Flood gates Closed!

If you haven't already heard, the Corps cut off the flood gates yesterday. We are about 5 feet from power pool and they plan on running two units until we get there. It was the first chance I had to go fish and I took it! Jamie and I put in and just started fishing our way down. We caught several nice rainbows right off the bat. We had several really nice browns take swipes on our flies, but we were both having a hard time getting them to stay connected. We ended up only being able to fish for about and hour and a half, but we had a blast. This brown was the last fish I caught. He was fat, mean, and hungry!

Nothing says Love like gift certificates and cool JRFFA Clothes....

Can't figure out what to get the Angler who has it all? I've got your solution. A Full or Half day gift certificate and or some cool Jamie Rouse Fly Fishing Clothing! We have a hip new logo and you don't want to be without. We have Capilene style, moisture wicking, Black long sleeve T's. Highly breathable Moisture wicking cotton long sleeve T's. Several different style hats, such as bamboo fiber, trucker style, and OGIO brand. Don't forget the bitter chocolate Hoodies too! Give me a call at 501-691-9285 for questions regarding prices! Happy Holidays! See you on the RIVER!

DYNAMITE!

Not too long ago, I took a good friend of a friend and his three boys fishing. Logan and his son John were in my boat. It was a group trip with Jamie and it was just a beautiful day. We started out having a little casting school and competition before the day got started. John who is 8 years old had never fly fished. The water was high so we had several challenges to face. John made a few casts and caught the first couple of fish and was loving it. After a while the bite slowed down and he said he wanted to change his fly. He wanted to choose it, so I let him pick. A few casts later he said, " I wonder who is going to catch the next fish" and BAM, he starts getting excited. I look over and his 5wt rod is bowed in half. I see this monster 22 inch brown come to the surface! He landed this fish in about 1 minute flat and he ate the fly he picked out! It was awesome. We saw eagles and took a long lunch. The boys and their dad got to bond. It was an awesome experience getting to see this magic take place!

JRFFA Exploration

Thursday Jamie, Chris and I set out on an exploration of some new trout fisheries. What we found was an amazing wild rainbow fishery about 3 hours away. It is a beautiful walk-wade or drift fishery. The fish are some of the most beautiful rainbows I have caught. All super strong healthy bows. It was below freezing almost the whole time of our trip. We had ice in the guides the entire time. We had a blast taking turns drifting from the canoe and wading shoals. We covered about 5 miles of river in two days. The Lodging was nice and right on a private section of river. It is blue ribbon trout water and a must do for winter fun. It is a free flowing stream, so you don't have to worry about "high water". If you are interested in finding out more about the fishery and want to go, feel free to ask.

Boo' s Big Fish

Yesterday I took my girlfriend Katherine fishing. It was her first time to fly fish. We did some casting lessons and got the rod rigged. It only took her a few minutes to get into her groove. She had several fish on that we didn't quite get to the boat. Once she was able to get one rainbow to the boat she started catching them left and right! On our last drift, she hooked into this nice brown and thought it was the bottom of the river. Once we saw the fish we both started freaking out! It was about a 23 inch brown! We had a great morning just goofing around and it ended up awesome!

Jason and Norm

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Yesterday I fished with Norm and Jason. Norm fishes with me pretty often but I hadn't seen Jason in a while. They had one goal and that was to catch a nice fish. It was cold, foggy morning when we set out. We started to nymph and found the bite immediately. After a while Norm decided he wanted to throw some streamers and he quickly got into some fat browns. Jason stuck with nymphing and brought in a nice 22 inch brown. Fishing remained excellent all day. Toward the end of the day, Jason hooked this fat 18 rainbow which really got me going! It's always nice to see big bows in the river. It was an all around awesome Fall day on the Little Red River!

