NORFORK is back. The Princess of Tailwaters is returning to her former glory and Chad got the benefits this week.
One 20″ brown, one 18″ brown, a 17″ cuttie and a bunch of solid 16″+ rainbows. We’d have had more pics but the memory card was full. Chad deascribed it as the best he has seen Norfork fish since the flood.
Its certainly great to see Norfork back up and firing after the stresses and strains the tailwater has been through.
High water flows aren’t expected until december 1, so the next two weeks are a great opportunity to get in some outstanding fishing either on the White or Norfork.
WE Mentioned a couple of weeks back that the new Duane Hada limited edition fly boxes would be this year’s hottest Christmas Gift. Well Duane rocked in with some of the other etchings yesterday and we were even more impressed.
These things are beautiful and make a gorgeous Gift for the fly fisher who has everything Continue Reading »
JUST for y’alls information if your planning on heading to the White for the Thanksgiving break, the Mountain River FlyShop will be closed on Thursday 26th.
But we will be back open Friday morning at 7am for all you fly fishing needs, and perhaps some Christmas shopping. Or you can wander throug the store with our Wishlist and fill out some suggestions to make it easier for the family.
Withe the end of day light saving and shorter winter days we have adjusted our hours to better suit your fishing days.
Monday through Thursday we are open 7.30 am to 5.30 pm
Just when you think there is no undiscovered fly fishing left along comes a movie like this.
This recently released trailer from Mad Phil Media shows permit fishing like US fly fishers have never seen _ especially when the fly fisher usually gets a couple of fish before lunch. Continue Reading »
For release: Nov 17, 2009 ADEQ TO HOST MEETING TO DISCUSS DISSOLVED OXYGEN
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality will host an informational meeting Wednesday, Dec. 2, in Mountain Home to discuss issues related to seasonal low dissolved oxygen levels in the tailwaters below Norfork and Bull Shoals reservoirs.The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. at McMillan Hall on the campus of Arkansas State University-Mountain Home. The public is invited.Both the White River below Bull Shoals Dam and North Fork River below Norfork Dam are on the state’s list of impaired waterbodies because of seasonal low dissolved oxygen.The Dec. 2 meeting will focus on options for improving water quality in those streams. Low dissolved oxygen concentrations can be harmful to aquatic life. Federal, state and local officials will be at the meeting to discuss several alternatives for addressing the dissolved oxygen problems.
Representatives from ADEQ, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Southwest Power Pool, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other government officials are expected to attend.
THAT is one heck of a big rainbow for a young fella. Parker Wise, the eldest of the Wise Boys has been having a blast the past two weekends at Dry Run Creek. The shoulders on that fish are tremendous.
The Pater Familias of the clan, North Fork of the White guide Brian Wise sent me these pictures of their outings across the border, with the apology that there would have been better pics of the fish but Brian had “dropped the fish”. You know he is going to be reminding you of that for years Brian!
“He caught it in the meat hole and it ran the length of that hole 3 times….and well above once. He is fishing the Ross Journey rod and literally I don’t think he could have turned it.
The second photo is his first decent brown, for some reason he just hasn’t gotten into a big brown down there.
Last photo is last weekend, he had a couple of good weekends in a row of pigs man.
THE new issue of Catch Magazine is out and about with some stunning new photography from Brian O’Keefe and others, plus some more of Todd Moen’s amazing video footage. Which gives me an excuse to use this video, which I think has some of the coolest shots I have seen. The stonefly sequences at the start of video are amazing, but wait for the canoe mishap _ and the following shot.
WHAT a couple of weeks it has been. The fishing has been red hot and the weather gorgeous. We have some more rain pushign through this weekend and come cooling temperatures for next week. But if anything the fishing should get better with a few more nights down into the 30s.
The Journal also managed to get our Head of PR Madison out on the river this week to meet our spotted friends. Basically she was a little marvel, very interested in the trout, kind of bored when thefish weren’t coming in thick and fast _ and even more curious where they went on the release. Untangling dogs and flyline was interesting and of course one of these incidents con-incided with the fish of the trip a fairly decent brown but it was worth the effort.
You will also be thankful the pictures after the one above where she went for a taste test were censored, but of course no dogs or fish were actually hurt in this production.
So grab your gear, grab a friend (2-legged or 4) and head to the river.
Dennis McCarty his work on our rivers will be honored Saturday
THE Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery will host a reception to celebrate a memorial on Saturday to our friend and tireless worker for the rivers, the late Dennis McCarty.
Dennis was a gentleman of the rivers, and a friend to many, and a passionate advocate and tireless worker for these rivers. You can read a some more about Dennis here . Unfortunately, and as much as I want to, I’m rostered to be here in the shop.
Instead I’m going to head out next week, we’d encourage you to do the same, next time you in the area.
From the Friends:
The Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery Cordially invite you to a Reception Celebrating the Unveiling of a Memorial in honor of the late Dennis McCarty.
The Reception will be held on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Visitors Center at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.
JUST in stock are a bunch of the new Simms products for the Fall (ok winter) season. We have some great new fleece to keep you toasty and the coolest water bottle on the planet courtesy of Derek De Young art.
WE are well prepared for any cool turn, with a big selection of Simms headgear. The Simms Flap Cap was so popular last year Simms ran out, and we have all 3 colors in stock, we have the Goretex “Elmer Fudd” had for when it gets really nasty and the popular Windstopper Stocking Caps.
But we are waiting daily for the designed Windstopper FoldOver Mitts and Half-Finger Gloves _ which are a must have item. Continue Reading »
Kelly's Slab on Crooked Creek _ Arkansas Outdoors image
THE popular Kelly’s Slab access on Crooked Creek west of Yellville will receive a major facelift including removal of the low water access, a new elevated bridge and handicap accessible fishing spots. AGFC says that the works, will allow more natural flows on Crooked Creek, for the betterment of the fishing.
WE were running upstream at Wildcat yesterday when one of my colleages exclaimed “Holy Moly, What sort of trout is that”. Standing out like the proverbial black dog’s whatzits against the dark bottom was this light yellowish trout. Well actually he didn’t say “Holy Moly” but you will appreciate my journalistic licence. It looked like one of the so-called “golden trout” or perhaps an albino. As I was to find out today, the AGFC have released about 1000 of these uniquely colored rainbows.
