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 Nov. 1, 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: Larry Hurley from Poorman’s Guide Service on Lake Hamilton and Lake Ouachita has this tip for fishing the weed beds during this time of year:

Look for big holes in the grass on the flats, throw a weightless fluke or other soft-plastic jerkbait across the grass and work it fast until you get to the hole. Let the fluke fall into the hole and be ready. This could put a fish of a lifetime in the boat.

Arkansas River Levels: According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Monday the Arkansas River stages are:
5.10 feet at Dardanelle (flood stage – 32 feet)
9.48 feet at Morrilton (flood stage – 30 feet)
7.50 feet at Little Rock (flood stage – 23 feet)
31.55 feet at Pine Bluff (flood stage – 42 feet)
26.07 feet at Pendleton (flood stage – 31 feet)
White River Levels: According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Monday the White River stages are:
7.74 feet at Georgetown (flood stage – 21 feet)
21.47 feet at Augusta (flood stage – 26 feet)
9.76 feet at Newport (flood stage – 26 feet)
7.09 feet at Batesville (flood stage – 15 feet)
3.26 feet at Calico Rock (flood stage – 19 feet)
Statewide Family and Community Fishing Program Report: Hybrid striped bass were stocked in a number of ponds earlier this week. Call the toll-free hotline (1-866-540-FISH) to find out where the hybrids were stocked. Fish are biting artificial baits such as Roostertails, Beetle Spins, and spoons in white or silver. Prepared bait including shrimp, chicken liver and worms will also catch the hybrids. Anglers are also catching a few catfish at Kiwanis Park Pond and Cabot Community Pond.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS:

Lake Conway: Bates Field and Stream said the water is low and murky. Crappie fishing is excellent on pink minnows and chartreuse jigs with pink heads fished around stumps along the main channels. Bass are fair in the shallows on top-water lures and large minnows. Catfishing is fair. It takes some work to get a boat in the water, but a small Jon boat can still be launched around Adams Lake Landing.

Hatchet Jack’s said crappie are biting well on pink minnows around the Adams Lake Area and 89 Bridge.
Little Red River: Lindsey's Resort said the water is at normal levels and generation has been low. Trout are biting well on in-line spinners, wax worms and PowerBait. Brown trout are close to spawning and are heading into the shoals.

Greers Ferry: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 454.71 feet MSL.
Shiloh Marina said crappie are fair on minnows fished 6 feet deep. White bass and hybrids are schooling at daylight and biting very well on top-water lures and spinners.

Tommy Cauley of Fish Finder Guide Service said shad balls as big as a house are starting to come out of deep water after the rain. Hybrids are going after the shad like gangbusters. Drop jigging spoons and buckshot in-line spinners to catch them when they are down and top-waters and Rinky Dinks when they are on top. The bass fishing is pretty good; smallmouth are on brush piles and are biting jigs and Carolina rigs in 8-15 feet of water, the black bass and Kentuckies are in the standing timber and will hit spoons, buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. Some largemouth are being caught in 6 inches to 4 feet of water on stumps and lay downs. Try jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and jighead worms, but be careful as not to get to close and scare them. The crappie are biting in the channel bends in about 15 feet of water on minnows and jigs and grubs. Catfish are biting cut bait in 17 feet of water on jugs and trotlines around the creek channels. The bream are up shallow and eating crickets and nightcrawlers.

Harris Brake Lake: Coffee Creek Landing said the water is dropping from the valves on the lake being opened. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Bass are biting well on finesse worms deep and white spinnerbaits close to the bank. Catfishing is good on trotlines baited with stinkbait and set close to the bottom.

Lake Overcup: Lakeview Landing said the water is low and clear. Bream are fair to good on pink micro jigs. Crappie are fair, but they haven’t come to the banks just yet. Catfishing is good, but not many anglers are after them.

Little Maumelle River: River Valley Bait said the water is clear and at normal levels. Bream are biting well on crickets and worms. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs in 1 to 3 feet of water. Bass fishing is poor. Catfishing is fair on live and prepared baits fished directly on the bottom.

Arkansas River: Charley’s Hidden Harbor near Oppelo said flow from Lock 9 is 3,000 cubic feet per second with a headwater of 285.45 and a tailwater of 265.23. Stripers are strong below dams 9 and 10 on spoons. Some stripers are also being caught around Grandma’s Point, Copper’s Gap, Flagg Lake Cut-off and the Petit Jean River on shad-colored deep-diving crankbaits. White bass are around sand bars around balls of shad. Tie a 3-inch fluke to your line, and then tie a 5-inch fluke to the hook of the first lure. Work the double rig through the baitfish and hang on. Kentucky bass are suspended in 8 to 10 feet of water and biting well on firetiger-colored crankbaits. Catfishing around the jetty tips is fair on shad and nightcrawlers. Crappie are fair in the tree tops around 3 to 8 feet deep. Some large drum are being caught around the jetties on crankbaits.

