There would be very few bushes in the water at Bull Shoals this week if not for a 2013 change in lake management to benefit trout in the tailwaters below Bull Shoals Dam.
Mike Iaconelli noticed the change, although he didn’t know the reason why, saying earlier this week, “The power pool level is five feet higher than it was the last time we were here.”
Bull Shoals Lake is currently less than a foot below its power pool or “normal” level of 659 feet above sea level. Before the summer of 2013, the normal level at Bull Shoals was 654 feet above sea level. In an effort to provide a higher level of minimum flow in the White River below the dam, a long, multi-agency effort came to completion and that normal level was raised. Now, when none of the eight hydroelectric power generators are operating, a minimum flow of 700 to 900 cubic feet per second is released from the dam.
That minimum flow adds about 1 1/2 feet of water to what was the “dead low” level of the Bull Shoals Dam tailwater when the generators weren’t running. It’s an obvious benefit to what was already known as one of the best trout fisheries in the country, one that has produced several brown trout over 30 pounds.
And this week it’s an obvious benefit to a great bass fishery in Bull Shoals Lake. By the way, Norfork Lake’s power pool level was raised as well due to minimum flow requirements, but by only 3.5 feet. The difference isn’t nearly as noticeable there, as many of the Elite Series anglers have noted the lack of flooded bushes along the banks of Norfork.
These are old lakes. Norfork Dam was completed 1944 and Bull Shoals in 1951. There would be no flooded vegetation in these lakes now if they were at the previous power pool levels.
“These bushes are tremendous cover in the water,” said Kelly Jordon yesterday. “If you’re in the lower end of the lake, where you can really see well, in most of the pockets where I’m fishing, when you see a bass, it’s probably just one of 25 to 50 fish you can see. The white bass are thick. There’s gizzard shad spawning, crappie spawning. It’s a very interesting place to fish.”
Forrest Wood, founder of Ranger Boats, is one of countless individuals who helped make minimum flow a reality in the tailwaters below the two dams. Wood made that a priority during his seven-year term on the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. As many people know, Wood and his wife, Nina, ran a trout dock and float fishing guide service below Bull Shoals Dam before getting into the bass boat business.
“If you keep more pasture watered, you’re going to be able to feed more cattle,” said Wood, the long-time cattle rancher, in explaining the benefit of minimum flow in the trout waters.