Farnsworth Family

Last week I had the pleasure of taking out a great client of mine, Robert Farnsworth and his family. We did a neat round robin type of deal and took out all three kids and his wife Monica. I fished each child for a couple of hours. I started out with his son Devaul. He was a natural. He caught on so fast and was yanking fish out one after another. It was his first time fishing for trout with a fly rod and you would have never guessed it! Next I took his daughter Ansley. The water rose on us and our bite slowed down a bit, but she got in her groove and caught several nice Rainbows. After lunch I took out his wife Monica and their son Miles. Monica did awesome too! The water dropped back out and she smashed on the fish. Robert was throwing some streamers and hooked a 21 inch pig and let Miles bring him in! It was a awesome day getting to help Robert share something he is so passionate about with his family. It reminded me of being a kid and my dad teaching me how to fish. It was such a rewarding day. I do not have all of the pictures yet but be looking for them soon.

Charles and Alan

Yesterday I took Charles and Alan fishing. They wanted to catch some big fish on streamers. The clouds where up high so the conditions seemed perfect. It took the guys a few drifts to get dialed in to the full sinking lines, but soon we were pounding the banks hard. We had some good tugs and great follows but we were having a hard time getting big fish to commit. Finally Charles pulled out a hog! A big beautiful buck with a dark orange pumpkin belly. We continued to pick up some smaller, but nice fish in the 16 inch range up until after lunch. Afterward Alan got into a few nice toads. They fished hard and were doing it right. The big browns just didn't seem to be too keen on streamers yesterday, so we picked up the nymph rods and banged out quite a few rainbows.

Over a Hundred Fish in High water!

Yesterday I took out Greg and Moody. I haven't fished Moody since last spring, but Greg fishes with me all the time. They wanted to catch a hundred fish. We had about a unit of generation. The sun was high and the fish were HOT! At first they had a little competition going on, but after a while it turned into a team effort. They where smoking the fish. It was out of control. By 2:12pm they had reached the goal of 100 fish. We decided then it was time to bust out the streamer rods and catch some hogs. Doc was on fire! He was catching a 18" plus fish every drift. It took Moody just a few minutes longer to get in the groove, but he ended up catching a few nice ones as well. The total tally for the day was 115 fish! We had several fish over 20 inches. It was dynamite. What a fun day it was and a great way to break in a new boat!

Jacob and Steve

Jacob and Steve fished with me today. The last time we fished together, Jacob fished streamers really hard all day for trout-Zilla. The river was High and Muddy but he was rewarded strongly. Today we started out chucking streamers. We had lots of follows, but no takers for the first 30 minutes. Once we got cranking, Jacob was catching fish left and right! About 11:00 we started nymphing and Steve joined in. The fish were on fire! They couldn't get enough. Steve caught two very nice pigs and Jacob continued to put the smack down as well. We had a great conditions with a little bit of water and cloudy skies. It was another great day of fall fishing on the Little Red River

Team Trek

Today I took three guys from Team Trek. Ritch, Garry, and Nick. Cool guys. Today was also the maiden voyage of my new TopWater Boat. The guys broke it it well. We caught several nice browns in the 15 inch range and who knows how many rainbows! All of the rainbows we have been catching lately have been gorging on brown trout eggs and are healthy as Oxes. Nick also caught a nice brown that was about 18 inches and Ritch caught this beast that was 25! He said it was the biggest brown trout he had ever caught! The weather was nice. The water was a little high but the fishing sure was great!

It doesnt get any better than this.....

Today was the last day to fish with Will and Terry. We decided to start a little earlier since Will had to catch a flight. Our first 5 drifts the guys had doubles with Browns on. It was Epic. All days on the river are good days, but today was outstanding. We probably caught brown trout to rainbows 5 to 1 all morning. It was just BAM BAM BAM! The guys caught several really nice fish in the 20inch plus range and tons in the 16-18 inch range. Today was what fall trout fishing on the Little Red River is all about! I would also like to add in the fact that we fished in two units of water most of the day! The high water rigs did their job today. I had a blast fishing with Will and Terry. They were both fun, easy going, and brown trout lovers!

Hog fever!

Today Will and Terry fished with me again. We were all dressed accordingly today for the weather. It was pretty chilly. It actually may have been the coldest day this year. The Corps was supposed to give us a really nice window of low water today but as expected they lied. We still had a great window of some nice falling water and fishing was great. We nymphed and chucked some streamers. Both were a success, but it was hard to quit nymphing to throw big flies when the action was so hot! At one point Will had a small rainbow on and about a 10 pound brown tried to eat the fish off of his line! Both the guys caught several nice fish. These pics are just a taste of how great the fall fishing is right now!

