Me and the lady are headed up to Arkansas to fish the Little Red River for a few days next week...anybody been? Any rec's on places to eat, see, etc? First time for me to fish the river or be in that area.

Thanks in advance.

I went up there 3 times to fish and every time I went they were discharging; didnt get to wet a line; so I just sat in the motel; never going back-p-

Yeah, I've heard that it's real tough when they are discharging unless you've got a boat and know the river. We've got a guide for two of the days (it was my Christmas present from her). So I know we'll be boating it regardless.

From what I've heard flows should be fine for some wading on the other days were there.

Been several years ago. Stayed near Heber Springs, and there were several restaurants there that were good, in fact I can't think of any I did'nt like. There was even a resort about 20 min away that we had a 5 star dinner at. Lobo landing was where we fished out of, and went to the Little Red Fly Shop for supplies and a guide.

There is a great fly shop in Cotter, Ar that was called Mountain Home Fly Shop which is now called Dally's Ozark Angler. Here is the link:

http://www.mtnriverflyshopstore.com/

They have a well stocked fly shop, and can also set you up with some quality guides.

As others have said, watch the generation schedules as this can vary widely from day to day, and hour to hour. Water levels can rise abruptly, and could become a serious situation, even in a boat.

P.S. Its my understanding that the Little Red Fly Shop closed about two years ago.

I fished there a couple of days in November, just as the browns were coming in the Rim Shoals to spawn. Having a boat option is great, since it's all about the flows and discharge timing on that river. With a boat, you can fish where it's best, not just where it is safe to wade.

The flies? Sowbugs, sowbugs, sowbugs. I spent 15 minutes one afternoon just watching all the sowbugs scoot around in a small pool just out of the current. It's no wonder that the trout get huge there.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn (1350 Southridge Parkway; Heber Springs, Arkansas 72543). Clean, new, good hot free breakfast. We also ate at Mack's Fish House (eat the catfish, not the steak), and the Cafe Klaser, right on the river east of town.

Here's the list of tackle and fly suggestions I got from a local guide:

Floating line
5 wt. rod 8 1/2 or 9 ft.
Flies: sow bug -- grey, tan or tan(UV dubbing) size 16
Red a$$ (soft hackle tied with peacock herl and partridge hackle) Size 16 and 14
Egg pattern --pink, apricot size 14
Midge pupa: size 18 or 20 brown (Yong's Special or Zebra midge)
San Juan Worm (size 16 to 12)
Olive Woolly Bugger (size 8)
Leader: 9ft. Tapered 4x and 5x
Tippet: 5x or 6x( for midge pupaes)
If the browns are spawning on the shoals, you will need 4x or 5x. If fishing for rainbows, you will need 5x or 6x tippet. I use fluorocarbon tippet.

The Ozark Angler Fly Shop in Heber Springs will have most everything you need, including all the tying materials for the local flies if you want to tie your own. They also have a larger shop in Little Rock that you may want to hit on the way up.

Awesome. Thanks Mick!

I landed a sweet deal at Lobo Landing for a new two bedroom cabin right on the river for $99/night...can't beat that.

Thanks for the tips.

Enjoy!

theres a mexican food joint in here springs gthat is really good. best fajitas i have ever had. mixes chicken, beef, and chorizo with all the fixins. yum,yum!!!

Downtown Heber Springs has some good eating joints. If you're near the Little Red, it's worth making the drive up to Blanchard Springs Caverns and touring the caves! They are beautiful, absolutely stunning (plus you can wet a hook in the extremely cold reservoirs below the mouth of the cave where the spring gushes out).

Just got back from a couple days on the Little Red and I'm a fan.

We started off Friday working some big nymphs. The first fish of on the line was a 20+ inch brown that broke off right at the boat. We landed several more fish until we decided to chuck some streamers in search of the big browns...great success!



We had pretty similar conditions as Friday so we started off with a similar plan. Catch a few fish on nymphs and get the monkey off our back, then move to streamers. The Nymph bite started off pretty strong and so we decided to quickly move into chucking meat in hopes to turn another "PB". We had a few good whacks and some good chases. Landed a couple but the bite slowed down. We then picked the nymphs back up and the lady straight up dominated with three awesome rainbows back to back casts! The water finally started climbing up on us so we made the switch back to streamers. It was kinda slow, the sun had crept back out the fish were being shy. On our last few casts before we had to make the trip back to the ramp...BAM! Hooked up with yet another "PB" on the last cast of the trip!

As for the town of Heber Springs...next time, I'll skip it. None of the restaurants we tried were good, I'd rather cook and save the money.

We stayed at Lobo Landing Resort, nice new two bedroom cabin on the river. Very convenient.

It was definitely cold and the slow season, but Friday we only saw one guy fishing and Saturday only saw one other boat. Amazing how little traffic that place gets.

ya after the brown trout spawn in the fall the place shuts down till spring/summer. the only good food i have found is a BBQ joint off hwy 5/25 and 110

nice brownies!

Gorgeous fish.

I share your opinion of the local restaurants.

Those are some beautiful fish, looks like a great trip.

J.

Thanks.

I HIGHLY recommend our guide for the trip, Matt Millner, who works with Jamie Rouse. Super good dude, we had a blast.

Already planning my next trip up there.

Go a littele further North to the White River around the White River State Park.

Trout fishing is always outstanding there high discharge, low dishacrge, no discharge.........

ALWAYS good fishing.

+1 for the White River. They stock so many rainbows there you can catch something all day long when the sun is out and target the browns in the morning/evening.

oh, and great fish! Well done!

Been to the White a couple times...

We could have caught tons on nymphs of rainbows on nymphs all day, but the really great part of the Little Red is the self sustained brown trout population. Nothing like catching plenty of big browns on streamers.

The White and Little Red are both great in their owns ways...completely different rivers.

For me, I enjoyed the Little Red a bit more. Very few people on the water, we saw 3 or 4 others fishing the entire time we were there. It's still a pretty undiscovered gem of a river.

The problem is there is not a generation schedule to review. You may show up and they decide to run 10000 cfs like happened to me in October. Too much uncertainty for me to want to travel 8 hours to fish it again.

Stay at Gene's at Mountain Home,AR. You can fish right off the dock. Tons of rainbows that are easy to catch.

I hear ya, they only give you days notice for the generation, but if the lake is under power pool, it's pretty predictable, according to the locals. But, I've heard that story from lots of folks.

A cold front blew in the night before we drove up and people firing up their heaters gave the power company a chance to cash in. And they did the full 3 days we were there. Day 2 we actually drove up to Missouri and fished up there.

Gald to hear that your trip went well. Sorry that I didn't see your message sooner. I was born in raised in Searcy, started fishing for trout when they started stocking them in the 60s. You can catch good fish with high water or low, but you do need a boat (and guide) for the high water. You played it right. White River is also a great river, but it is different and both can be great. Years ago they used to feed wild trout pellets from that dock at Lobo Landing and you wouldn't believe the size of the fish that were swimming free -- that got you excited about fishing! But, alas, that wasn't a good practice for the fish and has long since been abandonded. But the fish are still there.