WWFG Fishing Reports

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 Post subject: Gaston's Fishing Report

For daily water conditions and lake levels, call the Bull Shoals Powerhouse at (870)431-5311.

Trophy Browns and Chunky Rainbows

Wade fishermen's (spin cast and fly cast alike) heaven has arrived and the fishing has been wonderful. Wading out and casting a gold little cleo or a red & gold buoyant spoon has been the bearer of bad news for the hungry trout. Also catching well is the floating rapala # 5 in gold or silver. Another good technique is finding a deeper hole on low water and throwing a "blown up" night crawler in the middle of for the occasion cruising trophy brown.

Other lures working very well right now are the 1/6 oz or 1/8 rooster tails, pink buoyant spoons, mepps, and gold super dupers.

Helpful Hints: Brown trout are naturally a nocturnal predator fish. BUT, anytime a natural food source is on a hook the odds of catching a brown trout are much greater!

Fly Fishermen

High water fly fishing with red san juan worms, pink jigs, and peach egg patterns.

Straight from Hank: Fly fishing high water below hydropower dams can seem impossible to most fly fishers. The river is 100 ft or more wide, five to twenty feet deep and flowing at 8 mph! Sounds difficult, right? In reality it's quite easy because most of the difficult stuff you do to catch trout while wading low water simply doesn't apply to high water fly fishing. No pin point casting to spooky fish, no worries about tight loops or straightening out long fine leaders or eye strain from watching a strike indicator. High water trout fishing has one rule. "Get the fly on the bottom." Not pretty deep, or near the bottom. Get it on the Bottom! Use enough lead or lead substitute to feel it bouncing off the rocks and gravel. Since the depth will vary hugely in one hundred yards of drifting, a strike indicator useless in this fishing. Example: Your indicator is set to hold your fly at 6 ft deep, then you drift over a drop off 14 ft deep. Your fly passes over that huge brown trout missing its feeding zone by 8 ft. How many fish do you miss because of that strike indicator? Well, you'll never know will you? Better to keep it tapping bottom all the time. Yes you'll snap off a few flies, but you'll also hook a lot more trout and probably some really big ones.

Please note that a trophy trout released can be replicated if you have the dimensions and pictures of the fish so that one day someone else can experience a great trophy trout as well.

It is rewarding to see the bait fisherman, fly fisherman, guides, operators and the public working together in the best interest of the White River and it's Trophy Trout fishing program. Just proves what a bit of teamwork will do.

Good luck with your fishing and take a buddy along to enjoy fishing also
and to make memories of a lifetime.

Ron & Logan

Arkansas Trophy Trout - Gaston's White River Resort