Heber Springs, Arkansas
On The Fly Freshwater
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February 2025
Article and photos by Jimmy Jacobs
The Little Red River in the Arkansas Ozark Region tends to be overshadowed by the White River into which it flows. That seems reasonable, since the White has a 100-plus mile tailwater trout fishery that has given up dozens of brown trout that topped the 30-pound mark. That is twice the length of the Little Red’s tailwater flow below Greers Ferry Lake.
On the other hand, the Little Red produced a former world-record brown of 40 pounds, 4 ounces. That monster was caught by Howard “Rip” Collins back in 1992. Also, the Little Red is a bit less intimidating for anglers that like to wade fish. Instead of the eight generates at the Bull Shoals Dam, Greers Ferry only has two. Of course, when both of those are roaring, wading the Little Red’s flow is a force to be respected.
For the most part, the angling on the Little Red is drifting action in boats. That is possible year-round, except when no generation takes place. Some spots get too shallow for drift boats at those times.
The brown trout in the Little Red River are streambred.
The Little Red is stocked with trout by the state of Arkansas and gets fish from federal hatcheries. All told, the river ordinarily received between 150,000 to 200,000 stockers annually. These consist mainly of rainbows, with some brook and cutthroat trout also released. The brown trout population is streambred. The fisheries managers have never stocked browns in the river. That population was established from stockings by individual anglers back in the 1970s. Additionally, brook trout are known to spawn in the river around the Collins Creek area up near the dam.
Expect to encounter the cutthroat trout downstream of Winkley Shoals.
When the Little Red turbines are not running, the river offers four good spots for access to anglers on foot. Those are the walk-in areas at Pangburn Shoals, Libby Shoals and Cow Shoals. The latter of these we covered in our article “Bovine” Trout in the Ozarks, back in October of 2023. The fourth location is the Barnett Access, which is arguably the most popular spot for wading on the river.
The Barnett Access is situated 10 miles below the Greers Ferry Dam, at the Wilburn Road (State Route 110) bridge over the river. On the upstream side of the bridge on the southeast shore, Barnett Park provides a paved parking lot and boat ramp on a deep pool. Downstream of the bridge Winkley Shoals offers a long stretch of wadable water. Just follow the main trail from the parking area that skirts the picnic area. There are several spots that provide easy access to the water. The area from Winkley Shoals downstream is where the cutthroat trout usually show up, though they are not abundant.
The deep hole upstream of the bridge attracts the boating and wading spin and bait anglers.
Due to the shoals, Barnett Park and the vista of Sugar Loaf Mountain to the northwest, fishing at Barnett Access provides a quite scenic experience. The quality of the fishing also measures up to that standard. This site is just downstream a bit from where Rip Collins caught his record fish and browns of over 20 pounds have been caught nearby as well. That being said, the staple of the angling here are rainbows in the 12- to 15-inch size range in the shoals.
Little Red trout are noted for their propensity for feeding on subsurface forage. Two of the most important of these are small crustaceans, specifically scuds and sowbugs. Imitations of the scuds should be size 14, while the sowbug flies should be smaller at size 16. Both of these are most prevalent around moss beds in the slower portions of the flow.
Though not overly common, there are some hatches on the river that are worth noting. If you are seeing rises, those periods are the only times that drifting dry flies proves very useful on the Little Red.
Midge hatches can show up any time. In March to April Blue-winged Olives appear, as well as in September and October. During the period of March to June, you may encounter some caddis hatches. Cinnamon Caddis patterns in sizes 16 to 18 are local favorites for this fishing.
As on any tailwater, it is a good idea to always be aware of your surroundings and the water level. Water levels on the Little Red can range from 20 cubic feet per second all way up to 7,500 cfs. When only one generator is running the range still is 2,500 to 4,000 cfs. The best time to find the low flows is on weekends. But, of course, those are also the times when the most anglers will show up at Banett Access.
Despite having to share the water with other anglers, there are plenty of trout to go around at this access point. All in all, it is a great location to put a bend in your fly rod.