Arkansas River (Little Rock area): Hatchet Jack’s said the stripers are biting well below the dam on chartreuse split-tails. Crappie are biting well on pink minnows.

McSwain Sports Center said stripers are biting well around jetties and rocky areas on 11/2-ounce Roostertails. Catfishing is good on cut shad below the dam.

Sunset Lake: Turbyfill’s Outdoor Sports said the water is low and clear. Bream are fair on crickets. All other species are slow.

Saline River Access in Benton: Turbyfill’s said the water is low and clear. Bream are biting well on crickets. Bass are biting fairly well on small crawdad-colored crankbaits. All other species are slow.

Clear Lake: McSwain Sports Center said the water is low and murky. Crappie are biting well on minnows fished in brush piles around 5 feet deep. Bass are fair on spinnerbaits bumped against logs in 3 feet of water. Catfishing is fair on nightcrawlers.

Peckerwood Lake: Herman’s Landing will be closed until February 1, 2007. Good hunting!
Murray Lock and Dam: McSwain Sports Center said bass are biting well around rocky outcroppings on white and chartreuse spinnerbaits. Catfishing is fair on shad and nightcrawlers.

NORTH ARKANSAS:
White River: Wilderness Trail said trout fishing has been good. During light generation Berkley Power Eggs in yellow, pink and chartreuse and rainbow nuggets have worked well. During generation, Buoyant Spoons, Krocodiles and Little Cleos are the baits of choice. The fly-fishermen have done well with little generation on olive woolly buggers, zebra midges, scuds and 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 647.81 feet MSL.
Wilderness Trail said lake temperatures dropped to 60.5 and this week’s water level is 647.82, 61/2 feet below normal. The fall bite still hasn’t taken off but the lake is at the right temperature, and bass and sunfish are cruising the banks. Crappie are hard to find on the brush piles as they have moved to the middle of the cuts or coves and are suspended at around 28 to 32 feet. Slip bobbers with crappie minnows work the best when the crappie move away from the brush. Pole trees are holding crappie on the bluff walls, they also are suspending in the 28- to 30-foot range. Crappie tubes, Bobby Garland Swimming Minnows and crappie grubs work better than live bait along the bluffs. Largemouth bass have moved up some and a few can be caught on spinnerbaits and crankbaits during the day. The best bite is still in the early mornings on Zara Spooks and buzzbaits. There are some largemouths that have moved to docks and you can trick a few with flipping tubes or spider jigs. Smallmouth bass are still using “do nothing” banks (pea rock), but the nicer smallies are on banks that have some ledges from the bank out to 28 feet of water. Spider jigs and tube baits remain the best baits. Early morning finds some smallies up on the banks that can be triggered by slow rolling spinnerbaits and working jerk baits just under the surface. Kentucky bass have scattered. There are Kentuckies under docks, along chunk rock banks and channel swings, under shad in 30 to 90 feet of water and frenzy feeding on top out in the middle of nowhere. Anglers are targeting walleye in 38 to 42 feet of water off flats, but the bite is slow. Spoon fishermen did better than trollers last week. With a little sun and some stabilization in the weather we should see them move off the bottom and move into a shallower zone. Meanwhile keep pulling Deep Tail Dancers, Reef Runners and Jointed Shad Raps over the flats.

Sugarloaf Harbor said crappie are biting well on minnows in 25 to 35 feet of water. Kentucky bass are biting well on live crayfish. Walleye are in 28 to 35 feet of water and biting well on jigging spoons.

Lake Norfork: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 546.49 feet MSL.
Cranfield Junction Quik Stop said the water is about 6 feet low and the temperature is in the low 60s. Crappie are fair on jigs tipped with minnows in 16 to 50 feet of water. Stripers are fair on jerkbaits. Black bass are in water dropping from 12 to 40 feet deep and are biting decently on jigs, soft-plastic worms and jerkbaits. Catfishing is fair on jugs and trotlines baited with cut bait and nightcrawlers. Bluegill are decent on red worms.

