Monday, July 9, 2012—Neuropathy and a Few Fish

DATE:  Monday, July 9, 2012
TIME:  8:15 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER:  Low 70s to high 80s, cloudy, breeze
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream to Mill Dam Eddy
FLIES USED:  #14 olive Norfork River scud, #18 clay zebra midge, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #14 furnace cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges, a few sulphurs, a few crane flies
OTHER:  Fished solo.  Rain was forecast and today was supposed to be a rest day—i.e. no fishing—but like the T-shirt says, “I fish because the voices in my head tell me to.”  The river was shrouded with fog until about 9 AM, but the fish seemed to be a little hungry after almost a full day’s generation.  The clay zebra midge was working well, but I missed far more fish were missed than were caught.  A switch to a #20 red/silver zebra midge was attempted to remedy the situation, but to no avail.  I took a half dozen fish on the two midges but fished hard.  About 9:45 AM, a few fish began midging in the film, so a #20 furnace cockleburr was tied on, but didn’t produce any action.  After only a short while, a #14 furnace cockleburr was tied on, and the fish smashed it as it hit the surface.  I caught 2 nice 16-inch browns in almost the same place, then took this 14-inch, again in about the same location (note the cockleburr in the corner of its mouth).  Cold and cold-induced neuropathy forced me to the bank, and I walked downstream a few yards but the midging fish enticed me back in and this fat rainbow succumbed to the cockleburr which can be seen in the corner of the fish's mouth.  I waded across the top of the riffle to the left descending bank, and took one of the most beautifully colored cutthroats I have ever seen, about 8 or 9 inches long.  Without much feeling in my feet or hands, I walked and waded downstream to Mill Dam Eddy, where a few fish were working the film and surface for midges and other aquatic insects.  I caught a couple of fish, then hooked into a big, big cutthroat, but lost it about half way back on the retrieve.  It was an omen because no other fish would bite.  I ended the day with about a dozen fish.

Saturday, July 7, 2012—Where Have All The Fish Gone?

DATE:  Monday, July 7, 2012

TIME:  8:15 AM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER:  Mid-70s to low 100s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units, 1 unit of generation at 1:00 PM

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Riffle above McClellan’s

FLIES USED:  #14 Olive Norfork River Scud, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #14 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, #10 Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES:  Midges and a few sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Whit, Patty, and Whitten. The riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole did not yield any fish, but the run from this riffle to the top of the Long Hole produced 3 fish on the zebra midge.  The deep trough on the right descending bank of the river in the Long Hole looked promising, and a number of nice fish were breaching, but yielded nothing to a fly.  The riffle at the bottom of the Long Hole did not have birds darting in and out over the surface like on previous days, and few fish were rising to insects.  None were interested in the Big Ugly, but the #14 and #20 furnace cockleburrs worked well.  A few fish began midging on the surface in the riffle’s far left bubble line, looking downstream, and a few fish succumbed to the Kay’s Gray, including a nice brown and a nice cutthroat.  The wind began howling upstream about 12 noon and Whit and I rowed downstream in the pool below McClellan’s to meet up with Patty and Whitten where we found Patty harassing the fish with a midge pupa.  We enjoyed great chicken salad sandwiches compliments of Patty at the top of the gravel and had planned on fishing the riffle above the island below Otter Creek, but generation began and we began our downstream float to exit the river.  Thank goodness for the little things as Bill and Larry and others had fished the riffle in the morning and all are really good fishers, likely leaving giving all the fish sore mouths.  I ended the day with maybe a dozen fish, including a couple of cutthroats, three browns, and the rest rainbows. 

Friday, July 6, 2012—A Good Day’s Fishing

DATE:  Friday, July 6, 2012

TIME:   7:15 AM to 12:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 70s to high 90s, mostly sunny, slight breeze

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s upstream to above the Gravel above Otter Creek, and back downstream

FLIES USED:   Olive micro jig, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #14 Gray Norfork River Scud, #14 Olive Norfork River Scud, #14 Furnace Cockleburr

ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES: Midges, sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Bill.  River was shrouded with fog when we walked in and began wading upstream.  The riffle and tail out above the island did not produce many fish; I caught 3.  We moved upstream as far as low water depths would allow to the pool above the gravel at Otter Creek.  I began fishing the left descending bank and Bill fished the right descending bank.  He took a fish, and then I took a fish, and he took 4 more, and I took none; none would hook up with me, even though I switched to the right descending bank.  Changing to an olive #14 Norfork River Scud proved to be the ticket as I caught 6 browns in a row, then a rainbow, another brown, and another rainbow before calling it quits.  I wet-waded and got a bit cold despite the near 100 degrees air temperature.  I have been wet-wading now for 5 fishing trips and have a tan line above the ankle where the wading socks/boots stop—kind of like “farmer” hands—and yes, I have those, too.  

