February 26, 2003
Fishing Tip: The key to catching crappie throughout the year is understanding the migration cycle that they follow. With few exceptions, crappie inhabit shallow water only during the spring spawning period. The rest of their lives are lived in places that are invisible to the to the unsuspecting fishermen. As a result, many fishermen simply retire their rods after the fish leave the shallows, apparently in belief that the species must hibernate during the other 10 months of the year. But true crappie fishermen know the truth about their favorite gamefish. The reality is that crappie can be caught 365 days of the year, including the hottest and coldest times imaginable
| Central Arkansas |
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Lake Conway: Bates Field and Stream said crappie are in two feet of water on the flats in the Gold Creek and Caney Creek areas hitting minnows and green/chartreuse or red/chartreuse jigs. Fishermen are catching a few nice slabs at night on yoyos in the standing timber. A few bass are being caught using pig 'n jigs or slow moving jigs. |
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Little Red River: Lindsey's Rainbow Resort said the Corps of Engineers are running some water in the mornings during the week, but little or no generation on the weekends. Fishing has been good using wax worms or Power Bait with corn or marshmallows. Fly-fishing has been good as well. |
| Greers Ferry Lake: Fairfield Bay Marina said there are very few fishermen this week due to cold temperatures. Some walleye are being caught at South Fork, all less than 18 inches. Whites are being taken at Devil's Fork. All other fish are slow. Lake level is 458.28 with a water temperature of 44 degrees. Shiloh Marina said fishing is very slow right now. |
| Harris Brake Lake: Coffee Creek Landing said fishing is very slow. |
| Lake Overcup: Lakeview Landing said fishermen are staying away from the lake due to the low temperatures, snow and sleet. Overcup Landing said fishing is slow right now. |
| Brewer Lake: Overcup Landing said crappie are being picked up on #4 small minnows and pink minnows. |
| Cadron Creek: Wooster Grocery said fishing is slow. |
| Beaverfork Lake: Wooster Grocery said the fishing was very slow because of the cold weather and high water. |
| Lake Cargile: Overcup Landing said crappie have been doing pretty well on live small minnows around brush piles. Bream are hitting red worms around the bank. Catfish and bass are slow. |
| Toad Suck Lock and Dam: Bates Field and Stream said catfishing is fair using shad. |
| Little Maumelle River: River Valley Bait said the river is muddy. Redear and bream are hitting worms. Crappie are doing well on chartreuse or red tubes or minnows. Bass fishing is fair using spinner baits. Catfish are hitting just about any bait. |
| Lake Maumelle: Jolly Roger's Marina said black bass are fair and getting better with the fish moving from deep to shallow water. Dark-colored jigs and Gitzits seem to be working the best right now. Kentucky's are still deep and are hitting worms along the bank edges. White bass are schooling at the west end of the lake and are on the edges of the channel. C.C. spoons in white are working better than silver right now. Catfish are good in deep water. Crappie are fair and moving into shallow water and are hitting minnows and white/red jigs. |
| Arkansas River: Charley's Hidden Harbor near Oppelo said the river flow is at 12,500 cubic feet per second with a headwater level of 285.02 and a tailwater level at 265.37. Stripers are doing well. Floating a live shad four to six feet deep is working well. Also try deep pockets and jetties using the same bait. White bass are mixed in with stripers, but also moving to creek mouths. Catfish are going from deep holes and migrating to shallow water and jetties. Nightcrawlers fished like a jig is working well. Kentucky bass are on the back side of jetties. |
| North Arkansas |
| White River: Gaston's White River Resort said that although the weekend was wet, the fishing was very good. The best baits have been yellow or white Power Eggs with pink Glow Worms and the 1/16th or 1/8th ounce white Marabou jigs. Fly-fishermen have been having some luck with egg patterns in pink or red and the white Shad Fly. Wilderness Trail says trout fishing on the White River has been great with Berkley Power Eggs in fluorescent yellow and white, and Berkley's new Earthworms and Maggots. White Chrome Domes, Buoyant Spoons, Super Dupers and Krocodiles are also working well. The fly fishermen have been doing well on olive Woolly Buggers, egg patterns in pink and white, and white Chrome Domes. Browns are being caught on Rogues, Countdowns, Flat Fish and nightcrawlers. |
