DATE: Saturday, 4/30/2005
TIME: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER: Mid-40s to mid-70s, partly cloudy, mild wind
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Quarry Park, and McClellan’s at the upstream riffle and downstream of Otter Creek to Mill Dam Eddy
HATCH: Light Cahill, gray/olive caddis, and various midges
ROD USED: Unknown
FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #16 caddis
OTHER: I fished with Wayne; fishing was excellent. I caught fish on nearly every cast at Mill Dam Eddy using the #14 cockleburr cast quartering downstream, then stripping back. Fish hit on almost every cast; nothing huge, but fish were healthy with lots of color. We left after about 3 hours as John Gulley brought clients to fish the riffle at Mill Dam Eddy.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
A Two River Day
DATE: Friday, 4/29/2005
TIME: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
WEATHER: Mid-60s, mostly cloudy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units on the Norfork; 1 unit on the White
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, top of 2nd island above Ackerman/Handicap Access on the Norfork River; upper riffle at Rim Shoals
HATCH: Small tan caddis, large olive caddis, and a #26 beige midge
ROD USED: Unknown
FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #16 bead head pheasant tail, #14 wine San Juan worm
OTHER: I fished with Wayne. On the Norfork, I had 2 hits on the bead head pheasant tail, but could not get a hook set. I had a ferocious hit on the furnace cockleburr, with the fish coming almost all the way out of the water. I caught a nice 14-inch cutbow, but missed another fish on a ferocious hit on the cockleburr. Water started rising very fast after only 45 minutes. We went immediately to Rim Shoals, and the water was still high, and rising. I did not catch anything, and only fished about 15 minutes. Birds were flying high above both the Norfork and Rim Shoals, chasing caddis. With any luck, we'll have low water tomorrow and can get in a caddis hatch. Water was down Tuesday afternoon, but Kay and I had other plans so I could not go. Wayne said that the caddis hatch was awesome, and the fish were rising to the hatch. Oh well, one can't win them all.
TIME: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
WEATHER: Mid-60s, mostly cloudy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units on the Norfork; 1 unit on the White
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, top of 2nd island above Ackerman/Handicap Access on the Norfork River; upper riffle at Rim Shoals
HATCH: Small tan caddis, large olive caddis, and a #26 beige midge
ROD USED: Unknown
FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #16 bead head pheasant tail, #14 wine San Juan worm
OTHER: I fished with Wayne. On the Norfork, I had 2 hits on the bead head pheasant tail, but could not get a hook set. I had a ferocious hit on the furnace cockleburr, with the fish coming almost all the way out of the water. I caught a nice 14-inch cutbow, but missed another fish on a ferocious hit on the cockleburr. Water started rising very fast after only 45 minutes. We went immediately to Rim Shoals, and the water was still high, and rising. I did not catch anything, and only fished about 15 minutes. Birds were flying high above both the Norfork and Rim Shoals, chasing caddis. With any luck, we'll have low water tomorrow and can get in a caddis hatch. Water was down Tuesday afternoon, but Kay and I had other plans so I could not go. Wayne said that the caddis hatch was awesome, and the fish were rising to the hatch. Oh well, one can't win them all.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Lower Crooked Creek in April
DATE: Friday, 4/22/2005
TIME: 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
WEATHER: Mid-60s, mostly cloudy, strong wind (15+ mph)
WATER CONDITIONS: N/A
LOCATIONS FISHED: Crooked Creek, downstream at Lower Crooked Creek Public Access in Rea Valley
HATCH: None
ROD USED: Unknown
FLIES USED: #4 hard body gray slider, #2 ginger bunny fly, #5 rubber legged woolly bugger
OTHER: I fished with Ron, Bev, and Kay. I saw lots of smallmouth in about 3 to 4 feet of water. Some appeared to be as large as 16 inches. I fished all the flies mentioned, but could not interest the fish in anything. I did not notice any beds, but we had had a tremendous storm move through the area the day before, and another front was blowing in. Ron fished with a small crawfish lure and several other smallmouth lures, but only managed to take a couple of fish. Kay did have one strike using a Rebel crawfish, but missed on the hook set. Crooked Creek was a pretty stream, close to home, and we will definitely go back. I can't wait to get into some fish with poppers and sliders during warmer weather.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
White River below Beaver Dam
DATE: Tuesday, 4/19/2005
TIME: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
WEATHER: Mid-70s, sunny, strong wind (15+ mph)
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: White River, immediately downstream of Beaver Dam
HATCH: Slight midge hatch (fish were moderately rising to hatching insects
ROD USED: Unknown
FLIES USED: #20 miracle midge, #14 furnace cockleburr, #16 bead head pheasant tail
OTHER: I fished with great friend, Wayne. It was great to be back on the water; I haven't fished since early March. The Beaver Dam tail water IS NOT the glorious Norfork River, but it was okay. The water was skinny, and there was little to no structure in the stream. There was almost not enough flow to drift a nymph and strike indicator. I managed to catch 7 rainbow trout, and all but one were caught on the bead head pheasant tail fly. All the fish, except one, were full of color, and had a lot of spunk; the largest may have been 14 inches. There were several other fly fishers on the river, fishing mostly downstream. I will fish this tail water again, but definitely prefer the White River below Bull Shoals Dam and the Norfork River.
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