Wednesday, July 4, 2012—The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

DATE:  Wednesday, July 4, 2012

TIME:  12:30 PM to 2:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 100s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, the riffle at the bottom of the Pool to Cook’s Island

FLIES USED: #14 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, #14 Black Cockleburr, #14 Olive Cockleburr, Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER: Fished with Kay.  We both wanted to fish, but neither wanted the crowds.  As we had guessed, everyone was off the water, at least in this particular area, by lunch, leaving us to fish without any crowding; and we both caught fish (the Good).  Regrettably, it was very windy (the Bad) and hot at 103+ degrees (the Ugly).  We began at the riffle below the Pool (top of the island above Ackerman-Handicap Access).  Fish were midging, and we took a few fishing the Furnace Cockleburr as a dry fly, and stripping it in the film.  Wanting to see the “improvements” made downstream, we waded to the riffle on the left of Cook’s Island, and again took a few fish on the surface and stripping.  We waded to the downstream end of the island and fished the right side of the island, and Kay got into a zone and took more fish stripping the Furnace Cockleburr.  She ended the day with 5 fish to my 3, and fell in love with the Winston 9’ 6-wt boron rod.  I tried a bunch of flies, and had lots of refusals and missed fish, but we both had fun on this hot July 4th day. 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012—The Cockleburr

DATE:  Tuesday, July 3, 2012
TIME:  8:30 AM to 12:30 PM
WEATHER: Low 70s to high 90s, sunny, windy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Riffle above McClellan’s
FLIES USED:  Yellow Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, #20 Special K, #14 Big Ugly, #10 Big Ugly, #14 Furnace Cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES:  One sulphur (or crane fly); nothing else observed
OTHER:  Fished solo via an Outcast pontoon. Unlike the previous two times, the riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole did not produce any fish, though I tried a yellow Wayne’s fly with a zebra midge dropped below.  I took time to rearrange fly boxes, flies, etc. so as to avoid wearing the heavy vest.  As written earlier, the entire reach from below the Resort Hole all the way to the top of the Long Hole is a continuous riffle, with water depths varying from almost two feet to almost 4 feet.


 



The right descending bank has been stabilized with a combination of downed trees with root wads intact, rock, and earth.  It’s probably the “best” environmentally acceptable method, though I would like to have seen less uniformity, less rock, and more trees, letting the trees/root wads do their thing.  Anyway, about halfway down, the riffle produced several fish, including this nice 16-inch brown (yeah, I know the marker shows 14+ inches, but the tail extends a couple inches beyond the “0” marker).
  Just below the top of the Long Hole, a deep hole on the left descending bank produced a couple of fish, but held many more, though I was in a hurry and did not fish it long.  I rowed against the wind the remainder of the Long Hole, anchored the pontoon, and fished the riffle at the bottom of the pool (aka the riffle above McClellan’s). The zebra midge worked on a couple of fish, but neither the large nor small Big Ugly resulted in a hook-up, though both experienced several misses; somehow, the fish just would not hook-up.  I tried a #20 Special K but had a couple of refusals, then tied on a #14 furnace Cockleburr.  This fly was apparently the ticket as I hooked and landed about 9 fish, including a nice 16-inch rainbow, and missed at least that many more.  By then, it was 11:35 AM and having an appointment at 1:30 PM, I began the arduous job of rowing downstream against the wind.  At the riffle above the island below McClellan’s, I visited with a young man who inquired about scheduled generation.  It was his first time to fish the Norfork, and he was really enjoying the experience.  He was a biologist with the Florida equivalent of the game and fish commission.  I made it to the takeout point about 12:30 PM and Kay there to pick me up, having communicated a few minutes earlier via walkie talkie.  It was a good day on the water, but would have been even better If more time could have been spent fishing the Cockleburr! 

Monday, July 2, 2012—Fishing Nearby

DATE: Monday, July 2, 2012

TIME: 6:30 AM to 8:15 AM

WEATHER: Low 70s to low 80s, sunny

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Cook’s Island upstream to the riffle at the bottom of the Pool

FLIES USED:  #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, #20 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER: Fished solo. This was a quick, early morning trip due to other commitments at church later in the day, and scheduled early generation.  It’s the first time I had been to this particular area in several weeks as the aesthetics have gone to heck in a hand basket because of the work done under the auspices of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.  Even at the early hour of 6:30 AM, the river was already crowded.  Finding a spot away from nearby fishers, I tried the nymph/zebra midge combination and connected with only one fish. Switching to a #20 Furnace Cockleburr, I began fishing the far side of the bubble line, and hooked up with a fish.  A group of fishers waded up from the access downstream, and crowded me a bit.  Recognizing one of them, I gave him my spot, a couple of flies, and some direction on how/where to fish, and then waded upstream. As the sun rose above the horizon, the fish actively pursued the Cockleburr, and I took over a half dozen fish.  A fisher above me, recently moved to the area from Alaska, waded down and asked about the fly and technique.  I gave him a couple, told him how to fish the fly and area, caught 3 more fish, and left—too many people!  This “being nice to people” sure goes against my instincts—guess Kay will be proud of me.

Sunday, July 1, 2012—The Upper Norfork, Again

DATE: Sunday, July 1, 2012

TIME: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 90s to high 90s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units, 2 units of generation at 3:00 PM

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Riffle above McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Green Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, #14 Special K, #10 Dave's Hopper, #10 Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES: None observed

OTHER: Fished solo. The riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole was the first place I fished, and it produced a couple of fish. The tail out had been fished, and the fisher was working his way downstream to the top of the Long Hole. We exchanged pleasantries and I continued rowing downstream. I fished the Long Hole hard from the top to about 2/3 of the way downstream, wading via the center of the channel, picking up only one fish. The wind was howling upstream and made a drag free drift near impossible. At the riffle at the bottom of the Long Hole, birds were attacking insects like crazy, just above the water's surface, though no hatches were observed. A couple of fish were caught in the bubble line on the zebra midge, then a Big Ugly was tied on. Fish would suspend on the surface with open mouths waiting for the fly to drift in. A couple of fish were taken this way, and a switch to a Dave's Hopper, provided similar results. And then, the water began rising via apparent generation, and I began rowing downstream passing above a big, deep hole holding more large fish than I have seen in a long, long time. It will be on my itinerary next time, maybe July 4. The day ended with less than 3/4 dozen fish caught.