Red Stick Fly Fishers Community Board

Our annual "March Brown" trip to the Little Missouri River in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is held in mid to late March.  For 2010, it will be the weekend of March 20-21.  Mid-March thru Mid-April is one of the most productive dry fly periods on the Little Mo, with solid hatches of the March Brown mayfly, some days with strong caddis.  The Little Mo is a year-round tailwater fishery for rainbow trout located in the beautiful Ouachita Mountains below Lake Greeson.  There is also a winter season trout stocking in the river above the lake, in the very scenic Albert Pike area, which usually has some holdover fish thru April. 

For complete information about the Little Mo, check out Jeff Guerin's website:  www.littlemissouriflyfishing.com  Jeff is a guide on the river and his site has details about the fishery, and info on the town of Murfreesboro.  For anyone who wishes to improve their casting, fishing techniques, or knowledge of trout, I highly recommend a guided trip with Jeff.  He is a fun guide to fish with and his rates are very reasonable.

The "Little Mo" is six and half hours from Baton Rouge, via I-49 to Shreveport, then north via LA-3 / Ark-29 to Hope, and from there, north either through Nashville or Prescott/Daisy.  March days can range from highs as low as 45 degrees to near-balmy 80 degrees.  For this reason, it's highly recommended you come prepared for all sorts of weather.  If you don't own waders, we strongly suggest breathables.  You can always layer up under breathables if it gets cold. 

We approach this trip completely different than the "Rainbow Coalition" trip.  Instead of woolybuggers and more woolybuggers, the fly selection will include mostly dries and emergers, with some midge patterns thrown in.  Mayfly imitations and the Elk Hair Caddis for that caddis hatch are musts!  And if you can get some of Jeff's famous A&W Emergers, you've hit gold!  While there's still good stocking in March, and those fish eat buggers, they quickly acclimate to the strong hatches the river offers.  Once you get hooked on dry fly fishing, it's a lifetime addiction!

The March Brown trip is set for the weekend of March 20-21.   Since members make their own accomodations, the dates are flexible to your needs, e.g., Fri-Sun, Sat-Mon, Thu-Tue, whatever.  The main purpose of setting a weekend aside is to allow for experienced anglers to work with novices and help them improve their skills at flyrodding and/or dry fly fishing for trout.

Also, be aware that while typically there is no generation on weekends, weekdays can have generation from all-day to a few hours in the morning.  Check Jeff's site for a link to the proposed generation schedule.  While the schedule can change due to runoff and other factors, it's been quite reliable for planning when to fish. 

Cabins for the area were booked out in December for this weekend due to this (one of two) Spring Break periods.  Motel rooms are available at Little Shamrock, Queen of Diamonds, and American Heritage Inn.  For those looking for a bargain room, I recommend the LS and AHI.  The QofD is the nicest of the three, and has a breakfast area in an old Victorian house upfront.   Closer to the dam, there is Swaha which has a lodge and cabins. It's not as convenient for breakfast and dinner, but it's an option.

If you're interested, send Catch an email  and give him your name. You'll be added to the email list for the March Brown trip. You are not committed to attend this trip, but if you do decide to go, you'll receive important updates regarding the trip, including generation schedules, latest reports, available lodging, travel routes, etc.

Also, to save gas and money, we'll try and team up on travel and accomodations.  Let me know if you have a partner / roommate lined up.  Thanks.