It may seem crazy to plan a late-winter trout-fishing junket in the Ozarks. Temperatures are likely to be frigid in January and February, requiring lots of warm clothing to stave off the mountain cold. But this time of year, you’re likely to see few other people on the rivers where trout are abundant, and as a result, wildlife such as eagles, elk and waterfowl are more likely to be out and about, adding spice to a memorable day of fishing.
The water will be freezing cold, but that doesn’t deter rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout from biting. These colorful gamefish feed actively throughout the cold months. And, on most productive fishing days, savvy anglers who know the best ways to tempt these fish are likely to catch dozens ranging from 1 to several pounds apiece.
There are other places to fish for trout as well. But the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, through an aggressive stocking program and innovative, intensive management, has developed some of the world’s finest trout fisheries in the following three rivers in the north Arkansas Ozarks. When visiting these scenic streams this season, experts and novices alike can catch a few fish for dinner, try for the trophy of a lifetime or simply enjoy catching and releasing a bunch of fish.
The Little Red River
The Little Red is a stream of contrasts. This popular trout stream near Heber Springs runs crystal-clear and ice-cold, and is skirted by scenic hardwood hillsides alive with wildlife. Yet on the Little Red, there is no feeling of backcountry solitude like you find on many famous trout waters. You’re rarely out of sight of boat docks and houses; you’re seldom beyond the earshot of other anglers.
The trout you catch in the Little Red are mostly hatchery fish. Few will ignore offerings of whole-kernel corn, night crawlers or cheese, and on a good day, you might catch 50 or more 9- to 12-inch rainbows, cutthroats and brook trout.
There are wild fish, too — big bruiser brown trout, sleek and magnificent, that spawn on tumbling river shoals each fall. And there are fish for fly fishers — long, lean trout gone feral after years of freedom, trout that will wolfishly inhale an olive midge or pheasant-tail nymph if presented just so; trout that offer more challenge than your typical grocery-eating stocker. They’re here, and there are lots of them.
The trout-fishing stretch of the Little Red is relatively small — 29 river miles from the Greers Ferry Dam to Pangburn. But the Little Red is anything but little in the hearts of trout fishermen. This stream has a big reputation and is now touted as one of the finest trout streams in the world. That’s partially because the Little Red produces big trout. To use the foremost example, on May 9, 1992, Howard “Rip” Collins of Heber Springs landed a mammoth 40-pound, 4-ounce brown trout that was, for many years, the all-tackle world record.
The river gets pretty crowded at times, but even then, it’s not difficult to find a good fishing hole. You may be within sight of six or eight boats, but it’s not often you’ll have much trouble catching your limit of trout. Finding good trout fishing on the Little Red is usually a cinch.
The White River
To many trout-fishing enthusiasts, the White River is sacred water. Never mind that it’s in the South and not the West. Try to forget that most anglers passing by in the long green johnboats with movie-directors’ chairs are casting corn and marshmallows instead of hand-tied flies. These things don’t matter because the White is quite possibly America’s best trout river in terms of the number and size of fish the water produces.
The most popular section is the Bull Shoals tailwater, a 92-mile stretch from Bull Shoals Dam to Guion. Trout fishing is also excellent in the 8-mile stretch of trout water below Beaver Dam between Eureka Springs and Gateway.
Big browns are the main attraction. Three- to 5-pounders are common, and browns running 10 to 30 pounds and more are always a possibility.
Rainbows are the White’s bread-and-butter trout. At times, nearly every cast will produce a 9- to 16-inch fish. The pure joy of a White River fishing trip is that everybody can — and usually does — catch rainbow trout here year-round.
Cutthroats and brook trout are also present, thanks to stepped-up stocking efforts by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Smashing strikes are followed by bulldogging runs. And it’s always amazing how a trout can hit a lure 10 feet underwater and, the next instant, perform aerial acrobatics that would put an Olympic gymnast to shame.
Any trout-fishing method can be applied here with success, but most visitors opt for a float-fishing excursion. The standard White River rig is a long, lean johnboat equipped with captain’s chairs for fishing comfort, a drink cooler amidships, a 20-horsepower motor for the trip upriver at day’s end, and a guide who knows every riffle and pool. Float-fishing was refined to its truest form here by guides floating trout anglers through emerald-green pools walled by limestone bluffs that curve to the sky.
The North Fork River
Its official name is the North Fork of the White River, but in typical cut-to-the-chase Ozark fashion, the locals over the years shortened the name to the much simpler “Norfork.”
Whatever you call it, you might be inclined to think of it as an insignificant part of Arkansas’ trout fishery. Its brief 5-mile run from Norfork Dam to the main channel of the White River doesn’t seem like it would be very important, compared to the 92 miles of trout water on the White below Bull Shoals Dam.
But if you think that way, you’re wrong. This 5-mile stretch of water has produced thousands of 10-pound-plus brown trout, including a 34-pounder and a 38-pound, 9-ounce former world record. The current state record brook trout (5 pounds) also came from the North Fork. And like other Ozark trout waters, there are plenty of rainbows as well, with 10- to 14-inch specimens exceedingly abundant.
Another high-quality fishery in the area is Dry Run Creek, the outflow of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. This short stretch of nutrient-rich water has an excellent trout population, and the site has been set aside as a special catch-and-release stream for properly licensed disabled anglers and for kids younger than 16. Only artificial lures with a single, barbless hook may be used, and fishing is from sunrise to sunset only.
The North Fork is one of the brightest jewels in Arkansas’ trout-fishing crown and is worthy of your attention.