Natural State Fly Shop

09/03/2026

Better! Be there!

08/28/2026

08/27/2026

Are you or someone you know looking for part-time work?
Dive into a new opportunity at The Sands - Cotter 🌊
In search of dinner cooks, send us your resume!
[email protected] or text (870) 235-8352
Dinner hours - Thursday - Sat 5-9pm
*
*
*

08/24/2026

I have some catching up to do with everything that is going on here at Your Fly Shop.

Several weeks ago, a couple of guys came into the shop and we got to talking. Found out they are Missouri State University Football players. Matthew Greene (Offensive Lineman #54) and Stratton Shufelt (Linebacker #38). Needless to say, these guys are rather Good Size Men! They are looking to do some Fly-Fishing and hope to catch some Fish. We talk about where to and what to use. In the middle of our conversations an accident happens and well, I was somewhat surprised with the way the reaction to it was conveyed. It quickly became a joke moment. Matthew was doing everything he could to fix the issue and Stratton, and I were heaping on the jokes about a “Bull in a China Cabinet”! All worked out well. Then a couple weeks later they come back in, and we are talking about when practices start and what their Fall Schedule looks like. They explain that due to successes last year and the change in Conferences their Game Schedule is going to be tougher and they talk about not being able to fish once they get started into practices and the season. I, personally, am starting to really like these two guys. Another couple weeks go by and they call for a Guided Fishing Trip. With everything that is going on I get them lined up with a guide and they have a Good Day on the Water. I get back to the Shop afterwards and find a Signed Pennant and a nice Missouri State Shirt. I feel that “Your Fly Shop” or at least me, personally, needs to do something special for these guys, but first I kinda want to let you all Know, that I will be following them on their journeys this year. Saturday September 5th, they travel to Texas A&M … Go Bears! I just need to figure out what to do for them, any suggestions?

Trinity came by the Shop letting us know that she had a Good Day on the Bull Shoals Tailwater wading … see attached photo … which reminds me that we still have Our Wader Sale going on … I got us overstocked and we need to make some space … Get a Great Deal and help me out!

With this coming weekend being the Last Saturday of the month, we will be hosting our Community Get Together. We always welcome Ours Friends and all Newcomers. Come by the Natural State Fly Shop for some Great Conversation, Food and meet some Fishy Folks (some of the tales are Fishy too). We start around 5:30 and end whenever. Come on By!

We have had a couple of Thunderstorms move through the area the last couple days but with the Long Dry Spell we had the lakes aren’t getting much of the water. Saturday and Sunday Night’s rain will raise the lakes but not very much …

Beaver Lake is at 1117.11 right now and may rise a little more (Top of Power Pool is 1121.43). There has been No Generation the last couple days and with their water level so low I don’t expect any generation for a few more days, but I have been Wrong before and probably will be again. The Water Temperatures below Beaver Dam are staying close to 49 degrees and the Dissolved Oxygen levels are steadily around 6.0ppm.

Table Rock Lake is at 914.44 (Top of Power Pool is 917.0). They are generating most of the day except after midnight to early mornings. Don’t know how long that will last without significant rain. The Tailwater Water Temperature ranges from 51.8 degrees to 53.4 degrees. The Dissolved Oxygen Levels get as low as 2.0ppm when they are generating and then jump back to 5.2-6.0ppm when there is No Generation.

Bull Shoals Lake is at 657.97 and may rise slightly due to this morning’s rain but not much (Top of Power Poo is 661.0). Minimum Flow until later afternoons over the weekend with a few hours of generation late afternoons. The Water Temperatures below Bull Shoals Dam have ranged from 55.5 to 58.1 degrees depending on generation. The Dissolved Oxygen Levels drop during generation to as low as 6.1ppm and then rise to as high as 11.2ppm during no generation.

Norfork Lake is at 554.57 (Top of Power Pool is 555.75). Again, Minimum Flow almost all day over the weekend, with the exception of a couple hours generation late in the day. Norfork Tailwaters Water Temperatures are running 52.4 and 53.8 degrees, again, depending on generation. Their Dissolved Oxygen Levels range from 5.3ppm to 10.7ppm.

Come on out to Your Fly Shop for another Community Get Together this Saturday August 29th and visit for a while. We will supply some food, Sodas and some Really Good Stories!

08/11/2026

Last week I posted a rather long conversation about what was going on around here in Cotter and the surrounding area. The thing is, I skipped over a worthy event, and others have developed even further.