Norfork Tailwater: Gene’s Trout Dock said one generator has been running and fishing is good. Red worms and wax worms have worked well, as has chartreuse PowerBait.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
Beaver Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 1,110.89 feet MSL.
Southtown Sporting Goods said the water is clear and about 9 feet low. Bream are biting well on wax worms and crickets. Crappie are fair on minnows fished in brush from 8 to 12 feet deep. Bass are fair on drop-shot rigs, spoons and an occasional top-water bite. Catfishing is fair on nightcrawlers.

Lake Fayetteville: Lake Fayetteville Boat Dock said few anglers visited the lake. No report.
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS
Spring River: Riverside Resort said trout fishing is superb. The water is still a bit murky. Many limits have been caught on Rebel Crawdad crankbaits and PowerBait. Walleye are starting to hit medium-running Rattlin’ Rogues. If you prefer to use live bait, 4-inch sunfish could give you an exciting fishing trip.

Crown Lake: Boxhound Marina said the water is high and murky. Bream are fair on red worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs. Some large bass are biting well on buzzbaits and spinnerbaits fished along the banks. Catfishing is fair.

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.

Cane Creek Lake: Cane Creek State Park said the water is clear and at normal levels. Crappie fishing is fair on red minnows.

SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Millwood Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 259.52 feet MSL.
Millwood Lake Guide Service said Millwood underwent dramatic changes again last week with repeated cold fronts, high winds and rainfall. Little River's clarity improved to 18-24 inches, while main lake clarity is 15-20 inches of visibility. Upriver oxbows remain clear over the last week, ranging from 2-4 feet clarity in places. The release at the dam was 1,562 cubic feet per second. The activity levels of Bass and Crappie have tapered off with the repeated cold fronts. Feeding periods are fair to good during warmer periods of the day, but slower than the last few weeks. Juvenile and yearling black bass continue randomly schooling, but have diminished. Large schools of white bass continue roaming the river and main lake. Fronts have pushed the larger bass deeper and positioned them with the river's current on the downside of large stumps and tree trunks. During the heat of the day, the larger bass are still venturing shallow, and will bust a top-water lure if conditions are just right. Rat-L-Traps, and crankbaits are a sure bet for a good bite, but require patience and persistence. The best Rat-L-Trap bite has been clear Hologram, Smokey Joe, or diamond shad color patterns, in ½- to ¾-oz. sizes. Working them at about 12-14 feet, or deflecting off stumps and standing timber has been the key the last two weeks. Crankbaits worked parallel to the river channel are beginning to pick up a few more fish over the past couple weeks. Using a shad-pattern Little N, Excalibur Fat Free Shad or Cordell Big-O crankbait produced a few good bass, but the bite was slow and deliberate. War Eagle spinnerbaits in spot remover, firecracker, or smoke mouse colors are working very well around the grass where baitfish are hiding. The best soft-plastic bite has been on the Eager Beaver the last few days, in pumpkinseed/chartreuse tail, watermelon/red, or red shad/green glitter, Texas-rigged with a 3/8-oz. slip sinker and clicker bead and Bang Garlic spray. The Bang Garlic spray, we believe, are helping these bass locate the lure in the off-colored water. These bass were on large stumps along the river, in 10-12 feet depths, out of current, and on cypress trees, tight to cover. Repeated pitches and flips were required to coax a bite on several occasions over the last few days. It was a tough bite, early in the week with the drop in surface temperatures. The Carolina rig bite is improving as well over the past few days. Southern Pro fatbutt tubes, lizards, and Charm Bass Assassins in pumpkin/chartreuse, Castaic shad, or white-ice colors are working along steep stair step wash-outs of the river in the 9-12 feet depth ranges. White bass continue roaming Little River in fair numbers and large schools. The whites are still biting with some frequency, throughout the day on chrome or white Rat-L-Traps, Rocket Shads, Little Cleos, and Rooster Tails. Once you connect with a single fish, know that there is a large school down there. Large schools have been located in Little River around the areas of Pugh Slough, Jack's Isle and between McGuire Lake Hwy. 71 Bridge. The Crappie bite improved this week. Cooler weather positioned the crappie in planted brush piles. Sizes are fair, ranging from 10-15 inches (1 to 2.5lbs each). The best bite this week was on jigs, between 16-19 feet deep, remaining buried up thick in brush. The crappie will not come out of the brush to hit the shiner or jig. Contact with the brush is necessary to coax a bite. Channel Cats improved this week with the increase in river current, on trotlines and yo-yos from cypress trees. Trotlines set in Little River current (outside bends) between 18-26 feet deep, and yo-yos set 12-15 feet deep using chicken livers, cut shad, homemade blood baits, and Catfish Charlie have been working well, anywhere you have current carrying scent and blood trails. Longnose gar continue surfacing along Little River, and offer an extremely good opportunity for bow fishermen to take out some really nice sized gar up to 30 pounds each.