| North Fork River: Fly-fishing guide John Gulley said the river has been up and down all week due to power generation. Fly-fishermen are using a olive midge pupa and a blue wing olive dry or wet fly. A micro jig in olive under a strike indicator is also working well. Spin fishermen are catching trout on shad-colored jigs, Shad Raps, Lil Cleo's, crocodile spoons and Countdowns. Bait fishermen are bringing in some nice fish on live shad, Power Bait, worms and corn. |
| Bull Shoals Lake: Lead Hill Boat Dock, Inc. said crappie are 15 to 20 feet deep around brush piles and hitting minnows or jigs. Kentucky bass are being caught by dragging short worms 35 to 40 feet deep on the bottom or by spooning. Wilderness Trail said last year at this time the lake was warming up, 60 and 70-degree days with warm rains. This is not the case this year. 30 and 40 degree days with cold rain and another weekend of snow is what we have had this past week. The lake temperature is holding in the low 40's, keeping the game fish inactive. Lake level is not bad at this time of the year at 650.91, a little over six feet below normal pool, with the spring rains to look forward to. Crappie moved out of the brush piles this week and are positioned around the outside of the brush. One problem is that they are very spooky and hard to approach. There are two ways to fish them when they are outside of the brush piles. One is to change to two to four pound test line and 1/16 to 1/32 ounce jig heads and cast to the brush with tubes, grubs or swimming minnows. The second way is to pull over the top of the brush pile and wait 10 or 15 minutes for the crappie to move back to the brush pile, then drop crappie minnows, swimming minnows or tube baits down through them. Largemouth bass remain slow and the bass are still suspended, which is normal during crawdad hibernation. Bluff walls and channel swings are holding some largemouth on the main lake and watersheds or boulder rock bottoms in the creeks. Best baits are Suspending Rogues or Lucky Craft Pointer 78's in shad colors. Kentucky bass are also suspended holding in the middle of main lake coves and cuts and over creek channels in the creek arms. Best baits are four-inch finesse worms, four-inch zipper worms, three-inch grubs and swimming minnows fished on a drop shot rig. Spoons are also triggering a few nice Kentucky's especially on sunny days. Smallmouth bass have slowed this week, basically because of the cold rain and cool days. They seem to be scattered, therefore search baits are your best bet. Wiggle Warts, Bandits, Bombers and Lucky Craft Staysee's are working the best. Crank along chunk rock points, secondary points, watersheds and brush piles as these are the best structure areas. The best way to report on walleye this week is "who knows?" Last week they were in the northern creeks showing up on deep points and suspending over the flooded forest throughout the lake. This week we can't even mark them over the forest or in the creeks, we just don't know where they went. So we need to sit back and wait a week to see where they show up. |
| Lake Norfork: Cranfield Junction Quik Stop said fishermen are catching quite a few crappie, although most of them are small using minnows or jigs anywhere from two to three feet up to 35 to 40 feet deep. Bass are hitting Rogues. |
| Northwest Arkansas |
| Beaver Lake: Southtown Sporting Goods said crappie are biting minnows or tube baits fished three to five feet below a bobber or straight lining over 10 to 15 feet of water around brush piles. Bass fishing is slow, but fishermen are catching a few on suspended Rogues along the steeper banks. |
| Lake Fayetteville: Lake Fayetteville Boat Dock said bluegill are hitting little jigs with small bobbers fished real slow past stickups in 10 to 12 feet of water. Black bass are starting to get hot. |
