August 4, 2009 | FISHING REPORT - LITTLE RED RIVER
Little Red Fishing Report: Aug. 4, '09 Water releases at Greers Ferry are occurring daily and in the afternoons.
Recent rain events elevated the lake level to 462.1 feet above mean sea level. The preferred maximum is 461.94 feet amsl (top power pool). Scheduled releases should have the level back down to "pool" any day now. At that time, I suspect we will return to short, mid-afternoon releases untl the next rain event. The water coming through the turbines is a chilly 53 degrees fahrenheit with a dissolved oxygen content averaging 7.6 mg/l. Good numbers for this time of year.
The habitat improvement project planned by the AG&FC in 
the catch and release area of the White River below the Bull Shoals Dam has been postponed until August 17th. (Bull Shoals Dam pictured) Low water in the river will be required for the two month operation. I am sure that anglers of all stripes are eager for the low water that this operation promises. It's been over a year since they have been able to enjoy friendly angling conditions on the White River. If they don't get started by the seventeenth, however, the project may have to be postponed until next year. The traditional brown trout spawn begins in October and the shoal in question is the biggest one on the White River for that spawn.
The traditional fall Little Red River cleanup is scheduled to occur on Saturday, the 12th of September from 8:00 am until noon. Your local chapter (#722) of Trout Unlimited is sponsoring the event and the Ozark Angler in Heber Springs will be your host. The Angler is located at 659 Wilburn Rd. next to Sugarloaf Baptist Church. If you want to participate, get your trash bag and river area assignment from them or the Little Red Fly Shop that morning, return your "collectibles" to the Angler at noon and they will provide a free lunch for you. If you have a boat, please bring it with you or plan to use it. The last river cleanup produced about two pickup truck loads of trash including a lawnmower engine, 2 hammers, 2 spinning reels, one cow's skull, a tackle box with lures, 2 garbage cans, a roll of chicken wire and more.
When I say the fishing in the Little Red is good, I ain't telling it like it is. It's crazy good! Last week, five of our male clients went on a full day guide trip with three of our guides in their boats. The guys were all good friends and stayed together in a flotilla all day. I am sure comments were made back and forth all day such as, "You cast like a girl!" (my apologies to all women of the opposite sex). The competition was heated as each angler struggled to outdo the others. At the end of the day, the fish tally was 462 trout caught and released! Did I say crazy good? How about insane?
My wife, Pam, and I love to drift fish the Little Red between Dunham and Mossy Shoal. There are no boat docks or houses there and the wildlife is abundant. Last week, as we drifted serenely into that area, we noticed a raucous noise that hadn't been there before. Upon inspection, we discovered a large diesel engine running wide open on the left bank of the river with hoses descending down into the low water. It was a pumping station taking water from the river to be used in the fracking process for natural gas extraction in the Fayetteville Shale Play. The sound of that big engine simply ruined the tranquility of the area and my wife became livid. On returning to the fly shop, she got on the telephone and started calling every agency she could think of. She learned that the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission was not in charge of that engine, neither was the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality nor the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In the end, she discovered that the placement of that engine was under the control of a contractor acting on a permit from the Natural Resources Commission. She complained to the commission and, guess what? The engine was promptly removed and the man who had stationed the engine in that area came to the fly shop to apologize and explain. Turns out he had no idea that the area in question was so popular with anglers. He figured that, since no one lived on the river there, it would be no problem. Special thanks to that man, James Keathley of ABT Land Services, Inc. for his sincere concern.
Aquatic insects are still coming off most days but in smaller numbers. I am seeing mostly midges and blue winged olive mayflies with only a smattering of caddis. Good dry flies to use include adams (#18), bwo (#18-#20), hopper pattern (#10) and midge (#22-#32 cream). Other productive flies include sowbug (#14-#16 tan or smokey olive), zebra midge (#16-#22 red, copper or black), San Juan worm (#14 red, fl. cerise or hot pink), red @ss soft hackle (#14-#18) 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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