kevin February 3rd, 2012
A beginner’s fly tying kit is of one the first tools you’ll need to go from fly fisher to fly tier. The White River Fly Shop Trout Tying Kit offers everything you’ll need to get started.
Five years ago, when I first began fly fishing, many wise men of the water forewarned that picking up a fly rod was only 
the first step of the life-long addiction I was undertaking. The evolution of a fly fisherman to a fly tier, they said, is an inevitable aspect of the sport.
They were right. Today, I find fly tying as rewarding and exciting as a tight line with a hungry brown on the other end. But whether you’re a trout bum like me, or brand new to fly fishing all-together, fly tying is a natural progression that almost every fly fishermen arrives at before it’s all said and done.
At first, the thought of actually tying my own flies seemed unrealistic and daunting. So many bugs to identify, hook sizes, colors and patterns to match, tools and vises and thread and beads, etc. And then there’s the technique of actually tying. I didn’t have the luxury of one-on-one lessons or tips and trainings from pros.
Come inside for the full trout tying kit review.
kevin December 22nd, 2011
There have been a lot of technological advances in wading boot construction in the past few years. If you have not purchased a new pair in several years, you are in 
for some significant surprises. Now that we are starting to get some more wadable water this is a subject that we need to consider.
The big change is that felt soles are slowly disappearing from the shops. The agent for this change has been didymo, the invasive alga that has infected the White and Norfork over the past few years. Once introduced to a stream, there is no known way to eradicate it. Only one cell of didymo is required to start a colony and felt soles are considered to be the most likely culprit in the spread of the alga. Felt is porous and difficult to clean. Because of this several states have outlawed felt soles. As of March 31, 2012, it will be illegal to wear felt soles in Missouri. Will Arkansas be next?
The most common replacement is Vibram, a tough, well wearing rubber sole that has been used on hiking boots for decades. It is much easier to clean and doesn’t absorb water like the old felt soles. The felts were popular with waders because it gripped rocks well and provided sure footing in streams. The vibram soles do not grip the bottom as well as the felts did and are a bit more difficult to wade in, particularly on bed rock.
Come inside the Arkansas Hunting and Fishing forum for the full article from Arkansas fishing guide John Berry
kevin November 2nd, 2010
Effective January 1, 2010, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission changed the fishing regulations to allow the use of multiple hook points in Catch and Release areas of the
White and Norfork Rivers. This has been interpreted to allow the use of droppers. This is not to say that I have not fished droppers previously.
In fact, I have been fishing them for over twenty five years. I first used them for bream fishing. I would tie a bream killer below a popper when targeting bedding bream. It is a killer combination. A year or two later, when I began making an annual pilgrimage out west to fish the storied streams in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Oregon, I noted that the standard rig out there was a small nymph suspended below a large dry fly. I eagerly adopted this technique.
I remember sight casting to a huge Yellowstone cutthroat with a small brassie dropper on a red humpy. He slammed the brassie on the first drift. At a fat twenty three inches, it is my personal best Yellowstone cutt and I still remember the take.
I frequently fished double soft hackles and grasshoppers with a small nymph suspended below when I was outside of Catch and Release sections. The only thing that prevented me from fishing doubles more often was the fishing regulation that did not allow their use in Catch and Release water, where I do most of my fishing. Now, with the recent change to allow their use everywhere, I am fishing them a lot. The most common ways that I fish droppers are double soft hackles, double nymphs or a nymph suspended below a dry fly.
Come inside the forum to read more from fishing guide John Berry.
kevin August 30th, 2010
I received a new fly fishing catalogue in the mail yesterday that featured no less than fourteen different brands of fly rods. For each brand there were dozens of different
models, lengths, weights and number of pieces. I thought to myself, how could any new or even experienced angler make a decision with so many options?
Of all of the decisions facing the fly fisher, this is easily the most complicated. With the cost of some rods exceeding several thousand dollars, making the wrong decision can be an expensive mistake. There are a lot of criteria to consider.
It all starts with a simple question. What will you be fishing for? The rod you need for largemouth bass is quite different from the rod you need to fish for small brook trout in high mountain streams. It is not necessarily the size of the fish you expect to catch, but the size of the fly you will be casting and where you will be casting it.
Fly rods are made from three basic materials …
Come inside the Arkansas Fishing Forum to read more on how to select a fly rod by Arkansas trout fishing guide John Berry.
ducktape June 8th, 2010
New fishing iPhone app developed with the fishermen and conservation in mind. WhatTheFish!, developed by FloodedTimber.org (a partner site of Arkansas Outdoors Online) is a fast-loading fishing identification iPhone application offering high-quality images and detailed descriptions of over 50 freshwater species directly on your iPhone.
Detailed images of how to tie fishing knots and even a GPS-enabled bragging board are in the works so you can show off that huge fish to everyone who uses the new fish ID iPhone app.
See a species of fish you want added into the database? Just visit the support page and FloodedTimber.org will include your fish species suggestions in future application updates.
Check out the video of the Fish ID iPhone app at our Hunting and Fishing iPhone app page.
As a bonus, a percentage of WhatTheFish! proceeds will go directly towards conservation groups dedicated to restoring the Gulf Coast.
Purchase WhatTheFish! today to improve your knowledge of the most popular species of fish.
kevin May 20th, 2010
I recently managed to lose my favorite fly rod. This is the rod that has been my primary fishing tool for over twenty years.
It is the one that I kept in a double rod case with my wife, Lori’s, favorite fly rod by the front door, so that I could easily grab it on the way out to the river. It is a Sage 490 LL (four weight, nine foot Light Line). It was a nice light rod with a sensitive tip to protect the light tippets that I use for the tiny flies that we fish so much around here.
I could not tell you how many fish I have caught on it over the years. This rod has not been manufactured for over ten years and cannot be replaced.
As if that were not enough, there was an Orvis CFO 123 reel on the rod. This particular reel is also a personal favorite. The reel was manufactured in England by Hardy for Orvis and was based on an original design by Lee Wulff. It was light, had an adjustable drag and was a perfect match for the Light Line rod. It also has not been produced for several years and is irreplaceable.
Of course, it had an expensive fly line on it. Using this rod and reel, I landed a twenty inch brown just two days ago.
How did I lose this rod and reel? Well it is the usual story. Come inside the Arkansas Fishing Forum for the full story from Arkansas fishing guide John Berry.
kevin April 22nd, 2010
I recently guided a father and his daughter, Gerald and Laurie, for three days on the White and Norfork Rivers. It brought back memories of all of the fishing trips that I had with my daughter as she grew up. We spent a lot of time on Dry
Run Creek and I still cherish the memories. The fact that, on the day after they left, my daughter, Katherine, her husband, Stewart, and my grand children John and Larkin were due for a visit, made it even more poignant. The first two days featured tough conditions. We experienced high water (seven generators on the White) and high wind (complete with lake wind advisories). We were due for a break.
On Friday night we had a significant thunder storm. I have a pretty good handle on this because my yellow lab, Ellie, is storm phobic and always spends the night in the bedroom with Lori and me, when we have a storm. I knew that the next day the river would be choked with muddy water from runoff and would be pretty much unfishable. Conventional wisdom under such conditions is to head upstream until you find clear water.
In most instances, the best place to start is the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam. The generation forecast for the day was for the Corps of Engineers to run seven full generators (over 21,000 cubic feet per second) for the entire twenty four hour period. As a result, we left the waders at the lodge.
Come inside the Arkansas Fishing Forum for the full article.
the first step of the life-long addiction I was undertaking. The evolution of a fly fisherman to a fly tier, they said, is an inevitable aspect of the sport.
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