Norfork River, AR

TIME: 8:30 AM TO 11:30 AM
WEATHER: PC, Mid 30s warming to low 50s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ackerman Walk-in Access
ROD USED: Winston LT 8'6" 5 wt
FLIES USED: #14 Norfork River Scud, #20 Dun Cockleburr, #20 Ginger Cockleburr, #20 Kay's Gray
HATCHES: Midges, Blue Winged Olives,
OTHER: Fished with Dick. As we walked in, two guys were fishing the riffle upstream of where we typically fish, and were standing where they should have been fishing. I overheard one say they were outside the catch and release area, and quickly pointed out the catch and release area extended upstream another 3/4 mile. They quickly packed up and began leaving, each dragging a large fish they had killed in the catch and release area. Guess there are a few in every crowd. Dick started the morning with a sowbug, but had no success at all. He switched to a #20 Dun Cockleburr, and added weight and an indicator; again, no luck. He switched to a #14 Norfork River Scud, and began catching fish, ending the morning with about a dozen. I fished mostly with the Cockleburr patterns and caught several fish stripping the fly during the swing. I wanted to break the code on the rising fish, so finally put on a #20 Kay's Gray, and it seemed to do the trick. Today's total was maybe a dozen.

PS: Recall the fishers just upstream of us? We noticed several dead fish downstream of them! This wasn't due to low DO! The river was pretty crowded today, but the fish seemed bigger than the last several days. I also picked up a rainbow with a lamprey attached, indicating the fish came from the White River.

Norfork River, AR

TIME: 9:00 AM TO 12:00 NOON, 1:30 PM ti 3:30 PM
WEATHER: PC, High 30s warming to high 40s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ackerman Walk-in Access
ROD USED: Winston 8'6" Joan Wulff Favorite, Winston LT 7'9" 2 wt
FLIES USED: #14 Norfork River Scud, #20 Blue Winged Olive, #20 Dun cockleburr
HATCHES: Midges, Blue Winged Olives
OTHER: I fished with Dick today. It was a relatively tough day fishing as the fish did not take the scud at all. I switched early to the #20 Dun Cockleburr, and had some luck fishing it as a dry fly, and also stripping during the swing. Switched to a BWO about 10:00 AM, but had not success, so switched back to the #20 Dun Cockleburr. All in all, I took about a dozen fish in the AM. A local guide was fishing above us, and was doing quite well. He said he was having success using a big gray sowbug. I returned to the water, solo, in the afternoon, and used the 2 wt to catch 8 to 10 rising fish on the Dun Cockleburr.

Norfork River, AR

TIME: 7:30 AM TO 10:30 AM
WEATHER: PC, Mid 30s warming to low 50s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ackerman Walk-in Access
ROD USED: Winston LT 7'9" 2 wt
FLIES USED: #14 Norfork River Scud
HATCHES: Midges, Blue Winged Olives
OTHER: The day did not start out well as I forgot sunglasses, or for that matter, glasses of any king. It meant that the scud left from Saturday would have to stay on. It was much better fishing weather, though, when compared to the harsh conditions on Saturday. I fished solo, and was surprised to see no one else on the river for a hour or more. Then, only a couple folks showed up, but one was far downstream and the other far upstream. Once again, I fished my usual haunts, and again struggled at the first riffle near Cook's Island, catching only a couple of small fish. I moved to another riffle, and caught fish,though it was a slow bite, and I took only a dozen or so in over an hour. Moving upstream, I only caught a few fish on the scud, but noticed a nice midge hatch. About this time, Wayne began fishing, and as usual, caught fish on almost every cast. His new name is the Butcher from Baxter County! He's an incredible fisher. Hoping to see the eye sufficiently to tie on a new fly, I switched to a #20 ginger cockleburr, and caught a half dozen fish, mostly stripping the fly as an emerger. At about 9:50 AM a Blue Winged Olive hatch began so I switched to a BWO, again struggling to see the eye, and only managed a single small fish. I moved upstream to another surefire location, downstream from a riffle, but managed to take only another half dozen. All in all, it was a pretty slow day by Norfork River standards, and the fish were again small though I did take a rainbow that was about 16 inches.

Norfork River, AR

TIME: 7:00 AM TO 9:00 AM
WEATHER: PC, Windy, 41 degrees
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ackerman Walk-in Access
ROD USED: Winston LT 7'9" 2 wt
FLIES USED: #14 Norfork River Scud
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: It's been over 2 months since I last fished. We have been on two trips, just returning from the Gulf coast last night. For one of the few times this year, the river is down. I fished my usual haunts, but struggled at the first riffle near Cook's Island, catching only a half dozen small fish. I moved to another riffle, and began catching fish, though certainly not on every cast. I took a dozen, then they just turned off. I moved upstream to another surefire location, downstream from a riffle, but managed to take only another half dozen. The fishing was much slower than expected, and the fish were among the smallest I've caught in several years. The temperature never changed, and the winds blew a constant 10-15 mph. This old body is not used to this, and I left the river after only a couple of hours. However, it was good hooking up again after such a long absence. (Note: The bite all day was extremely light, almost imperceptible, in fact.)