Butter Belly

I fished Will and Terry from about 12 until 4:30pm. I picked them up and it was about 55 degrees and cloudy. By about 1:00 it was raining and getting colder. There was a little over one generator of water running, so we rigged up the high water rigs and got after them. It was silly. In about 4 hours they caught close to 60 fish including a couple of nice browns and one real nice one that got away! As the day went on it got colder and colder, but the fish never let up. It was relentless. It was an awesome fall day on the Little Red River.

Cole Time

So over the past few days I have had a group trip through my good friend and client Roger Cole. They had a guys weekend and did two anglers in the morning and two in the afternoon. It was a ton of fun. I had guys I had fished before and guys I had never met. I fished Tip and BG on Friday morning. We had a great window of low water and they both hammered some fish. Last time Tip had fished with me it was less than perfect conditions, so I was glad he got into them. Next I fished Matt and Bill. Neither of them had done much high water fishing and it was a little more of a challenge. They two got into some nice fish, including one nice brown Matt caught. Saturday morning, I took out Kevin and Roger Jr. Hands down they crushed them! These two guys fish with me pretty regularly and did great. They both lost some really nice browns but both also caught the nicest trout they have ever caught! Saturday afternoon I fished Ed and Jeff. Both are novice anglers and unfortunately our bite was not as hot as it was that morning. Both guys where able to get some fish to the boat and enjoy the river. We saw several eagles. Sunday morning Jeff and Big Roger came out with me. On the first or second drift, Jeff caught about a 18 inch brown. We were pumped! We continued to catch some nice fish and a couple of more browns caught by Roger. Sunday afternoon Jeff had to leave so my Dad who is a long time friend of the Cole clan joined Big Roger for some streamers. It was an awesome way to spend the weekend guiding good guys and family. A lot of memories were made for the crew and some nice fish where caught. Life doesn't get to much better than watching friends and family catch big beautiful brown trout!

Tandem Fishing High water!

Yesterday, I took my friend Greg and his wife Melody. I take Greg all of the time but it was my first time to fish with Melody. We knew we had a few challenges in front of us due to the high water. I think it was the first cold morning we have had in a long time but it was beautiful out. We found a drift that was holding fish and stuck it to them. Melody and Greg both were catching lots of fish. We pretty much had the river to ourselves. It was so nice. For just a few minutes we threw a few streamers and Greg caught a few nice browns. We never saw any hogs so we went back to nymphing. We were fishing tandem rigs and Greg caught a fish on each fly! It was a blast. Despite the high water we continued to bang fish and it was just a great day on the Little Red River!

Fly Fishing In two generators and Catching fish.... You bet!

So today they had two generators running pretty much all day. I started off my day with three anglers, Byron, J.P. and Dewitt. Fishing was good early. We picked up some nice rainbows. By about 11, fishing really got hard for us so we decided to take a lunch break. We tried spot after spot and just couldn't get but a fish or two here and there. All the other boats on the river seemed to say the same thing. We dropped Dewitt off and headed up river. On the first drift, Byron banged out a nice brown and J.P caught a sassy little rainbow! On every drift we were catching 2,3, and even 4 fish! We had found a small piece of the river that was hot and we hammered it hard. The last couple of hours of fishing were outstanding. It was a insanely beautiful day. We saw 2 bald eagles and several deer, including a nice buck. We worked really hard for our fish today, but it was well worth it!

Heber Springs, Arkansas

This time of year is exciting and busy for everyone at Jamie Rouse Fy Fishing Adventures. Fishing is good, but I wanted to take a little time to show off some of what our little town offers, in addition to great fishing.

As people are planning trips over to heber springs, they often inquire about lodging and entertainment options.

here are a couple of great options:

The Anderson House Inn. Recently renovated, this bed and breakfast is located right downtown in Heber Springs, just steps away from the coffee shop, and other downtown stores.



