Little Blue River Fishing Guides
Southeastern Nebraska catfish water running past the Oregon Trail crossing at Rock Creek Station, with gravel riffles that hold a genuine if little-known smallmouth population.
Guides on the Little Blue River
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About the Little Blue River
The Little Blue runs southeast across the corner of Nebraska that looks least like the rest of the state. This is not Sandhills country and it is not the Platte valley; it is rolling, timbered farmland cut by a river that has carved itself a defined channel with gravel riffles, limestone outcrops and deep timbered bends. It passes Fairbury and the restored Oregon Trail crossing at Rock Creek Station before continuing into Kansas, where it joins the Big Blue above Tuttle Creek.
Catfish are the headline. Channel catfish are abundant through the whole reach and flathead catfish reach serious size in the deep bends and around the submerged timber, which is what most local anglers come for and fish for at night through the summer. The quieter story is the smallmouth bass, which hold on the gravel riffles in numbers that surprise visitors who assume Nebraska rivers are catfish water and nothing else. Rock bass share that habitat, largemouth occupy the slower backwaters, and drum, carp, white sucker and the occasional shovelnose sturgeon fill out the river.
The gauge near Fairbury reports discharge and stage, and reading it matters more here than on a dam-controlled river, because the Little Blue is entirely rainfall-driven and the difference between a good week and an unfishable one is a single storm upstream. At settled summer flows the riffles are wadeable and the water clears enough to fish visually; after rain the river runs high and heavy with sediment for several days. Access comes mainly from county road crossings and the state historical park rather than developed ramps. The timbered bends also mean the river changes slowly from year to year, so a hole that held a big flathead last season will very often still be holding one this season, which is rarer than it sounds on a prairie river.
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Access
Fairbury - the gauge town and the practical centre of the river, with the most road access to the middle reaches.
Rock Creek Station State Historical Park - state land at the restored Oregon Trail crossing, giving the best legal walk-in access.
Hebron - an upstream town on the river with bridge access to the smaller water.
Alexandria - a small village between Hebron and Fairbury with a county road crossing.
Steele City - the downstream Nebraska village near the Kansas state line.
Endicott - a crossing below Fairbury useful for reaching the lower gravel reaches.
Big Blue River - the river the Little Blue joins in Kansas, worth knowing for the fish that move up.
Seasons
Spring: high and coloured, with channel catfish feeding hard as the water warms and the best flathead movement of the year beginning in late May.
Summer: the main season, with night fishing for flathead in the deep bends and smallmouth holding on the gravel riffles through the day.
Fall: the clearest water of the year and the best smallmouth fishing, with catfish still active in the deeper holes.
Winter: low and cold, with fish concentrated in the deepest bends and little reason to work the riffles.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the Little Blue River?
As of Nov 2, 6:45 am, the USGS gauge Little Blue River near Fairbury, Nebr. reads 108 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Little Blue River?
Anglers target Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, Rock Bass, Shovelnose Sturgeon, Smallmouth Bass, White Sucker on the Little Blue River in Nebraska.
Where can you access the Little Blue River?
Fairbury - the gauge town and the practical centre of the river, with the most road access to the middle reaches. Rock Creek Station State Historical Park - state land at the restored Oregon Trail crossing, giving the best legal walk-in access. Hebron - an upstream town on the river with bridge access to the smaller water. Alexandria - a small village between Hebron and Fairbury with a county road crossing. Steele City - the downstream Nebraska village near the Kansas state line. Endicott - a crossing below Fairbury useful for reaching the lower gravel reaches. Big Blue River - the river the L...
When is the best time to fish the Little Blue River?
Spring: high and coloured, with channel catfish feeding hard as the water warms and the best flathead movement of the year beginning in late May. Summer: the main season, with night fishing for flathead in the deep bends and smallmouth holding on the gravel riffles through the day. Fall: the clearest water of the year and the best smallmouth fishing, with catfish still active in the deeper holes. Winter: low and cold, with fish concentrated in the deepest bends and little reason to work the riffles.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Little Blue River?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Nebraska agency site: https://outdoornebraska.gov/guides-maps/fishing-guides-reports/