“Fly fishing on Bull Shoals Lake, Table Rock Lake, and Norfork Lake can be excellent, but fly anglers will need a boat to fully take advantage of these large reservoirs. Fly fishing Ozark lakes can be a challenge with respect to locating the smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, crappie, and stripers, but once you find your quarry, the action makes it worth the effort. Striper fishing is best on Lake Norfork, and fly fishing for carp can be a blast on all of the area impoundments. There are a few White River area fly fishing guides that offer lake fly fishing trips, and these large waterways can provide an enjoyable diversion from fly fishing the White River, the Norfork Tailwater, and Lake Taneycomo.”

Bull Shoals and Norfork Lakes are very large reservoirs in the White River Basin. Known primarily as bass lakes, other species like crappie, walleye, and stripers/hybrids are starting to grab attention. Because of their size, fly fishers must be opportunistic to be successful. Stripers can be caught at times when they are on the surface chasing shad, and crappie are susceptible during the spawn when they gather around shallow structure. I don’t know too many people going after walleye on a fly. A boat is mandatory, and something meant for large lakes is preferable. There are a few guides fly fishing on Bull Shoals and Norfork.