Norfork River, AR

TIME: 8:00 AM TO 10:00 AM
WEATHER: PC, Low 50s to high 70s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, 2nd Island above Ackerman-Handicap Access
ROD USED: 8’ 9” 5 wt Joan Wulff Favorite Winston LT
FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork Scud
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: Fished with Ken. Kay and I met Ken and Sharon in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas this past February; they are from northwest Arkansas. Ken is new to fly fishing and I offered to show him the ropes on the Norfork River. We worked on casting, line control, and drag-free drifts. This was only Ken’s second trip ever fly fishing, and he did quite well, catching a few fish, and hooking up to several others. The water unexpected came up and we had to hurriedly leave after only a couple of hours.

Norfork River, AR

TIME: 9:00 AM TO 12:30 AM
WEATHER: PC, Low to high 70s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, above 2nd Island above Ackerman above Ackerman-Handicap Access
ROD USED: 9’ 6 wt Winston LT
FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork Scud, Wayne’s Fly, Big Ugly, #14 Flying Ant, #20 Dunn’s Dun, #20 Kay’s Grey
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: Fished with son, Ron. As we walked in, there were 9 fishers fishing my usual riffle, with room for only 3! We began wading upstream, fishing the pool, and I caught several fish using Wayne’s setup. As we neared the bottom of the island below McClellan’s, Ron broke the code, and caught fish after fish on the river-right side of the leaf line using a #14 gray Norfork scud; he ended up catching about 3 dozen fish. The fish were midging like crazy, and I switched to midge emergers, but could not develop any consistency. Finally switched to terrestrials and caught a few fish; they slammed the terrestrials, but again, no consistency. Neither of us caught any large fish, but it was a good day.

White River Fishing

TIME: 9:00 AM TO 3:00 PM
WEATHER: PC, Low to high 70s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: White River, Wildcat Shoals to Cotter
ROD USED: 9’ 6 wt Winston LT
FLIES USED: #16 John’s Miracle Fly
HATCHES: Occasional caddis, midges
OTHER: Fished with Ed and John. We launched at Wildcat Shoals amidst a full parking lot; John piloted the boat. The river was packed with fishers downstream as far as we could see, making navigation around fishers and through shoals difficult, at best. Fishers continued to pack the river as we drifted downstream. We finally found a riffle that was not being fished, and managed to catch a few fish, though no big fish were caught. We ate lunch, and the highlight of the day was being passed by two bikini-clad young women in a canoe, though none of us looked at them! As we maneuvered through the various shoals, John worked his fanny off pushing us through tight places, and over and around submerged rocks. It was a difficult day.

White River Fishing

TIME: 9:00 AM TO 3:00 PM
WEATHER: PC, Low to high 70s
WATER CONDITIONS: 2-3 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: White River, Rim Shoals Vicinity
ROD USED: 9’ 6 wt Winston LT
FLIES USED: #16 John’s Miracle Fly
HATCHES: Occasional Caddis
OTHER: Fished with Ed and John. We launched at Rim Shoals, and floated the area from the top of the island to near the top of lower Rim Shoals, about ¾ miles downstream; Ed piloted the boat. We all caught dozens of fish; I managed to fool a 20-inch and 22-inch brown (unmeasured), and John caught a 21-inch rainbow (unmeasured).

Norfork River

TIME: 8:30 AM to 10 AM, 2 PM to 4:30 PM
WEATHER: PC, Low 70s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, 1st and 2nd Islands above Ackerman/Handicap Access to Otter Creek at McClellan’s
FLIES USED: #14 BWF
ROD USED: 8’ 6” JWF 5 wt Winston
HATCHES: None
OTHER: Fished with Ed. We waded upstream to near Otter Creek in the morning and generation began almost immediately, forcing us to hurriedly wade downstream and abandon our fishing. In the afternoon. we again waded upstream to near Otter Creek, catching fish all the way up. Ed caught several fish below the island below McClellan’s and we both caught lots of fish from the top of the island to Ed’s Hole. On the way back downstream, Ed again caught several fish below the island. Ed had a couple of very nice fish today. We were both tired and weary after wading almost 4 miles.

Norfork Lake

TIME: 5:30 AM to 11:00 AM
WEATHER: PC, High 70s, Windy
WATER CONDITIONS: Lake level is approximately 562 feet
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork Lake
FLIES USED: Gray sliders, chartreuse jigs
ROD USED: 9’ JWF 8 wt Winston
HATCHES: None
OTHER: Fished with John Gulley. John is an excellent lake fisher (and one of the best guides on the Norfork River). We initially planned to fish for stripers, but the wind was very heavy, and only two schools were observed, both too far to chase. We did see carp spawning along the edges and it was fascinating, and awesome. We both caught Kentucky bass and sunfish, but John caught most of the fish. It was a pleasurable trip, and I learned a number of things about fishing Norfork Lake. This is a must-do again trip.

Basswood Lake, Quetico Wilderness, ON

WEATHER: PC, Low 30s rising to high 50s, light wind
WATER CONDITIONS: Clear, about 50 degrees
LOCATIONS FISHED: Basswood Lake
FLIES USED: #6 Gray/White Clouser
ROD USED: 9’ 8 wt JWF Winston
HATCHES: Mayflies
OTHER: Boated and paddled into Basswood Lake on Sunday, May 31, but did not fish. We had our original crew, plus Ron Higgins. With water temperatures at or near 50 degrees, it was useless fishing a popper, slider, or diver. I fished hard in the morning with Mary, our guide, paddling, but did not catch a fish. In the afternoon, John “guided” me, and I caught a single fish on a popper. It was a very slow afternoon.
Breakfast: Early morning cookie, followed by fishing, then eggs in a nest, bacon, garlic cheese grits, toast
Lunch: Snack bars, candy bars
Dinner: Pan fried pork chops, Spanish rice, sweet bread, ?