Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Nebraska
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created trout fisheries in the tailwater of the dam constructed on the Little Red River which created the Greers Ferry Reservoir. There is a put and take Rainbow Trout fishery and a naturalized Brown Trout population in the tailwater below the dam. Rainbow Trout stocking occurs throughout the tailwater down as far as the Monaghan/Womack Access (MWA). The section of the Little Red River below the MWA does not routinely receive stocked Rainbow Trout. Quantified information regarding the population characteristics for Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout below the MWA and the extent to which this river section of interest consists of transient or permanent residents is limited. Any future management actions would benefit from the empirical data regarding both Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout from the section of the Little Red River below the MWA. Hence, there is a need for characterization of the two trout species in that section of the river. Furthermore, thermal dynamics of the Little Red River below the MWA would influence trout growth and survival. Hence there is also a need to understand the relationship between dam releases, air temperatures and water temperatures in the portions of the Little Red River above as well as below the MWA. However, water temperature data from this section of the river and interannual changes in thermal habitat availability below the MWA are nonexistent.