Back to Basics

TIME: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access

ROD USED:  8’ 9” 5 wt Joan Wulff Favorite Winston

FLIES USED:   #18 Olive Norfork River Scud, #20 Black/Silver Zebra Midge, #20 Kay’s Gray, #20 Dunn’s Dun

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  We opted to fish close to home today.  The areas we fished were crowded, and no one else was catching fish; I saw one person catch one fish.  Beginning near the top of the island with no success, I waded downstream downstream and fished across from Old Charlie’s.  After several futile casts with the scud and midge, I tied on the only Kay’s Gray in the fly box, and immediately got looks, but no bites, fishing it dry.  The refusals were fun to watch, though.  This is the way I used to fish all the time, and it was fun returning to this style of fishing, back to basics.  After one swing, I stripped the fly back and hooked up.  This worked a few more times before the fly wore out, causing a switch to a Dunn’s Dun which proved successful as well.  I moved back upstream to the top of the island and tried stripping with no success.  However, fishing the fly dry produced one hook-up after another, including a 15-16 inch cutthroat.  The takes were beautiful to watch.  Interestingly, the fish at this location would not take the fly being stripped, preferring it fished dry, where further downstream the opposite held true.  All told, I managed to fool just shy of a dozen fish, and as usual Wayne caught that many and probably more.  Most of the fish appeared to be stockers, including several small browns.  Neither of us had much of a stomach fishing in the crowds, so opted to quit early and tie flies.  As they say, a good day was had by all.

Good Fishing, Tough Catching

TIME: 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units, fog

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, below Island below McClellan’s to near McClellan’s Dock

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  Brown Wayne’s Fly, #14 Norfork River Tan Scud, #16 Red Zebra Midge, #18 Red Copper John, #18 Norfork River Olive Brown Scud

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  We quickly fished Mill Dam Eddy in the fog, where I caught 4 fish on the red zebra midge.  Wading upstream, we each caught a couple of fish near the top of the island.  For the first time in a long time, I did not catch a fish in the riffle above the island, though it usually produces up to a dozen or more fish.  We waded upstream as far as water depths would allow, where Wayne caught several fish; I only caught one.  As I waded back downstream, I changed set-ups, and began getting takes, missing at least half the fish.  A 17-inch brown took the fly just upstream of the walnut tree, and a really large fish hooked up only momentarily before breaking off.  Further downstream, the plunge pool produced a few fish.  We waded downstream all the way to just above the second island above Ackerman/Handicap Access, but the fishing was very slow.  Each of us took just over a dozen fish today.  Fishing was tough for both of us, and we worked for every hook-up. 

Too Many People

TIME: 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM

WEATHER:  Clear, low 60s to mid 80s

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Below and Above Island below McClellan’s

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt Winston JWF

FLIES USED:  Wayne’s Brown Fly, #16 Zebra Midge

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Kay, Bootsie, and Bill.  We began in the riffle below the island, but the area had already been fished despite the early hour and the fish were far and few between.  We moved upstream to fish alongside the island, but a fisher rushed down from upstream when he saw us and fished the area.  We waded to the riffle upstream of the island, and there was a fisher in the middle of the riffle, catching lots of fish having worked his way upstream; we had leftovers, and the fishing was tough.  Within a few minutes, some 9 fishers from Fayetteville descended upon us from upstream; too many people for such a short fishing reach.  One took the opportunity to urinate out in the open just across the river from us while another waded downstream and said that catching fish was like taking candy from a baby.  We notice he would wade a short distance upstream, then hurry back downstream.  Then, when one of his buddies came down, he asked them to kick up the bottom when they crossed; he was obviously doing the San Juan shuffle which is highly illegal.  After my anger rose to a high enough level, I yelled to the guys that what they were doing was illegal, and they moved downstream.

Bootsie and Bill waded upstream above all the people and had a decent day. 

Another Great Day

TIME: 8:30 AM to 11:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 60s to 70s.

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Above and Below the Island below McClellan’s.  

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  Brown Wayne’s Fly, Red and Black Zebra Midges

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Ed.  The riffle below the island was completely opposite from yesterday morning, fishing red hot from the beginning.  Well over a dozen fish were taken before we moved upstream.  The chute along the island was being fished by a good fisher on his way downstream, so we bypassed our usual stops and waded to the riffle above the island.  It, too, fished red hot with a couple of dozen mostly 15+ inch fish being caught.  I fished the plunge pool and managed to catch a half dozen fish on very subtle takes.   As we wrapped up our fishing above the island, we observed 9 people fishing from Otter Creek to the riffle above the island (don’t these young people work for a living?)—time for us to leave.  As I fished along the island working our way downstream, one of the fishes kayaked directly over the bubble line I was fishing—to many people.  It was a great morning, and a great trip for Ed.   

Back to the Norfork

TIME: 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Above and Below the Island below McClellan’s.  

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  Brown Wayne’s Fly, Cream/Copper Midge, Red Copper John

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Ed.  We got off to a slow start fishing Mill Dam Eddy, with only a fish or two.  Working our way upstream, several fish were caught along side of the island.  The riffle above the island fished tough, but several fish were taken.  We were joined, and crowded, by other fishers who had walked upstream from the pool.  Ace In The Hole produced NO fish, and I only caught a couple in the Narrows.  As time approached for generation to begin, we made our way downstream.  A small discharge of water stimulated the fish, and the riffle below the island fished red hot on a zebra midge, producing a couple dozen fish.  Though beginning slow, the day ended with lots of fish being caught. 

Another Skipped Monday

TIME: 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  White River, Upper Rim Shoals

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  Brown Wayne’s Fly, Chernobyl Ant, Zebra Midge, Cream/Copper Midge, Parachute Hopper

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Ed.  Our intent was to boat fish using hoppers and droppers, but water levels were unexpectedly low; we opted to wade Rim Shoals.  The water was still falling when we entered.  I fished in front of the parking lot and caught a half dozen small rainbows.  I didn’t catch a single fish in the various riffles crossing to the island.  The back side of the island had some rising fish, and I managed to fool 4 of them with the Chernobyl Ant drifted over a small riffle.  The end of the island only produced a couple of fish for me, but Ed hammered them—maybe a couple of dozen fish—as did an acquaintance of ours from Memphis, Bruce, who has relocated to this area.  I fished my way back upstream catching a nice 16 to 17-inch cutthroat on a parachute hopper.  I missed a couple of others.  I was surprised at the lack of numbers of fish and the size of fish as most were only slightly larger than stockers. 

Running the River

TIME: 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Quarry Park to Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access  

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  Brown Wayne’s Fly, Cream/Copper Midge

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  We used one-man pontoons to run the river today, beginning at the lower end of the campground at Quarry Park and floating downstream.  We didn’t catch a single fish in the Resort Hole, and had only a couple in the downstream riffle.  The long riffle produced no fish, except at the very tailout, where I managed to catch a couple.  The riffle at the top of the Long Hole fished real well as another fisher gave me permission to fish it on my way down.  I caught 3 fish, missed 3 others and left it to him.  The tail of the Long Hole was kind to Wayne, but I didn’t catch a fish.  The riffle above McClellan’s produced a couple of fish for Wayne, but again, I didn’t catch a fish.  We fished our way to the “dock” and my first cast resulted in a 20-inch brown.  Wayne found a pocket of fish and pulled a couple of dozen out just upstream of the Narrows.  The Narrows was being fished hard by 4 other good fishers so I floated downstream to the riffle above the island and caught just shy of a dozen fish.  We met up at Mill Dam Eddy and floated downstream to our take out.  Good news was we saw lots of fish; bad news was that lots of people were fishing for them.