I’ll be presenting a program on White River Hatches at the Arkansas Chapter of TU in Fayetteville on March 5th.

This presentation will discuss some of the major hatches we see on our tailwaters and how you can use knowledge of hatches to better your effectiveness and enjoyment of fly-fishing.

Looking forward to seeing many of you then.

© 2012, Scott Branyan

I’ll be speaking at the White River Chapter of TU in Mountain Home, AR on February 6th, presenting a program on White River Hatches. This presentation covers some basic insect biology, how to locate and identify insects, solving imitative problems, and resources available to anglers. Of course, there will be photos!

On February 21st, I’ll be presenting A History of Fly-Fishing in Arkansas at the North Arkansas Fly Fishers, also in Mountain Home. I’ll talk about how folks traveled to their favorite streams in the 1920s-1930s, the rise of the fly-fishing tackle industry and connections with Arkansas, a native Arkansan who went on to become a nationally known custom bamboo rod builder, the development of public fisheries and lakes and ponds across the state, smallmouth fly-fishing on the White and, if time, the transition to fly-fishing the early days of the tailwaters and the development of the trout program in Arkansas. I’ll bring a few pieces of tackle from the past and some other display items. I encourage others to do the same so we can share stories.

Devil’s Den State Park between West Fork and Winslow, AR will be celebrating Aldo Leopold Day on May 19-20. I’ll be there both days doing some fly-tying and fly-casting demos as well as presenting my program on A History of Fly-Fishing in Arkansas.

Hope you can make one or more of these programs. I hope to see many of you there.

© 2012, Scott Branyan

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission held its first public meeting since 2005 to take a revised look at the public’s ideas on management of the trout tailwater. Here are the charts that were posted at the end of the meeting. Click on the photo to enlarge.

The next meeting schedule for April 18. Mark it on your calendars.

I found it curious that a lot of folks were willing to have their trout permit costs raised or to add additional taxes or fees onto users. This makes it easier for the US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to abdicate their responsibility for mitigation of the effects of the dams. My view is that we need to emphasize that these federal agencies fulfill their responsibilities to the citizens of Arkansas made at the time to mitigate the loss of the native fisheries in the Ozarks.

© 2011, Scott Branyan

Here’s the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission press release:

BENTONVILLE – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Trout Management Program will revisit the management plan for the 7-mile trout fishery in the White River below Beaver Dam in northwestern Arkansas. The current management plan was developed about five years ago.

Since that time, management actions outlined in the plan were implemented and it’s time to determine if these strategies have worked and whether public expectations of the fishery have changed, according to Jeff Williams, AGFC trout biologist.

“As part of a continuing effort to maximize public involvement, concerned anglers and other stakeholders will be given the opportunity to provide input on the direction of management of the Beaver Tailwater trout fishery for the next five years,” Williams said.

Anglers are encouraged to attend a public workshop at 6:30 p.m., March 1, in the Walmart Auditorium of the Shewmaker Center for Workforce and Technology at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.

Throughout the process of developing of the plan, anglers will be able to track progress and find information on the AGFC website at http://www.agfc.com/fishing/Pages/FishingProgramsTPWhere.aspx#1.

Those who enjoy or are concerned about the Beaver Tailwater trout fishery are encourage to participate and help build a comprehensive plan that will make the future of this fishery the best it can be. For more information, contact Williams or Christy Kitterman at 877-425-7577, or Ron Moore or Jon Stein at 877-631-6005.

Here’s a didymo news item of interest to you who fish both Arkansas tailwaters and Missouri waters.

© 2011, Scott Branyan

In a creative public relations arrangement, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma City have partnered to bring the Totally Trout family event back to the Arkansas State Fairgrounds March 6, 2010. What’s wrong with this picture?

Chesapeake begins seismic testing this spring on the AGFC Gulf Mountain Wildlife Management Area and continues to pursue a lease of 64 acres from AGFC at Cow Shoals on the Little Red River. Landowners along the Little Red with as little as one acre of land are being pressured to sign lease agreements. In addition, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission allowed the trucking of one million barrels of waste water in from October to December from frack drilling wells in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale play to waste containment wells in an area in Oklahoma whose residents don’t want it.

AGFC was scheduled to discuss the Little Red lease as last month’s commission meeting, but apparently it has been put off until the March commission meeting.

Federal and other state agency employees I’ve talked to are incensed over the power of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission and AGFC’s compromising stance with regard to the resource it manages, and I would not be surprised to see further legal action to try to halt the fracking menace in north central Arkansas. As one federal worker told me, “ground water is surface water,” and contamination is a big concern. Be watching.

© 2010, Scott Branyan

Banquet and ticket information is out for the Spring Fundraising Banquet which is Friday, March 5th.

© 2010, Scott Branyan

Roaring River State Park as well as other parks in Missouri are facing budget cuts by the Department of Natural Resources. Parks are funded by sales taxes and, well, sales are down. There will be an open house at the park this Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 7:30 at the Inn and Conference Center. Read about the cuts in Sunday’s Joplin Globe article.

A lot of fly fishers from Northwest Arkansas use the park and some of you may be interested in attending the event.

© 2009, Scott Branyan

Rain totals are in for the year. Pretty astounding amount of rain fell in Arkansas in 2008. According to KTLO, the total for Mountain Home area was 69.81 inches, making it the second wettest year on record for that area. The year of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 recorded 74.50 inches.

Below is the NWS map for Year To Date rainfall for the continental US.

Below is the NWS map for Year to Date rainfall for Arkansas.

And finally, here is the map for departure from normal in inches for Arkansas in 2008.

Here’s to a more normal 2009. Happy New Year!

© 2008, Scott Branyan

Dennis McCarty and I floated from the dam to Rim Shoals April 16th while the Corps was running all 8 generators and still had the flood gates open a few inches. Flows were around 27,000 cfs. The trip which is about 24 miles took us 2-1/2 hours. I was motoring just barely faster than the current.

Here’s the time-lapsed video (34MB Windows Media file):

Hard to see on the video are things of interest along the bank, such as dogwoods and redbuds, water up close to building foundations and even some of the new construction going on, the bee-tree, turkeys taking a dust bath. The area below the Cotter bridges where the boat spins 360-degrees three times is where the Gassville tornado crossed the White River before heading into town on February 6th.

© 2008, Scott Branyan