Spring has
sprung and with the wind just recently switching to the
south, the weather is heating up for the upcoming summer
months.
Bull
Shoals and Norfork Lakes
Both lakes
are slightly above power pools and fishing well for all
species at this time. The Crappie bite was the best I have
ever seen with fish over 2 lbs showing up on every trip and
numbers caught exceeding the last couple years. The bite
should go on for three more weeks in various places but the
spawn is over in some places. If you are unable to get in on
this years predicted phenomenon, you will really miss out on
some super Crappie fishing. Bass numbers are through the
roof and it is hard to keep your favorite bait or lure from
the smaller fish to get to the bigger ones. It is still
pre-spawn and the best bass fishing is yet to come. With the
incredible amount of Bass and the obvious three different
year classes of fish, these lakes should be something
special for years to come. The Walleye are post spawn and
back in the main lake and feeding aggressively in the pre
dawn and dark. The sizes of fish are up from last year with
about 50% of fish caught being the keeper size of 18 inches.
The best fishing is at about 10 feet and with a slow jerky
presentation; remember, yellow perch were somehow introduced
to Bull Shoals and this color along with bass and shad
colors are working very well. Stripers, Hybrids, and White
Bass are post spawn and being caught easily in the mouths or
backs of major creek arms; especially in the last hour of
daylight and a couple hours into the dark. At this time,
numerous balls of shad are being forced to the surface and
ambushed by these extra large fish / freight trains. If you
like the feel of big fish straining your tackle this is the
time to go after the Striped bass family.
White
and Norfork Rivers
Fishing on
the tail water rivers has been excellent since the first of
the year. On the White River, more Brown trout in the 20
inch class have been caught than in recent years gone by.
Arkansas Game and Fish, as of January 1st 2009,
has put a limit of one Brown Trout over 24 inches and it
appears to be just in time with the incredible amount of 20
inch fish that are willing to bite. The Norfork River has
been a stranger to me so far in the 09 season having fished
it only 3 times since the first of the year. My opinion is
that it is still struggling since the spring of 08 flood and
needs more time to recuperate from the immense amount of
water that poured through its short 4.5 miles. I predict the
low water of this upcoming season will once again bring the
fish back in the record numbers we are used to.
The
Buffalo River and Crooked Creek
The Buffalo
River has fished very well with the moderate amount of rain
we have seen in the spring of 2009. The smallmouth have been
in record numbers here also with many fish in the 15 to 17
inch class that are willing to come out and play. Arkansas
has also helped the lower section of this unique river with
a one Smallmouth over 18 inch limit. When water levels are
in the 6 to 8 foot levels the Smallmouth in this river are
extremely vulnerable and daily catches of 20 to 50 fish per
day are common on the fly, plastics, lures and bait. Crooked
creek has been fishing well 2 to 3 days after the spring
rains and then maintaining that level for up to a week on
the lower river if we are lucky. Wade fishing has been the
best bet when water levels drop in-between rains, the local
favorite “goggle eye” numbers seem to be on the rise with
some of these pan fish again reaching edible sizes.
