July 7, 2009 | FISHING REPORT - LITTLE RED RIVER
UPDATE: July 11, '09 - According to the water release schedule from Southwestern Power Administration, water releases at Greers Ferry are to occur as follows: one unit at 4:00 pm for two hours on Saturday - one unit at 4:00 pm for two hours on Sunday and two units for six hours at 2:00 pm on Monday. This schedule is what we have been waiting on for a year and a half! Little Red Fishing Report: July 7, '09 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, told me last week that when the Greers Ferry Lake level reaches 463 feet above mean sea level, water releases would be reduced to 3500 day-second-feet from the 4500 d-s-f being released at the time of my conversation. I did the math and discovered that 463 would be attained on the Monday following the fourth of July weekend. I asked the Corp to consider reducing the releases through that weekend and catch up on release quantities the following Monday. Releases remained unaffected. In their defense, however, the lake level of 463 was achieved and, true to their word, releases were reduced to 3500 d-s-f. Tuesday morning, they released water at 11:00 am with plans to run until 11:00 pm. This means wade fishing opportunities abound on the Little Red. You can fish at JFK Park near the dam from 5:30 am until they blow the horn at 11:00 am, fish from dawn until 12:30 pm at Cow Shoal, until around 2:00 pm at Winkley (Swingin' Bridge) and until 3:30 pm at Libby walk-in access. I am hoping this continues until the lake level reaches 461.44 feet (top power pool) and then releases should only occur in the hottest part of the day (3:00-5:00 pm). At last!
In weeks past, I have written about water releases at the five impoundments that make up the White River system in Arkansas. In general, when water releases occur through the five dams, wade fishing in the tailwaters is impossible or unsafe and boating can be problematic. I have asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) to consider tourism when executing water releases because tourism is important to the Natural State, is the largest industry in America and, in my opinion, deserves consideration. I wrote Senator Blanche Lincoln and heard from her promptly. (I also wrote Senator Mark Pryor and never heard a peep). Senator Lincoln stated that she had forwarded my correspondence to the Little Rock District Corps of Engineers for comment. I later received a letter from Colonel Donald E. Jackson, Jr., district engineer with the Corps. In short, Colonel Jackson stated that tourism/recreation is not taken into account when scheduling water releases and never will be. He wrote that the lakes and rivers provided to us by the Corps of Engineers cost the tourism industry nothing and we should enjoy the recreative opportunities offered by the Corps and be happy with that. They will not lower high lake levels in the winter months in anticipation of spring rains because the regulations do not permit it. Colonel Jackson wrote, "Those of you who choose to live and operate a business in the reach downstream from a dam must accept personal risk for doing so and must understand at times your livelihoods will be interrupted by the operations of these dams. To reiterate, recreation is not an authorized purpose for making release decisions". I take unbrage with this last quote since it implies that I am only in this scrap for personal gain. It is true that I manage a fly fishing shop, but, this puts me in a position where I have my finger on the pulse of fishing tourism in Arkansas. I know first hand what the losses are to tourism due to the less-than-friendly water release protocols of the Corps and SWPA, something the Colonel doesn't know nor care about.
July is upon us and high temperatures should be anticipated. When it's hot and very humid, sweating does not cool you off. When the air already contains lots of moisture, it doesn't easily take up more moisture (your sweat) through evaporation. Painful muscle spasms may begin at any time (called heat cramps) mostly in your legs or abdomen. Eventually, you may grow weak, pale and clammy. Your pulse grows weaker. You may faint and vomit. If your inner temperature reaches 106 degrees fahrenheit, instead of sweating, your skin becomes hot and dry. Your heart is pumping franticlally, and your pulse is rapid and strong. You lose consciousness. Got your attention? What should we do, Jed? First of all, slow down. Avoid strenuous activity. Dress lightly. Eat lightly. Drink heavily (No, not that! Your body needs plenty of water). Get out of the sun. Find air conditioning. Even if it's in your vehicle, you need to get cool quickly. If you are near town, go into a public space such as a library or a mall.
Our aquatic insect hatches include midges, caddis, bwo and march brown mayflies. The sulphur hatch is waning and, although there are sporadic hatches of stoneflies and hexes, they are not pervasive enough to matter. Good dry flies to offer include midge (#22-#32 cream), adams (#18), march brown (#14), blue winged olive (#18-#20) and elk hair caddis (#16-#20 tan). Sub-surface flies that are catching trout include sowbug (#14 smokey olive, tan, uv tan or peacock), zebra midge (#16-#22 red or black), red or green @ss soft hackle (#14-#18), copper john (#14-#16 red, green or copper), San Juan worm (#14 red, fl. cerise or worm brown) and woolly bugger (#8-#12 olive, brown or black).
If you have questions about anything in this report, 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 from our web site: www.littleredflyshop.com. I'm Little Red Jed Hollan, mgr. <*((((><
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