Spring has sprung and the heavy rains have arrived as usual.  Up until this past weekend the lake level had been teetering around the pool level at Greers Ferry, but heavy rains have raised the lake levels by several feet and now we may have to wait a few weeks and hold our breath that another 2.8 inches doesn't fall in an hour like it did Saturday morning.  With guide trips canceled due to the recent downpours a bunch of us that guide jumped in our boats this past Saturday and contributed our efforts to the TU River Clean-up Day.   

With all the heavy rains early in the morning (plus falling water from generation ending at midnight) the lower river was very high and muddy, but it didn't stop some brave souls from loading boats and trucks full of trash. Some areas where trash had collected were not safe to venture into with boats on high water, but a solid effort was made to recover as much as possible with a crew of 6 brave men from the Ozark Angler in 3 boats running out of Dripping Springs. A good time and a good haul was had by all. Some pics from our efforts:

There is a ton of trash in our river... I think we all know that. The next river clean up day, in sept. I think, will be a much bigger effort. We plan on making a scavenger hunt, having trophy trash awards, and a much bigger mobile boat fleet equiped with flat-bead trailers at boat ramps for offloading etc. Thanks to Jed at the LRFS for the lunches and snacky cakes when we all returned from our efforts and thanks to other volunteers who worked the puclic access areas, boat ramp parking lots etc. Chris did a damn fine job whompin up some burgers and dogs on the grill. This was a great effort under tough conditions. Thanks to everyone who participated and helped out in anyway. I know we can do better and get more involvement if we all try harder next time... hopefully under better conditions as well.

   Now that the spawn is here on the Little Red River I have a little free time again to post and fill you in on some highlights from the last two months.  Unlike most anglers and guides on the Little Red, I choose to leave the spawning Brown trout alone.  I just don't see the joy in catching fish on spawning beds that are already tired and stressed enough from the rigors of spawning... not to mention... its not vey sporting.  Alright... enough of the spawn-rape tirade.

   The last two months have presented a variety of water conditions.  Currently the river is dead low and difficult to navigate, but only 2 and a half weeks ago we had very high flows.  The streamer fishing on the higher flows was fantastic this Fall.  Some highlights:

We also had a very spooky Halloween on the river this year!  It seems most people dressed up like a fisherman like evryone else... boring.  I chose a little different approach.  I got a lot of laughs out of folks out there and that was my goal.  I think sometimes folks are too serious all the time on the water.

Now that the spawn is on fishing for rainbows is the name of the game... here are a few recent catches.

Well... it's back to the tying bench for me.  Gotta get ready for the next trip to the river. 

Keep it bent-

Phil

www.arkansastroutbum.com