Weekly Fishing Report

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

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

        This is the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s fishing report for Sept. 20, 2006. If there is a body of water you would like to see included in this report, please call or e-mail us with information on possible sources for that lake or river.

       
Fishing Tip: When fishing the ultra-clear water of the White River and Little Red River below U.S. Corps of Engineers lakes, be particular about your line choice. Gene’s Trout Dock on the Norfork Tailwater gives this tip:

Trout have excellent vision and will reject lures if they can see the line. Ultra-light green line blends the best with the surroundings and is an absolute must during a slow bite.

 
 
CENTRAL ARKANSAS:
        
Lake Conway: Bates Field and Stream said the water is very low, but you can launch at Adams Lake Access and a few flat-bottom boats have been able to launch at Gold Creek Access. Catfishing is very good on stinkbait and large minnows. Bass fishing is hit-and-miss on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits early in the mornings and late in the evenings. The crappie bite slowed, but might pick up with the cooler weather.

 
Little Red River: Lindsey's Resort said the generators are running a little in the afternoons, but not much water is running. Many anglers have been on the river lately and have had excellent success on wax worms, PowerBait and corn. The best artificials have been Rapala Countdowns, Shad Raps and marabou jigs drifted under a cork.

 
Greers Ferry: Shiloh Marina said the hybrids are beginning to run and the fishing should be heating up once the high barometric pressure has moved out.

Tommy Cauley of Fish Finder Guide Service said the water level is 455.25 and the surface temperature is 78 to 80 degrees. The hybrid fishing is great some days and lackluster the next. If you can stay on the bait, you can usually catch them with a Buckshot spinner, top-water lure or a spoon. The fish are getting ready to make their fall runs, so be prepared for some great jump fishing. Keep an eye out for gulls and surface activity and throw a Rat-L-Trap or Spook into any feeding frenzies you get to. Once the surface action stops, pull out a spoon and jig it off the bottom. Bass fishing has improved with the cooler nights. Bass can be caught shallow on spinnerbaits and crankbaits as well as a jighead worm; the better fish are coming on a Right Bite frog in sparkle shad color. Deeper fish can be caught with on a drop-shot rig or Carolina rig in 20 to 45 feet of water. Crappie fishing is good at night using a fishing light in pole timber over 60 feet of water. The fish are suspended about 15 feet deep. Bream are still guarding their beds and are hard to catch, but some can be caught around docks and over brush piles in about 15 feet of water. The catfishing continues to be good in about 17 feet of water on trotlines and jugs baited with live or cut bait. Walleye have picked up in some spots dragging night crawlers in 31 feet of water with a rocky bottom or trolling a gold Shad Rap 7 feet deep over 15 feet of water.

 
Harris Brake Lake: Coffee Creek Landing said the water is low and clearing up around the bank. Bream are biting fairly well and are improving. Some good crappie have been caught on jigs. The bass fishing has been good lately, and most of the action has come from crankbaits and flukes fished near the shallows in the mornings. Catfishing is good on minnows and blood bait.

 
Lake Overcup: Lakeview Landing said the lake level rose from the rains and the water clarity is poor. Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. The crappie bite slowed, and many crappie anglers caught bass, catfish and bream on the minnows they were using. Catfishing is pretty good on trotlines baited with minnows, dog food and hot dogs. Bass fishing is good, and a recent bass tournament had some good fish weighed in.

 
Little Maumelle River: River Valley Bait said the water is clear and at normal levels. Bream are biting well on worms. Crappie are fair on minnows and assorted jigs. Bass are fair on spinnerbaits fished along overhangs and laydowns. Catfishing is fair on prepared bait fished on a slip-sinker rig.

 
Lake Maumelle: Jolly Roger’s Marina said the water level is 5.8 feet low and the clarity is improving since the turn over. Black bass are biting very well on crankbaits and spinnerbaits fished around points and sharp ledges. Kentucky bass are mixed in with the largemouths, and some occasional schooling is happening at the surface. Bream are biting well on crickets and worms in 15 to 20 feet of water. Crappie are fair in 20 feet of water on minnows. White bass are biting well around Timber Cove. Trolling Rattling Rogues is working the best. Catfishing is good on prepared bait about 20 feet deep at the east end of the lake.

