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Statewide Arkansas Fishing
Report |
| Fishing Tip: Don’t be caught dead in the water while fishing one of Arkansas’ large reservoirs. An outboard does a good job keeping a starting battery charged while running, but there are times when you'll be fishing one hot spot for several hours without starting your outboard motor. With an aerator going and depth finders humming, batteries tend to run down quickly. Always charge the battery before leaving your house so you will not be caught dead in the water. You may also want to carry a jumper cable or portable power source for any unforeseen emergencies. |
| Central Arkansas |
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Lake Conway: Bates Field and Stream said the full moon next month should have the bream bedded back up. Redear are hitting wax worms and chartreuse/silver, brown/silver or black/silver Danamax jigs. The bream are good on crickets. Crappie are in five feet of water in the creek channels and are hitting pink jigs or small minnows. Bass fishing is good with chartreuse pepper or watermelon seed-colored plastic worms or white/chartreuse spinner baits. Catfish are being caught on trotlines. |
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Little Red River: Lindsey's Rainbow Resort said the water has been down for the last couple of days and the best baits have been pink, green or white Power Eggs and wax worms with marshmallows or corn. |
| Greers Ferry Lake: Shiloh Marina said crappie are five to 10 feet deep in the timber close to the mouth of the creeks and are hitting minnows. Smallmouth bass are coming off the beds and are being caught with spinner baits, crank baits and Gitzits. Largemouth bass are starting to bed on the north end of the lake and are pre-spawn on the south end of the lake hitting shallow running jerk baits and Flukes. Kentucky bass are on the beds hitting Rattling Rogues and floating worms. White and hybrid bass are starting to school coming out of the tributaries and are hitting small CC Spoons and ½ ounce white jigs with a slow retrieve. Fairfield Bay Marina said black bass and smallmouth remain excellent. Crappie are fair to good. Hybrids and whites are poor to fair with spotty action. Lake level is 460.61 with a surface temperature of 61 degrees. |
| Harris Brake Lake: Coffee Creek Landing said bream can be found about five feet down and are hitting with crickets. Crappie are being caught from the long pier with medium minnows. Black bass fishing is fair. Fishermen are catching some nice catfish on trotlines and yo-yos. |
| Lake Overcup: Lakeview Landing said bream are good on crickets. Crappie fishing is good using minnows or red chip/chartreuse jigs. Catfishing is very good utilizing trotlines baited with shad. Overcup Landing said fishing has slowed a little. The Crappie are finishing their spawn and the bass should be. Some bass are being picked up in the grass on flukes and dark worms. The bream and redear are in making beds and are doing well on crickets. Catfish are hitting nightcrawlers and rice slicks on trotlines. |
| Brewer Lake: Overcup Landing said crappie are still hitting small minnows and some tri-color jigs in red/white/chartreuse and black/red/chartreuse. Bass are being picked up with chartreuses spinners trailing a fluke and dark worms. Bream are starting their spawn and are hitting red worms and crickets. Catfish are hitting large minnows on trotlines. Wooster Grocery said the crappie fishing is good with minnows. |
| Cadron Creek: No report this week. |
| Beaverfork Lake: Wooster Grocery said the bream fishing is good using crickets. Crappie and bass fishing is fair with minnows. |
| Lake Cargile: Beeson’s Grocery said bream are hitting crickets. Crappie fishing is good using minnows. Overcup Landing said crappie have been fair on jigs and small minnows. Bass are still shallow and are hitting chartreuse twin tail jigs and buzz baits. Bream are doing well on crickets and red worms. Catfish are hitting rice slicks and nightcrawlers. |
| Toad Suck Lock and Dam: Bates Field and Stream said saugers are hitting blue/white or chartreuse/white crappie tube jigs. |
| Little Maumelle River: River Valley Bait said the river is up a bit. Bream and redear fishing is picking up using worms, crickets or Little Poppers. Crappie fishing is fair. Bass are hitting spinner baits and minnows. Catfishing is good with just about any type of bait. |
| Lake Maumelle: Jolly Roger’s Marina said black bass are on the banks and spawning, which is late in the year. Crank baits, lizards and spinner baits are working well in the early morning hours or at sunset. Kentucky bass have moved into shallower water and are hitting plastic worms. Crappie are hot and can be found in five to 10 feet of water. Crappie are hitting small minnows. Bream have moved into shallow water and are being taken on crickets and worms. Catfish are fair and are being taken on prepared baits in 10 to 15 feet of water. White bass are making their annual run up the river, but not many have been taken. They have moved into the lake and the activity should be starting again in late May. |