| Lake Sequoyah: Lake Sequoyah Boat Dock said the bream fishing is fair using worms just off the bottom. Crappie fishing is fair with minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is slow, but beginning to pick up using deep diving crank baits, Carolina-rig plastic worms or pig 'n jig. Catfishing is slow, but fishermen are catching a few on chicken liver or shad. |
| Beaver Tailwaters: Beaver Dam Store said tailwaters fishing has been good early in the morning on gray scuds, size 16-18; BH olive hare's ear nymphs, size 16-18, dead drifted, BH caddis, size 14 pearl has been excellent; tan or cream midges, size 16-18 are good in the late afternoons. Best baits have been worms, corn and glitter chartreuse Power Nuggets. |
| Kings River: Kings River Outfitters said fishing is very slow. |
| Northeast Arkansas |
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White River: Local fisherman Jeff Moore said the trout fishing in the Guion area continues to be good with several cutthroats being caught. Rapala Countdowns have been the ticket in the Guion area. Trout fishing between Lock #2 and Lock #3 has been good as well. Trout in this area can be caught on small crankbaits, Roostertails and spoons with limits coming very easily. Minnow fishing for trout beneath Lock #2 dam has been excellent producing some very nice rainbows and browns, the numbers are not as good as upstream but the quality has been excellent. Bass fishing from Guion to Lock #2 has been on again and off again. Some fish are being caught from the grass on the river with Gitzits in a variety of colors, such as smoke/red flake, black red/flake and pumpkin. Rogues also have produced some nice fish from the grass. Jig and frog fishing around and in the creek mouths, from time-to-time, has been an effective way to catch some nice fish. Crappie fishing has been fair in the creeks and on the river in the lay downs and bush piles with minnows, jigs, and minnow and jig combination. A few people are walleye fishing beneath Lock #1 with creek minnows and catching some nice fish. River conditions are excellent for walleye fishing. |
| Southeast Arkansas |
| Lake Chicot: Koenig's Bass Tracker Marine said crappie fishing is good at Ditch Bayou and Conley Bayou using minnows or jigs. |
| Lake Enterprise: Fred's Sport Shop said fishermen are catching a few crappie using minnows and jigs. |
| Grand Lake: Koenig's Bass Tracker Marine said anglers are catching a few crappie on minnows or jigs. |
| Mississippi River: Koenig's Bass Tracker Marine said the water is rising and the fish are not biting. |
| Lake Wilson: Koenig's Bass Tracker Marine said crappie are doing real well on jigs. |
| Southwest Arkansas |
| Millwood Lake: Millwood Lake Guide Service reports largemouth bass activity is fair to good. Pre-spawn bass, with weights ranging from eight to 10 pounds each, have been caught and released within the last two weeks. Water temperatures have ranged from 40 to 45 degrees and clarity remains heavy stained from the recent rains. Bass are biting best on watermelon/red brush hogs, chartreuse pepper lizards and white/chartreuse one ounce spinner baits with single gold Colorado thumper blade, slow-rolling in 10 to 12 feet of water along the river. Jigs in camouflage and Texas craw, with black Uncle Josh pork trailers are working along the base of cypress trees in eight to nine feet of water. Medium-running Bandit and Excalibur Fat Free Shad cranks in craw or shad patterns are taking bass along the cuts and creek dumps into Little River in eight to 12 foot deep areas. Several nice pre-spawn bass were caught and released on spinner baits, in the coves on the west bank, between Millwood State Park and the golf course within the last week. White bass still hitting the 1/4 ounce chrome/black Rat-L-Traps and red/white Roostertails, around the mouth of the Cossatot River just north and south of the Highway 71 bridge. Blue Cats are biting cut bait and cottonseed cakes on trot lines and traps along the river. |
| Lake Columbia: Steve's Marine said fishermen are catching a few bream using worms and crickets. Crappie fishing is good with minnows or jigs. The bass are beginning to move in, a man brought in a 9.59 pound bass he caught on a chartreuse spinner bait last Friday. Anglers are catching a few catfish using cold worms and stink bait. |
| Lake Erling: Steve's Marine said the bream fishing is fair using worms and crickets. Crappie are biting on minnows or jigs. Catfish are hitting cold worms and stink bait. |
