The fish were biting yesterday. I wade fished and found the fish holding below the shoal in about 4 feet of water. I started with a midge and caught a couple of rainbows and then switched to a wooly bugger. I haven’t fished this fly in a while and was pleasantly surprised when the fish turned on to it. I caught several nice browns along with some nice rainbows. A couple of the browns were 17” females that were still carrying eggs. This year’s spawn is still hard to figure.
I fished the wooly bugger by letting it sink close to the bottom and then retrieving it with irregular strips—short then long, short then long. The fish seem to be keying on very small midges and sometimes it’s better to try something different than trying to match the midge hatch when they are this small (size 30 or so).
The river remains low and clear with no generation
A special note: I will be teaching a free fly fishing class for beginners and novices at First United Methodist Church in Heber Springs. The first class will be at 7:00 pm. on Monday, February 21st with classes each Monday at 7:00 pm for about 6 weeks. If you are interested, please call me at 501-365-3330 and enroll. If I am on the river, please leave a call back number and I will return your call.
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