| Arkansas River: Charley’s Hidden Harbor near Oppelo said the river flow is at 41,600 cubic feet per second with a headwater level of 284.88 and a tailwater level at 268.51. Catfish are getting better and moving into shallow water in the three to 10 foot range. Nightcrawlers are working well. Black bass are shallow as well and can be found around midday in warmer water. Spinners are best when the flows are higher than 40,000 cubic feet per second since it keeps the fish close together. Bream are good in the creeks on crickets in four to eight feet of water. White bass are near jetties and hitting yellow or white beetle spins. Some nice drum are being caught on worms. They can be found mixed in with the catfish. Crappie are in six to 12 feet of water and hitting minnows and red/pearl jigs. |
| North Arkansas |
| White River: Gaston's White River Resort said fishing has been real good. The best baits have been the florescent yellow, white or chartreuse Power Eggs, wax worms or nightcrawlers. The fly fishermen are still having the best luck with the gray Sow Bug, tan Scud and the olive green Woolly Bugger. The Corps of Engineers have started generating again so all this could change. Wilderness Trail says trout fishing on the White River was great this past week with Berkley Power Eggs in yellow and merthiolate, Berkley’s Earthworm or Maggot. Floating Rapalas, Super Dupers and buoyant spoons have worked the best when there is some generation. The fly fishermen have been doing well on olive and brown Woolly Buggers, Caddis fly and gray sow bugs and scuds. Browns are being caught on Countdowns, Rebel Brown Trout jointed minnow floats and nightcrawlers. |
| North Fork River: Fly-fishing guide John Gulley said the North Fork River has been low of late. Fly fishermen are catching trout on midges in olive and black and caddis flies in tan and green size 14-18. Spin fishermen are using Blue Fox spinner baits, Cleo’s and Roostertails. Bait fishermen are using crawfish tails, worms, corn and Power Bait. |
| Bull Shoals Lake: Lead Hill Boat Dock, Inc. said the water is dinghy. Crappie fishing has slowed down some, but fishermen are still catching some with minnows or Swimming Minnows. Bass fishing is slower, but anglers are still catching them with spinner baits or crank baits. A few walleye are being caught trolling. Wilderness Trail said it has been another one of those weeks where the weather has played havoc. Storms came through the middle of the week, dropping cold rain and hail. The lake temperature again dropped a couple of degrees, holding up the bass and walleye spawns. The main lake temperature is at 54 to 56 degrees with some pockets and northern cuts a few degrees warmer. The back of the major creeks is 56 to 60 degrees, but very few bass, white bass or walleye are relating to it. Lake level came up with the rains and we are now at 653.35, one foot below normal pool. With a little luck, maybe we will have some buck brush in the water before the bass get into their major spawn. White bass are still "iffy" moving in and out of their spawning areas. They still can make a spawning run if we could get a week of warm weather and heat up the back of the creeks. Crappie are biting well, but they have moved off the brush piles and are on banks that have nice size rocks present or shelf rocks. The black crappie are trying to spawn and are holding on stumps, large rocks and blow downs on banks, best baits are tiny tubes, Swimming Minnows and crappie jigs. Largemouth bass remain in their staging areas, close to their spawning grounds, transition rock banks, secondary points and ends of channel swings with nice chunk rock formations. Best baits have been small crankbaits and spinner baits on windy days, Spider Jigs and tube baits. A few largemouth are running to the back of the cuts, pockets and creeks but they are just in and out. A few of these bass can be caught on flukes, trick worms and spinner baits. Smallmouth bass are back up on the pea rock and shelf banks. Their spawn is not far off. Keep your boat in 20 feet of water and fish at a 45-degree angle to the bank with Spider jigs and tube baits. This is a good time of year to turn the breeder smallies back and let them spawn for the future of the lake. Kentucky bass are spotty and not on any pattern. A few buck Kentucky’s are on false beds, they are not spawning as yet. Fish secondary points, channel swings and transition areas on northern banks with spinner baits, Spider jigs, tube baits and flukes for feeding Kentucky’s. Walleye are in their full spawning cycle, which is being slowed by the temperature changes the last few weeks. They are on chunk rock and pea rock flats and can be caught in the mornings on suspended rogues or Lucky Craft Pointer 78’s. The night bite is also productive with nightcrawlers on a split shot rig fished along the spawning banks on the main lake and the front of the creek arms. |
