Info. on the White R.

[dusty montgomery]

A few friends and myself are wanting to go to Northern AR this year, sometime within the next few months, and do some camping, fishing, etc. I had previously heard and read that they were having issues with water generation at Bull Shoals. Is this still the case? Is there a preferred time of year to hit the White and surrounding rivers? Assuming that we could have some good fishing, where have y’all camped in the past? Also, do you know of any places to rent boats or could we bring our ‘yaks from Dallas and find a shuttle?

Are scuds, red-asses and Trout Crack still go-to flies? What about big streamers?

Thanks for the help guys!

Dusty

[Matt Tucker]

The White River fishes well all year round.

[greg ellis]

What Matt said!

[chris adams]

I have camped in the past at White Buffalo. If I pull my pop-up for extended stays, Denton Ferry Park or Bull Shoals State Park are nice.

[dusty montgomery]

Thanks for the help guys! That is some great info.
Dusty

[greg mitchell]

I check the generation tables and schedules pretty frequently for Taneycomo, the White river and the norfork. They have been generating heavily pretty much all fall and winter. When that will stop is anyone’s guess. When they are not generating the wading is great in the winter. When they are you need a boat.

The flies you mention work well. I would add zebra midges and mohair leeches too.

Greg

[dusty montgomery]

Thanks Gregg! Is there any pattern or regularity to when they generate on the White? If you were to guess, how many days would you say they generated in Dec.? Just trying to get an idea of if it is even worth it to make the trip. I would hate to come up there and then be stuck with high waters.

Thanks,
Dusty

[greg mitchell]

There’s really not any pattern. That’s what makes it so difficult and frustrating to plan a trip there. A couple of years ago my wife, son, and I did a 4 day trip to the White. There was heavy generation 3 of the 4 days. But the fishing can be fabulous.

They do at times try to leave the water off more on the weekends. And they seem to generate somewhat less on the Norfork than the White (they are in close proximity). The temperature plays a factor. If it is really hot they generate more (due to power demand). And when it is very cold they generate more (same reason). And when the lakes are up which has been the case much of the time the last 2 years – generation can be much more often (or constant).

But sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason. I’ve seen periods when it is very cold or extremely hot out and they just stop generating for several days.

Good luck. I hope you can catch some good days there.

PS: Just a guess but I would put generation at 90 + % of the time in Dec. But that’s not normal for this time of year. Hopefully the lake levels return to normal in the next month and things get back to normal.

Greg

[Matt Tucker]

Dusty:

The power generation at the dams in the White River system are “peaking” facilities; which means they are “on demand” systems and the generally do not generate power just to generate power (unless they are trying to draw down the level of the lakes — which is the case right now).

I would guess that the status quo for the next few months will be pretty much generation 24/7 with some periods (1/2 day or a day here and there) of low water.

[Shannon Drawe]

Good stuff! Thanks for starting this one Dusty. When you guys say “boat” what exactly do you mean?

[Phil Landry]

“When you guys say “boat” what exactly do you mean?”

There are plenty of guys who use drift boats as well, but generally if you hear the word boat in association with the White something similar to this is the norm.

[Zach Matthews]

I would not rent one of the local boats to fish out of.

[anonymous]

Some good advice given already.

I remember from experience how intimidating trying to understand the water conditions on the White River tailwaters can be for the average angler.

This January I added a White River tailwaters video forecast feature on my website. The forecast is updated weekly and is designed to give anglers a good overview of what to expect on generation from the dams as well as current opportunities for the fly angler. If you find it helpful and accurate, I am pleased.

http://www.flyflinger.com/video/videoforecast.php

[dusty montgomery]

I would not rent one of the local boats to fish out of.  
Zach

If those are no bueno, then would we be ok in kayaks? If not, what is another alternative?

Thanks guys for the links and all of the info.
Dusty

[dusty montgomery]

Yes, Scott, I found it very helpful. Thanks for putting it together. Now if you could just stretch that week forecast into two months!

[Zach Matthews]

The issue with kayaks is knowing where to take out.

[M. Wood]

If you are thinking about floating I would suggest putting in on the Buffalo and then floating part of the white (I think the take out is Buffalo Shoals but check the NPS maps).

[greg mitchell]

I think a kayak would be pretty dangerous at high water. I do disagree with Zach somewhat about renting a boat locally. I’ve done it several times and they were always OK. Not as nice as the rig pictured but very serviceable.

I agree the fishing can be very good in high water especially from a boat. But I personally just don’t enjoy it nearly as much as wade fishing. But that’s just me. May and June are usually good months as Zach stated. Except the last 2 years! High water has made for tough wading for about 2 years now.

Another option on high water is the water taxi service. They will ferry you to a fishable/wadeable area in high water. I’ve never used it but I hear it works very well. I plan to give that a try in the near future. Link below.

http://www.rimshoals.com/dock%20services.htm

Greg

[cole m.]

Greg, I am with you. I know high water fishing can be the best, but unless I am slamming the banks, throwing long leaders with heavy splitshot it just not my opinion of fun fishing. I plan on using the taxi service next month so I will give you a heads up on how it works.

[waltsmith]

If you want to buy a Supreme, you’ll have to look
for a used boat. They went out of business. :'(

[Author]

Posts