White Oak Lake: Charlie’s One Stop said the water is low and murky. Catfishing is about the only thing going on at the lake. A few anglers are catching some catfish on large minnows fished on the bottom.

Lake Columbia: Steve's Marine said the water is low. Bream are biting well during the day on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting very well in the afternoons on live minnows. Bass are fair. Catfishing is good.

Lake Erling: Steve's Marine said the water is low. Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows. Bass are fair. Catfishing is good.

Lake Greeson: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 537.10 feet MSL.
DeGray Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 396.52 feet MSL.
DeGray One Stop said the water is low and clear. Not many anglers are visiting the lake.
WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Lake Dardanelle: No report.
Blue Mountain Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 384.50 feet MSL.
CNC’s End of the Line said the water is clear and at normal levels. Bream, bass and crappie are all fair. Catfishing is excellent on worms and chicken livers.

Ozark Pool: Lakeside Food Mart said the water is murky and at normal levels. Bass are biting well. Catfishing is fair on cut bait and minnows. Bream and crappie are poor.

Lake Ouachita: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 569.40 feet MSL.
Mountain Harbor Resort said the water is clear and holding at 70 degrees. Largemouth bass are biting decently on frog-style baits and top-water lures like Spooks and Boy Howdies. Try moss flats and points. Kentucky bass are excellent on live crawfish in 20 to 28 feet of water around brush. Walleye are fair to good on silver jigging spoons in brush 25 to 35 feet deep. Stripers are very good on live gizzard shad and large trotline minnows. Bream are slow, but a few are being caught around cover in 20 feet of water on worms. Crappie are biting well on minnows and crappie grubs in 18 to 35 feet of water.

Poorman’s Tackle and Guide Service said bass fishing has slowed but is still very good. The key is to follow the baitfish. Spinnerbaits and shad-colored crankbaits are both very good choices. Drop-shot lures with 4-inch finesse worms about 35- to 40-feet deep will still produce some monster Kentucky bass. Stripers are still slow, but the afternoons are still producing around the mouths of the creeks and standing timber. Crappie are fair over shallow grass with Tennessee shad colored crappie grubs on 1/16-oz. jigheads. Walleye are spotty with few reports.

Lake Catherine: No Report.
Lake Hamilton: Poorman’s Tackle and Guide Service said bass fishing is fair to good with a lot of methods working. For best results throw a shallow-running shad or crawdad color crankbait in 6 to 8 feet of water, targeting the flats up in the creeks. Crappie are very good around brush piles 15 to 18 feet deep on white and chartreuse crappie jigs. Stripers are slow. No report on bream or walleye.

Lake Hinkle: Bill's Bait Shop said the water is clear and at normal levels. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs fished deep. Bass are biting well on soft-plastic lures and top-water lures. Catfishing is good on trotlines baited with goldfish.

Lake Atkins: Lucky Landing said the water is low and fairly clear. Bream are excellent near the banks on red worms and crickets. Crappie are excellent on minnows and jigs in 2 to 4 feet of water. Bass fishing is poor. Catfishing is fair on chicken livers.

Lake Nimrod: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 342.35 feet MSL.
Nimrod Bait and More said crappie fishing is fair on minnows fished in 11 to 17 feet of water around river channels near the edge of the lake. Catfishing is fair on live shad.

SOUTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Felsenthal: Hale’s One Stop said the water is clear and at normal levels. Crappie are biting well at night on shiners. Catfishing is fair on trotlines baited with live bream.

EAST ARKANSAS:
Arkansas River (Pine Bluff): The Tackle Box said bream are biting well on crickets in 3 to 4 feet of water. Crappie are poor. Bass fishing is good on spinnerbaits and crankbaits around rocky outcroppings. Catfishing is fair on stinkbait.

The Tackle Box said the water is low and fair. Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs. Bass fishing is decent on spinnerbaits and top-water lures near the shallows. Catfishing is good on cut bait and nightcrawlers fished on the bottom around the main channel.

Maddox Bay: Maddox Bay Landing said few anglers are on the water.
Bear Creek Lake: Arkansas Outdoors said the water is murky. The fishing has been slow for all species.
Six Rivers Sport Center said few anglers are visiting the lake.
Horseshoe Lake: Local fisherman Clyde Gregory said bream are shallow and active around the piers. Crappie are excellent on minnows trolled in the open water. Bass are shallow and biting well on white spinnerbaits. Catfishing is god on live minnows and cut bait around piers.