Fishing at Sowbug
When you are visiting the Mountain Home area for the Sowbug Roundup, it is also a great time to fish the local waters. After last year’s floods and nine months of high water, the fishing is great! The high water scoured off the didymo on the White and blew away the accumulate silt on both rivers. There have been a lot of changes to the river bottoms, so if you haven’t been here in a while you may be exploring a bit.
We have a lot of information on the NAFF website that is very useful for the fisherman who is new to the area or who wishes to explore beyond his previous jaunts.
The most important thing to understand about fishing the White and Norfork Rivers is that they are tailwaters. The water level and flow rate is dependent upon the water released for generation. We have articles about determining water levels in general and a specific article about flows at Rim Shoals.
There are two good books on fishing the local rivers. NAFF publishes the Pocket Wading Guide. It can be ordered by mail or purchased at the NAFF club table at Sowbug. The Mid South Fly Fishers “Home Waters” has lots of good info with detailed maps. A 3rd edition has just been published. It is available from both local fly shops.
The NAFF fishing reports provide good information on a month to month basis. It is well worth while to take a look at the reports from previous years. NAFF has number of good articles on technique. The articles include how to fish San Juan Worms, night fishing, and simple rigging procedures.
The NAFF flys of the month tend to be those that are useful during the month specified. All of the flys are ones that have caught fish on the local rivers.
If there is high water on the White or Norfork, you should check out the Spring River or the North Fork of the White. Both are less than 90 minutes from downtown Mountain Home. The Spring River has lots of fish and is stocked regularly. The North Fork of the White is a wild river with wild rainbow trout.
Employees at both of our local fly shops, Blue Ribbon and Mountain River, are knowledgeable and friendly. Both fly shops will have tables at Sowbug. Stop by the shops or the tables for more good info.