Need some opinions fellas.

I'll be going to spend some time with Dad in LR. I'm going to bring my streamers and mice for the big browns.

Little Red is closer but White seems to have more big fish.

Where would y'all go if you had 2.5 days to fish.

Feel free to PM me.

Thanks,
Fitz

When?

neither are wade fishable right now. LR has flood gates open and around the clock generation. White also has around the clock generation, norfork is in the same condition. With the amount of water the region has had since last month and the forecasted wet winter it will likely be late spring before any windows open up for wade fishing.

There will be some good streamer fishing if you have a boat or hire a guide.

Before Christmas

I have a yak, lol

Wasn't planning a guide trip

I fished the Red two years ago with my fly fishing buddy and the White last week with my son. My impression is that the White has much higher density of rainbow trout available to catch than the Red and probably a higher population of large browns. My son described the White as being like the worlds' biggest stock pond. If you do wade, be careful, I was amazed at how quickly the water level rose in the White when they activated more turbines at the dam. The other thing that amazed me about the white was how clear the water was, even during and after a very large amount of rain - nothing like the Texas rivers that I fish.

Try James he was our featured speaker at FFFF
Little Red

Call him and have a chat, I am planning a trip in Spring.

Thanks for the replies. Im not interested in little stocker trout. I get my fix of "little mean" fish from Sunnies.

Just looking to prick a few 20"+ Browns on big flies.

Too turbid for a yak IMO. Safety first. Plus, that is a whole lotta paddling to fish LR. Definitely not going to wade fish.

Lake is up 4' and with gates open (247 now) it's barely dropping. Another deluge of rain coming this Saturday.

Not looking good this year.

We were up there a couple weeks ago, I can tell you that it's way too much water for a yak right now.

Only way on the water right now is a good drift boat or river boat with somebody on the oars while you're fishing...and it's all about the streamers.

I'd find a good guide, unfortunately most good ones are booked up this time of year...if you can find one, it would be worth the money right now to get on the water for a chance at a big fish, our group fished 3 boats for a couple of days and we netted several very nice browns around 24". Right now is the time to be on the water!

You know if you're absolutely dead set on getting out in the yak, you might check out the upper north fork river in southern MO (also known as the north fork of the white). It probably wouldn't be much further than the white for you and since it's not a tailwater, you aren't going to have to worry about generation schedules or anything like that. Plus, all the rainbows in that stream are wild, so you aren't going to be catching stockers, and you still have the possibility of catching a good sized brown on a streamer. You might check that out if the tailwaters are still blown out when you get to Arkansas.

Thanks BBT, fwkid and DainW for the info

North fork fishes much like a Colorado free stone stream fitz

I mean to get to the North Fork one day. I don't know how much wade water there is. I hear it's ideal for 'yaks.

I was at the White River at Rim Shoals today and landed plenty of fish. Water is high and moving fast but still able to catch fish.

If you are after big browns, Jeremy Hunt is your guy. Check out his website. None better on the White!
http://www.flysandguides.com/

I first figured out the whole 'big browns at night' thing on the Little Red. I would blast up there on the weekends from college and fish until the last possible second before heading back to class. I caught several browns over 20" on big streamers. The White is a big, intimidating river that has a tendency to rise very quickly when they start letting water out - make sure that you have a cell phone handy and can call the generation hotline regularly. The Little Red is less volatile and slower to rise, but definitely research the current conditions.

If I had to pick, I would go to the Little Red because I know it better and it's generally safer when water is up.

The North Fork is a great fallback position. I haven't caught any truly large fish there, but I have definitely seen them.