🎣 Fishing Reports
Bull Shoals • Table Rock • Norfork Lake • Taneycomo • White River • and more
Reports updated nightly — pulling the most current conditions from AGFC, MDC, and local guides so you wake up knowing what the fish are doing.
🎣 Fishing Summary
Bull Shoals Lake • Norfork • Table Rock • White River • and more
Bull Shoals Lake is firing right now, and water temps at 84°F are pushing fish into a transition pattern. Del Colvin tells us the Corps is running heavy—three units in the morning, four by midafternoon—which means you've got a short window before generation ramps up. The lake's approaching power pool elevation, so structure and points are holding fish tight. Hit the main lake points and deeper flats with 3/8 oz spinnerbaits and white Rapalas before 10 a.m., then adjust to jigs on structure once generation kicks in hard. Down on the White River, the Calico Rock stretch is still producing on silver inline spinners during the drift, and Cotter's trout bite remains solid. Lake Taneycomo has woken up—drifting live bait and nymphs on the bottom around Branson Landing is yielding numbers and trophies even through afternoon generation. The Norfork tailwater is running gin-clear at 205 CFS, which means tiny presentations and finesse are mandatory—this is precision water right now.
Summer squeeze is coming, so water management is the story. Once generation slows, thermocline formation will shuffle the deck again. For now, early mornings on Bull Shoals before the first generation spike are money, and float fishing lighter lures with slower retrieves will outpace power presentations.
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🏹 What's Working — Baits & Lures
- 3/8 oz white Rapala (Bull Shoals, main lake points pre-generation)
- Mepps #1 silver spinner (White River Calico Rock, drift fishing)
- Small black leech pattern (Spring River, nymph swing)
- Tiny Mepps #0 spinner in silver (Norfork tailwater, deep runs below dam)
- 1/16 oz Blue Fox spoon in gold (Norfork tailwater, around Otter Creek access). ---
🎮 How They're Fishing
- Float fishing 3/8 oz chartreuse spinnerbait on main lake points (Bull Shoals, before 9 a.m. generation)
- Drift fishing silver inline spinners (White River Calico Rock, morning through early afternoon)
- Nymph and leech patterns on 5X tippet (Norfork tailwater, slow presentations in gin-clear water)
- Bottom drifting live bait and nymphs (Lake Taneycomo Branson Landing, morning and afternoon periods). ---
💡 Guide's Insider Tip
Del Colvin warns: expect summer squeeze soon—once heavy generation slows, Bull Shoals will form a thermocline, shuffling fish location. Fish early mornings now before the pattern locks up. ---
🏆 Top Picks Right Now
Bull Shoals anglers know the Cotter area White River stretch fishes best on the drop after generation ceases—that's when silver spinners and live shiners shine. Hit it in the first few hours after they shut the gates down, not during the roar. ---
Bull Shoals Lake
Bull Shoals Lake measured 662.01 feet msl Wednesday, fast approaching desired power pool elevation, with generation continuing with three units (9,000 cfs) in the morning, rising a little earlier than it has been, to almost 12,000 cfs (four generators) by midafternoon. (updated 7-9-2026) Local reports indicate the water temperature is around 84 degrees. “Feels great to jump in for a swim if you get hot. The Corps of Engineers have been running big water. Not looking forward to the summer squeeze. Once generation slows down, the lake typically will form a thermocline. The lake level is down to …
Table Rock Lake
Fishing for black bass should be excellent in 2026. Largemouth bass are plentiful throughout the lake as a result of the high lake levels in past years. Fall 2025 electrofishing surveys revealed good numbers of largemouth bass in the 15”-18” range. These surveys also revealed an abundance of spotted bass in the 11”-14” range, with just three percent of the spotted bass captured in the fall 2025 surveys exceeding 15”. Due to the high abundance and slow growth rates of spotted bass in Table Rock Lake, the minimum length limit is planned to be reduced to 12” in 2026. Anglers are encouraged to har…
White River
Cotter Area (updated 7-9-2026) Local reports indicate “Change is hard for some folks, so we hang on to the best of our world: Trout fishing on the White River here in the beautiful Arkansas Ozarks continues to produce great catches and tons of action. The beauty, peace and hospitality you’ll find in Cotter, Trout Capital USA, and the whole of north-central Arkansas will keep you coming back for more.” Calico Rock Area (updated 7-9-2026) Local reports indicate “Last week we saw the river crest in the morning around 10 feet, dropping throughout the day to about 8 feet. We continue to have succes…
Norfork River
[USACE Norfork Dam — 205 CFS total release] # Norfork Tailwater Report — July 28, 2026 We're running super low this morning at 205 CFS total—that's gin-clear water and tough fishing. Fish are spooky as hell in this clarity, so downsize everything. Throw tiny Mepps #0 spinners or 1/16 oz Blue Fox spoons in silver and gold along the deeper runs below the dam and around Otter Creek access. Keep your shadow off the water and work slow. The trout are holding tight to structure; they know you're coming in this light. If you're wading the upper tailwater, go nymph-first with small midges and scuds on…
Norfork Lake
No report available at this time. Check back after float season begins.
Lake Taneycomo
In the month of June, we saw mostly heavy generation because of a good amount of rain falling in our watershed. They were good rains — well needed rain! But heavy flows made fishing tough for most anglers, especially from the bank or dock. With the rains subsided, July looks like we’ll see more periods of no generation, especially in the mornings. We will see. Trout fishing has improved the last couple of weeks here on Lake Taneycomo. Even with heavy flows in the afternoons and evenings, drifting bait or flies on the bottom has produced good numbers of trout with quite a few trophies showing u…
🚴 Float Rivers
Live gauge readings — Buffalo, Crooked Creek, Spring & Kings
| Type | Period | Time (CDT) | Duration | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | Moon Overhead | 12:36 AM | 2 hrs | Upcoming |
| Major | Moon Underfoot | 12:36 PM | 2 hrs | Upcoming |
| Minor | Moonrise | 8:08 PM | 1 hr | Upcoming |
| Minor | Moonset | 5:04 AM | 1 hr | 🟢 NOW |
- Spawn trigger: Full moons signal bass toward spawning beds -- look for fish in 2-8 ft of water on flats and secondary points.
- Fish at night: Full moon nights can outperform daytime. Bass use the bright light to feed aggressively through the dark hours.
- Dark baits win: Black Colorado blade spinnerbait, dark hollow frog, or wacky-rigged worm in junebug are proven choices after dark.
- Work the major periods: Midday lull is real -- concentrate effort around the major solunar windows above.