8:45 AM. We fished right at the dock at McClellan's. Fishing was slow to begin, and it took me about an hour to break the code. Fish were taking a #24 pearl glass bead head zebra midge dropped below a #24 olive grad scud. I used 8X tippet to drop the midge. There were no hits whatsoever on the scud. The scud/midge combination netted about a dozen fish. I tried a similar combination with a small caddis pupa fly and fish were sporadic in taking it. With the wind (it was white capping as the winds were blowing upstream), I kept getting tangled, so I tried fishing with just the pupa, but no luck. I finally tied on a #14 bead head mini wooly bugger, casting perpendicular to the flow as far as I could heave the 5-weight, then stripping back immediately. WOW! For the first time today, I was getting a hit, or multiple hits, on every cast. I didn't count the fish but it was awesome, and probably, the best fishing (make that catching) time I've ever experienced. I had hookup after hookup, and Wayne was using something similar and was catching twice as many fish as I; go figure! That man is a fish catching machine. I broke off more times than I care to remember, and used half dozen flies completely up, so it’s back to the tying bench. What a day--ANOTHER GREAT DAY IN PARADISE. Retirement is all that it was cracked up to be!

P.S. My dog almost died tonight; she got the partridge skin off my fly tying desk and totally destroyed it. Had it been a neck, she would be gone! Is anyone looking to acquire a 12-year old, sweet Brittany? Otherwise, I'm in the market for a top notch partridge skin.

A “Come Uppance” Day

DATE: Thursday, 3/10/2005

TIME: 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-50s, partly sunny, heavy winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Quarry Park

HATCH: Moderate midge hatch, on sporadic fish rising to hatch

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #16 olive gray Norfork River scud, #14 bead head mini woolly bugger, #20 Dunn’s Dun

OTHER: I fished with Wayne. We were able to enter the water shortly after the water receded, about noon. Fishing was exceedingly tough; however, Wayne, as usual, managed to catch fish almost at will. I, on the other hand, took only half dozen or so. I had bunches of looks and short strikes on the Dunn's Dun, but couldn’t manage a hook-up. I did take fish on #14 bead head mini wooly bugger, cast quartering downstream and stripping it back. The warning horn blew at 3:00 pm signaling beginning of generation. Today was a “come-uppance” for catching so many fish on Monday and Tuesday!

Counting Fish

DATE: Tuesday, 3/8/2005

TIME: 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-50s, partly sunny, light breeze

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: White River, Bull Shoals Dam Walk-in Access

HATCH: Moderate midge hatch, on sporadic fish rising to hatch

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: #20 furnace cockleburr, #14 black cockleburr,#16 bead head pheasant tail

OTHER: I fished with Wayne (Chuck Kelly was also fishing there, and we fished in close proximity the entire time). All three of us caught lots of fish. I had an absolutely awesome day; in fact, it was the best day since April 15, 2003, when Ed, Mike, and I caught lots of fish on caddis flies at Rim Shoals. In fact, it was even better than yesterday, March 7. I have tried very hard to not count fish, but today, I counted. The first hour alone I hooked and landed 27 fish, all on a bead head pheasant tail. After fish number 13, I just knew I was in for bad luck, and sure enough about 5 minutes passed by without so much as even a strike. I finally checked the hook and it was bent over backward, probably from releasing the last fish with forceps. I put on another bead head pheasant tail, and resumed catching fish. After 27, I switched to dry flies, and the catching slowed considerably. I did get three awesome strikes on the black cockleburr, and landed the fish, but I used about an hour of time “experimenting” with the black cockleburr. I switched back to a bead head pheasant tail, and caught one more before the horn sounded. What a fantastic day!

One of those Special Days

DATE: Monday, 3/7/2005

TIME: 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-50s, partly sunny, moderate winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: White River, Rim Shoals

HATCH: Significant midge hatch; captured one #12 March Brown mayfly. Fish were moderately rising to hatching insects

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #14 unweighted red San Juan worm, #14 furnace cockleburr, #16 gray White River sowbug, #14 bead head mini woolly bugger, #20 Dunn’s Dun

OTHER: I fished with Wayne. We both caught lots of fish. I had an absolutely awesome day; in fact, it was the best day since April 15, 2003, when Ed, Mike, and I caught lots of fish on caddis flies at Rim Shoals. It rained real hard for several minutes, but the fish kept biting. I had the most success on #14 furnace cockleburr, stripped in heavy current. I lost the rod tip on the Winston 10-foot, 4-weight rod.

Great Day on the Norfork

DATE: Sunday, 3/6/2005

TIME: 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM

WEATHER: High 60s, partly cloudy, moderate winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s to Mill Dam Eddy

HATCH: Significant midge hatch, some tan caddis, some crane flies in the air. Fish were moderately rising to hatch

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #16 gray Norfork River scud, #14 furnace cockleburr, #14 weighted red San Juan worm

OTHER: I had a great day on the water, catching 15 or so fish—two on the gray scud and the rest on a greased #14 furnace cockleburr. It was good to be dry fly fishing once again, and the fish weren't bashful—nothing big was caught, but most were in the 15-inch range—one was a cutthroat and the rest were rainbows. I am fortunate to be blessed with so many friends. Other than Kay, one of my very best friends in the world is Wayne, and he is second to none in catching fish. He has taken time to give me bunches of pointers on fishing the Norfork at different times of the year, and, in fact, fishing the Norfork under just about any circumstance. His word is true, and I follow his direction explicitly. Without a doubt, Wayne is a human fish catching machine, and those of us who know him and fish with him are fortunate indeed. Today was no exception, and Wayne gave me some invaluable pointers about fishing parts of the river in March. Enough for today, and let's keep our fingers crossed for wade fishing tomorrow.

A Slow Day in March

DATE: Saturday, 3/5/2005

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-50s, partly cloudy, moderate winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, top of 2^nd island above Ackerman/Handicap Access

HATCH: Moderate midge hatch; a few fish were rising to hatches

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: # 14 unweighted red San Juan worm, #14 furnace cockleburr, #18 gray Norfork River scud, #20 beaded caddis pupa, and #20 beaded zebra midge

OTHER: I caught three, and none were large. All were caught on a #20 beaded caddis pupa. The river was crowded, though I saw only one other fish caught.

Rude and Crude

DATE: Friday, 3/4/2005

TIME: 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-60s, partly cloudy, strong winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, top of 2^nd island above Ackerman/Handicap Access and Mill Dam Eddy

HATCH: Significant midge hatch; crane flies were on the water surface and in the air, and possibly some caddis were hatching. Fish were rising to hatches.

ROD USED: Unknown

FLIES USED: # 14 unweighted red San Juan worm, #18 Big Horn shrimp, #14 furnace cockleburr, #14 weighted wine San Juan worm

OTHER: It was great to be back on the water; I haven't fished since February 11. Generation ceased at about 9:00 AM after beginning at about 5:00 AM. I fished with my best friend today, Kay. I caught about 10 fish, including a brown that measured 17 inches and a cutthroat that would go about 15 inches. The cutthroat had brilliant orange gill plates. All the fish were caught on #14 unweighted red San Juan worm. Kay caught 2 fish on #14 furnace cockleburr fished in the film. She did a masterful job of playing both fish. We had one drift boat stop right beside Kay to let the "client" fish. After about 30 minutes I walked over to help Kay tie on a fly and the guide boat left immediately. Thank goodness for 260+ pounds of bulk! I didn't say anything, but was disappointed with the unethical guide.