Heat is best time for light lures, trout flies

There are times, and hot mid-summer is one, when a good fishing strategy is to use extremely light lures, even trout flies.

But casting these tiny things more than a couple of feet past the end of a rod is challenging. You can go to a fly rod, or you can try something else.

Some of us are not into fly fishing. Maybe we should be. An alternative is to use light spinning gear, ultralight even, light line and tie on that little bitty fly. OK, you are duplicating what the fly fishing folks do. Go to the next step, though.

Clip on a small bobber a foot or foot and a half ahead of the fly or light lure.

This does two things. The small bobber gives you a bit of weight to help get the fly out where you want it. Once it is there, the bobby serves as a strike indicator.

Sure, that is what bobbers do. But it doesn’t have to go under when a fish hits. Just watch the bobber. If there is current, and the bobber is floating downstream, when it stops usually means a fish has it. Or the bobby may move sideways.

We fished with a fellow on the White River for trout, and this guy used the light rig, trout fly, small bobber technique. He detected light strikes when we did not. He also caught five trout to our one in a short while.

LAKE CONWAY

Rick Bates at Bates Field and Stream said the water is stained and at normal level. Bream are being caught on red worms, wax worms and crickets along the banks. Crappie are biting on minnows near cypress trees and the bank in the late evening. Bass are biting well on dark-colored plastic worms and white spinner baits. Catfish are doing well on trotlines with minnows and small bream.  

LITTLE RED RIVER

Billy Lindsey at Lindsey’s Resort said the trout fishing is good. Generators have virtually stopped running. The water is low and clear. Trout are biting well on Power Bait, marshmallows and pink Power Eggs during the morning when the water level is low. Trout Magnets (pink and gold) and Rooster Tails (black and orange) work well when the water level is higher.  

GREERS FERRY LAKE

Tommy Cauley of Fish Finder Guide Service said the lake level has been falling. Crappie are feeding in pole timber in 15 to 20 feet of water; they can be caught with jigs or minnows on brush piles at the same depth. The bass fishing is good with big worms, Carolina rigs and spinner baits on brush piles 15 to 40 feet deep. If the bass aren’t biting, scale down to a shaky head worm and try fishing slowly. Bream are biting on crickets and crawlers all over the lake. Catfish are biting well on nightcrawlers and bream fished on jugs and lines. The lake is full of catfish. White bass and hybrids are biting when water is being generated, which mostly occurs from 4 to 6 p.m. They are schooling during the day. Look at humps and points with electronics to find fish. If they are not feeding, get close to them with spoons, hair jigs and in-line spinners. 

HARRIS BRAKE LAKE

Coffee Creek Landing said the water is normal and murky, but there is little fishing action at present.

LAKE OVERCUP

Lakeview Landing said the water is normal and clear. Bream are biting on crickets. Crappie and bass fishing are slow. Catfish are biting well on goldfish and large minnows.

Overcup Landing said the water is normal and clear. Bream are biting well on red worms and crickets. Crappie are biting fairly well on brown jigs as well as red, white and blue jigs. Bass are biting fairly well on buzz baits and spinners. Catfish are biting well on trotlines with live bait.

BREWER LAKE

Overcup Landing said the water is clear and normal. Bream are biting well on crickets near the bank. Crappie are biting fairly well on small minnows in deep water. Bass are biting well on topwater lures and plastic worms. Catfish are biting fairly well on shad and live bream.  

LAKE MAUMELLE

Hatchet Jack’s Sport Shop said the water is back to normal and clear. The bream are biting well on crickets and red worms. There is no report on crappie. Bass are biting well on spinner baits and Texas-rigged plastic worms during the day. Catfish are biting well on live bream and cut bait.

LAKE VALENCIA

Hatchet Jack’s Sport Shop said the water is normal and stained in this lake in Maumelle. Bream are biting on crickets. Bass are biting well on large minnows. Catfish are biting well on nightcrawlers and prepared bait.

ARKANSAS RIVER

Charlie Hoke at Charlie’s Hidden Harbor in Oppelo said flows are good on the river and the water is clearing. Black bass are biting around grassy points and riprap. Try an eighth- ounce or quarter-ounce white spinner in shad schools. Catfish can be found in 15 to 30 feet of water while drifting with whole shad. Bream are good under overhanging limbs. Crickets are working well. Crappie can be found around creek mouths and underwater structures in about 18 feet of water using minnows. White bass are schooling early and late in the day. Stripers are hitting crank baits.

In the Little Rock area, Hatchet Jack’s Sport Shop said bream are biting well on red worms at Fourche La Fave. Bass are biting well on pearl-colored crank baits and spinner baits. Catfishing is good on large minnows and nightcrawlers. At Fourche Creek bream are biting well on red worms and crickets. Crappie are slow. Bass are biting well on spinner baits. Catfish are biting well on large minnows and cut bait. At Big Maumelle Creek bream are biting well on crickets. Bass are biting well on spinner baits or plastic worms. Catfishing is good on cut bait, shad or skipjack herring.

WHITE RIVER

John Berry at Berry Brothers Guide Service said during the night and morning there are slightly lower flows, which have been much heavier in the afternoon during peak power demand. This has created challenging conditions for drift fishing and very limited wade fishing.  The catch and release section below Bull Shoals Dam has been a mixed bag with some days excellent, others slow. On the higher flows, the ticket has been to fish brightly colored flies under an indicator. The best patterns have been hot pink or red San Juan worms and orange egg patterns. With the water this high, you need to use long tippet/ leader combinations (12 to 14 feet). Don’t forget to fish with plenty of lead; try using AAA split shot, a heavily weighted fly and also use a heavy tippet (4X) to handle the additional weight. Note: this rig is not going to be easy to cast. Open up your loop and try to keep it away from your head. Concentrate along the banks and over any sunken islands or weed beds. Sulphur numbers are greatly diminished. We still see a few in the afternoon, but their significance to the trout is nearly over. The section from White Hole to Cotter has been popular for float trips. The preferred technique in this section is to bang the bank with large streamers. The best flies have been Kelly Gallop zoo cougars and similar oversized streamers. The secret: get the fly down. With the heavier flows, you must use heavy full sinking or sinking tip lines. To cast these big flies and heavy lines, most anglers are using eight weight or larger rods. Rim Shoals has fished particularly well this past week. The water has been lower in the morning, and the hot flies have been black zebra midges with silver wire and bead. The most productive size has been 14 to 16. The heavier flows come around 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., when it is best to switch to brightly colored San Juan worms and egg patterns. If you must wade, there is usually some wadable water as long as generation is less than 17,000-cubic-feet per second.