Heading to Arkansas

[waynej]

Hoping for a little help from the local experts My wife and I are traveling via RV this weekend to Arkansas and hoping to find a place to set up streamside OR very near a good trout stream. We plan to stay a few days wade fishing with the hopes of catching a few fish.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[scott11t]

Bullshoals/White River State Park. My favorite campsite is 14...any where from campsites #8-14 is going to be riverside I believe. Should be full hook ups. I don't know how long you are staying, but look into taking a day to travel to Norfork, Arkansas and fish the North Fork of the white. It's one of my favorite spots.

Here are some AR fish I caught this past weekend. Me and my buddy had a great time. Caught a lot of fish.

Message me if you have any more questions.

 

[mcnerney]

If it were me I would head to the White River.
For camping just Google "camping on the white river, ar", lots of places to choose from. Here is just one (never stayed there): Blue Heron Campground & Resort - RV & Tent Camping - Guided Fishing Trips - Cabins - Canoe & Kayak Rentals
Stop in and talk with Steve Daly about the fishing and maybe buy a few flies for the help: Dally's Ozark Fly Fisher
Dally's Ozark Fly Fisher is conveniently located on Highway 62/412 just east of the White River Bridge at Cotter, Arkansas and 15 minutes west of Mountain Home.

Our central location makes it a short trip to Bull Shoals Dam or the Norfork Tailwater, opening up 44 miles of trophy rich waters to the fly fisher.

There are 7 White River public access points within 10 minutes drive.

 

[goldeneye]

I'd have to go with Bull Shoals-White River State Park in north Arkansas. Good fishing and not too far from Harrison. Shouldn't be too crowded this time of year either.

Bull Shoals White River State Park in the Arkansas Ozarks - Arkansas State Parks

 

[stuie675]

Agree the bull shoal and white river area is great, and just north of there on the Missouri side is the north fork which is also good fishing. There is River of Life and Sunburst Ranch that have some good guides. Sunburst has a fly shop and typically if you buy a few flies from them they let you fish in their area for like 5 bucks and the dude running it is a pretty good guy, but really that whole area is beautiful and good fishing.

 

[stlskyline]

I'd head to the Norfolk river and stay at Quarry Park. It has good access for wading and generation has been light.You can stay right on the river on some of the sites. It has electricity hookups and dump station. Norfolk has a good population of Cutties. If they are running water you can always head over to the White or rent a boat from Charlie's or Gene's resort. If they are not running water I'd go with a zebra midge or egg pattern. if running water a longer leader and throw a larger streamer pattern and hit the banks. Hit Fred's fish house outside of Mountain Home, good catfish and hush puppies with views of Norfolk lake. Have a good trip. The phone number for dam generation for bull shoals and norfolk dam is 870 431 5311. This might help you decide.

 

[waynej]

Thanks everyone for the info. Couldnt connect with anyone at the park as I'm sure they were dealing with the ice storm. We ended up booking a few nights at copper johns resort a mile down the road from bulls shores park.

Look forward to hitting the stream again tomorrow. Saw lots of fish today but nothing in my net yet.....

 

[goldeneye]

Good luck. Where are you heading next? The Little Red near Heber Springs is not too far a drive.

 

[jcw355]

Thanks everyone for the info. Couldnt connect with anyone at the park as I'm sure they were dealing with the ice storm. We ended up booking a few nights at copper johns resort a mile down the road from bulls shores park.

Look forward to hitting the stream again tomorrow. Saw lots of fish today but nothing in my net yet.....

You're not to far from the Norfolk. Some good fishing there as well plus the hatchery is right there too close to the dam.

 

[chechem]

I'm heading to Spring River this weekend. LOTS of rain tonight, so I'll fish the upper end near Dam 3. Anybody else?

I caught a couple of dozen of these last week.

 

[chechem]

Okay, I'm in Arkansas (Spring River; Mammoth Springs area).
Got here yesterday afternoon, checked into the motel, and still had time to wet a fly before dark.
Guy at the campground said fishing was slow (TRUE; turned cool and rained hard day before; sunny Friday).
Caught 2 nice Rainbows. Lost several more, but at least I got to start right away. Fishing all day today. More photos to come!

Edit with update:

I caught 15 Rainbows on Saturday, and it took a full day of fishing to get them. Fishing was inconsistent. Most of them took a Black Wooly Bugger, but also caught some on Brown Wooly and Y2K. The majority of the fish were down deep in the current margins (4-6' depth), so I used a split shot rigged Carolina to get down. Fun stuff and great to be fishing for the weekend.