 
Arkansas River: Charley’s Hidden Harbor near Oppelo said flow from Lock 9 is 500 cubic feet per second with a headwater of 286 and a tailwater of 270. Kentucky bass are schooling and are excellent on pumpkinseed Brush Hogs and frogs cast up to the bank, dragged quickly over the grass and allowed to drop just at the edge of the weedline. Black bass are biting well along wood cover in 2 to 6 feet of water. The best largemouth action has come on chatterbaits in blue glimmer colors. White bass are schooling around Flagg Lake and the mouth of the Petit Jean River. Try a Rat-L-Trap or Rooster Tail for some fast action on the schooling fish. Catfishing is good on the front side of the jetties early in the morning. Whole shad are the bait of choice. Crappie are still around Copper’s Gap, Point Remove Creek and the Petit Jean River, holding on stumps and other wood cover in 4 to 8 feet of water. Bream are biting well on crickets fished around grassy spots in the riprap about 2 feet deep. 

 
Arkansas River (Little Rock area): Outdoor Super Store said bass are biting fairly well. Top-water lures are working well in the mornings. Then anglers need to switch to Carolina rigs for the better bite around sandbars and jetties. Stripers are schooling below the dam and around jetty tips. Top-water lures and Rat-L-Traps are working the best on the stripers.

 
Pickthorne Lake: Outdoor Super Store said bream fishing is picking up on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows.

       
Sunset Lake: Turbyfill’s Outdoor Sports said the water is muddy and at normal pool. Bream are biting well on crickets. Crappie and bass are slow. Catfishing is fair on stinkbait.

 
Saline River Access in Benton: Turbyfill’s said the water is dirty and the river is full after the recent rain. Bream are biting well on crickets. Crappie are slow. Bass are biting well on shallow-running crankbaits and 2-inch jerkbaits. Catfishing is slow.

 
Clear Lake: McSwain Sports Center said the water is stained. Bream are biting well on red worms and crickets. Crappie are fair on tube jigs. All other species are slow.

 
Peckerwood Lake: Herman’s Landing said the water is clear and low with many stumps showing above the surface. The bream bite has pretty much ended for the fall. Crappie have been biting well up until the fronts came through. They were biting the best on minnows and brightly colored jigs. Catfishing and bass fishing are both slow.

 
Terry Lock and Dam: McSwain Sports Center said stripers are biting well when the water is running below the dam. Try gray or white hair jigs or grubs fished along the bottom. Catfishing is good on live shad below the dam.

 
 
 
NORTH ARKANSAS:
 
White River: Gaston's White River Resort said mostly low water conditions again this week – anywhere from no generation, to one generator running by noon or 1 p.m. Some afternoons we have seen three generators running. Bait fishing still excellent with yellow or chartreuse Power Eggs, wax worms and red worms. The best artificials have been Cleo spoons, Mepps spinners, Rooster Tails and Floating Rapalas. Early morning fly-fishing is still strong. Olive green woolly buggers, Rocky nymphs, soft hackles and sow bugs are still good along with bivisibles and black beetles.

Wilderness Trail said trout fishing has been good. With light generation Berkley Power Eggs in yellow, orange and pink have worked well.  With generation the Buoyant Spoons, Blue Fox, Mepps or Little Cleos are the baits of choice. Fly-fishermen have done well during little generation on olive woolly buggers, zebra midges and scuds or sow bugs.  Brown trout are being caught on Rapala Countdowns, jointed Rapalas and nightcrawlers. 

 
Bull Shoals Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 648.87 feet MSL.
Wilderness Trail said the lake level is at 648.81. Surface temperature has been holding fairly steady around 76 degrees. The thermocline slipped down a foot to 36 feet and still bottoms out at 45 feet. The algae growth in the thermocline has slowed. Crappie were spotty this week but when you could find them, they were biting. Again, crappie minnows are the best live bait according to the guides at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock.  The best artificial baits have been crappie tubes, Bobby Garland Swimming Minnows in Blue Thunder and white or pearl grubs. Fish deep brush in 25 to 30 feet of water, the crappie were suspended over the top of the brush. Largemouth bass only want to cooperate in the mornings and top-water lures are the way to trigger them. Buzzbaits, Spit’N Images, Sammy’s and Spook Jrs. are all working well. Cover a lot of water from dawn until the sun is shining on the water and you should have some fun. The smallmouth bite continues to pick up on tubes and spider jigs but most of the fish are under 15 inches. Pea rock banks and small chunk rock banks are where most of the feeding smallies seem to be. The best bite is in the afternoon in 26 to 35 feet of water. Kentucky bass were hard to find this week. You can catch one here or there on a spoon or a drop shot rig but the schools are gone. The lake is in transition and so are the game fish, so we will see if we can pinpoint them this week. Walleye moved last week onto deep flats. They are 33 to 35 feet deep, both on the bottom and suspended outside of the flats.  The best technique continues to be lead core line trolling with smaller baits such as Hot’N Tots, Ripshads, Wally Divers and jointed Shad Raps, although the word is that Reef Runners and Deep Tail Dancers are starting to work as well. Vertical fishing is also triggering some nice walleye using spoons and jigs tipped with Munchie grubs. Try either of these techniques on light windy days. 

