“Red wigglers were dancing for the rainbows and getting plenty of attention. Dangling a worm near the bank during rises in the water level is most always a sure catch.
“Close behind: yellow or orange PowerBait tipped with shrimp on a size 8 Aberdeen or bait holder hook. It’s a good idea to use bronze hooks to decrease harm to the trout. The Berkley Pink Worm remains a favorite of the guides — better when drift-fishing from a boat on high water.
“Don’t be afraid to try something you’ve never used before. Change your baits if what’s tied on isn’t working. Dangle something new. High water provides the opportunity to experiment with so many different baits. The browns are still biting at sculpins and soft-shell crawdads (keep the Rebel Wee Craw handy).
“The river provides even more of an escape now than at any other time. Life on the river is good. Come share it with us.”
Calico Rock Area
(updated 6-26-2025) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said that for most of the last week they saw water levels between 8-10.5 feet. The past few days they’ve had slightly lower water levels after Norfork Dam shut its floodgates. Fishing has been consistent using Uncommon Bait UV Eggs in Neo Pink, shrimp and with or without a silver inline spinner. Because of the water depths, artificial lures haven’t been effective. Good news is both lakes are about 4 feet below the top of the flood pool.
“I believe we will continue to see higher-than-usual water until the lakes get lower. This week we received two stockings from the AGFC stocking raft. One stocking was 4,800 rainbows between Calico Rock and Allison and another stocking of 4,800 rainbows between Norfork and Calico Rock.”
Allison/Mountain View Area
(updated 6-19-2025) Jack’s White River Fishing Resort reports that the White River guides — Bart, Braiden, Caleb, Chris and Irvin all consistently limited out on rainbow trout throughout the week with excellent success across the board. Among the highlights: 17-inch rainbows were landed on multiple outings — a great size and exciting for anglers; the guides round excellent results using End of the Line TR Orange and Royal Blue Power Eggs and Jack’s handmade hammered silver spinners — this winning combo brought solid bites in varied conditions.
The river has been fluctuating with periods of high, muddy water due to heavy rainfall and dam generation cycles. At times, conditions cleaned up between flow events, giving guides confidence to run drift rigs and spinners.
