Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Weekly Fishing Report

Keith Stephens (501) 223-6342, e-mail: kastephens@agfc.state.ar.us

This is the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's fishing report for August 20, 2003.

Fishing Tip: When the weather is hot and humid and the fishing is slow try using a 1/32-ounce split shot on the top of the treble hook on your favorite Roostertail. This will help it dive a little deeper and bounce off logs and rocks a little better. Remember to add your favorite bass scent to the lure.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS:
Lake Conway: Bates Field and Stream said bream can be found near the bank in three to four feet of water on crickets. Crappie fishing is good in the deep water around the green cypress trees using pink minnows or small jigs. Bass are hitting topwater baits in the early morning and late afternoon. During the day the bass are hitting watermelon pepper or blue and red glitter plastic worms around the lily pads. Catfish are being caught on trotlines baited with live bait.

Little Red River: Lindsey's Rainbow Resort said the Corps of Engineers has been running two generators starting around 1 p.m. The best baits are the chartreuse Power Eggs and wax worms with marshmallows. Chartreuse or orange and green Roostertails are working well even when the water is low. Gold Little Cleo's, red Buoyant Spoons or small green and black jigs are also working well.

Greers Ferry: Shiloh Marina said fishing is slow due to the high temperatures. Catfishing is fair on jugs baited with cut bait or shad in 10 to 15 feet of water.

Harris Brake Lake: Coffee Creek Landing said all fishing is very slow.

Lake Overcup: Lakeview Landing said crappie fishing is good early with minnows or chartreuse or red tube jigs. Bream fishing is good with crickets. Bass are hitting dark colored plastic worms. Catfish are hitting minnows. Overcup Landing said crappie are deep and hitting minnows and jigs. Bream are good on crickets. Bass are hitting plastic worms and buzz baits early in the morning. Catfishing is good on trotlines baited with cut shad or small bream or with minnows on rod and reel.

Beaverfork Lake: Wooster Grocery said bream fishing is good using crickets and worms. Crappie are hitting minnows.

Brewer Lake: Overcup Landing said crappie are in the deeper water around the brush piles and hitting small minnows. Bream fishing is good using crickets. Catfish are hitting minnows. Bass are being caught with spinner baits or crank baits.

Toad Suck Lock and Dam: Bates Field and Stream said white bass and stripers are hitting topwater baits on the river. Catfish are being caught using cut shad.

Little Maumelle River: River Valley Bait said the river level is normal and clarity is fair. Redear are hitting nightcrawlers. Crappie fishing is poor, but a few are still being caught using minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is fair with spinner baits or minnows. Catfishing is good on trotlines or limb lines.

Lake Cargile: Beeson's Grocery said fishing is very slow, but some bream are still hitting crickets and worms and a few crappie are still hitting minnows.

Lake Maumelle: Jolly Roger's Marina said black bass are 10 to 15 feet deep and hitting plastics. Bream fishing is excellent using crickets or worms. White bass can be found in the late afternoon up near the restricted area and are hitting Roostertails, CC Spoons and Mr. Champs.

Arkansas River: Charley's Hidden Harbor near Oppelo said bream fishing is very strong using crickets outside banks where there is riprap. Striper fishing below the generating plant is still good with some nice eight to 15-pound fish being caught using one-ounce Castmasters or CC Spoons. White bass are active very early and very late and are being caught on ultra lites with pearl beetle spins. Black bass fishing is best in the late evening on the inside or downstream side of the jetties using jerk bait. Catfishing is slow in the late evening using a skip jack worm cocktail 25 to 40 feet deep in the main channel. Kentucky bass are hugging the riprap late in the evening and hitting white or pearl colored shallow diving crank baits.

NORTH ARKANSAS:

White River: Gaston's White River Resort said wax worms, corn, nightcrawlers and Power Eggs are working well for the bait fishermen. Also the olive Wooly Bugger, Sow Bug and Salmon Egg pattern flies are still doing very well. When the Corps of Engineers runs three generators, spoons and spinner baits are working well.