| Lake Norfork: Cranfield Junction Quik Stop said crappie fishing is good with the better fish being caught over the brush piles using minnows and Swimming Minnows. There has been quite a bit of surface action with bass, stripers and hybrids and they are hitting spinner baits, jigs and Gitzits. A two-day tournament was held over the weekend with 581 boats entered and about a ton of fish caught with the average weight over two pounds. Fishermen are catching a few walleye and white bass on Swimming Minnows. |
| Northwest Arkansas |
| Beaver Lake: Southtown Sporting Goods said bluegill are starting to get active. Crappie are well into spawning and the fishing is still good in the coves and around the small gravel banks with minnows, jigs and tube jigs. Bass fishing is good with plastic lizards and Yamamoto Senkos. The whites, hybrids and stripers are in the river arms. |
| Lake Fayetteville: Lake Fayetteville Boat Dock said bluegill are starting to spawn. Bream fishing is good with worms or crickets. Crappie fishing is good with minnows or jigs. |
| Lake Sequoyah: Lake Sequoyah Boat Dock said bluegill and redear fishing is excellent using worms or crickets. Crappie fishing is fair with minnows or jigs. Bass are hitting spinner baits, soft plastics or buzz baits. Catfishing is fair with chicken liver or shad. |
| Beaver Tailwaters: Beaver Dam Store said hybrids and stripers are often caught along with white bass, so it pays to have line in at least eight pound test and plenty of it on the reel in case you get one of those screamers that make you start sweating when the line gets lower and lower on the reel. Jigs, grubs, spinners, slabs and crank baits in various colors are typical white bass fare. Chartreuse, red and white, white, pink, and pearl colors are favorites of successful anglers. Quarter-ounce or even half-ounce is better if a southwest wind is hammering the shore. Beaver Lake water temperature is hovering around the mid-60 degree mark and lake levels have been fairly steady in the mid to upper 1,117 feet level. Catfishing on limb lines and trotlines has been good with worms, perch and crayfish. Black bass fishing reports have been meager from Beaver. Crappie fishing in the Clifty arms is good on minnows and jigs. Trout fishing below Beaver Dam has been good on chartreuse glitter nuggets and orange glitter nuggets. Wax worms on the tip of a brown or olive micro jig have been hot. Fly fishing reports are good on black midges, size 20-24; bead-head olive hare's ear, size 10-14; Y2K bugs and pheasant tail soft hackled wet fly, size 14-16. White bass are hot after bead-head chartreuse Woolly Buggers, size 10, at the Spider Creek riffles. |
| Kings River: Kings River Outfitters said the water temperature is 62 degrees. The fishing is great for smallmouth, largemouth, Kentucky and goggle eye using light colored Roostertails, minnows and live bait fished deep and slow. Catfish are hitting anything that looks like a minnow or a shad. |
| Northeast Arkansas |
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White River: Local fisherman Jeff Moore said the trout fishing in the Guion area is good. Trout are active on top and chasing baitfish down. Power Eggs and corn are working well. Anchor fishing is no problem with the low water conditions. Drifting and casting spoons and #5 Shad Raps are working well too. Bass fishing is good on Gitzits and producing largemouth and smallmouth. Small crawdad crankbaits on the rocks along the main river are producing some smallmouths as well. Bass fishing from Lock #3 to Batesville is good. Most of the fish are being caught from the grass. Floating worms, Gitzits, Hula Grubs and Pop R’s are working well. Walleye in this same area are being caught on small jigs with chartreuse and white rubber bodies. Most of the walleye are being caught on steep banks around lay downs and near the mouth of small creeks and springs. Fishing below Lock #1 is good with a variety of fish being caught. Bass are being caught on small crankbaits, such as Model A Bomber and Gitzits. White and hybrid bass are being caught on jig and minnow and crankbaits in the eddies and along the sand bars. Some walleye are being caught using this method too. Crappie are being caught from the brush in the creeks by dobbing jig and minnow combination. |
| Lake Charles: Powhatan Landing said bream fishing is good with crickets. Crappie fishing is good with minnows or jigs. |
| Black River: Powhatan Landing said the river is muddy and fishing is slow. |
| Spring River: Many Islands Camp said fishing is excellent with nightcrawlers or any lure that is brightly colored. |
| Southeast Arkansas |
| Lake Chicot: Koenig’s Bass Tracker Marine said bream fishing is good with worms or crickets. Crappie fishing is good with minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is good with spinner baits. Catfishing is good with crickets or worms. |
| Lake Enterprise: Fred's Sport Shop said the bream fishing is good with worms or crickets although the fish are on the small side. Anglers are still catching a few crappie with minnows. Bass fishing is fair with deep running lures. Catfish are hitting cut bait, minnows and small perch. |
