Floating the Little Red
by Keith Weinstein

Conditions were excellent. Temperature about 45, expecting a high near 75. The wind was light as sunrise gave way to clear skies. With great anticipation we threaded our fly rods and waited for our guide to park the truck and join us. Our McKenzie-style drift boat waited in the water at the public access ramp at Lobo Landing. Today we would drift from Lobo to Dripping Springs, starting at about 8 a.m. and wrapping up close to 5 p.m. We liked our chances today on the Little Red.

We had never drift boat fished the Little Red before. Historically, on this and most Arkansas rivers, fly fishermen take to preordained, well-known areas of the river and wade their way up, down and across. The drill simply requires completely covering an area until it becomes too crowded or unproductive. At that point, one simply walks back to the car and drives to the next public access.*(See note below) For a fortunate few--those who know the right folks--private land access is a bonus that offers greater solitude.

So off we went with my good friend Andrew Miller in the bow. I took the stern, and our guide Jeff Hawthorne manned the oars. Jeff is brother to Tom, who is the owner of The Ozark Angler. Jeff, who I would personally recommend, is a fine guide with great knowledge of the river. He was also quite in tune with matching the hatch and knowing what works where. We started with sow bugs--size 16s--and within a half hour we started catching fish.

It's funny how things go, and it often happens this way…catch four or five fish…cast…float…float some more…cast some more…catch four more. And so it was as we worked our way toward Dripping Springs. By the time we stopped for lunch, we had seen numerous airborne performances and had to our credit two browns and a number of rainbows.

The afternoon yielded more of the same good results. The fly of choice became a blue wing olive emerger. We had seen numerous hatches as we floated, and Jeff was confident of his choice. Again, he was right on the money. By mid afternoon we were still having spurts and gaps, but we hit several back to back. By the time we reached Dripping Springs we had about all we could stand. In these waters, it is not unusual to catch twenty or thirty fish a day, and this Sunday in early October was right in line with 40 to 45 trout caught and released. A great day with a great friend.

About the River
Arkansas' Little Red River is a tailwater flowing out of a dam below Greers Ferry Lake at Heber Springs, which is about a 90-minute drive from Little Rock. This river has produced some of the most magnificent fishing in the world. In May of 1992, Howard “Rip” Collins caught a 40-pound, 4-ounce German brown trout on this river, and it still stands as the world record brown trout. In the name of full disclosure, he was using an ultra light with 4-pound test and a 1/32-ounce marabou jig.

*Note: Waders must keep a vigilant eye on a rock or a tree as water levels can rise unexpectedly on almost all Arkansas tailwaters. When water starts to rise, it is best to make sure you are close to shore or simply get out of the water. Rising water is quite dangerous. Unfortunately, water release is not published or regularly scheduled for the Arkansas tailwaters.

Click here to view the photos I took that day.

-- KW

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