North Fork River: Fly-fishing guide John Gulley said the river is low for half a day and high for half a day. Fly fishing is very good in the morning with San Juan worms and later in the day with gray, olive, black or copper Midge Pupa size 18 to 24 and a few are being caught during the day with scuds and sow bugs size 14 to 16. Spin fishing is best on low water with Cleo Spoons, Z Rays or small jigs and on high water with Rapalas and larger spoons. Bait fishermen are doing well with nightcrawlers, crawdad tails, corn and Power Bait.

Bull Shoals Lake: Lead Hill Boat Dock, Inc. said bluegill and bream fishing is good with worms or crickets. Crappie fishing is fair in the timber along the bluff using minnows. Bass fishing is best at night with worms or jigs. Catfish are hitting live bait on trotlines or jugs. Walleye fishing is good trolling with nightcrawlers and worm harnesses 30 to 35 feet deep on the flats. Wilderness Trail said the lake temperature is 86 to 88 degrees and the lake level is 652.01 feet. The thermocline remained steady at 35 to 45 feet and divers report that there are more game fish in the thermocline than there were last week. Crappie are feeding under floating lights along the bluff walls at night on crappie minnows and a few are being caught with minnows or spoons during the day in the middle of the cuts and pockets that have brush piles in them. A few largemouth bass are being caught on Zara Spooks early in the morning over 60 to 80 feet of water out in front of the creek arms. Texas rigged worms and 7/16-ounce football or Spider Jig will trigger a few on points in 30 to 40 feet of water in the upper lake areas above Lead Hill. Smallmouth bass are biting in the early morning and late afternoon around chunk rock points and the deep drop offs outside main lake flats in 40+ feet of water. The best baits to use are the Carolina rigs or Mojo rigs with centipedes, Meatheads, finesse worms or baby brush hogs, all in watermelon colors, or Spider Jigs. Kentucky bass remain under shad on the ends of the bluffs, in the middle of cuts and pockets and in the middle of steep chunk rock banks. The best way to catch them at this time is a split shot and nightcrawler for the live bait angler and silver or white spoons for artificial. Walleye are staying on the drop offs around the points and outside feeding flats. They are suspended just off the bottom in 35 to 45 feet of water. Long liners are doing well with Emerald Shiner, watermelon and Gray Ghost Reef Runners and Mann's 20+ Stretch blue and trout colors. The best bite is on spoons fished vertically over the walleye, which is triggering strikes whether they are feeding or not. Nighttime fishing is best an hour after dark on tube baits along chunk rock main lake banks. Green gourd color with tails dipped in orange dye has been the key. Brush piles are also starting to hold bass two to three hours after dark. The best baits on the brush is pig and jig or Texas rigged Gene Larew Worms.

Lake Norfork: Cranfield Junction Quik Stop said overall night fishing is the best. Crappie are hitting minnows and jigs at night under lights. A few stripers are being picked up with spoons or trolling. Bass are hitting plastic worms or jigs. Catfishing is good on trotlines and jugs baited with live bait. Walleye fishing is very good 35 to 40 feet deep with chartreuse and white spoons.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

Beaver Lake: Southtown Sporting Goods said crappie fishing is best at night with live bait, but a few are being caught during the day trolling with Hot'n Tots or 15 to 20 feet deep with minnows. Bass fishing is good at night around brush piles using single spin black and blue or black and red spinner baits or eight to 10 inch dark-colored plastic worms. There is a little top water action early in the morning. A few white bass are schooling from the Hwy. 12 bridge to the dam and hitting Roostertails and Castmaster Spoons. Catfishing is fair to good on trotlines or limb lines with live bait. Hickory Creek Marina said the lake is dropping. Black bass are hitting bright colored plastic worms in the daytime and dark colors at night. Crappie are being caught in the channels near steep bluffs trolling Hot'n'Tots, Bandits, Beaver Lake Spider Spinners and Jointed Shad Raps. White bass activity is beginning to pick up around the water intake, cedar point and Point 12 using white or yellow Roostertails, small Rattle Traps, small Spooks and Nungesses spoons. Catfishing is picking up using cut shad or cut bream. Bream are in three to six feet of water hitting crickets or worms.

