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Winter fishing is great this year due to the low water conditions of the lake. You just have to be here at the right time as far as generation and weather are concerned. Generation has usually been from 6:00 am to 10:00 am and from about 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Monday thru Friday, and less generation on the weekends. This means wade fishing is restricted to the dam area from about 11:30 am to 5:00 pm. There is some wading available at Cow Shoals and Winkley Shoal in the late afternoon.
Rainbows are taking midge pupas, midge emergers and sow bugs. I have caught a few browns on these flies plus some on streamers. Drift fishing is available on different sections of the river based on the generation. Try to fish falling or stabilized water levels for the best results. Rising water is usually dingy and carrying quite a bit of debris.
The winter rainbows are fat and sassy….colors are beautiful on the larger fish.
The free fly fishing class begins on Thursday, February 19th at 7:00 pm in the Family Life Center at First United Methodist Church in Heber Springs. If you are interested, please call 501-690-9166 for details or to register for the classes.
Good Fishing!!
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