Hey Guys,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families. Im here to ask for your help in choosing flies for an upcoming trip to the Little Red River in Arkansas. I will be fishing the LRR in January and I really don't know what to use since I've never been up there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I don't have any advise to offer, but I didn't want you to think we weren't going to talk to you.
I'm sure someone will be along shortly to help you out.

Kirk

Oh its okay Kirk. I know someone will help out. Thank you for your response!

Call these people, they'll tell you what you need.

http://www.ozarkangler.com/pe085msys4034vbnpa1q534zcmv6jn

AnthonyTricou Thank you so much. Ill give them a call first thing in the morning

PM me next week and I can tell you!

I've been tying for a month preparing for my trip up there. Not sure what will work or not work, but I've got all the 'local" flies ready for cruisin.

Some of them are Y2K, eggs, midges, sow bugs, scud, streamers, Red Arse, ect ect. There are a few color variations that seem to be what the locals prefer.

Chuck Farneth is up there on the little red. ESPN Gold Medalist Outdoorsman and all around awesome guy. Closest thing to a fish whisperer I have met to be honest.

Search some of the previous Little Red threads on the forum for excellent advice. The best I can give you is to absolutely, positively have the number for calling to check whether the dam is generating or not. Generation will make or break your trip, and sometimes it's very different than the schedule. They don't have to warn you before they turn it on (besides a siren up near the dam telling you to get the heck out of the water.)

Greers Ferry Generation scheduling and hotline - http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx

I understand they fish sowbugs there a lot, scuds, standard nymphs like hare's ear, pheasant tail, fox-squirrel. I don't know what emergers or dries are popular. When I'm in doubt I go to the local fly shop and have them set me up with some flies. Also go here and ask:
http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/forum/58-little-red-river/
Someone will get with you.

For sure run by Ozark Angler fly shop.

Unless they get some rain in the lake, I would expect them to keep release to minimal. They release about 2 hours a week now just to get some oxygen in there. Thursday morning window was 6am-8am.

Tie some sowbugs and red arses (wet fly). Sowbugs should be best in January....if I was to guess.

Not to bash another fishery or bust anyone's bubble, but I went last January (on a guided trip with The Ozark Angler) and while the guide was super nice, the fishing was horrible. He ultimately said that if the spawn isn't on, the fishery isn't very good at all.

This is a long thread, but a good read about our trip.

http://beaversbendflyshop.proboards.com/thread/22/help-little-red?page=1

My recommendation: save your money and go to Broken Bow. Seriously.

Here is an excerpt from the thread:

"Like I explained earlier in this thread, we fished it HARD for 3 solid days (one of which was a guided boat trip) and never caught a glimpse of any sizeable fish. Caught a ton of fish on Cow Shoals but they were all 8"-10" stocker rainbows, with a few small browns sprinkled in. I think Casey's biggest of the weekend was about a 14" bow (JFK Park) and I caught one 14" brown on Cow Shoals.

Wolly Boogers were for catching bigger fish (which we never saw), but Casey still spent an entire day throwing streamers and only caught 2-3 small fish on them.

All of the other parts of the river (including all of JFK park) was the same stuff, just harder to fly fish because it's basically standing water.

Again, on this river, a boat is almost a requirement, and standard tackle would do better.

I also found it ironic that the "regulations" there stipulate that all fish between 16"-21" are to be released, and we never saw or caught a single one.

My advice: stay away unless they are staging to spawn (November), because all the big boys (if there are any in there?) are way too deep right now.

Beavers Bend is like heaven compared to there.

But... If you still feel the urge to go, Cow Shoals was the place to fish. Eggs, sow bugs, and Holy Grail nymphs are what worked and we threw the book at them. "

If trout are like bass - post spawn is toughest time of year to fish. Especially for females who are tired of "dancing" for a month.

I like LFM and the ease to move around, but the meat hunters sort of ruin it for me. It sometimes feels very small to me.

LRR has less walk in access but a ton more water....too much if you get a boat or know people. You don't see meat hunters out there (atleast areas I fished)....due to the strict limits. Personally to me it's like fishing Lake Fork(without crowds like LMF or Fork).....it's all about the legend, the mystery, and the brown dolphins swimming around. I never have fished it before last week so my experience is limited. I really want to try another time of year but it will be in a boat for sure. I can imagine in a boat you can get out there and be alone in some areas. I want to only throw big streamers then. Big fish or Bust.

Did I catch more fish than LMF? About same.
Did I see big fish? OH YEAH...FREAKS, I had one on for just enough time to say a "oh ##%%" My buddy saw it so I have a witness. He also had one slam him twice....he said it was HUGE also.
Did I catch big fish? I got tired of catching 18-19" browns(PB)....wanting those 30"+.

I can fish my local lake for bass anyday....catch a mess of fish and have a good time, but sometimes I like driving to Lake Fork an hour away for the "Legend". - Best analogy I got.

I need a LMF fix after last weekened (after many trips my PB is still 17" there, and it needs to be broken! ).....see if my prospective has changed since my trip to LRR.

Weekday preferable!!

PM

I was born and raised there, long before the lake was built. Like any River it had its up and down times. A boat is needed to get to good fly fishing shoals that aren't crowded. In the 70s they would feed the trout from the docks and their size was amazing. Illegal to do that now.