Bull Shoals Lake

As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake?s elevation at 666.55 feet msl (normal conservation pool ? 659 msl).

White River

Sportsman?s White River Resort (870-453-2424) said about four to six generators are running, so drift fishing is the way to go right now. Shrimp and worms are taking a few rainbows. Brown trout will bite better on Rooster Tails and other artificial lures.
Paul Bobby at GI on the Fly Guide Service (907-350-6610) said the White River below the dam to Wildcat Shoals has been fishing extremely well. For the bait fishermen, the redworm bite is on. High fluctuating waters are washing worms off the banks taking them downriver to feeding trout. Fish a size 6 Aberdeen hook and an 1/8-oz. bell sinker. If you don’t want to mess with worms, simply try red, pink or orange Power Worms fishing the same way and you will have results. Fly-fishermen have been enjoying large numbers of trout during high generation, dropping a large black nymph 10 plus feet under an indicator with a BB-size split shot. Under that, 18 or 24 inches fish a red, brown, pink or burgundy San Juan worm under you nymph and its fish on! Further downriver in faster current, try a Madam X caddis dry fly size 12 in emerald with a caddis pupa dropper. Browns are looking and eating on the surface.
Berry Brothers Guide Service (870-453-2424) said there?s been heavy generation on the White River, with very limited wadable water. Due to recent rains, all of the lakes on this system are well above seasonal power pool and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is aggressively releasing water to draw the lake levels down to power pool. On heavy generation, the best way to catch fish is to switch to longer leaders and heavier weight. On the White, the hot spot was the catch-and-release section at Rim Shoals. The hot flies were olive woolly buggers (sizes 8 to 10), Y2Ks (sizes 14 to 12), prince nymphs (size 14), zebra midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or red with silver wire and silver bead (sizes 16 to18), pheasant tails (size 14), ruby midges (size 18), root beer midges (size 18), pink and cerise San Juan worms (size 10), and sowbugs (size 16). Double-fly nymph rigs have been very effective (try a prince nymph with a ruby midge or root beer midge suspended below it). There have been several reliable sightings of caddis hatching. This is our major hatch of the year. They are size 14 and are easy to see. Before the hatch, you should concentrate on fishing prince nymphs. When the trout key on the top but no insects are present, switch over to my green butt. When you observe trout taking adult insects from the top of the water column, you should switch over to elk hair caddis dry flies.