Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Tailwater
Species
Brown Trout (wild)
Rainbow Trout (stocked with
holdovers)
Brook Trout (stocked and wild)
Cutthroat Trout
(Stocked with holdovers)
Size
Medium width but 29 miles of trout
waters
Location
Middle Arkansas
Nearest Towns
Heber Springs
Little Rock
Season
Year-round
Special Regulations:
John F. Kennedy Park has a ¾-mile,
special-regulations, walk-and-wade
area (artificial flies and lures only,
with single, barbless hooks only).
Access:
Fair
Discharge Schedule:
Call (417) 336-5083
or (501) 362-5150.
Non-Resident License
State of Arkansas
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Little Red River, Arkansas – Fishing Report April 18, 2024
The stream is still flowing a little below a normal level and clear. Blue-winged olives, Cream and Red, or blood midges, Little Black Caddis and Little Brown Stonefly hatches are taking place. Our articulated streamers are catching some big ones. Scuds and Sowbugs are also working well.
Rate: 281 cfs
Level: 6.53 ft
Afternoon Water Temperature: 52
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data Near Dewey
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the link below for more detailed weather information)
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Cream and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Little Brown Stonefly: 12/14, nymphs and adults
Little Black Caddis, size 18, pupa and adults
Scuds: 14
Sowbugs: 16
Strategies, Techniques and Tips:
There is little change in the best approach to use. Be sure to check the TVA release schedule shown above.
Our Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers are excellent flies to use anytime.
Midges are hatching. Fish the pupa and larva in tandem for the best results.
Aquatic worms are working.
Hatches of various species of Blue-winged Olives are possible in the afternoons.
Black and Olive Matuka sculpin are good streamers to use.
Scuds and sowbugs work year round.
Fly Fishing On The Little Red River In Arkansas: The Little Red River is known for its fine brown trout fishing but it is also stocked with brook, cutthroat and rainbow trout. This river has some huge brown trout in its gin clear water. It’s cold, water comes from the Greer’s Ferry Dam at a temperature of about forty-seven degrees year-round. The river is located in Central Arkansas, not far from the more famous White River tailwater. Fly fishing the Little Red River can be as just as productive as fishing any tailwater in the nation. Anglers can crowd the many shoals in the river during the spring and early summer but the best fishing is actually in the fall when the brown trout start migrating upstream to spawn. The spawn starts about the middle of October and is over around the first of December. Trout can be caught from the Little Red River as far as thirty miles below the Greer’s Ferry Dam. It’s Collins Creek Tributary also has a good population of trout. The dam is controlled by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The river has a very good food supply for the trout including scuds, sowbugs, freshwater shrimp, leeches and snails. Fly fishing the Little Red River depends greatly on the discharges from the two turbines at the Greer’s Ferry Dam. The water can be low or very high and dangerous and change from one to the other in a very short time. The Little Red River can usually be fished from a drift boat year-round. Keep in mind the river’s flows are regulated by the powerhouse at the dam and it can become very swift and dangerous in certain areas when a lot of water is being released. Normally, the Little Red flows through long pools of water with many shoals. We recommend floating the highest discharges only with experienced guides or anglers.The first few miles below the dam has plenty of boulders. It can make it tough to float for small vessels such as canoes and pontoon type boats. There are some large, long pools downstream of the boulder filled section but below that, you will find other obstructions in the form of islands. Further downstream, there’s a series of shoals that can hinder larger boats, especially during low flows. Below the shoals, the river can be fished from a canoe. There are many shallow areas to deal with on low flows. Below the shallow areas you will find a long pool extending for about three miles. Downstream of the big pool, the river narrows down with long runs that flow into another section of shoals. Below that, there’s more deep pools that flows into a series of rapids. This area is just above the low water dam above Pangburn. The river again slows down and flows through another series of shoals.