| White Oak Lake: Willies Grocery said the lake is up about one foot. Crappie fishing is fair using minnows. Bass fishing is fair with chartreuse spinner baits or live shad. |
| Lake Greeson: Country Mall Bait Shop said crappie are hitting minnows and white jigs in about 25 feet of water. Fishermen are catching some black bass using crank baits, spinner baits or minnows around the boat docks. Stripers are breaking occasionally and hitting top water baits or by trolling with large silver spoons about 30 feet deep. |
| DeGray Lake: DeGray State Park Marina said fishing is slow due to the cold weather. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs at Arlie Moore and Lenox Marcus. Bass are moving to the backs of the creeks. |
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Little Missouri River: Fly-fishing guide Jeff Guerin said the fishing has been very slow with the wind chill, sleet, snow and freezing rain keeping most fishermen away. |
| West-Central Arkansas |
| Lake Dardanelle: Early Bird Outfitters said crappie are in six to eight feet of water around brush piles and are hitting minnows. Largemouth bass are hitting jerk baits and plastic worms. Flathead catfish are beginning to bite. |
| Lake Ouachita: Mountain Harbor Resort said largemouth bass are fair and can be caught with crankbaits and pumpkin worms. Bass are schooling off points and a silver C.C. spoon or a smoke-colored grub have been best on these fish. Walleye are slow with most being caught on silver C.C. spoons on points up the river or on timber flats 15 to 30 feet deep. Live minnows tipped on jigs have been productive also. Stripers are good using live minnows on tight line rigs, gray jigs and silver spoons. White bass are good as well on the same tackle. Try the South Fork and Irons Fork for some good action. Points 19 and 14 have produced some good fishing opportunities recently as well. Crappie are good and being caught over brushpiles using white feather jigs and two inch tube jigs. Try main lake points around moss in eight to 25 feet of water. The lake's water temperature is 42 degrees with clear water and a lake level of 574.37. North Shore Resort said the crappie fishing is good using minnows about 30 feet deep. Bass fishing is slow. |
| Lake Catherine: Dozhier's Bait Shop and Rainbow Landing said trout are active and feeding heavily on dead shad coming through the turbines. As the lakes being to refill from the winter drawdown, fish become active and move up stream. Trout are going for Power Bait, wax worm and marshmallow combination and any of the shad-like crank baits. Silver spoons, Super Dupers, Cleo's and Kastmasters are all working well. The water temperature has fallen to 41 degrees due to colder weather and snowfall. This has delayed the walleye spawn with only a few males being taken. Crappie are slow right now. Bass are also slow, but a few are being taken using baits and jigs. |
| Lake Hamilton: Dozhier's Bait Shop and Rainbow Landing said bass are hitting crank baits and jigs, with most of the action in the main creek channels. As the lake refills, movement is stimulated and bass tend to move toward the creek channels. A few male walleye are being found in the Little Mazarn Creek channel and in the Hot Springs Creek basin and going for Rogues and jerk baits. Crappie are still scattered, deep and hard to find. Catfish are going for nightcrawlers, large shiners and crawfish. |
| Lake Hinkle: Bill's Bait Shop said the fishing is slow due to the cold weather, but if you can handle the cold the crappie are biting minnows. |
| Ozark Pool: Lakeside Food Mart said the fishing is slow, but fishermen are catching a few crappie in the creek, a few white bass below the dam and a few catfish. |
| Lake Wilhelmina: Rocky Store and Bait Shop said the cold temperatures have slowed fishing down considerably. There is very little activity on the lake. |
| South-Central Arkansas |
| Felsenthal: Vestal Ice House said the water is too high and temperatures are too, so no one is fishing. |
| East Arkansas |
| Maddox Bay: Maddox Bay Landing said the water is high, rising and muddy. |
| Midway Lake: Ed's Boat Camp said the water is high, rising and muddy. |
| Bear Creek Lake: Six Rivers Bait Shop said anglers are catching some catfish on trotlines. |
| Horseshoe Lake: Local fishermen Clyde Gregory said the water is too cold and the fish are just not active. |