Lobo Landing is another great option. You've seen Chris, on the blog before, and he guides with JRFFA too. (click on the logo to visit their website)



Lobo Landing Resort is located on the water, and has cabins, a restaurant and many other amenities for guests to Heber Springs.

You can always email me at Millnermatt@gmail.comif you need more information about the area, I'm glad to help or visit the Heber Springs Chamber of Commerce for more detailed information.

Streamers with the Fam!

This afternoon after my guide trip I stopped by my Mom and Dad's for a sandwich. It was too pretty to sit inside the rest of the day, so I asked them if they wanted to go fishing. Mom had never thrown streamer's before and didn't think she could do it. I told her she could and made her come with us. We launched the boat and ran up river. After a quick casting demo, she was in action. She caught her first brown trout on a streamer not 15 minutes into it, and on top of that it was about 16 1/2 inches! Dad caught some nice fish as well, but he always does. Towards the end of the day Mom caught another nice brownie that was about 18 inches! It was a fun time to spend the afternoon with my mom and dad doing what I love to do the most... chucking streamers for big browns!!

Thumper's

This morning I had a half day trip with Kurt and Johnny. It was another beautiful day with 75 degree weather. The water was still a little high so we cancelled out wading. We did some drift fishing and it was great. We caught fish everywhere we went. We didn't see any browns this morning but we did catch these two thumper rainbows. The guys had never done any drift style fishing before and I think it most definitely got them hooked! I really can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning than fly fishing on the Little Red River!

Fun Times Had By All!

Friday I picked up Mason and Ryan at JFK and we headed down river from the Dam. The water was looking right. They had already turned the water on but it wasn't to us yet! We started off the morning drifting some of the usual nymphs and whatnot.. catching some nice bows along the way. Ryan made the comment he had never caught a brown. Not too long after that he caught his first brown and it was 17 inches! A short while later He caught about a 18 inch rainbow! We continued on fishing. It was a beautiful day, kind of weird, considering that it was 75 degrees in November but its hard to complain about that. Ryan then proceeded to catch this 21 inch pumpkin belly male! It was an awesome day. Mason caught lots of nice bows as well, but Ryan certainly showed out on this trip! As the afternoon progressed, the fishing got a little slower but still we saw some nice fish. All around it was an awesome day on the Little Red River!

Dr. Robb

Tuesday I took Robb,a gentleman from Little Rock. In September, Robb did the Orvis Fly Fishing School in Missouri. This was his first experience since the school, out on the water actually fishing. We had beautiful weather and the water was low! We drift fished all day just to cover water and let Robb see the river. We had action all day. Robb caught lots of fish in the morning, including this little Brownie that really had a lot of fish in him. We worked on knots and other techniques. We had some veggie Humus peta pockets for lunch and drank a nice cold Kombucha. After lunch our bite slowed down a little during the heat of the day, but we soon got back into some nice fish. All in all, it was a great day. Lots of fish and sunshine!

You're Not on the San Jaun anymore....

Today I took two guys from New Mexico. They have been here all weekend and have had horrible conditions due to the inclement weather. I'm sure most of you know it has been raining cats and dogs for days and we've received 6 or 7 inches of rain! Today was the first day since the storm that fishing has been good again. We still had some stain in the water, but it looked great compared to what it was. Jim and Harlen where committed to throwing streamers. We chased big boys all day long. We caught several nice fish in the 17-18 range. Jim caught this hog that came out to about 21 inches. We worked really hard for all of our fish, but they were all well worth it!

Who Loves the Fall?

Last Wednesday I took Mr. John and Robert Farnsworth. I fish with these guys regularly and they are good anglers. We had beautiful weather and a great window of some awesome water. We started out drifting some nymphs and catching lots of fish. Eventually, Robert wanted to chuck some big flies so he got out the meat stick. Both guys continued catching some very nice fish. Robert missed several nice ones on streamers, as well as landing a few nice toads. John also broke off on a monster of a fish. It was easy 27 inches or better on his 3 weight! The very next drift, he hooked into another hog and brought it in. Eventually the water caught us, so we tried to run up the river. Fishing got tough on the nymphs, but we still had a decent bite. Robert continued to bang fish on streamers! It was an awesome fall day on the Little Red River.