Lake Fayetteville: Lake Fayetteville Boat Dock said bluegill are hitting crickets. Bass are hitting buzz baits or plastic worms in the early morning.

Lake Sequoyah: Lake Sequoyah Boat Dock said crappie fishing is slow with a few being caught on Road Runners. Bream fishing is fair using worms or crickets. Bass fishing is fair for about the first two hours of the morning with spinner baits or buzz baits. A few catfish are being caught with chicken liver.

Beaver Tailwaters: Beaver Dam Store says the hottest fishing spot on the river has been the area at Spider Creek early in the morning along the banks and around the mouth of the creek using Micro jigs and wax worms and various colors of Power Bait. Fly fishermen are doing well with dries during the morning. Size 18-22 Griffith's Gnats, size 18-20 Renegades, Bead Head Pheasant Tails, and size 14-18 Olive Hare's Ears or Bead Head Olive Woolly Buggers. Beaver Lake level is at 1115 feet and fishing is slowing down some as the temperatures continue to rise. Catfishing is fair on perch or cut shad. Crappie fishing is fair using minnows.

Kings River: Kings River Outfitters said the river is too low for floating but the wade fishermen are doing well with Gitzits, tube baits or buzz baits.


NORTHEAST ARKANSAS

White River: Local fisherman Jeff Moore said the best baits for drift fishing are spinner baits tipped with Power Eggs, worms or corn. Little Cleo spoons and inline spinners are still the best artificial baits. Smallmouth bass are hitting dark colored Hula Grubs or Gitzits. Bass fishing continues to best in the early morning or late afternoon with buzz baits, topwater baits, sinkos and Gitzits around the main river grass. Walleye fishing is fair with small crawdad crank baits or jig and grub combinations.

Lake Charles: Powhatan Landing said bream fishing is good with worms or crickets. A few crappie are being caught using minnows.

Black River: Powhatan Landing said Kentucky bass are hitting Gitzits and spinner baits.

Spring River: Many Islands Camp said fishing is good using bright pink Power Bait, corn or nightcrawlers.

Strawberry River: Fish and Game Guaranteed Guide Service said the water level is in good shape for floating. Smallmouth bass are holding in shaded, current breaks below the shoals and hitting curly tail grubs. Largemouth and green sunfish are hitting small, safe pin type spinner baits.


SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS

Lake Enterprise: Fred's Sport Shop said the hot weather has really slowed the fishing down.

Bayou Bartholomew: Fred's Sport Shop said there have been reports of some nice catfish being caught on worms.

Lake Chicot: Koenig's Bass Tracker Marine said fishing is very slow.

Grand Lake: Koenig's Bass Tracker Marine said fishing is very slow.

SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS

Millwood Lake: Millwood Lake Guide Service reports the lake level is 259.49 feet and the temperature of the lake is ranging from 85 to 90 degrees. Largemouth bass fishing is best in the early morning and late afternoon using buzz baits, top water rats, crank baits, Carolina rigs and Bass Assassins around hydrilla and lily pads next to deeper water close to Little River. Later in the day, after the top water bite is over, try using DD-22 or Norman DLN cranks in suncraw or light colored shad patterns. A few larger bass are being caught on black and blue jigs or hawg tubes, Carolina rigs, brush hogs or lizards in sour grape or grasshopper eight to 10 feet deep around the cypress trees. Try using white or sour grape colored Zoom trick worms, rigged wacky style with no weight, or a white or white and chartreuse Heddon Zara Mouse with rattles around grass and lily pads along the edges of the river. Blue cats are being caught 16 to 17 feet deep along the river in current on trotlines baited with chicken livers and cut baits or under the cypress trees on yoyos baited with catalpa worms. Crappie fishing remains slow, but improving, using shiners or jigs 14 to 18 feet deep in front of Pugh Slough in the outside river bend.

Lake Columbia: Steve's Marine said bream fishing is good using crickets. Crappie fishing is good at night under lights with minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is fair to good. Catfish are hitting live bait or stink bait.

Lake Erling: Steve's Marine said bream fishing is good using crickets. Crappie fishing is slow with minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is fair to good. Catfishing is good using live bait or stink bait.

