Tuesday, April 10, and Wednesday, April 11—Bluegill Fishing

DATE: Tuesday, April 10, and Wednesday, April 11, 2012

TIME: Tuesday PM, Wednesday AM, and Wednesday PM

WEATHER: Low 80s, partly cloudy, very windy

WATER CONDITIONS: Clear

LOCATIONS FISHED: Brushy Lake, Five Lakes Outing Club, Hughes, Arkansas

FLIES USED: #10 Bream Killer for bluegill, large foam “Frog” popper for bass

ROD USED: G. Loomis 9’ 3-weight custom IMX, Winston 9’ 8-weight BIIX

HATCHES: NA

OTHER:  We packed clothes and fly fishing tackle Monday evening for our trip to Five Lakes Outing Club near Hughes, AR. Ed and Linda have been so gracious as to invite the “traditional” group of fishers who make the trip to Quetico in Canada each year. We were the first to arrive, and enjoyed sitting on the screened-in porch of the stately old house on Horseshoe Lake. John and Sandy followed shortly, and John and I headed off to Brushy Lake to try the bluegill. Wind was blowing from the wrong direction making it difficult, if not impossible, to position the boat for casting, but John did an incredible job, and gave up fishing most of the afternoon in order to put me in the right place to catch bluegill. I started off using a foam floating bug, but quickly switched to a bream killer; all told I may have caught slightly over 25 fish.

John’s karma was working as he managed to catch fish as we “anchored” to a tree. Ed and Dave came later, but we did not see them. We understand that Dave needed to “boil” his line before fishing again (a private joke). We enjoyed a great dinner of fried crappie with all the trimmings, followed by lively conversation till bedtime.

Wednesday morning came early as we were up before daylight. After coffee, we headed back out to Brushy Lake where John and Dave gave the bluegill and bass a whirl, staying close by the put-in where bluegill typically hang out. Every time we looked in their direction, it seemed like one or both would have a fish on. Meanwhile, Ed and I focused on bass. Brushy Lake is a little unique in that vegetation grows heavily around all but the south edges, leaving only the middle of the lake for bass fishing. We were casting poppers, but most strikes were subtle. Ed is an awesome bass fisher, and managed a bunch of hook-ups despite a bunch of near misses. He had an awful sitting position on the front of the boat, but that didn’t stop him. We wrapped up the morning fishing for bluegill where I lucked out and caught a few of the monster bream. The afternoon saw me returning to bluegill fishing, again with a fly rod and bream killer, and for the day I ended up with another couple of dozen of the giant bluegills. Dinner for the evening was grilled chicken and it was very good.

A cold front had worked its way to the area Wednesday night, and with wind and cold temperatures, we opted not to fish Thursday morning. We all departed for home shortly after breakfast. Many thanks to Ed and Linda for hosting, and John, Sandy, Dave, and Joann for lively conversation—these are good people.

Monday, March 19—Fishing the Caddis on the Norfork

DATE: Monday, March 19, 2012

TIME: 12:30PM TO 3:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 80s, mostly cloudy, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Across from Ol’ Charlie’s and upstream to top of island

FLIES USED: #20 red zebra midge, #16 gray elk hair caddis

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

HATCHES: Midges, caddis

OTHER: I fished with Wayne and Bill.  Water from generation was still dropping when we walked in, and with the crowd already beginning to build downstream at the access, I immediately waded downstream to the riffle across from Ol’ Charlie’s.  Both the discharge and velocity dictated more weight, and I added a split shot above the top fly, an olive scud; I rarely add weight as it is my opinion that it gives the fly an unnatural drift.  After many casts, and a couple of misses, I hooked up and landed a small trout.  As water levels dropped, with a corresponding drop in discharge and velocity, I removed the split shot, and caught three additional fish, including a fat 12-inch cutbow.  As the water settled into “0” generation levels, I switched to the caddis, and was rewarded with three more fish, but had several misses.  Bill left the riffle at the top of the island, and I quickly waded upstream to fish a caddis there.  Despite heavy winds and mostly overcast skies, I managed to catch about 9 fish on the caddis there, and again had at least that many misses.  By this time, fatigue set in, and Bill and I began wading to our walk-out point, noting that water levels had begun to rise, indicating generation.  We notified a solitary fisher above us, and he didn’t have a clue, nor we suspect, did he have any idea about generation and generation forecasts.  He began following us out, but I advised him to hurry downstream because we were departing through private property; I’ve got to believe he didn’t know better. 

Sunday, March 18, 2012—Fishing the Caddis Hatch

DATE: Sunday, March 18, 2012

TIME: 2:30 PM TO 4:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 80s, partly cloudy, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0+ units

LOCATIONS FISHED: White River, Rim Shoals

FLIES USED: #16 green caddis

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

HATCHES: Midges, caddis

OTHER: I fished with Wayne and Bill. Today was one of the rare days when the White River was wadable, and when caddis are hatching, usually making for some awesome dry fly fishing. Wayne remained at the top of Rim Shoals and caught more fish than all the other fishers around him put together. As we were leaving, a fisher came up to him and said he had to know what fly Wayne was using, and Wayne was forthright in telling him what he had been using. Bill and I walked the trail downstream to the first rock pile, and fish above and below the riffle. Caddis were coming off in about 15 minute spurts, but the fish were not keying on them. There were plenty of rises to make the afternoon interesting. I ended up with about a dozen fish, but easily missed that many more. I had two refusals that were visible. The sun was coming from the right side of the river looking downstream, and was at such an angle that it made anything in that direction very difficult to see. Consequently, I focused most of afternoon on the left descending bank. The most prolific hatch occurred about 4:00 PM, and the fish were most active during that particular hatch. Shortly afterward, a black-bodied caddis, about a size #18, and some small midges began coming off, but we opted to leave the river. There were 20 people fishing Rim Shoals when we left a few minutes after 4:30 PM.

