Complete White River Fly Fishing Website

Winter at Rim Shoals

While the concept of winter fly fishing is foreign to most anglers, this season offers some of the best fishing for trophy trout. Cold weather can put a damper on things, but often the winter weather in the Ozarks is relatively mild. The average high temperature in January in Mountain Home, Arkansas is around 50 degrees, and most winter months see stretches of mild weather with temperatures in the 60’s (and sometimes 70’s!!!). By the first official days of winter, the reservoirs behind the dams should have “turned over” which is when poorly oxygenated water near the bottom of the lake (where water is drawn into the rivers) is replaced by oxygen rich water. The often slow fishing of late fall gives way to explosive action and strong fighting fish. High water fishing can be great on all the tailwaters, especially if a shad kill (please check out the section on this occurrence for more detailed information) is going on. This is when millions of lethargic shad get “sucked” into the rivers from the lakes, and the trout go crazy. It is not uncommon to catch a big fish with a half-dozen shad in its mouth along with your pattern, and other fish are picking up the shad that fall out of your fish as you bring it in. Unless heavy rains cause the lakes to rise above normal levels, water releases will usually occur in the early mornings with low water (within 5 miles of the dam) during the warmest part of the day. The water will often come back up around dusk. Heavy water releases will usually be limited to the coldest of days, and these are the most productive times for shad imitations. Norfork will tend to offer the best wading opportunities, but both the Bull Shoals and Table Rock Tailwaters on the White will have extended low water periods most winters. There are times when water releases last all day in the winter, and wading is impractical and dangerous, but most huge fish will come during moderate to heavy flows. Dry fly fishing is not out of the question in the winter, but your imitations must be small. Midges from size 50 to size 20 hatch all year long, but trout often key in on this food source on cold days when the water is low. Blue Winged Olives hatch on cloudy days in heavy numbers and when the hatch is on, it is common to see big fish rising to these tiny mayflies up and down the rivers (especially Norfork). Several years ago I hooked a brown over 10 pounds on a BWO imitation, but he bit off the 7x tippet after a 45 second fight. Please ask about special winter guide rates. I always keep up with the weather forecasts, so feel free to call me for the latest weather outlook, as well. Winter is the time for serious trophy hunters who will brave cooler weather to fish in relative solitude for colorful and vigorous trout. This is my favorite time to fish.