Little Missouri Fly Fishing

Fish were stocked on high water on 23 October, they ran the bunger valve until 28 October, scattering the fish all over the 6 miles of trout water!!  If you scatter a couple of thousand (I assume 500 at 4 locations) fish over 6 miles, well you do the math. 🤔. I caught a few fish at all access sites except low water bridge, I saw no sign of any fish being stocked there.  That's not unusual for this time of year. It's kind of a shame because the river is in better shape there than anywhere else. Very little silt, water temperature of 64 degrees and rather clear water. Guess most of the silt settles out up river. You have to cover a lot of water to catch a few fish, but there are fish in the river, we just need a few more stockings!!

As of 11:00 am today they are still shut down from any running water. They are building a ramp at the swimming area at Sawaha in order to load a crane on a barge,to assist in repairs on the trash racks. No way to tell when they might start bungering again, but I'll try to alert you as soon as I see running water. I heard a rumor that they will be working on this multi million dollar project for 13 months!! 😬😬.

The fish that were stocked range between 8 and 11 inches. Did catch one at Old Factory Site that ran 14 inches and was fat!  That's one of those that Melissa use to say was "at the head of the food chain" every time they put the little brown pellets in the fish tanks. They are healthy and have a lot of fight.

Again, I'll post as soon as I see more running water or more fish or have any relevant news.

Thanks Hen, will be seeing you soon.

Did you get to go fishing yesterday.

At 10:30 this morning they shut down the bunger valve. I can't say why they did it or for how long. The lake is at 539.24, that's 1.24 off the 538 that was projected. The river bed looks like the red river ran thru it!!!  Lots of red sediment, but the water is really clear and cold. This could be the start of the 123 million dollar project to repair the trash racks on the dam??  Gonna sample the newly stocked fish tomorrow.

At least we can now breathe when we step outside on the river. The smell coming from the bunger has been like rotten eggs for the past month. Really bad methane smell I guess, it would take your breath away.

Trout have now been stocked on the Little Missouri River, I THINK!!  at least my markers are gone off the stocking tubes at Hinds Bluff and River Ridge, guess someone could be messing with me 🤔. Also there are tire tracks at Riverside. Don't know about OFS and LWB, or Albert Pike.

They are still slow rolling the river and boy does it stink!!  You could fish some areas but it will be deep. You have to get your fly down to the bottom.

At least it's a start. FRESH DUMB FISH!!

‼️ 10/25/24:  I tried fishing today. I can't do it. Too fast and too deep for me. Maybe they will stop in 7 more days? (2 more feet down).  Water looks clear but bottom has a lot of rusty red sediment on it.

HEN what do you think, have plans on coming on November 4,5 ,6th.

Just to warn all you weekenders, as of 6:00 am this morning the bunger valve is open, the river is too high to fly fish and there has been no sigh of stocking that I've seen. Water temps are excellent at 56 degrees and the water clarity is good, they just need to add trout!! 

They have pulled the lake down about 3/4 foot in the past 36 hours of bungering!!  Another 4 feet to go means approximately another 8 days of constant flow. Just in time for trout season!!😤😤. Hope they get the trash racks fixed this time!! 

Will advise when I see any sign of stocking. Have had no word of anything happening at Albert Pike, just that the water level there is really low. We are kinda hurting for rain in this area. Remember that we are under a fire ban all over the Ouachita foot hills.

‼️ 10/20 @ 11:00 am:  they seem to be slow rolling the river, not a full river as it is when 3 generators are running. It's more than minimum flow so it's not fishable. The pull down started at 542.93, it's now 541:90, so only took about a foot off the lake in72 hours!! At this rate it will take 12 more days to get the other 4 foot off the lake. Still no fish have been stocked.

Thanks!

With drawing the lake down 5 feet will it improve or make the silt worse?

Today is the first day of the 2024-2025 trout season on the Little Missouri River and no there haven't been any trout stocked as of 12:30 today. Also, never mind the rumor I passed on yesterday, they still have not started pulling the lake down! Just can't trust the Corp. There were 4 people on the wall at Riverside wondering where the trout are??  I told them they all got "poched" before they got there 🤣🤣🤣.

They have not started repairs on the dam. It will take about 10 days solid running the bunger valve to get the lake down another 5 feet. Could start anytime, or not 🤔🤔.

The water temperature is about 60 degrees up and down the river so no problem for the Arkansas Game and Fish to stock anytime. The water clarity is really good as long as you don't drag you feet on the bottom. Still a lot of silt there. I seem to have lost all my contacts so will just have to keep checking the stocking sites to know when we get fish. Will let you know as soon as I know.

‼️  10/17 at 1:00 pm: they opened the bunger valve and it's a full river. No sigh of any fish being stocked. River is only fishable from the bank— HIGH WATER!!   If this is the start of the 5 foot pull down, it will last about 10 days, assuming no rain.

And yes, it will add more silt from the bottom of the lake, but maybe it will wash away some of the old stuff??