| Grand Lake: Koenig’s Bass Tracker Marine said the bream are hitting worms or crickets. Crappie fishing is good with minnows or worms. Bass fishing is good using spinner baits. Catfish are hitting crickets or worms. |
| Mississippi River: Koenig’s Bass Tracker Marine said catfishing is good with worms. |
| Lake Wilson: No report this week. |
| Southwest Arkansas |
| Millwood Lake: Millwood Lake Guide Service reports water temperatures between 67 and 77degrees with a moderate stain to the water. Largemouth bass activity is excellent with reports of catches up to nine pounds each caught in the last week on red chrome, spring bream, and cranapple pattern Rat-L-Traps worked slow, around dead lily pads and over tops of new hydrilla growth, in two to nine foot deep areas. Bass Assassin five-inch shads are taking nice bass up to seven pounds each in very shallow water around the new pad stems and vegetation growth. Shad pattern Cordell Redfins, War Eagle spinner baits, buzz baits and lizards are producing nice post-spawn bass. Bass were still in a spawning mode at the coves at Millwood State Park within the last few days. Most largemouth bass spawning activity is post spawn conditions up Little River and the north half of the main lake except for a few stragglers on the south half of the lake. Spotted bass are still hitting ¼ ounce to ½ ounce chrome Rat-L-Traps, Bomber Long A's jerk baits, craws and lizards in scuppernong. No report on those white bass that disappeared last week. Spotted gar are still very shallow and spawning in some of the oxbows and pockets in backs of creek channels, where some of the largemouth bass just finished spawning. Large groups of up to 50, and some up to 10 pounds each, have been noted extremely shallow, (in the backs of creeks) and offer great opportunities for bow fishermen at this time. Blue cats are being caught on cut shad, dog food and chicken livers, on trotlines and yo-yos under willow trees in 12 to 16 feet of water along the river. Crappie activity is good, although the crappie spawn is nearly complete. Many nice slabs in the two to three pound class are being taken on live shiners, jigs, rocket shad spinner baits and small, 1/8-ounce tail spinner Rat-L-Traps in very shallow water. |
| Lake Columbia: Steve's Marine said the South Shore Landing area is good location for redear hitting worms. Bream are bedded in spots and hitting crickets. Crappie fishing is best in the early morning and the late afternoon in 18 inches to two feet of water with minnows. Bass fishing is good using Rogues. Catfishing is good. |
| Lake Erling: Steve's Marine said redear are hitting worms around the Blackwell Landing. Bream and bluegill are four to six feet deep and hitting worms. Crappie fishing is slow, but fishermen are catching a few on yo-yos. Bass are hitting gold and black Bass Assassins. Catfishing is good on yo-yos. |
| White Oak Lake: Willies Grocery said crappie fishing is good with minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is good on the upper end of the lake and picking up on the lower end. |
| Lake Greeson: Lakeside Grocery, Motel and Bait Shop said the water level is rising. The bream are hitting worms and crickets. Crappie fishing is slow with the fish hanging about 15 to 20 feet deep around brush piles. Bass are hitting topwater baits and plastic lizards in the shallows. Stripers are breaking in the morning and the afternoon. Catfish are being caught on trotlines and from the bank with nightcrawlers. |
| DeGray Lake: DeGray State Park Marina said bream fishing is good with worms or crickets. Hybrids are in the river channels hitting spoons and Roostertails. Bass have spawned and are moving out and are hitting plastic worms and lizards. |
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Little Missouri River: Fly-fishing guide Jeff Guerin said there have been numerous fish working in the shallow riffles steadily rising to emerging mayflies. |
| West-Central Arkansas |
| Lake Dardanelle: Early Bird Outfitters said bream are bedding up. Crappie can either be found in the grass or about six feet deep. Catfish are being caught using trotlines baited with cut bait and rice slicks. |
| Ozark Pool: Lakeside Food Mart said fishing is good and steadily improving. Bream are being caught with nightcrawlers or crickets. Crappie are hitting minnows, red/white tube jigs and black grasshopper-colored Baby Brush Hogs. Bass are hitting white jigs and minnows. A few spoonbill are being caught. Fishermen are catching flathead below the dam snagging and with bait. |
