Live Big on the Little Red
Low-Water Tactics
Mayfly nymphs, sow bugs, and midges make up the vast majority of the macroinvertebrates in the river, and you can almost always catch fish with patterns that imitate them. When you are wading and nymphing in low water (often sight-nymphing to large trout), sow bug imitations (#14-18, gray or tan) are the most effective flies, but don’t forget red Brassies (#18-22), Flashback Pheasant Tails (#14-18), Hare’s Ears (tan and gray in #14-18), Copper Johns (copper, red, and brass in #14-18), and the Red *** (#16-20). Also include an assortment of #18-22 Zebra Midges (red, black, cream, green, and brown).
When the water is low, wade quietly. Don’t flail at the water uselessly. If the sun is high, look for individual fish and stalk them carefully. In low light, choose your targets and make accurate casts from one knee to maintain a low profile.
Dry-Fly Fishing
With an abundance of subsurface foods, Little Red trout don’t feed on top as regularly as trout on some other waters. However, there are three strong hatches that bring trout to the surface and create classic dry-fly fishing caddis from mid-March through May; midge hatches all year, and especially good in the winter; and Blue-winged Olives (BWOs) from August until October.
For the caddis hatch, use #14-18 Elk-hair Caddis, Lawson’s Spent Caddis, and LaFontaine Emergent Sparkle Pupa patterns when trout focus on emerging caddisflies. Early in the season, the caddis hatch can last all afternoon, but to find the best dry-fly fishing, you need low-water flows.
According to guide Jed Hollan, manager of the Little Red Fly Shop in Heber Springs and author of the recently published book Fly Fishing the Little Red, midge hatches are especially heavy in January and February.
He says “Midge hatches during the winter months are so incredible that at times, anglers need masks over their mouths and noses to keep from consuming these tiny critters.”
During the hatch, subsurface midge pupa imitations such as Brassies, Zebra Midges, or Yong Specials often catch more fish than drys. However, when the fish really get working on the surface, it’s time to switch to a #18-22 Parachute Adams, Griffith’s Gnat, or other small dry fly.
Blue-winged Olives hatch in the spring (March and April) and again in the fall, starting in August and peaking in late September and October.
Both emergences can be excellent, but fall hatches coincide more regularly with lower water levels and better dry-fly fishing.
To find the best BWO fishing, concentrate your efforts on any of the shoal areas. Shoals provide the best mayfly habitat, have the highest numbers of trout, and provide wade-fishing opportunities where you can stalk rising trout in shallow water. BWOs hatch best in the afternoon, particularly on calm, overcast, rainy, or even snowy days.
To imitate these small mayflies, use #18-22 Parachute Adams or olive-body Sparkle Duns with a 5X or 6X tippet. Trailing a #18-20 Pheasant Tail or other unweighted small, dark nymph from the bend of your dry fly can sometimes make the difference between success and failure.
Little Red Access
John F. Kennedy Park, located downstream of Greers Ferry Dam, has a boat ramp and a ¾-mile, special-regulations, walk-and-wade area (artificial flies and lures only, with single, barbless hooks).
This area holds various water types, from shallow riffles to deep pools, and is known for big rainbows and the occasional brook trout. When electrical generation stops, this is the first place that becomes wadable because of its close proximity to the dam. Fly fishers often follow the low water as it moves downstream later in the day.
Inside JFK Park is the Collins Creek Trout Fishery Project—a man-made stream/tributary created and maintained for young or disabled anglers. Named after the late Rip Collins, the creek’s bridges and wooden fishing platforms provide easy access to some of the biggest (stocked) fish in the area.
Properly licensed adults may fish near the area in the lower reaches, but only if accompanying one of the fishers in the special area. It’s a great place for a child/parent outing because the terrain is easy, and the fish are within close casting distance.
Brook trout also spawn in this catch-and-release area, and there is good dry-fly fishing for small wild brook trout in the upper mile of the river.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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