This One’s For You, Dad

TIME: 7:00 AM TO 12:00 NOON
WEATHER: PC, Low to high 80s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ackerman Walk-in Access
ROD USED: Winston LT 7'9" 2 wt
FLIES USED: #14 Norfork River Scud
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: This is a sad day, indeed, as my father passed away last night. I felt compelled to fish—my way of handling the sadness and emotional turmoil--and as coincidence would have it, the river was down. I fished solo the first couple of hours, remembering the good times as well as the bad. God smiled on me as the fishing was nothing short of spectacular, as good as it gets. I caught fish on practically every cast, though none were huge. After a couple of hours, I phoned my good friend, Dick, and we fished the remainder of the morning. Though a little rusty from lack of fishing, Dick began catching fish with reckless abandon, and must have taken up to 3 dozen fish. I moved upstream and continued to catch fish, though not as rapidly as earlier. I did, however, manage to fool a measured 22-inch brown trout, and it was incredible on the Winston 2 weight. Thank you, Lord, and thank you, Dad.

Little Red River

TIME: 9:00 AM TO 2:30 PM
WEATHER: PC, Low to high 80s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Little Red River downstream of Greers Ferry Dam and Downstream of AR Hwy 110 Bridge (Swinging Bridge)
FLIES USED: #14 Lil' Red River Sowbug, #14 San Juan Worm (various colors), #20 Ginger Cockleburr, Big Ugly, #10 Chernobyl Ant, #10 Hopper, #14 Flying Ant, #14 Peach Salmon Egg
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: Fished with Kay and Wayne. Lil' Red River is still off color as a result of Greers Ferry Lake being turbid from the spring flood. There was very little flow, but thank goodness for leakage through the dam gate seals which provided some additional discharge of water. We fished the pool immediately below the dam and there was almost no velocity. Wayne picked up a few fish, Kay caught two, and I did not catch any. Kay and I played with some fish in a small riffle and I had a couple blow up on a Chernobyl Ant, but could not get a hook up. We drove to the JFK overlook, had lunch (and gave extras to a fellow who looked down on his luck; he was very grateful), and proceeded to the AR Highway 110 bridge access. As with a couple weeks ago, there were geese everywhere, and they were putting the fish down, consequently no rises. Also, aquatic vegetation is abundant, making fishing with a weighted fly impossible in the shallow water. However, I immediately picked up a rainbow on a Chernobyl Ant just downstream of the bridge. Wayne hot footed it down to the first and subsequent big riffles, and Kay and I fished our way slowly downstream, concentrating on the right descending bank (if you're walking downstream, it's the bank on the right). The scenery looking downstream is awesome, with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background. I managed to fool a couple of browns on the Chernobyl Ant, missed several others, and had lots of looks. I switched flies at least a dozen times to find one they would take, but ended up coming back to the Chernobyl Ant as I couldn't even get a look with another pattern. Kay and I sat on the bank above the first deep riffle, and watched Wayne pull one after another fish out; don't know how many he caught, but we saw him catch 3 out of 4 casts, using the San Juan Worm (and variations) below a strike indicator. He is the most incredible fisher we've been blessed to fish with, and he immensely enjoys fishing. Kay was nursing a tennis elbow and proceeded upstream towards the truck, and I fished the deep riffle with a worm/egg combination. I caught two fairly quickly. Wayne worked his way upstream and we all walked to the truck, too out-of-shape from lack of fishing. It was a pretty good day!

Little Red River

TIME: 11:30 AM TO 4:00 PM
WEATHER: PC, Low to high 80s
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Below AR Hwy 110 Bridge (Swinging Bridge)
FLIES USED: #14 Lil' Red River Sowbug, #14 San Juan Worm (various colors), #20 Ginger Cockleburr, Big Ugly, #14 Red Ass, #14 Ice T, #14 Peach Salmon Egg
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: Fished with Robert. Robert is department chair at ASUMH and this week is his last week before classes resume. Following a dental appointment, we met at Harp's at Calico Rock, and drove to the AR Hwy 110 Bridge over the Little Red River. The water was turbid, looking like coffee with a little milk added. There were geese everywhere, and they were putting the fish down, though we saw a few rises. We fished the shallow water below the bridge and I managed to take a couple on the Cockleburr and Big Ugly, respectively. Both of us had several misses and refusals. We waded down to the first large riffle and I caught 5 others over the next 3 hours, on various combinations of flies, with the most success coming on an Ice T with a San Juan Worm dropped about a foot below. All in all, about half the fish I caught were rainbows and the other half browns. Robert fished downstream at the next riffle on the right, then worked his way back to the large riffle where he managed to take 2 or 3 fish on the same combination I was using, and then switching to an egg with a hot pink worm dropped below it. It was a a good day on the water, but the fishing was tough. Also, all the fish were long and thin, as opposed to the football-shaped fish we're used to seeing on the Norfork and White Rivers.