        Sugarloaf Harbor said the fishing has been very slow. The water is low and clarity is fair. A few small bream are being caught around the docks on worms. Crappie are biting fairly well on minnows fished in brush piles 10 to 20 feet deep. Bass and walleye are being caught on chrome spoons in deeper water.

 
 Lake Norfork: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 544.99 feet MSL.
Cranfield Junction Quik Stop said the water is about 7 feet low and has a surface temperature of 78 degrees. Visibility is around 10 to 12 feet. Bream fishing is great on crickets fished around brush piles in 25 feet of water. Crappie are fair on planted brush in 30 to 35 feet of water. Bass are holding around 30 to 40 feet deep and are biting fairly well on black/blue and PB and J football head jigs tipped with a twintail grub and fished slowly along pea gravel points. The early surface bite is beginning to pick up. Catfishing is fair on jugs and trotlines baited with cut bait, shad and hot dogs. Stripers are biting fairly well on spoons trolled over 35 to 40 feet of water. Walleye are fair on spoons jigged in 35 feet of water and trolled crawler harnesses and crankbaits on sloping points.

 
Norfork Tailwater: Gene’s Trout Dock said there has been one generator running lately. Fly-fishing has been good on zebra midges, olive woolly buggers and red San Juan worms. Bait fishing has been the best on Power Eggs tipped with a piece of nightcrawler and salmon eggs. Countdown Rapalas in rainbow trout colors are working well on the browns.

 
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
Beaver Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 1,110.29 feet MSL.
Southtown Sporting Goods said the water has risen about a foot from last week. Bream are biting fairly well on crickets. Crappie are in 8 to 15 feet of water and biting well on minnows. Bass are fair. In the early morning, top-water lures are working well in the creek mouths on schooling fish. Once the fish quit schooling, it’s time to move to deep water and fish drop-shot rigs and spoons. The night bite has been good on dark spinnerbaits and soft-plastics. Catfish are being caught wherever runoff enters the lake. Try nightcrawlers for the best success.

 
Lake Fayetteville: Lake Fayetteville Boat Dock said bass fishing has been decent lately on a variety of lures. Catfishing is good on chicken livers and worms.

 
Lake Sequoyah: Lake Sequoyah Boat Dock said the lake is in good shape and the water is clear. Bream are biting fairly well, but not many anglers are visiting the lake for them. Worms and crickets are working the best. Crappie are fair in 4 to 5 feet of water on Road Runners and minnows. A few are being picked up in deeper water trolling as well. Bass are fair on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits worked around the moss. Catfish are poor, with the few being caught coming on minnows and chicken livers.

 
 
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS
  
Spring River: Many Islands Camp said trout fishing has been good on chartreuse PowerBait and pink-colored crappie crankbaits.

 
Eleven-Point River: Woody’s Canoe Rental and Campground said the fishing has been good on the river with crankbaits and soft-plastic artificial worms and crawfish imitations.

 
        Crown Lake: Boxhound Marina said the water is clear and low. The surface temperature is dropping with the cool nights. Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting very well on minnows and Beetle Spins or Road Runners. Bass are decent on top-water lures in the morning and crankbaits in the evenings. Catfishing is good on chicken livers and shrimp.

 
 
SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS
  
Lake Chicot: Fishing success has been slow to moderate. Most anglers are still going after bream with red worms and crickets. Bass fishermen are catching a few nice fish close to docks.

 
Grand lake:  Fishing success has been low with few reports.
 
Mississippi River:  The river is down, and anglers still catching catfish close to the Greenville Bridge.
 
Cane Creek Lake: Cane Creek State Park said bream are slow, with a few biting on crickets. Crappie are decent, with a few anglers limiting out using minnows. Catfishing is excellent on trotlines baited with stinkbait.

