September 1, 2009 | FISHING REPORT - LITTLE RED RIVER
Little Red Fishing Report: September 1, '09 Update: 9/4/09 - Water releases are scheduled to occur at 2:00 pm on Saturday for three hours with one partial unit in operation (35 mwH), at 6:00 pm on Sunday and Monday with only a fraction of one generator on line. This is "fish water" folks and it doesn't get any better than that. Ya'll come! Hydroelectric power generation at the Greers Ferry facility continues with small, mid-afternoon water releases. I spoke with Southwestern Power Administration in Tulsa, OK the other day and was assured that the present protocol will continue until we get heavy rains or we have a big spike in day time temperatures. (A release occurred at 5:00 am Tuesday for three hours because the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission requested water for trout stocking purposes). Water releases at Norfork, Beaver and Table Rock Lakes are small and after lunch. The Bull Shoals power house is being used to regulate the flow of hydropower to the grids by releasing small amounts of lake water 24 hours per day. Our river water is clear and cold. The average temperature of the water coming through the dam is 56 degrees fahrenheit with an average dissolved oxygen content of 7.0 parts per million. Using the standards "poor", "good" or "excellent", I would rate the fishing here as "good".
I spoke with the resident engineer's office at Greers Ferry and was told that there is some progress in obtaining a better telephone system that reports power generation activity at the facility. I had asked them why we don't have the cool deal that the Bull Shoals and Norfork reporting number has, that is, you never get a busy signal. I don't know when it will happen but they are working on it. Yea!
The Trout Unlimited fly fishing film tour and the Little Red River cleanup are two events in the future that will appear in this report until the events occur. I apologize for the weekly reminders but, to me, the two activities are sufficiently important to merit repetition.
The Little Red River Action Team chapter 722 of Trout Unlimited in Heber Springs is hosting the 3rd annual fly fishing film tour in Little Rock. The event is a fund raiser for the chapter and will occur at the Clinton Library & Museum at 7:00 pm on October 10th. Doors will open at 5:30 pm. The tickets are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the door. There will be finger food, a cash bar and TU merchandise for sale. This highly popular two hour mini-film festival features exciting segments from the sport's best filmmakers shot in foreign destinations like Papua New Guinea, Russia, Belize as well as domestic waters from California and Colorado to southern Louisiana and the Florida Keys. The films offer a great blend of sensational footage, hilarious comedy, poignant commentary and some of the largest and most impressive fish ever caught! The Fly Fishing Film Tour is an opportunity for fans of fly fishing to come together to celebrate their sport and support the Little Red River Action Team chapter of Trout Unlimited. The ticket sales are the fund raiser and will be available from TU board members as well as at the Little Red Fly Shop, Ozark Angler in Little Rock and Heber Springs, Lobo Landing, Lindsey's Rainbow Resort and Holland's Exxon in Heber Springs. Donations to the chapter will also be most welcomed. To learn more, please visit www.flyfishingfilmtour.com.
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. (Hwy.110 East) next to Sugarloaf Baptist Church. If you want to participate, get your trash bag and river area assignment from the Ozark Angler 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.
Arkansas is blessed with beautiful and abundant water resources. Did you know that, within the borders of our state, there are over 9,000 miles of rivers and streams! One of them, the Little Red River, is famous for having produced the largest German brown trout ever caught by man (40 lbs. 4 oz!). Our  beloved Buffalo River was the first "National River" in America (pictured). These waterways provide abundant wildlife habitat and inspiring scenery within short driving distances from anywhere in the state. We need to do everything possible to protect these valuable assets for future generations.
Trout eat the widest range of foods of any other game fish. They eat their own eggs, aquatic insects (mayflies, midges), terrestrial insects (grasshoppers, crickets), minnows (baby trout too), worms (earthworms, bloodworms), crustaceans (freshwater shrimp called scuds, snails), shellfish (crawfish), amphibians (frogs, salamanders), rodents (mice) and reptiles  (lizards, snakes). Their number one food source is an isopod (sowbugs - pictured). They are like the raccoons of the fish world! Their latin name should be eatis anythingis (a term borrowed from a Road Runner cartoon). It can be difficult to tie and fish with an artificial rodent or reptile so we usually fish with hand tied flies that imitate the insects that are hatching at that moment. It's called "matching the hatch".
(Sowbug pictured taken by Larry Jernigan, a great Nature Photographer in Heber Springs)
The bug hatches (trout food) along the river these days remain small and daily. Blue winged olive mayflies and midges make up the majority of the insects "coming off". A few good dry flies to try are midge (#22-#32 cream or black), adams (#18-#20), bwo (#18), crackleback (#14) or hopper patterns (#10). If you are fishing below the surface, tie on a sowbug (#14-#16 uv tan, uv light gray or smokey olive), chronic (#14), red @ss soft hackle (#14-#18), zebra midge (#16-#22 red, black or copper), San Juan worm (#14 red, fl. cerise or worm brown) or woolly bugger (#8-#12 olive, black or brown).
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 which is www.littleredflyshop.com. I'm Little Red Jed Hollan, mgr. <*((((><
|
 |
Past Reports
|
