Fishing Report 5/19/2006

[John Berry]

I met a couple of clients at the Red River Fly Shop yesterday (a great place to start free coffee, great hospitality and good location at swinging bridge). They had never fly fished so we started with a quick fly casting lesson. We walked into the swinging bridge area and started with soft hackles. We caught a couple but the going was slow. We changed over to sowbugs and immediately started catching a bunch of fish. We ate a late lunch because we hated to leave the action. We sat at a picnic table in the shade at the fly shop and relaxed for a few minutes and then headed back in for the afternoon. The going was slow. We tried a few differant flies and finally settled on a copper zebra midge. It was really working and we ended up catching several fish. Though we caught large numbers(we didn't count), we didn't catch any large fish. We had a great time and plenty of action.

[Don]

Good to hear they're biting down there. I loved both trips to the Little Red last year and those at the Little Red Fly Shop were hospitable and helpful. There you can see the fiberglass mount of the world record brown.....HUGE! Camping is great at JFK park and we caught fish right below camp each time as well as Winkley Shoals. Most fish each time were from red butt soft hackles and sowbugs. I hope to go again this year.Little Red is a beautiful place.

Good Fishing,

Don

[John Berry]

You need to fish the catch and release section below the dam. It is loaded with Brookies and according to the AG&F biologists the brookies are reproducing naturally. Yes that means wild brookies. My wife, Lori, and I got into them last winter and had a spectacular day.

[ecce38]

The trout sure do love the sowbug on this river! I'm bringing a bunch this weekend.

[John Berry]

I was writing an article about this yesterday. It seems that the sow bugs have all but disappeared on the White and Norfork. However, the Little Red is loaded with them. In fact it is my understanding that the sow bugs account for over 50% of the trout's diet on it. It should be noted that the sow bugs are the major food source on Dry Run Creek also.

[Danoinark]

John, do you think the decline of the sowbug on the White / Nofrok is due to the loss of vegetation and pollutants?

Dano

[OnTheFly]

An interesting article from a couple of years ago.

http://flyanglersonline.com/features/ozark/ozark101104.html

[John Berry]

Dano,

I am not a biologist, just a fishing guide. It does seem to me that we do not have as much coon tail moss as we used to. There are some University of Arkansas doctoral candidates that are doing some really detailed studies on food sources on the White and Norfork for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. They are scheduled to talk about their preliminary results at the Mid South Fly Fishers Expo. I am going to be there to present a seminar and I will try and talk with them about this subject. They are much better informed than I and they have been studying these streams for months. Articles have been written but I would be more interested in reviewing the scientific data before I draw any conclusions.

[Danoinark]

Thanks John it will be interesting to hear what they have to say.

Dano

[ryan]

John talk of the little red and Greers ferry bring about fond memories, that is my favorite area and bodies of water. The fishing is world class both lake and river. One thing I have noticed in the years of fishing the little red is that a giant portion of the trouts diets seem to be sow bugs but an even greater portion seem to be aquatic snails. Just wondering why they were not mentioned as a large food source?