Bows And Browns

[marcusearlt]

We got out for a little while the other day and landed a few trout. They were hungry for about 30 minutes and then they shut off. A very substantial hatch of something went off for what seemed like hours towards the evening but I severely lack bug identification skills. There was a good ratio of Brown and Bows. The Little Red is still one of my favorite places to be. Here is some of the fish my girlfriend and brother caught on sow bugs.

[LittleRedFisherman]

Nice!! Possibly the best, but least mentioned trout river on this site! It's been to long since I've been down there, hope to fish it some with my Father in law while down there for Christmas!!

I"m with ya on the bug ID, from what I hear hard to go wrong with a sow bug on that river! Great Job!

[marcusearlt]

You're right, it is a great river. Now I am a fan of ALL rivers in general, but a as anyone who has spent much time on the LR knows the LR starts to play tricks on your mind after a while. You'll find yourself thinking about all the time. It's just one of those places for me I guess. I have been all over that river at all different times of day and year with many different people while in a lot a of different boats and at every shoal and hole there is, sometimes fish less even. I have seen some wild things there and have really, now that I look back, went through with some really risky choices in different situations. to try and get my line tight. I guess that may be part of it's appeal to me. It has given me so much yet when I don't fully recognize it's strenght it reminds who's in charge. I am sure all us fisherman got that whole thing going on with this body of water or that one. Us fisherman got a serious case of somethin' going on here with these fish!

So LRF, does your father in law live in the Heber or Pangburn area?

[LittleRedFisherman]

Oh I hear ya, I've done and seen some wild things in the pursuit of a fish. Running with barges on the Mississippi In a 46 inch bottom boat is probably the craziest! lol I've really just touched the surface on that river, there many places I've yet to try, I usually fish in the Lobo Landing area, because it closest to my IN Laws, (Searcy). I did put in at JFK last winter and floated down past Lindseys, pretty good water! Caught my first Brook where the two channels come back together before Lindseys. I named my username after that river, and now don't fish it much lately, in the past years ive got into smallmouth, and fish rivers closer to home, but always try to hit the Little Red when we are down that way!!

[Ham]

Ha LRF! I've spent a few days on the Mighty Mississippi around BR and below in a 42 inch flat bottom amongst giant sea going ships.

Ain't scared of any barge, but you'd better pay attention !

[hoglaw]

Marcus, were you guys fishing on the Friday of Thanksgiving Weekend? We tried to float from swinging bridge to our place (below Lobo) by canoe. The water was LOW, and we hadn't even made it half way when it got dark so we took out at a friend's dock in the cooter neck neighborhood. It has been years and years since I have been on that stretch. I forgot how good the Little Red can really be, and there is so much great water in that area that is really only accessible by canoe. We found a pod of giants that were surfacing but couldn't get any to bite. We caught a few nice fish but mostly stockers. My fiancee had a really good one hooked not too far below swinging bridge but it jumped off.

It was a real pain in the rear scooting those canoes down through all of the shoals. You couldn't have done it with even a light john boat. That would have been a nightmare. We normally float from Cow to Swinging Bridge or from JFK to Cow, but since we were doing an afternoon float (and the good fishing on both of those floats is at the beginning), we opted for the Swinging Bridge - down float. My stepfather has a square stern canoe with a little outboard that's perfect for motoring through the deep pools out there.

[LittleRedFisherman]

Marcus, were you guys fishing on the Friday of Thanksgiving Weekend? We tried to float from swinging bridge to our place (below Lobo) by canoe. The water was LOW, and we hadn't even made it half way when it got dark so we took out at a friend's dock in the cooter neck neighborhood. It has been years and years since I have been on that stretch. I forgot how good the Little Red can really be, and there is so much great water in that area that is really only accessible by canoe. We found a pod of giants that were surfacing but couldn't get any to bite. We caught a few nice fish but mostly stockers. My fiancee had a really good one hooked not too far below swinging bridge but it jumped off.

It was a real pain in the rear scooting those canoes down through all of the shoals. You couldn't have done it with even a light john boat. That would have been a nightmare. We normally float from Cow to Swinging Bridge or from JFK to Cow, but since we were doing an afternoon float (and the good fishing on both of those floats is at the beginning), we opted for the Swinging Bridge - down float. My stepfather has a square stern canoe with a little outboard that's perfect for motoring through the deep pools out there.

Hoglaw, have you ever fished what they call down there... Jacks Shoal? It's between Lobo and Dripping. Went up there on time in low water and was impressed!

[hoglaw]

I'm not sure. Our place is right where a creek comes into the river about a mile down from lobo, on the other side. I'm sure we have run the boat down there before. We used to fish it a lot by boat, but we canoe it most of the time anymore. We float from Dripping/Pangburn to Ramsey quite a bit, and the floats I mentioned before.

My mom got a sign recently that will be put up on our property and it's going to be painted like a game and fish sign. It's going to say "Shearpin Shoals". There's a little rise just in front of our dock that absolutely smokes motors as folks ride down through there at wide open throttle. We used to sit on the dock and watch them do it all day long without saying a word. Now we're wondering how long we have to have the sign up before it makes it into the Corps' or AGFC's maps.

[LittleRedFisherman]

Oh yeah, I know right were your talking about, it wasn't to far below that my father in law caught his first nice Brown down that way! It's a shallow spot that doesn't last long then gets deeper again like a lot of that water is around lobo. Jacks Shoal, is further down a few miles, it was recently named after a fellow that has lived on the river along time, he fishes 360 days a year if I remember the story correctly, I met him once on a cold day above Dripping, lives eats and breathes that river. May have to hook up with ya'll sometime when your down there as well, awesome brown trout river!

[marcusearlt]

LRF- ya you can catch a couple Brookies every now and then. According to this webpage,http://wildtroutstreams.com/streams/arkansas, Collins creek at JFK is the only place in Ar that supports a wild population of Brooks so ya they are there. In fact, a know a guy who just caught a 5.08 lb Brooke a few weeks ago. Caught it off a sow bug at JFK. He is always catching some big fish down there. Only about 2 or 3 guide services down there and really not a lot of pressure except at the public access places so if you are in a boat or know people with houses near some good spots it is easy to get away from the crowd. If am I going back down there this Christmas between semester I'll let you know how I'm catching them, and heck maybe we'll get some generation and throw some rogues at 'em! BTW, I'm scared now just thinking about being in a fishing boat on the Mississippi, that's wild! That place your talking about between Lobo and Dripping is one my favorite spots. It's called Mossy Shoals and it's always good for a couple fish.

Hoglaw- Ya, we fished Wednesday and Friday. We have permission to walk in to the island, maybe Charlie's island?, on the SE side of Sugarloaf mountain. It's just down from Barnett's(Swingin' Bridge) so I'm sure you've fished it a bunch before. I always catch a brown there on river right. I've done that stretch a couple times and you're right, a canoe is the ideal vessel for it. Or maybe a drift boat would do well, but I have never been in one so that is just a guess. We also went to a spot we can access on Coooterneck and got skunked. We just didn't see any fish down there. I guess they were all up stream for some spawning related activities perhaps, they just weren't around down there. But ya, those shoals were crazy right now due to low water. I have been drifting some bugs for a while now so I'm ready to throw some meat soon! I know the LR is going to gave up a 10 lber this winter, I can feel it. Sounds like your fiancé is becoming quite the angler and that's awesome. Really cool being able to bring the better half with rather than always saying bye to them. My girlfriend loves it when we get out there and get into some fish, it just takes some convincing to get her out there sometimes! I'm thinking Shearpin Shoals sounds like it's right between Wagon Wheel and Gary Green's property.