| Lake Ouachita: Mountain Harbor Resort said largemouth bass are still excellent and can be caught with brush hogs, floating worms and Carolina-rigged lizards. The hot colors are green pumpkin, glimmer blue, watermelon candy and watermelon. Chartreuse and white spinner baits have been productive as well. Topwater baits are beginning to be effective for schooling fish. Boy Howdies and Zara Spooks are the most productive baits for topwater fishing. Walleye are good with most being caught on Husky Jerks and Roadrunners on points up the river or on moss humps in 10 to 20 feet of water. Stripers are still excellent on topwater C-10 Redfins early and late. These fish are actively schooling and feeding up the river channels. Gray jigs and grubs are still productive as well. Areas around Points 17 and 19 have been best. Bream are good on warm and sunny days. Crickets or worms will work best. Crappie are slowing a bit, but are still good and being caught just off the bank using feather jigs and two inch grubs. Try the main lake points and large moss flats in eight to 15 feet of water. The best colors are white, silver or Tennessee shad. Catfish are good and being caught with nightcrawlers, stink bait, live minnows and hot dogs. Water temperature on the lake is 58 to 66 degrees with clear water and a lake level of 574.62. North Shore Resort said crappie fishing is good with minnows and jigs. Bass fishing is good with floating worms. |
| Lake Catherine: Dozhier’s Bait Shop and Rainbow Landing said as trout begin concentrating below the dam, the action gets better every day. Some nice rainbows are being taken using Power Bait, wax worms and red worms. During periods of power generation, Kastmasters, Cleo’s and Roostertails are working well. Nice walleyes are being taken using deep running crank baits, but none have topped a 17.6-pounder caught on a Bill Dance crank bait directly below the dam. Crappie action remains hot with the fish holding around downed timber in the main channel and in the larger coves and bays. Small shiners fished three to five feet deep are working well. Bass remain on the spawn beds and are being taken using floating worms, lizards and small spinner baits. |
| Lake Hamilton: Dozhier’s Bait Shop and Rainbow Landing said bream are on the spawning beds along the north shoreline and hitting crickets and red worms. The best action is being found on the east end of the lake. Bass are spawning and being taken using lizards and small spinner baits worked across the spawn beds. A floating worm pulled off the bank and into the water over the bed is very effective. Catfish are becoming active and being taken using large shiners, nightcrawlers and dead shad, with most of the action around the area where the creek channel enters the main lake. |
| Lake Atkins: No report this week. |
| Lake Hinkle: Bill's Bait Shop said bream are hitting worms and crickets. Crappie are hitting minnows. Catfish are hitting goldfish. |
| Lake Wilhelmina: Rocky Store and Bait Shop said crappie are hitting nightcrawlers and minnows in five feet of water around stumps and cover. Bream action is picking up on crickets. Anglers are catching catfish on catalpa worms and nightcrawlers. Bass are taking all kinds of lures, especially pumpkin worms and white spinners anywhere in five to 10 feet of water. Stay shallow and under cover for the best action. |
| South-Central Arkansas |
| Felsenthal: Vestal Ice House said bream fishing is good with worms or crickets on Shallow Lake, Jones Lake and Marias Saline. Crappie fishing is fair using shiners or blue and white jigs on the old river bed below the locks and on the river. Bass fishing is good with spinner baits or plastic worms on Saline River, Marias Saline and Open Break. Catfishing is fair with trotline or pole baited with cut bait or cold worms on the river. |
| East Arkansas |
| Maddox Bay: Maddox Bay Landing said bream fishing is good in the lakes if you want to walk into them. Crappie are about three feet deep in the treetops with some still up close to the bank hitting minnows or blue/white or black/white jigs. Kentucky bass fishing is very good with chartreuse and white spinner baits. Catfish are hitting Doc’s bait. |
| Midway Lake: Ed’s Boat Camp said the bream fishing is good using crickets. Crappie fishing is good in the shallow water around brush with minnows and black/chartreuse jigs. Bass fishing is excellent with spinner baits. |
| Bear Creek Lake: Six Rivers Bait Shop said bream fishing is excellent with crickets. Crappie fishing is good on jigs and crappie minnows. |
| McNelty Lake: No report this week. |
| Old Town Lake: Six Rivers Bait Shop said the bream and crappie fishing is great with crickets and minnows. |
| Mississippi River: No report this week. |
| Lower St. Francis River: Six Rivers Bait Shop said the flathead and white catfish are being caught on trotlines with rice slicks, shad and goldfish. |
| Horseshoe Lake: Local Fisherman Clyde Gregory said bream are near cypress trees and are hitting wax worms and black beetles. Crappie fishing is good using minnows or black and chartreuse jigs in the shallow water or around the piers. Bass fishing is fair with the average weight being from two to three pounds. Catfishing is good using yo-yos or drop lines in the deep water or off the cypress trees. |
| White Hall Lake and Cow Bayou: Six Rivers Bait Shop said the bream and crappie fishing is great with crickets and minnows. |
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