I listened to Henry “The Legend” Seay, Sunday morning expounding on his “CFC” program. Let’s just say he could make Eskimo’s want to work in an ice plant! Casting For Customers should become a weekly Sunday morning event per Henry with Adult Beverage Prizes. Henry doesn’t partake alcoholic products, but he wants to give them away. His plan is to have a casting contest in the parking lot. I said we would have more room in the back parking lot. “That won’t entice enough people to come in the store!” I told him, some Sundays are very busy, especially early and we don’t have an alcohol license! “Trivial, we can make it work with a little help from Jerry and Zachary”. Then he falls back on the Sands has a B**r and W**e License. I am thinking about Sunday morning traffic at the Sands and the fact that most of these folks are going Fishing and we might be setting the wrong impression with B**rs at 9:00am on Sunday mornings. Some of those folks would delay their Guide Trip start time to knock a couple back and the Local Guides might get a little upset with us about it. I am hoping that he moves on from B**r Prizes to some other packages before we become the “Spot” for all day drinkers. I have often said the Cotter is a “Sleepy Little Drinking Village with a Large Fishing Addiction” and Henry wants to put it right front of the Fly Shop! Hopefully some of you can help me with this situation …

Now the one I skipped … Almost two weeks ago, NAFF (North Arkansas Fly Fishers) and PHW (Project Healing Waters) had a combined outing on the Spring River at Many Islands Campground. I’m not sure why my mind tells me it is a single hour to get there but it actually takes 1 ½ hours from my home, so I arrive late which is somewhat expected but I am not the only one … I get registered and go down to meet up with everyone. Yes, it was already Hot! Almost, instantly I notice that Mark Crawford (Spring River Flies and Guides) has his Raft on the water. This portion of the river has a slow flow area moving into a nice riffle. He is back rowing up in the slower section with two people in the Raft and letting them fish the tree lined edge. When he makes a full drift, he rows over to the launch, and the current folks get out, and he asks who else wants to go. Even being late I watched him grab 3-4 different sets of people and do it all over again. I am already sweating just getting my boots on and getting a couple rods out for folks to try. The folks that I came to meet and tried a couple rods out, but they had already been out with Mark (and caught fish). When he came over and gave me one of his business cards with two flies attached, he says these were working yesterday but not today, I am very impressed! This guy is Volunteering his time and his Raft to give all these folks a chance to see a little more of the “His Home Waters” in the summertime heat! Made me feel a bit smaller for being late and not bringing my raft! We talk a bit about his operation on the river, and his passion for the area is very evident! Huge Thanks to Mark for all he did that Day and everyday on the Spring River! He made me think about scheduling a trip on a river that I have floated many times just to show my appreciation! Maybe you could think about this too. The Spring River has a variety of fish in almost all of its floatable sections. Trout on one cast the Smallmouth Bass on the next. Give Spring River Flies and Guides a holler and support a very passionate Guide on a smaller (but productive) River!

We are in the middle of a very hot dry spell!

Beaver Lake is at 1118.91 as of this writing (Top of Power Pool is 1121.43). No generation until late afternoon and then both generators for around 4 hours. The Water Temperatures on the Beaver Tailwater are running between 48.6 degrees and 51.4 degrees. The Dissolved Oxygen Levels range from 4.4ppm and 8.0ppm.

Table Rock Lake is at 915.63 (Top of Power Pool is 917.0). Low generation starts early in the morning but kicks up later in the afternoon. The Water Temperatures are running from 50.7 degrees and 52.7 degrees. Their Dissolved Oxygen Levels range from2.3ppm (very low) to 6.7ppm.

Bull Shoals Lake is at 659.3 (Top of Power Pool is 661.0). Minimum Flow until around Noon or 1:00pm then the generators get a workout until around 8:00pm. The Bull Shoals Tailwater Water Temperatures are running between 53.9 degrees and 54.8 degrees. The Dissolved Oxygen Levels range from 5.1ppm and 8.9ppm.

Norfork Lake is at 555.37 (Top of Power Pool is 555.75). Minimum Flow until late afternoon and then one generator until mid-evening. Da’ Fork’s Water Temperature is running from 51.7 degrees to 52.8 degrees. The Dissolved Oxygen Levels range from 4.8ppm to 10.3ppm.

Basically, all the SWPA Generation Forecast schedules start generating a little earlier today and run until about the same time as the past few days.

The summer Hopper Bite has come on very well from the Local Guides Social Media reports, so you might want to hook up with your favorite Guide to get a day on the water. Please consider a day on the Spring River also!

08/05/2026

It’s ON! Contact [email protected] for more information!

08/04/2026

Just for my record, I posted this last night, but it seems it went away . Hmmm! I'll try again ...

When you skip a few days after a weekend you suddenly realize that there is a lot to share, at least that is where I am today! Stories to be told, pictures to share, River conditions to be posted, Sales to be mentioned and some Big News to get out there. This could be a long post to get out but the Captain and I, mostly me, will get it dun.
First for some success stories, Rob Gray aka Gray's Fly Fishing Guide Service has been out on the river and is showing some of the different things guides encounter almost daily. It looks like Fish were caught even if some were not the exact species that they were looking for! One photo he gave me shows a critter not often seen, but in the past few years there have been a few. I didn’t get the whole story, but the pictures show a Fun Day on the water! Thanks, Rob, for sharing! See the attached photos.

