What a great Spring and early Summer on the Little Red this year.  I suppose we were due after the previous two Springs when we had heavy flooding and high water for several months.  The Caddis hatch this year has been fantastic, and so has the fishing. 

A video of the fish taking Caddis:

Some photo highlights:

The end of a great fight on video:

and the release:

Good times all around.  Let's hope the party continues.

  A good White Bass run with fairly good streamer fishing on higher flows was the way April started.  The flows on the Little Red are down now and the caddis are hatching.  April should only get better as it goes along.  Here are some highlights from the end of March into the first 10 days of April.

 Late Winter and Early Spring has started with a bang.  Good water conditions and favorable weather the past few weeks have provided good fishing and good times.  Hopefully this trend can continue, but as this article that was in the Memphis Commercial Appeal explains, that hasn't been the case for the last two Spring seasons.  www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/mar/0...

Some of the best pics from the last several weeks:

Let's hope the trend continues.  The lake is right at pool and rains are coming tonight.  Hopefully we avoid the big rains for a little while... if we do, the fishing should only get better.

It was a pretty good Fall in Arkansas all things considered.  The Little Red River was running pretty high for the most part this Fall although there were still some good days on it.  It was still fishable by many standards running one unit, but I found the fishing to be better on the White River most of the Fall.  I found a few areas that did not have any spawning fish around, hence hardly any people, and stuck to those areas.  During high point of the spawn people were running up and down the spawning shoals on the Red over and over again in boats, I'm glad I found something else to do.

A few pics from the Fall:

Also built quite a few rods this Fall for people:

And wrapped it all up with a trip to Mexico, mainly for some R&R on the beach, but of course I got in a day of fishing.

Looking ahead to 2010, what's on the horizon?  We just had 7 inches of rain on the Little Red River a few days ago which means it is likely going to be Feb. before good water conditions are the norm.  The White and Norfork Rivers may get become fishable first.  The Caney Fork in Tennessee is also running water right now so there is pretty much high or crappy water conditions all around for a little while.  Time to twist up flies, build rods and get ready for a Redfishin trip down to Louisiana near the end of January.  Hopefully by the time that is over we will have some good trout fishing again.  Hang in there folks and do your best to avoid the shack nasties this winter.

  The Trout Unlimted River Clean-up was a huge success this Fall.  We had a great turn out and removed a lot of trash from the river.  The following pics are just what 6 of us in two boats did.

As a group the 30 other volunteers that showed up did a great job as well.  I hope that next year we can get even more out and have more participation.  The Ozark Angler provided lunch for all and prizes we given away to many of the participants.  Thanks to all of you for the best birthday present anyone gave me this year... a cleaner river.

Oh yeah... the fishing is still good too.

Phil

  It has been a great summer so far on the Little Red River.  One of the wettest Julys on record has led to moderate temperatures for August.  The lake is near pool, water releases are very fishing friendly and the trout are doing their part.  Fishing has been great and as long as the dam releases water everyday... it should generally stay that way for a while.  Some recent highlights:

  Looking at my last post and how long it's been since I last posted here reminded me about the upcoming river cleanup.  Sept. 12th at the Ozark Angler we will turn loose a big effort.  Last spring we only had 3 boats on the water collecting.  This Fall we are aiming much higher.  We have created a trash scavenger hunt and trophy trash competition to make this into a game.  Prizes will be given away and free food and drink at the Ozark Angler for lunch.  We will have trucks and trailers at boat ramps for unloading plus other volunteers will go to public access points to clean up on foot.  Hopefully we have a good turn out and a much cleaner river as a result.  So far I know of 6 boats committed to run with volunteers... hopefully that is just the start.

 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

  For about the last month and a half things have been pretty good on the Little Red.  Ike and Gustav have given us a little more water than we would like, but because of higher generation in other places and flooding concerns we are seeing fishable flows out of the Greers Ferry powerhouse.

  The water has been dirty due to rainfalls and a large plankton bloom that occurred in the lake when it rose to record levels this spring.  We may be dealing with dingy water on the Little Red for quite sometime due to that.  With all that being said though the fishing has been pretty good.

  Things will get busier as the temps begin to fall some and the fish begin to move.  I'm looking forward to a good couple of months ahead and keeping everything I can crossed that the weather doesn't hurt us again. 

Some recent highlights:

www.arkansastroutbum.com

Water flows in Arkansas kicked back up shortly after Memorial Day weekend and continue to be very high, but the good news is there is light at the end of the tunnel. The lake that feeds the Little Red River is dropping at .4 feet a day and at that rate the remaining 12 feet above pool level should drop pretty quickly. Reduced flows are probably 2 weeks away and that means good fishing.

So since things have been high on the Little Red I have been putting in more time on the Caney Fork. I have had some great trips over there recently. Highlights include:

 Video highlights:

 I have a few more trips on the Caney coming up and I am looking forward to them, but I miss my "home water" and I can't wait to get back out on it.  Sooner rather than later that light at the end of the tunnel will be here and that gets me excited.