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| r | His Place Monthly Fishing Report - November 2002 Hello! November is starting out to be a wonderful month! With the fall foliage, and all the wildlife in the area, and the excellent fishing - I hope you can get a taste of it!
Having lived in Texas before we got the resort, I had forgotten what "seasons" were actually like... In Austin, TX (where we lived for the last 7 years before we came here) you have 4 seasons, but it's NOT "Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter" - nope, you get "Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer, and a Micro-Winter". I hadn't realized how much I missed REAL seasons!
Welcome to the Newsletter! We hope to see you soon.
Steven S. Raines - (c) 2002
The Eagles are back!!!
October 28th... That's the day we first saw our eagles back at the resort!! We've always "had a thing" for eagles, and I couldn't have been more excited than to see them return. For those of you who don't know, we have an eagles nest right across the river from the Observation Deck. There is a pair that nests there over the winter. Not all eagles migrate, according to what I read, but these eagles were here in January when we came, and left sometime in late June or early July. We saw other eagles that apparently didn't migrate, like a couple of immature bald eagles, and a golden eagle, but these were definitely different eagles, and didn't nest here. (Yes, we believe we CAN tell them apart :-) Steve took this picture a couple of days ago. He went out in the boat, about 1/2 way across the river and took a few shots of our friend here, before she decided to fly off and get some breakfast. About a half hour ago, I saw both our pair sitting on the gravel bar together, eating dinner... It was so romantic... :-)
Some of the fall colors on the river… These pictures were taken as I was going down the river about the 25th of October or so. The first one was at the mouth of Crooked Creek, and the other was close to there as well, a little upstream if I recall correctly. I haven't seen a real fall in so long, I just had to show you some pictures of it! Steven S. Raines - (c) 2002
Double Crested Cormorant, Eastern Form… Well, at least that's what I think it is... Steve and I were standing on the Wildlife Observation Deck, and this bird flew by... Steve swung his camera up, and amazingly got the bird in the picture. There are about half a million different types or Cormorants, but I think this is the correct type. This type is known to be in Arkansas, as well. The scientific name for them is Phalacrocorax auritus. They are known to fly with a kink in their thick necks, have yellowish orange throat pouches, and short tails. Their feet are webbed, and they can (and do) swim underwater to catch their prey. The way to tell the eastern form from the western form is a white tufts on their heads, which this one does not have, so I think he's an eastern.
Sculpin Power!
Sculpins... If you don't know what these are, they have to be the ugliest things you've ever seen... No, you can't catch them in a net. First, it's too dang hard, and second, it's against regs. A little piece of worm on a small fly fishing hook, dangled by the edges of rocks will get you plenty of 'em. That's how I got this little one to be my model for a photo-op. They freeze well too. I harassed my little friend here in the picture-taking process so much that I felt sorry for it, and decided to release it into the spring creek where I caught it. As soon as I threw it in, my pet Cutthroat, Suzanne, flew up that creek and ate him whole, in one bite, before he could even right himself. Suzanne is not even that big (about 12 inches) Just goes to show you, the fish really DO like these soft, ugly and (apparently) TASTY little critters!
November 2002 - What the fish are biting on…
Bait - Sculpin time!!! It's the time of year for these guys now... 1-1/2 to 3 inches or so. Browns love 'em. Worms are still working on the trout too, although the crawdads seem to be dropping off. Artificials - Smaller spoons - Colorados, both Gold/Copper and Gold/Silver and Bouyants in 1/6th oz., Gold/Red are working, along with the ever popular yellow or yellow/black rooster tails. Fly Fishing - Sowbugs, light tan in size 16, small sculpin patterns, #10 beadhead Wooly Buggers, and #18 Copper Johns, just like last month. 56'ers, and Red-Ass Kelso's are working well, too.
Fish Story of the Month! - "Love is in the Air..."
Lemme GO, will you??? I have a hot date at the dam!
Well, it's that time of year again... Love is in the air. I thought it would be appropriate this month to talk a little about the yearly Brown Trout Spawn. To get some help on this, I contacted our wonderful Trout Biologist from AGFC, Darrell Bowman. He helped me answer some of the most common questions I've been asked, (and wondered about myself) on the Brown's habits. The Brown Trout start heading up the river to spawn about the middle of October to sometime in November. Each year, the patterns are a little different, but from the 1998 report done by the University of Arkansas, commissioned by AGFC, we have some pretty specific information to extract from. This study shows that the maximum number of "redds" (trout nests) peak in the Rim Shoals area right around Halloween. Up at the dam, the maximum number is reached several weeks later. Trout are salmonoids, and like salmon, they are guided by instinct to return to where they were born to lay their own eggs. Since the White River is a tail water system, and water flows are unpredictable, but temperature remains constant throughout the year, it is interesting to note that they don't have these natural indicators to tell them that it's time to spawn. But, they still have the phases of the moon, and the shortened daylight hours to trigger their yearly trip. The
majority of female Brown Trout are sexually mature by the third fall of
their lives, when they are still around two years old. The number of
eggs from the females varies drastically, based on their food supply, water
conditions, and age of the fish. Many can lay up to 2000 or more eggs
per year, while others may have less than 300. The first fry emerge below Bull Shoals Dam in March or April, so it takes about 4 months or more. This time, and the survivability of these fry, depends a great deal on the dissolved oxygen level of the water, and even the size of gravel the eggs are in. The Browns take their time leaving the spawning areas after they spawn. Some leave relatively quickly, and some hang out for a couple of months before meandering back down the river. As a reminder, you can't hang out at the dam and catch these love-crazed browns. Listed below are the 2002 rules, which were initiated, in part anyway, to help the spawning browns by the dam.
Water Level & River Conditions Well, we've seen much lower water levels this last month than over the summer. They surprise us every once in awhile, but according to my recollection, about 25 of the last 30 days there's been good wade access, 0 to 1 generators for at least a good part of the day. Often, that 1 generator will start a feed in rising water. It's also interesting to note that high water levels in the lakes actually make water conditions worse in the river this time of year. The nutrients that play a part in oxygenating the water are so diluted that the water does not contain the oxygen it would in a year when we were closer to drought conditions. With the low oxygen, the water becomes high in both hydrogen sulfides and manganese, none of these good for the trout. According to Darrell Bowman, this is a particularly bad year for the dissolved oxygen content in both Bull Shoals and Lake Norfork. Luckily for the trout, SWPA (Southwest Power Administration) the Corps of Engineers, and AGFC have created the "Dissolved Oxygen Content Committee". This committee monitors the dissolved oxygen content in the river, and then SWPA compensates for it at the dams by aerating the water as it comes in. If it wasn't for their efforts, the trout would be in real trouble. In Closing...
As we come into the Thanksgiving season, I want to express our deep appreciation to all of you who have blessed our lives by spending a little time with us this year - it's been incredible! Is it just me, or has this year really flown by quicker than most??? We hope you get to spend the holiday season with your family, as we're going to. May God Bless you and keep you all.
Until next month!!! Good Fishing! Julie USE YOUR BROWSER'S BACK BUTTON TO RETURN TO NEWSLETTER |
