Little Missouri Fly Fishing

Go on line and read what is happening to the trout fishing all over Arkansas!!  Guess I was "Wrong Again" as my wife puts it 🤣.  Maybe the big kill had nothing to do with the work on the generators? What's happening at Norfork, Beaverdam, Little Red, etc. is exactly what happened here, we were just first to notice it, maybe!?  It doesn't look good for trout fishing all over Arkansas for the next year, even Dry Run Creek has been wiped out!!😞. More later after you read a while.

Thanks for the update Mike

Commission approves emergency order for trout tailwaters, limits temporarily curtailed
https://www.agfc.com/news/commission-approves-emergency-order-for-trout-tailwaters-limits-temporarily-curtailed/

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission approved an emergency order Oct. 16 that will temporarily cut back the daily trout possession limit in the state's four most significant, economically important coldwater fisheries due to reduced production capacity at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.

A loss of trout in the millions resulting from recent poor water quality at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-operated Norfork hatchery, combined with the early April flood on the Spring River and significant damage to the AGFC's Jim Hinkle State Fish Hatchery, raised a red flag about whether there would be enough stocked trout available for the four coldwater fisheries in the coming months.

The AGFC will likely skip or drastically reduce stocking for most of 2026, focusing on rebuilding brood stock first. They'll prioritize large, high-impact tailwaters (White, Norfork, Little Red) before smaller ones like Narrows. I hope I am wrong, but we may not see trout stocking in the Lil Mo for another 12-18 months.   

They did run the third generator for about a week while the construction crew was gone, apparently they had it fixed enough to do that. Now they are back to finish the job. They have brought in a lot of big iron!! I beams, crossbeams, V channels etc. and rebuilt the trash racks that keeps the debris from getting into the intake tubes and then into the generator itself. Lots of welding supplies and big nuts and bolts. It's big heavy stuff so should last the rest of my lifetime!!🤣🤣🤣.

Checked the water temperature a couple of days ago and it was 66 degreese at midday at River Ridge and Hinds bluff we are having some nights in the fifty's now so hopefully the temperature starts dropping in the river. The smell from the lake turning over has improved some but still has a little methane smell. Water is clear and the bottom is cleaning up some. Still very little sign of life from the meat hole to the dam and no vegetation there at all in the water.

Only 4 days until trout season starts on the Lil'Mo' if you go by the AGFC trout handbook. That's when you can start keeping trout again. This year there are NO trout (or other fish) in the river to keep. At least none in the upper one mile of river. The bait chunkers that always hit the wall at Riverside on opening day to harvest all the good carryover fish are really gonna be disappointed!! 

The "Arkansas Wildlife" magazine has another article on the conditions at the Spring River hatchery in the September/October issue. It's worth reading.  Don't think we will be getting any big fish from there this year!!😞☹️. Will be interesting to see where our fish come from and what size they are. Break out your attractor flies, it will be all new fish in the river, WHENEVER a they decide to stock!??

Hey Mike, did you ever find out exactly what they've been doing all this time???

That explains the 16 kwh's (instead of 24) on the schedule. Still just running the other two. 😏

They are waiting every day until the workers quit working on the dam to generate.  The Underwater Construction Company is back working on the third generator trash rack.

According to the SWEPCO charts it's supposed to be at 6:00. But that's about right with running just two generators.

Hey Dennis, best I can discern from the CORPS Rivergages site they've been releasing water every day around 5:00, but not for very long! 🤔

That's not all that of an unusual summer/fall generation pattern...

Fresh stockers literally won't care what you throw in there! Woolies, Clouser's, just about anything you feel good about.

It's too late for any good Light Cahill action. If there is a decent hatch (they usually peak in mid October) the fresh fish won't know what they are anyway. 😏

Midges will be the first aquatic of importance and there's usually plenty of those year round. A good sign of aquatic insect health will be the Little Black Winter Stoneflies in January. Stoneflies need high quality water conditions to thrive. If we're seeing those this winter we'll know things are in good shape.

In February the first March Browns should start showing, but they don't peak until all the way to early May. Caddis should be showing in March and throughout the summer.

So, I'm sure you're going to get all kinds of fly suggestions. 😎 Until spring, since there appears to be no educated fish, throw what you want! 😜