With the high flows on both our tailwaters now settling in it is appropriate to drag this How To video from the legend Gabe Levin. This leader setup gets get your flies down to where the fish are feeding fast faster than standard tapered leaders (they do give you a way of reusing the butt […]

Well its been building all spring but the big water is finally here. We are now starting to see big chunks of the day with between five or six units of water which is high but more friendly to fish than secen or eight units and more fun than flood gate conditions. Bull Shoals Lake […]

There’s a few things that have come to mean summer in the Ozarks: stepping out side into a soft warm cloak of air at dawn the smell of baked grass and dirt popup storms blooming in the west; and the long slow rise of a brown trout to your fly. There hasn’t been too much […]

After weeks of non-stop heavy flow from Table Rock Lake we’re back to turbines-only medium flows here on Lake Taneycomo. Table Rock’s power pool changed from 915 to 917 feet (summer pool) which has taken some of the pressure off to drop TR’s levels; thus the slower flows.  But there is rain in the forecast. […] The post May 16 2025 Fishing Report...

It’s spring time and there is all manner of fly fishing entertainment going on. Caddis is good on the White but slowing down some and some lonely sulphurs showing up early for the big dance. The creeks are popping with smallmouth carp and tropical panfish. If big stripers in a small river gets you excited […]

Last week we told you this week was looking cadissy and we weren’t wrong. Find some sun and the bugs come thick and the browns dine hard. Its been very good at times and better than average most afternoons. Bull Shoals Lake continues to climb and on USACE estimates should crest around May 17 with […]

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The Sunday Special originated by Clint Wilkinson might be the ultimate guide fly: just Hare on a Hook with an oversize bead. Tie them fast and scruffy. Represents all manner of food items but it’s a killer caddis bug everyone coming to the White needs to have. We have thrown in a couple of extra […]

Hooly Dooly we might be waking up to low flows for the first time in a while this morning. Once the morning storms pass it should be a very caddisy Friday. The authorities slid back the water flows from last week’s 20 000+ cfs over the course of the week sparking off the first real caddis […]

Water water everywhere nor any spot to wade. You just might need a boat. Messing with Coleridge is one way to pass the time while tying up long leaders and digging out the big split shot. It’s been a while since we had some round the clock big flows but it looks like we will […]

It’s spring time on the tailwaters caddis popping gusty winds and dealing with spring rails but the fishing has been a lot of fun. Bull Shoals Lake has officially crested after recent torrential rains and is on the way back down as the Dam has ramped up releases each day this week. Norfork has floodgates […]

Timely to repost the video I shot with fellow guide and great friend Chad Johnson during the spring of 2020 on fishing the White River’s epic caddis hatches. Every year is slightly different but there is a lot of solid information in here Listen to our great friend and colleague Chad Johnson fill you in […]

For all the furrowed brows and sweaty palms from last weekend’s torrential rain this week turned out pretty dam good. It was our first big group of the spring: four guides a day; Chef Shane prepping gourmet dinners every night and booking out the entire Commercial Hotel in Cotter to ensure everyone had private rooms. […]

I waited until April 7th to write this report because of the big rain event we had over the weekend.  I wanted to address how six inches of rain water would affect our fishery.  Now I know. Beaver and Table Rock lakes rose several feet and both have crested. Now we know about how much […] The post April 2025 Fishing Report appeared first on Lilley...

Received this cool image and letter from Jim Cole who has fished with me for 3 years now including some entertaining brown trout action last fall. Steve hope all is well. Thought you might like to see the nice Brown that we brought to your boat this past November keeping company with my first Steelhead […]

So glad to see this: good friend colleague and amazing guide Ben Levin sits down with The Ozark Podcast to talk caddis. Enjoy this weekend The White River in Arkansas has quietly become one of the premier caddis hatch destinations in the country. In this episode fly fishing legend Ben Levin joins us for an […]

“Just wait and see”. I’ve given this advice a bunch over the years and through myriad weather events. Weather is just part of the game in the outdoors and no the professional forecaster don’t get it right all the time. Rain is part of the game the bilge pump in my boat isn’t there for […]

It’s been a heck of a long time since we had scheduled low water for both the White and Norfork for Sowbug Friday. The tyers and vendors will still be around tomorrow afternoon but you can bet your life there will be a subtle migration towards the tailwaters. Saturday morning can normally be a bit […]

Since Sowbug Roundup kicks off Thursday its a good time to return to this video Davy Wotton and I shot a few years back. We billed it at the time as a Lesson in Wet Fly Techniques but it blew my mind how many awesome tying tips Davy packed into these 23 minutes. You will […]

Windy enough to blow the cream out of your coffee. That’s been the story of this week. Springtime weather has slid on in upper 70s early in the week a slap of cold morning from a front midweek and warming back up tomorrow. And that wind is definitely a spring thing in the Ozarks. But […]