kevin February 22nd, 2010
I guide or fish on my own almost every day. Before I go out, I check water conditions. To accomplish this I have a morning ritual of checking several generation prediction websites.
The first website I visit is South West Power Administration’s generation prediction website. This tells what the 
generation will be for a given day. I choose the day of the week I want to study. The information for the next day is posted every afternoon around 5:00 PM. On Friday, the prediction for Saturday, Sunday and the next Monday is posted.(You can also conveniently find river and lake levels right here at ArkansasOutdoorsOnline.com)
There are nineteen tail waters posted, including Bull Shoals, Norfork, etc. The prediction is in columnar form and is listed as megawatts generated by hour. On the White, it takes about forty eight megawatts to equal one full generator and on the Norfork it is about forty six megawatts. If the prediction per hour is ninety megawatts, that would be about two full generators. I find this site to be accurate about six days out of seven.
Next I go to the Corps of Engineers current flow website . There are twelve tail waters listed.
Take all of these tools and you can enhance your understanding of water conditions. This can help you predict the best place and time to go fishing. Read all of the tools for determining water conditions in the Arkansas fishing forum.
kevin February 8th, 2010
When it comes to choosing the best fishing rod for bass fishing, it all depends on the type of bass fishing you will be doing.
Because all bassing techniques are not created equal, you must first determine the advantages and disadvantages of rod action, rod length, etc. based on if you’re pitching or flipping, throwing spinnerbaits or buzz baits, fishing topwater or crankbaits, etc. 
For some situations, a 7 foot rod is ideal, for others, a shorter 6 foot rod works best, such as if accuracy is your main objective.
Believe it or not, spring bass fishing is right around the corner, so now is a great time for a refresher course on choosing a bass rod.
Come inside and take a look at suggestions for the best bass fishing rods to use in a variety of situations, from determining the correct “action” to choosing the rod length.
Choose the Best Fishing Rod for Bass
kevin January 31st, 2010
The highlight of the winter fishing season is the shad kill. As the surface temperatures on the lakes in the White River 
System drop, threadfin shad move down through the various lake layers or thermo clines in an effort to find more comfortable water temperatures.
When the water surface temperatures reach forty two degrees or lower, the shad end up near the bottom of the lakes. Once they are there, they are vulnerable to being drawn through the turbines, when there is generation.
What makes the shad kill such a spectacular fishing event? Well it is mid winter and bitterly cold. In addition there is a lot of generation. These conditions tend to turn off a lot of anglers. What makes this a big deal is that it takes place below Bull Shoals Dam where the big browns have been spawning. Brown trout do not eat during the spawn. So you have large hungry fish that are ready to feed aggressively.
Couple that with the fact that most of these fish are located in the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam which has been closed for three months. These fish haven’t seen a fly during that time. Then we get cold temperatures and high levels of generation which creates the shad kill and all of a sudden huge amounts of food are blown through the generators creating a feeding frenzy.
Check out the full article in the Arkansas Fishing Forum.
kevin January 22nd, 2010
Once again the fishing community is closing ranks to take care of one of its own. Tiffany Johnson, the wife of local Cotter, AR fly fishing guide Chad Johnson, was diagnosed with invasive Meningioma tumors.
One of them was on her spinal cord and several are on her brain. She has been in intensive care or acute therapy since the Monday before Christmas. She underwent surgery to remove the tumor from her spinal cord. Tiffany spent almost 9 hours on the operating table to remove the six inch tumor from her spine.
Several sections of vertebrae were removed to allow the neurosurgeons access, which were then able to remove the tumor, of which, three inches was entwined in her spinal column. Tiffany is paralyzed from the waist down and has limited movement and feeling on her left side.
This surgery is so rare that we are told less than 100 have been performed worldwide. She will be hospitalized for quite a while. Tiffany will then face a further six months to eight of painful physical therapy in order to regain the ability to walk with the aid of a walker and twelve to fourteen months of therapy before she can walk unassisted. She also has to endure further surgery to remove the brain tumors.
Luckily all tumors are benign. She will require home care for some time and Chad has recently moved to a new home that is wheelchair accessible to prepare for Tiffany’s return from the hospital. The family is encountering a mountain of medical bills and has no health insurance.
What can you do to help? Find out in the Arkansas Fishing Forum
kevin January 12th, 2010
How many fishing trips have you been on in your life that were ruined by cold weather? I can’t begin to remember 
how many times I have frozen to death trying to catch a fish. Now that I am older, I sometimes wonder why I ever fished on those arctic weather days and always tried to justify my suffering to others and myself. In reality though, I know exactly why I fish in inclement weather and the reason I will continue to do so for as long as I am able.
The answer is simply that — like many of you — I am a fisherman. I love and live to fish, and I’ll do anything humanely possible to chase and catch fish. No expense has been spared or activity shunned that would aid me in the hunt for fish. Having said that, one of the least expensive and most helpful aids to a successful fishing venture is the hand warmer.
Often overlooked, a small pack of hand warmers can bring instant relief to numb hands and fingers that will put a sudden halt to any fishing trip. Regardless of how warm the rest of your body stays, if your hands and fingers keep freezing, you can’t fish and be comfortable. This also applies to your feet and toes. A small warmer pack is available and can be slipped into your boots that will keep your feet from going completely numb. These packs are cheap and are activated by simply removing them from the packaging and shaking them back and forth for a few seconds. They quickly warm and stay heated up to 8 to 10 hours.
Several companies make this product and I have never found one to be superior to another. You can buy different sizes and place them inside socks, gloves, boots, pockets, toboggins…. really anywhere you get cold. They don’t get hot enough to cause a fire and slowly grow cold.
Check out the rest of this article by Arkansas fishing guide Shane Goodner in the Arkansas Fishing Forum.
kevin December 29th, 2009
Trout feed on the bottom of the stream approximately ninety percent of the time. The main foods there are the 
nymphal form of aquatic insects, crustaceans (sowbugs and scuds), worms and fish eggs. These various food forms are generically known and fished as nymphs. There are also bait fish, which we imitate with streamers. The trick to fishing all of them is to deliver them to the bottom of the stream in as natural a state as possible. That is where weight comes in.
There are a few places to place the weight, on the fly, the leader or the fly line. I generally weight most of my nymphs. One way to weight flies is to wrap lead wire around the hook as the first step in tying the fly. When I first started tying flies, we would use Buss fuse wire to weight them.
The classic method to add weight to the leader is to use split shot. I don’t know about you but I tend to drop them. In addition, I do not like the fact that I have to use my forceps to crimp them on. Once you get them on they are difficult to remove. Despite these failings I find them really effective for adding weight to leaders quickly, particularly in deep heavy flows.
Read on for more strategies on how to effectively catch trout using weight in the Arkansas Fishing Forum.
kevin December 18th, 2009
I do most of my guiding for rainbow trout in the tail-race waters below a hydroelectric dam here in Hot Springs, 
Arkansas. The majority of that time is spent navigating my boat in and out of shallow water and around rocks and sandbars that are made more hazardous by the swift currents that are present from the release of water from the dam.
I learned early in my fishing career the value of safe boating and this knowledge has made me a better fishermen — not to mention saving my neck more times than I care to remember. I think that discussing a boating safety checklist has value and will increase your chances of having a successful trip.
For most of us, we’ve’ been in a boat and on the water so long we don’t give safety a second thought. Things like wearing a life jacket are obvious. But there are several other safe boating tips you can exercise that will help you enjoy your time on the water, and more importantly, could possibly save your life.
Check out the full list of safe boating tips from Arkansas fishing guide Shane Goodner.
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