Little Red River Fly Fishing Guide: The easiest access to the uppermost section is from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public ramp next to the Federal Fish Hatchery. Access Points. There are several other access points in the middle to lower section of the Little Red River.The state maintains the Barnett access at Winkley Bridge, Lobo Landing, Dripping Springs and Ramsay access. In addition, there are four other privately owned access points or launch ramps.There’s little access from the banks of the river in the middle and lower sections. Most of the property is privately owned and posted. The best way to fish these sections is from a boat.The water of the Little Red is very clear. Large, wise, old brown trout are nocturnal feeders and are not so easy to catch during the day. If you attempt to fish the river at night, the fog caused by the cold water will be a huge problem. It just isn’t safe to fish the river from a boat at night.Don’t get so excited about catching the big browns that you forget about the rainbows. More rainbows are caught than brown trout. Many of the browns that are caught are caught using conventional tackle. The combined stocking of both federal and the state of Arkansas amounts to 150,000 to 200,000 fish per year. They are stocked in over forty-five miles of water. In other words, there is no shortage of rainbows in the Little Red River.Most of the trout in the Little Red feed below the surface. Trout do feed on the surface at times, but it usually takes a large aquatic insect hatch for them to do so. Unless you see trout taking insects from the surface, we suggest fishing a nymph or streamer. Most of the river bottom is sand or gravel, with heavy moss in the deep areas. The heavy moss gives anglers problems.From the dam to Ramsey Access you will find plenty of public access where you can wade the Little Red. When wading, you should always be aware of rising water. The water can fluctuate as much as several feet in less than a few hours. You should pick out a landmark along the bank and keep track of the water level. If you see that it is rising, you should make certain you can easily get out of the water. The Greers Ferry Dam has two generators, and the flow rates range from 20 to 7500 cfs. When only one generator is operating, the flow ranges between 2,500 and 4,000 cfs. Generally, the best time to wade the stream is on the weekends. They normally generate less power than they do during the week. That’s also the time the river sees the most anglers.During the Spring, the flows are usually high. This is more to do with lake level control than electricity. In other words, the odds of being able to wade the river during the Spring months is low. When fishing from a boat during high flows, about the only option is fishing the banks using streamers.The brown trout reproduce naturally in the river. The original stocking of brown trout was done by individual anglers in the 1970’s. Descendants of those bucket stocked brown trout are what made the river famous.Brook trout also spawn successfully, mostly in the Collins Creek area. The cutthroat trout are not plentiful. They mostly exist downstream of Winkley Shoals.
Little Red River Hatches and Trout Flies: Other than midges, the Little Red River doesn’t have a huge number of hatches that occur but those it does have are very important. Blue-winged Olives are bi-brooded, and hatch in March and April and again in August, September and October. The best of these two BWO periods of hatches takes place in the Fall. Both times can be good but the low water levels of Fall offers the best dry fly fishing opportunities. BWOs hatch best in the afternoon, on calm, overcast, rainy, or even snowy days. Hatches during bright sunlight conditions are usually very sparse. We have caught a few trout sight fishing during low water levels during the Fall months when these small mayflies were hatching. That is one of the few times dry fly fishing can be excellent on the Little Red. You can also sight cast to fish using nymphs. This is often far more successful than using a dry fly. A BWO nymph imitations, hook size 18, is an excellent choice for this. Sow bugs and scud imitations also work well sight fishing for trout on the shoals. The most common and plentiful hatches that occur are the caddisflies. The hatches start in March and last through June. These consist mostly of net-spinning caddis called Cinnamon Caddis ranging in a hook size from 18 to 16. There are also some Green Sedges, hook size 16 and plenty of Little Sister Caddis. They are a hook size 18. Midges hatch during the entire year but become more plentiful and available for the trout to eat during the winter months. January and February are the top two months for midge hatches. Most of them are blood midges, or red midges. There are also plenty of cream and during the Spring, Light Green midges. Although more important during the Winter, midges are still the most plentiful source of food day in and day out. You should always have imitations of the larvae, pupae and adults. Most of the time, a double rig with a pupa imitation on the top and a larva imitation on the bottom works best. There is also a huge population of both scuds and sowbugs. Imitations of these crustaceans work year round. Most of the fully grown scuds are a hook size 14 and most sowbugs a 16. Leeches are also very plentiful in the Little Red River. Sculpins are very plentiful and a favorite food of both the rainbows and brown trout. There are plenty of minnows, mostly dace as well as thread-fin shad. The large brown trout will also feed on smaller size crayfish. Streamers that imitate the above items are excellent flies to use. Low light conditions are best for streamer fishing. High water conditions can also be good for streamer fishing. At times of high water, it may be the only option.