Lake Greeson: Lakeside Grocery, Motel/Bait Shop said with the lake level still dropping and the lake temperature 92 to 94 degrees the fishing is very slow.

DeGray Lake: Iron Mountain Lodge and Marina said hybrid bass have begun to break early in the morning and late in the afternoon. They are being caught on spoons, Roostertails, Super Flukes and Zara Spooks. They are being caught at night on live shad and perch around the ends of docks. Largemouth bass fishing is slow, but a few are being caught on Texas-rigged lizards and worms in 18 to 25 feet of water off the main lake points and humps. Some bass are being caught schooling early in the morning and late in the afternoon on Super Spook Jr.'s and flukes. Crappie are being caught around brush piles and docks or around the outside edge of the moss line on red and white crappie jigs, Road Runners and minnows. Perch and other sunfish are fairly shallow and are hitting crappie jigs and crickets. Catfish are hitting nightcrawlers off the ends of docks and in brush piles.

WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Lake Dardanelle: Early Bird Outfitters said crappie fishing is slow. White bass are on top early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Bream fishing is good using crickets. Catfish are hitting chicken liver, stink bait or shrimp.

Ozark Pool: Lakeside Food Mart said with the rise in temperature the best fishing is at night. Bream fishing is good on worms or crickets. A few bass are being caught using jigs or plastic worms. Crappie fishing is slow. If the water is running a few catfish are being caught on cut bait, minnows and nightcrawlers.

Lake Ouachita: Mountain Harbor Resort said largemouth bass are hitting spinner baits. Stripers are hitting minnows and jigs. Walleye are still hitting deep diving rogues about 20 feet deep on moss humps. Catfish are being caught with minnows or stink bait. Crappie fishing is still slow.

Lake Catherine: Dozhier's Bait Shop and Rainbow Landing said the generators are running from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. each day and this constant flow has shad moving toward the dam. Stripers and large hybrids are being found working the shad from Thunderbird Beach to the dam. The stripers are breaking across from Thunderbird Beach and are hitting best on live shad but Red Fins and other large topwater baits are also showing results. Walleye are at the dam hitting Rogues and deep running crank baits. bass are at the east end of the lake, near the steam plant, and hitting lizards and slow rolled spinner baits. Bream are deep and hitting crickets and red worms rigged on a drop shot.

Lake Hamilton: Dozhier's Bait Shop and Rainbow Landing said bass are breaking around Rabbit Island and off the east end of Big Goat and are hitting topwater baits and spoons. Catfish are being caught on trotlines and jugs fished about eight to10 feet deep and baited with large shiners, shrimp or whole dead shad. Bream are deep and hitting crickets and red worms around docks and boathouse off steep banks. Walleye are about 30 feet deep-hitting jigs worked slowly off the bottom.

Lake Hinkle: Bill's Bait Shop said a few crappie are being caught on minnows or jigs. Bass fishing is good using minnows or topwater baits. Catfishing is fair using minnows.


SOUTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Felsenthal: Vestal Ice House said fishing is slow, but catfish are still being caught on the river using nightcrawlers. Bream fishing is good with crickets or worms.

EAST ARKANSAS:

Maddox Bay: Maddox Bay Landing said bream fishing is fair with crickets. Crappie fishing is good trolling with minnows about four feet deep. Bass fishing is good deep with crank baits or plastic worms. Catfishing is very good using stink bait in the running water in the bay and the river.

Midway Lake: Ed's Boat Camp said bream are hitting red worms and crickets. Bass are hitting spinner baits.

Bear Creek Lake: Six Rivers Bait Shop said bream fishing is good using crickets.

Mississippi River: Six Rivers Bait Shop said catfishing is good using rice slicks.

Lower St. Francis River: Six Rivers Bait Shop said catfishing is good using rice slicks.

Cow Bayou: Six Rivers Bait Shop said catfishing is good using minnows. Crappie fishing is fair with minnows. Bream fishing is fair with crickets.

Horseshoe Lake: Local fishermen Clyde Gregory said with the high temperatures, fishing is very slow.




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