Last couple weekends Henry has been “Casting for Customers” whenever the early or noon or afternoon “Rush” slows down. He will grab a 10’ 3wt Clearwater Rig and step out into the Natural State Fly Shop parking lot. Some Folks will just give a thumbs up or some stop in when they see a 90-year-old “Legend” casting across the road in the middle of traffic. Some act like he ain’t catching anything but I count them as being caught! He truly is “Better than a Billboard” especially when he lays out 40 feet of line so smoothly. The only problem I have is that he sometimes puts the Rod in the back of my truck, so I have to go look when I notice that he comes in from “Casting” without the setup. Of course, there are the times when I notice he isn’t tying his “Flies that Work” and go out to check and he has wrangled somebody into a casting lesson in the parking lot. It is nice to see the Joy on his face when he is giving someone tips on casting! But Please be careful where you park your vehicle in our lot, you don’t want to interfere with Henry’s “Casting for Customers”!

As you may know, I get to order a lot of stuff and well, sometimes I get a little overzealous, like right now. We have a few too many waders in the shop! With the low flows we are experiencing and the extended weather forecast (no real rain in sight) I’m hoping that it will not be a problem. If you might be in the market for some Chest Waders, Pants Waders or even Zip Front Chest Waders, come by, try on a couple different ones and help me out. I would Bet we can make you a deal on some quality waders! Basically, every size I could think of in multiple Brands. I didn’t completely go nuts on Boots, but we do have different Brands in those too, even “Bigfoot” sizes!

Now for the Big News. Last March came and went without Cotter’s normal showing of the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T), and Rodney and I were talking about how we missed having the community getting together for a relaxing evening of Friends and Neighbors under the Bridge watching some very entertaining Films and being envious of those that won some great prizes. We bemoaned it for a couple weeks and finally concluded we should give it a go at Hosting. With a little brainstorming (yeah, together we might have one Full Brain) we formed a plan. Our plan is now coming together. As far as I know Cotter is the only location that the F3T is shown outdoors on the banks of a World Renown Trout River! Saturday, October 17th we will have the F3T back in Cotter! This year all of our Community can get involved. The Cotter area Chamber of Commerce went way further than we thought when we presented our plan to them! When we started talking to the other folks in our industry (just last week) the response was very heartening. It seems that lots of folks want to be involved. You may start seeing lots of folks advertising that they are helping sponsor this year’s event! We hope to make it a Community Party on the River!

If your Business (big or small) would like to get in on this event contact me at [email protected]. Fly Shops, Resorts, and Fly Guides are especially welcome to advertise their commitment to our community.

Now what is going on with the Water Levels …

Beaver Lake is at 1119.84 (Top of Power Pool is 1121.43). They have been generating for 3-4 hours in the evening the last couple days. I have been hearing some really good conditions over there. Their Dissolved Oxygen Levels are running between 6.4ppm and 8.6ppm when they are not generating but drop down to 4.7ppm when they are generating. The Water temperature floats between 47.8 degrees and 50.3 degrees. Tomorrow’s Generation Forecast is for No Generation until 2:00pm then both generators until after 7:00pm.

Table Rock Lake is at 915.86 (Top of Power Pool is 917.00). They seem to be steady generating with a 7-8 hour break this afternoon. Table Rocks Tailwater Dissolved Oxygen seems a little more steady around 6.0ppm but they do have some dips and rises. Their Water Temperatures are running around 50-51 degrees. Tomorrow’s Generation Forecast is for No Generation until 12:00 noon then three generators until after 7:00pm.

Bull Shoals Lake is at 659.70 (Top of Power Pool is 661.00) Minimum Flow in the early morning with a big push in the afternoon has guides moving around a lot. The Dissolved Oxygen on the Bull Shoals Tailwater fluctuates between 5.7ppm and as high as 12.1ppm when they are not generating but drops down to 5.4ppm when they are. The Water Temperature is running between 52.8 degrees and 54.2 degrees. Tomorrow’s Generation Forecast is for No Generation until 12:00 noon then up to six generators until after 8:00pm.

Norfork Lake is at 555.50 (Top of Power Pool is 555.75). Again, late afternoon they start the generators but not very high. I got a message that today was a GREAT DAY on Da’ Fork! The Dissolved Oxygen Levels are as low as 5.3ppm when generating and as high as 12.4ppm when they are not generating. Water Temperatures are running from 50.8 degrees and up to 53.7 degrees. Tomorrow’s Generation Forecast is for No Generation until 2:00pm then one generator until after 7:00pm.

Be sure to mark the evening of Saturday, October 17th on your calendar! Cotter will really shine that evening and all your Fly-Fishing Friends will be “Under the Bridge”!