Fly Fishing Report
June 13, 2013
Taneycomo Fly Fishing Report and Update. I’ve been everywhere man, all across these rivers man……
Where do I start…..I’ll start this fly fishing report by saying, we are dealing with high water here at Taneycomo for the most part, but you can still find low water somewhere if you are willing to drive for it.
Of course I always will so that’s never an option on whether the bite is slow or tough. Anytime when you are dealing with max generators at Taney, the fishing to me is a bit slow for my taste. I like staying hooked up on fish and not having any dead time and if I have it my way it will be this way on every trip.
Table Rock Lake still has about two feet to go during one of our hottest months here in the Ozarks. Even if they get the lake back down to power pool, I think we will still see long periods of heavy generation until the weather cools down a bit. You never know what the corp is going to do so I’m sure we will see low water sometimes (in the morning 5am-10am). More then likely we will see higher water levels which will slow the fishing down a bit. I’m sure some guides are saying that… not me.
I’m not talking for other guides this is just how I guide and run my outfit. Everyone is different and I’m not running motor boats on Taney so I don’t have the option to burn holes, (which means going back up and doing the same drift again), is not an option for me unless we put back in up top and flat the river again. We do this all the time in heavy generation. We run drift boats so we got that one opportunity on making the perfect cast count every time as we are trucking downstream. I will say we are able to go places motor boats can’t and one area in particular is storing a lot of fish and that has been our “lucky hole” for beginners in this high water we are dealing with.
As I’m writing this, Taneycomo is running a little over one unit till 11:00 am. They will be opening up the generators at their maximum levels to bring the water level back to normal. The bite will be good in the morning if they stick with this routine. I would recommend people who want to fish Taneycomo book a half day and get your fly fishing in before it gets too hot. Then, you can enjoy the afternoon doing whatever with family.
Beaver
Tailwater
Another option on our trips is if you are a little bit more flexible with your day then we can take you over to Beaver which is about an hour drive heading west like if you were going to Eureka Springs. It’s also a tailwater and is a bit like Taneycomo has far as what patterns to throw. The only difference is when you’re fishing in low water you will find way more deeper slower pools that are holding some big fish, but they are tricky to catch so you have to be on your “A” game to get it done. We run midge patterns real deep and that is a little different then how we fish them at Taney. We also up the size when running deeper and that seems to be the trick. On average we are hooking anywhere from 20 -30 trout on a half day with rookies.
Just remember if this is your first time learning the sport, the first day of school is always the hardest, but it get’s easier when going with a guide. All you have to do is listen to the coach and you’ll be hooking up before you know it.
White
River
This is a whole different ball game. All I can say is WOW!!! If you want better fly fishing this is the place right now. I’m only booking full days for the White River because you will want it. It seems like the trend for over here as far as the generation goes is off in the morning and blowing big water in the afternoon. I’ve been fishing the rise up at the dam and it has been sick!! How about a fish on every cast for an hour and then steady for the next couple. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hook a rainbow like you see the one in the picture of Dave holding.
We have been catching lots of fish in the 16-18 inch and have lost a few bigger ones pushing the 21-22 inch on browns. We are hooking some smaller browns and getting them to the net, but them bigger ones are getting the best of my clients right now so no big browns to show as far as pictures go. If just feels good to fish for bigger fish and knowing that you have a opportunity to at one makes for a exciting trip!! I never sugar coat anything, this is just being honest and letting everyone know the truth. Honesty is the best policy
Dries vs. Streamers
Sulphurs and caddis are still popping off on the White. The sulphurs should pick up in the next few weeks and we are hooking a few fish on the surface, but only in the evening time. Hoppers are starting to work. I’m going to keep that one under my hat on where the trout are keying in on this bite. Streamers have been a little bit of a challenge depending on weather and if the trout are chasing or not. It’s really been a hit or miss so I don’t feel confident building a trip strictly on streamer fishing. What we can do is hope for rainy weather or cloud cover to be more successful fishing streamers or throwing dries on sunny days floating down the river. Overall, we have lot’s of options, we just need to know which one floats your boat, hehe.
Just remember if this is your first time learning the sport, the first day of school is always the hardest, but it get’s easier when going with a guide. All you have to do is listen to the coach and you’ll be hooking up before you know it.
Norfork
I really just don’t care for this river anymore so I apologize for not being able to tell you how this river is fishing. What I can tell you is they are having lot’s of low water in the morning so if you don’t have a boat this is a great place for wadable water. Expect to catch a bunch of dinks because this is what this river supports for the most part. The neat thing about this tailwater is the variety of the trout you catch. I do like catching cutthroat and their is a lot of them. Brookies are harder to come by, but you can play the numbers game. Just be ready to fish next to people because this river get crowded due to the fact that there are only two public accesses, one right below the dam and the next one is about half way down (2 miles) the river at the handicap Ackerman access.
In Conclusion
I hope this helps some of you planning your trip to the Ozark’s and plan on doing some fly fishing. FlysandGuides.com is always here to help and if you have questions never hesitate to pick up the phone and give us a call. More importantly I want to thank all of my supporters for checking out our website!! The new website is getting closer to launch, but this has been a extremely busy year for my so I apologize on the lapse of reports. My time is limited right now so what time I do have I’m spending with family and the “web guy”.
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