White River – Fly Fishing Report Big Flows on Bull Shoals

White River Weekend Report – May 29,20,&31

Well guys and gals, we are in for another year of big water, but don’t let that scare you away.

The White River is continuing to fish strong regardless of the conditions.

Right now we are generating flood gate water at Beaver, Table Rock and Bull Shoals. Norfork was running flood gates, but they are just a little below top power pool so if we don’t get any rain then they will continue to run two units around the clock for some time.

I’m spending most of my time fishing below the Bull Shoals dam because the water is gin clear and I know downstream isn’t, but when they weren’t running flood gates a week ago, the flows were fairly low and the caddis fishing remain strong all the way to Cotter.

his past weekend I had some of my regular repeat customers that come six times a year.

They definitely were a little hesitant about coming due to all the flood waters, but as I guide I had to calm them down and let them know the bite has been great so don’t worry, you’re in good hands.

His reply was pretty funny. He said that if fishing sucked they would just rent some jet ski’s on Bull Shoals Lake.

They always fish three days so I knew we would have some moments when the bite was good and some that would not depending on the time of the day.

First day was good, not great because we didn’t boat a bunch of big fish, but we did catch fish consistently through the day with a few good fish that kept the day fun.

That was Friday so Saturday I knew from the jump in flood gates that everyone would be fishing at the dam to stay out of the trashy water downstream.

There must have been twenty five boats so I didn’t have high hopes.

My goal was to start the day running shad patterns just to see if I could get a something bigger to eat.

First fish was a 23 inch rainbow so that was a good start to start the day and usually when this happens it turns into a epic day. That’s exactly what happened.

I think we boated two brown’s over 20 inches and six rainbows that push 19 to 23 inches on a Saturday.

I usually don’t put much faith in Saturday’s on the White because this river is getting crazy with guides and crowds, but them boys were living right on this day for sure.

The funny thing is I called the day short because once 2pm hit, it got super hot and the bite was slowing a bit.

I knew they weren’t going to home until Monday and I knew I was free on Monday due to a cancellation so I popped the question and asked if they wanted to fish a few hours in the morning to finish on the trip on a good note.

I’m glad we did because it paid off. We not only caught fish on every drift, but we landed another big rainbow in the 23 inch range and we also got to enjoy the nice weather that morning.

Sometimes it pays to go out of your way for your customers. I’m sure they appreciated it and made for a great three days of fishing.

That’s what keeps them coming back. Thanks Tom, Dwight and Andrew for believing in your guide and allowing me to be your guide, friend and mentor in the sport.