Tailwater · Limestone · Arkansas, US

Little Red River (Greers Ferry tailwater)

Little Red River at Lobo Access

The Little Red below Greers Ferry is central Arkansas's trophy-brown river, and it carries some genuine history — it once gave up a world-record brown trout, and the reach has held big fish ever since.

Today · About as good as it gets
Czech Nymph
Forecast · Today
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% projected
Today's fly
Czech Nymph
Czech Nymph
Conditions on the water · Today
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp11.8°C
ClaritySlightly coloured
Weather13°C
WindN 17 km/h
Pressure1034 hPa
Rain · recent0.2 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
12°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°

A dam sets this river's temperature, not the weather, so it can shift several degrees within hours when the release changes. It also warms as it runs away from the dam.

How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Eastern Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 68%
Also:Black Midge32%
Peak emergence window5 food groups active

Peak activity at 12pm — Eastern Blue-Winged Olive (Eastern Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Supporters see the full sub-surface read.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 as a supporter.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
SulphurHatch
2
3
2
Trico (Eastern)Hatch
2
3
3
2
Eastern Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Eastern Summer BWO (Drunella)Hatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Open all year
  • AGFC 2026 changes (effective 1 Feb 2026) affect the Greers Ferry tailwater — verify current rules against AGFC
  • Arkansas trout permit/licence applies.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Gallery · 2
  1. Little Red River at Lobo Access
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Little Red below Greers Ferry is central Arkansas's trophy-brown river, and it carries some genuine history — it once gave up a world-record brown trout, and the reach has held big fish ever since. It's a classic Ozark generation tailwater: cold, rich, and entirely at the mercy of the dam. Low water is technical wade fishing over gravel and weed with midges, sowbugs and scuds; generation is drift-boat water where the big browns move to streamers in the push and the low light. It broadens the Arkansas picture beyond the White/Norfork complex and gives Little Rock anglers a tailwater of their own. Same rule as all of them: know the generation schedule before you commit, because the river answers to the powerhouse, not the sky.

  • Limestone
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Supporting
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Little Red R.' (AR_11010014_014), 2022 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Fully Supporting. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · AR_11010014_014

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 84 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature96 × 28%26.9
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity64 × 12%7.7
Conditions total= 84
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Booking & contacts