Greers Ferry Lake continues to hover near the top flood pool level of 487 feet above mean sea level. The current level is 485.8 feet. The U.S. Corps of Engineers tells me that our flood gates will be opened if flood pool is reached. Unless flood pool is attained, however, there are no plans to use our gates for drawing down the lake. The rain gauge at my house in Heber Springs said I got four inches of rain last Friday morning. The Corps, however, says that only 1-1 1/2 inches fell in the watershed surrounding our lake. If it had rained around the lake like it did at my house and at the shop, our flood gates would have been opened and our river would have been scoured. Whew! Meanwhile, water releases continue around the clock averaging the equivalence of one full generator. Larger releases are desired, but the White River is still too high in certain locations downstream. More water would only make things worse. Farmers along the White River are anxiously waiting for their fields to dry so they can plant their crops.

The Greers Ferry facility is being regulated using the White River gauge at Georgetown, Arkansas (below Augusta). The White is at 23 feet on that gauge now but 19 feet is preferred. Restricting water releases from our reservoir will be required until the White River falls to 19 feet. On May 15th, the new target level becomes 16 feet and will be the preferred level at Georgetown until November 30th. It depends on the intensity of the rain events over the coming months, but, I will go out on a limb and predict that normal operations at our dam will resume around Labor Day.

Fishing the Little Red River in high water is definitely possible from a boat. Our guide trips at the shop are continuing and trout are being caught and released. Be sure to wear your personal flotation device if you launch a boat. Safety is paramount. Sub-surface flies are more productive in high water than fishing with dry flies. The sub-surface flies that are working the best include san juan worms (#14-#18 peach, orange or red), gold ribbed hare's ear (#14-#16), copper john (#14-#16 red or green), sowbug (#14-#16 light gray or tan), zebra midge (#16 red or chartreuse) or wooly bugger (#4-#12 olive or brown). Most any heavy fly that is brightly colored or has flash will work. If you elect to tie on a dry fly, try an elk hair caddis (#14-#16 tan), adams (#18-#20), midge (#22 cream or black) or American march brown (#14). Dries work best when presented to the trout during a hatch.

A change of tactics and rigging is necessary when fishing water that is not wadeable. Here is one idea for an effective rig when fishing high water. Attach a short tapered leader to your fly line (5X - 6'). Attach about ten feet of 4 pound test leader material to the end of your tapered leader. Fluorocarbon is better than monofilament because it sinks four times faster and is less visible to the fish. Tie on a peach or orange san juan worm (#14). Attach enough weight about 12 inches above the fly (AAA shot) to get the worm down to the stream bed. Put a large indicator (grape size or bigger) to float this rig being sure it ls located on your line so that your weighted fly is on the bottom where the fish are. This set-up has been producing several dozen trout per day.

Trout are opportunists. They will invariably leave strong current for the comfort of slack water. Casting to the bank or into eddies is sometimes called "pocket-water fishing" and works best when fishing in high water.

If you have questions about anything in this report, please direct them to me at the Little Red Fly Shop of Heber Springs, Arkansas. My numbers are #888-442-4022 toll free or #501-887-9988. You can send an e-mail to me at shop@littleredflyshop.com. I'm Jed Hollan, mgr.