Friday, March 9—You Gotta Check Your Fly

DATE: Friday, March 9, 2012

TIME: 1:45 PM TO 3:30 PM

WEATHER: High 60s, mostly sunny, light breeze

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy

FLIES USED:  #18 olive Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #16 green caddis, #20 olive Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Grey, #20 Dunn’s Dun

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

HATCHES: Midges, caddis

OTHER: Kay and I fished Mill Dam Eddy on a whim, hoping the caddis were coming off and that fish were keying on them; it wasn’t happening.  We found this area to be void of fishers, though a solitary fly fisher was walking towards the riffle from upstream; when he saw us he turned around and returned upstream.  Kay fished a gray Norfork River scud and a red/silver zebra midge, and I tied on the small olive scud with a red/silver zebra midge.  I missed a couple of fish, then hooked up with one.  Working both upstream and downstream, I tried midge emergers and the caddis, but it was a fish on a fly, then nothing.  Changing flies would result in a catch, then nothing, etc.  For a long period I fished a Kay’s Grey really hard with absolutely no results, then pulled the fly in and found that it had pretty much disintegrated; you gotta check your fly once in a while.  I ended up with less than a half dozen fish—caught nothing on the caddis—but it was fun fishing with Kay.  We looked for scuds on the river bottom, but did not see any.  The river in this area continues to change, very slowly returning to pre-2011 flood conditions and geometry. 

Friday, March 9—You Gotta Check Your Fly

DATE: Friday, March 9, 2012

TIME: 1:45 PM TO 3:30 PM

WEATHER: High 60s, mostly sunny, light breeze

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy

FLIES USED:

#18 olive Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #16 green caddis, #20 olive Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Grey, #20 Dunn’s Dun

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

HATCHES: Midges, caddis

OTHER: Kay and I fished Mill Dam Eddy on a whim, hoping the caddis were coming off and that fish were keying on them; it wasn’t happening.  We found this area to be void of fishers, though a solitary fly fisher was walking towards the riffle from upstream; when he saw us he turned around and returned upstream.  Kay fished a gray Norfork River scud and a red/silver zebra midge, and I tied on the small olive scud with a red/silver zebra midge.  I missed a couple of fish, then hooked up with one.  Working both upstream and downstream, I tried midge emergers and the caddis, but it was a fish on a fly, then nothing.  Changing flies would result in a catch, then nothing, etc.  For a long period I fished a Kay’s Grey really hard with absolutely no results, then pulled the fly in and found that it had pretty much disintegrated; you gotta check your fly once in a while.  I ended up with less than a half dozen fish—caught nothing on the caddis—but it was fun fishing with Kay.  We looked for scuds on the river bottom, but did not see any.  The river in this area continues to change, very slowly returning to pre-2011 flood conditions and geometry. 

Wednesday, March 7, 2012—A Caddis Catch and a Pair of Bald Eagles

DATE: Wednesday, March 7, 2012

TIME: 10:45 AM TO 12:30 PM

WEATHER: High 60s, mostly cloudy, strong breeze

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ol’ Charlie’s

FLIES USED: #18 olive Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #16 green caddis

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

HATCHES: Midges, caddis

OTHER: I fished solo. After moderate success a couple of days ago, tried the small scud and red/silver zebra midge combination, and had immediate success, though I again missed fish, but not as many as on Monday.  I fished my way downstream, then switched to the right channel and caught a couple of small fish in the skinny water near Ol’ Charlie’s.  Switching channels again, I fished across from Ol’ Charlie’s, saw a few caddis coming off, and immediately tied on a #16 green-bodied caddis.  Only one fish hit the dry fly, but it was indeed exciting to catch a fish on top.  Working upstream with the caddis, the fish showed little interest.  Almost back to where I started, I notices a pair of bald eagles flying down the river, in a near mating pattern.  They flew low and close, past me, and on downstream.  It’s always exciting to see our national symbol in their natural setting; it’s such a shame that most fishers missed seeing them.

Monday, March 5—Back on the Water

DATE: Monday, March 5, 2012

TIME: 2:15 PM TO 4:30 PM

WEATHER: Low to mid-50s, mostly sunny, strong breeze

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, upstream of Ol’ Charlie’s

FLIES USED: #18 olive Norfork River scud, #14 gray Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #20 olive cockleburr

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

HATCHES: Midges, caddis

OTHER: I fished solo.  This was my first time on the water since January 4; Kay and I spent the winter in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, enjoying the warm weather, and just returned yesterday.  Waiting for wadable water, I monitored the US Army Corps of Engineers telephone message center to know when to “suit up”, and the recording kept indicating that the Norfork River had two generators on.  We opted to go into town for lunch, groceries, and deer and bird feed.  As we drove by the access, we noted that the river was low, so once again, the Corps voice message center was wrong again as generation ceased at 10 AM.  There is no excuse for this, but we’ve found an alternate method of checking water levels, knowing we can no longer depend on the reliability of the Corps!

Upon our return home from town, I finally made it into the water at 2 PM, and began getting hits immediately.  I missed the first couple of fish, then hooked up and landed a couple.  And then, I missed several more, including a couple of nice fish.  Fish were rising to midge hatch despite the wind, so I switched to a cockleburr and caught a few fish.  About 3 PM, a good caddis hatch began, and fish were keying on the caddis. I had taken the caddis box out of the vest for winter, and had not replaced it, so the cockleburr remained the fly of choice.  I did see one trout chase a skating caddis several feet before nailing it—a joy to see.  I ended the day with about a dozen fish, including this nicely colored 14-inch cutthroat.  I should have caught more, but missed at least a dozen and a half more.