 
 
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
Millwood Lake: Millwood Lake Guide Service said as of Monday, the water surface temperature ranges from 78 to 85 degrees. Much needed rain, cloudy days and cool nights have dropped surface temps. The rains reduced clarity greatly, but it should improve as the days go on. The lake level has risen from last week, and is approx 1.5 inches above normal pool, at 259.32 feet and rising.  Current in Little River is unchanged, with release at the dam 159 cubic feet per second. The bass are becoming more active with the cooler water temperatures. Best feeding periods still remain early and late in the day, but are generally fair to good during the slower periods of mid-day. Small black bass are still randomly schooling and chasing bait along the edges of lily pads. Several large schools were breaking the surface until 11 a.m. A few of these schools are holding some adult bass ranging from 2-4 pounds in addition to the juveniles. The rains have really helped the shallow bite. The bass continue to respond well in shallow water, with a variety of top-water lures, frogs, Rat-L-Traps and buzz baits. If you can work a Rat-L-Trap shallow and thread it through the vegetation and lily pads (hint, drop down from the 1/2 oz to the 1/4 oz and it's much easier), there are some good bass shallow that will try to take it from you, as well, ranging around 3-5 pounds each. Bass Assassin Shads in salt and pepper silver phantom and wacky-rigged Charm Assassins in sliver ghost are working well in thicker vegetation, as are soft-plastic buzzing toads. These fish range in depths of 2 to 5 feet, remaining in the vegetation, moving shallow, throughout the day. Working a buzzbait painfully slow is working sporadically around open pockets along the River. Flipping tubes in pumpkinseed/chartreuse are taking some good keepers around shallow cypress trees in 2 to 5 feet of water. White bass are still up Little River this week, however a very large school was located in front of Jack's Isle along the River last week.  Perhaps the have begun their migration down to the main lake. Keep a clear or bone Rat-L-Trap or Baby Torpedo handy and cast when you see surface activity. Several anglers were successfully trolling for the whites this week between Hurricane Creek and White Cliffs, and also between Jack's Isle and Mud Lake using spoons with bucktails, and Rat-L-Traps.  Back to back, repetitive catches are and have been, very common lately, on whites. Crappie catches are decent size, ranging from 12-16 inches in length, and have also moved slightly shallower this week. Try fishing 7-8 feet deep with smoke-colored Cordell paddle tail grubs on a 1/8-ounce jighead. Try underneath cypress trees in 3-6 feet of water with a shiner as well. Blue cats and channel cats improved on trotlines, with the increase in River current. The best baits have been Catfish Charlie blood bait, hot dogs and dough balls along the outside bends of Little River. 

 
Lake Greeson: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 537.73 feet MSL.
Darryl Morris of Family Fishing Trips said as of September 18, Lake Greeson is about 10 feet low. The crappie are still stacking up on shallow and staging brush piles.  The bite is very light on jigs and minnows sitting dead still from 4 to 12 feet deep in 7 to 15 feet of water. The water temperature is holding at about 78 but the rain and forecasted cool nights should cause the water temp to start dropping again. Bass are still biting well on small crawfish fished around rocky points. Surface action has been slow, but cooler water might change that soon.

 
DeGray Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 397.45 feet MSL.
DeGray One Stop said the lake is very low and the water temperature is 79 degrees. Bream are biting well on crickets fished in 20 to 30 feet of water. Crappie are biting fairly well on live minnows and light-colored jigs. Catfishing is fair on trotlines and noodles set at 8 to 15 feet of water and baited with live minnows and shad. Hybrids and white bass are schooling on the south end of the lake. Black bass and Kentuckies are in the shallows early in the morning and late in the evening. Floating worms and Horny Toads are working well on the bass. Once the sun is up, go to the deep weed edge and fish Carolina rigs and jighead worms.

 
Little Missouri River:  Jeff Guerin of Little Missouri Flyfishing said the trout action has been great, especially on the windier days when the oxygen levels are spurring some great fights from larger fish. Some males seem to be looking for prospective spawning sites already, but it’s way too early to count on that bite.

 
 
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
 
Lake Dardanelle: Spadra Marina said the water warmed up just a little in the last two days, but the temperature is still hovering around 80-82 degrees. The water has risen about 6 inches. Crappie have slowed – jigs are no good, the best chance is early or late using crappie minnows 5 to 6 feet deep. Catfish have picked up. They are biting very well on cut shad. Fisherman have been fairing well right in the middle of the afternoon. Bass are improving on spinners and crankbaits in brightly colored reds and blues.

Murphy’s Sporting Goods said the water is cooling and the bass are picking up. Most of the bass are moving shallow, and can be caught on Horny Toads fished around and over moss beds. Catfishing is very good on worms and stinkbait. Stripers are below the dam and biting well when the water is flowing.

Blue Mountain Lake: CNC’s End of the Line said the lake is muddy from the recent rains. Crappie are biting well on minnows and the occasional nightcrawler. Catfishing is good on live bream and nightcrawlers.

 
Ozark Pool: Lakeside Food Mart said the water is clear and there hasn’t been much flow lately. Bream are decent on crickets and red wigglers. Crappie are still deep, but a few can bee caught on minnows and jigs. Black bass are fair, with the best fish coming on Baby Brush Hogs flipped in heavy cover. Stripers are schooling below the dam and biting on spoons and hair jigs. Catfishing is good on cut shad and nightcrawlers below the dam.

 
Lake Ouachita: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 569.18 feet MSL.
Mountain Harbor Resort said the water temperature ranges from 76 to 82 degrees. Largemouth bass are biting well on frog-style lures and grass jigs fished around moss flats and points. Kentucky bass are biting very well on live crawfish around brush in 20-28 feet of water. Walleye are biting well around brush piles on main lake points. Silver jigging spoons are working well in water 25 to 35 feet deep. Stripers are fair on live gizzard shad and trotline minnows. The striped bass are around main lake points close to the river channels on the eastern end of the lake. Bream are fair around cover in 20 to 28 feet of water on crickets and worms. Crappie are biting well over brush piles and around standing timber in 18 to 35 feet of water on minnows and small jigging spoons. Catfishing is fair on cut bait, nightcrawlers and live shad. Try pockets and moss flats in 15 to 25 feet of water.

Poorman’s Tackle and Guide Service said the water temperature is coming down with the much-needed cooler weather, which is turning the fish on. Bass are doing very well over the grass and along creek channels on top-water lures and spinnerbaits. Don’t forget to throw a spoon when the fishing slows. Stripers are still in the trees and sometimes hard to land. No reports this week on bream, the bass are doing too good to chase much else, but crappie are improving with some being caught with minnows over brush piles in 15 feet of water.    

 
Lake Catherine: Diamondhead Marina said bass fishing is fair near Carpenter Dam. Crappie are biting well around the big bend in the river a mile downstream from the dam.

 
Lake Hamilton: Poorman’s Tackle and Guide Service said early morning is the ticket for bass. Throw lavender shad Deep Little N's on points and the edges of flats. Tomato-colored worms fished along rock walls is also working well. Stripers are still following the shad; rainbow Redfins and spoons are working very well when you find the fish. Cut shad and live shad are working well on the stripers. A few walleye are being caught along the rock walls on hard plastic jerkbaits, but you have to work for them. Bream are biting decently on crickets and night crawlers, but are slowing.

 
Lake Hinkle: Bill's Bait Shop said bream are biting very well on worms and crickets fished in the shallows. Crappie are biting a little better on minnows and jigs, but are still relatively slow. Bass are biting well on spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Catfishing is picking up with the cooler weather.

 
Lake Atkins: Lucky Landing said bream are biting well on red worms and crickets. Crappie are fair in 6 feet of water on small tube jigs and minnows. Bass are biting well on shad-colored crankbaits, white spinnerbaits and small, tequila sunrise-colored soft-plastic worms. Catfishing is good on minnows and worms.

 
Lake Nimrod: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 343.03 feet MSL.
        Local angler Billy Blankenship said the lake is muddy from the recent rains. Fish are making a move to shallower water and stacking up in creek channels. Crappie are moving into the river channel and creek channels near both sides of the lake. Chartreuse and pink/white jigs are working well. Catfishing is good on live and prepared bait.

 
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
 
        Felsenthal: Hale’s One Stop said crappie are biting fairly well on minnows.
  
EAST ARKANSAS: 
  
Island 40 Chute:  Daily’s Boat Dock said the fishing has been very slow. Catfish are the only fish cooperating. They are biting fairly well on cut bait. There is still a problem with carp jumping out of the water when they hear a motor, so be cautious on the water.

 
Arkansas River (Pine Bluff): The Tackle Box said the water is murky from the recent work on one of the dams. Bream are biting very well on worms and crickets. Crappie are slow, but are beginning to improve on minnows fished on a slip-sinker rig. Bass are biting very well on top-water lures, but the bite ends early in the morning. Catfishing is good on cut bait and nightcrawlers.

River City Sporting Goods said the recent rain will likely increase current in the river and stimulate a bite. Bream are fair on red worms and crickets. Crappie are poor. Bass are biting fairly well on spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Catfishing is fair on cut shad and live nightcrawlers.

 
Maddox Bay: Maddox Bay Landing said fishing has been slow. A few crappie have been caught on minnows and jigs. Bass are biting fairly well on shad-colored crankbaits. All other species are slow.

 
Horseshoe Lake: Local fisherman Clyde Gregory said bream fishing is pretty good on crickets, with some nice size bream being caught. Crappie are biting well, and anglers are catching some very large crappie slow-trolling minnows. Catfishing is very good on cut bait. No report on bass fishing; there haven’t been many bass anglers on the lake.