Fall fishing fun in Central Arkansas

Plenty of big bites still to be had

Arkansas Wildlife Editor

Lake Conway Reservoir

Bates Field and Stream (501-470-1846) said Wednesday afternoon that the lake is featuring its expected, normal stain and is a little low in water level. No surface temperature was recorded. Bream are fair on redworms.

Crappie are excellent.

Anglers are finding best success on the northern part of the lake and around the Highway 89 bridge, on minnows and jigs. Black bass were fair on white spinnerbaits and swimbaits. Catfishing is good on trotlines and pole fishing with stink bait, chicken liver, dough bait, shad, skipjack or brooder minnows.

Little Red River

(updated 11-4-2021) Fish ’N Stuff (501-834-5733) in Sherwood said the Army Corps of Engineers is running more water; the river level is higher and water is clear. Trout are good on marabou jigs (olive, black, brown/orange colors in one-sixteenth-ounce sizes) and pink and white Trout Magnets and on trout-colored Rapala Countdowns and Rooster Tails.

Guide Mike Winkler, operating Little Red River Guide Service (501-6909166, 501-507-3688), says to always check the Southwestern Power Administration’s website (swpa.gov) to see if they are scheduled to generate power for the day. Look for low flows and sometimes multiple days without generation. When SWPA is generating power they usu-

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ally run 1-4 hours a day weekdays starting around 3 p.m. Weekend generation has been minimal, creating excellent wading opportunities for the entire river.

While wade fishing this time of year be aware of the redds are brown trout are spawning in the shoals.

Don’t walk through cleaned gravel areas where the fish are spawning. With the low flows try fishing the deep holes and oxygenated shoals. Fishing under an indicator with egg patterns and midge’s have been producing, along with pheasant tails and sowbugs. A two-fly rig with a midge dropper has been effective.

If you like to strip flies, try stripping small streamer patterns and Cracklebacks along with swinging soft hackles in the shoals.

Lowell Myers of Sore Lip’em All Guide Service (501-230-0730) said that with Greers Ferry Lake below pool and with cooler air temperature, we can expect a pattern of only small amounts of generation weekly. Midges, pheasant tails, hare’s ear and Woolly Buggers are recommended for fly-fishing. For Trout Magnet fishing, Lowell recommends pink and white-colored bodies on chartreuse or gold jigheads. Always check before heading to the Little Red River by calling the Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District water data system (501-362-5150) for Greers Ferry Dam water release information or check the Corps of Engineers website (swl-wc.usace.army.mil) for real-time water release and the Southwestern Power Administration website (swpa.gov) to see forecasted

generation schedule.

Tommy Cauley of Fishfinder Guide Service (501-940-1318) said the water level at Greers Ferry Lake is at 456.16 feet msl, or 5.86 feet below low normal pool of 462.04 feet msl and falling with generation one or two times a day.

“We can rest assured it will stay low until next year’s

Continued on Page 14 FISHING REPORTS (cont.)

spring rains, pretty much.

The overall bite is good and should continue unless this sudden cold makes it turn over, then when that happens it could be up to three weeks before it gets back to as good as it is right now. Enjoy while ya can.”

Catfishing is good all over; the blue bite should be good until it gets super cold. Use your favorite bait and you should be good all over lake and rivers.

Bream are pretty active out to 25 feet on crickets and crawlers fished several ways. As for crappie, a lot of better fish are showing up again on lake and rivers, fishing horizontal and vertical as well with live and artificial baits. Still marking a lot of walleye deep, 60 feet; some are set up on flats with the rest following other fish around eating what they spit up. Try dragging a crawler or crankbait 28-45 feet.

Some big black bass are being caught shallow and some all in-between and out to 70 feet suspended roaming; pick your poison and stay with program for best results. Hybrid and white bass, you can about call your shot before you get bit sometimes. It’s easy and sometimes hard. Stay with the bait and you cannot go wrong. Use spoons, inline spinners, swimbaits or topwater baits from 2580 feet.

Fish ’N Stuff (501-8345733) in Sherwood said water is clear and almost 6 feet below normal elevation. Bass are fair on topwater lures (Zara Spooks, buzzbaits, Whopper Plopper) around the banks, and their biting jigging spoons (white and chrome colors in half-ounce sizes) in deeper water. Crappie are good on natural shad color and white jigs and spider-rigging around standing timber in 10-15 feet of water, as well as trolling crankbaits (Bandit 300s are a good choice).

David Hall at Dad’s Bait Shop (501-289-2210) said Wednesday the clarity is still a little stained and the water level is normal.

Bream fishing is fair with crickets. Crappie are still being caught in good numbers in the 3- to 6-footdepth range. Focus on the buckbrush with your minnows or jigs. Black bass are good in the evenings in the deeper water. Use spinnerbaits and white Rooster Tails. Catfishing is good on the bottom using live bait.

Johnny “Catfish” Banks at Overcup Bait Shop and R.V. Park (501-354-9007) said the water level is down by 1.5 feet. Clarity is murky and the surface temperature is around 68 degrees. Bream are slow but anglers are still catching some. Black bass are doing well on crankbaits.

Catfish are doing well on yo-yos and noodles baited with bass minnows and broilers. Crappie are still in the deep water toward the Highway 95 side. “We are still catching a lot of smaller crappie on Highway 9.

With the fresh rainwater and cooler temperatures, it should pick up, Johnny said. “Come see me at Overcup Bait Shop off Arkansas Highway 9 for all your fishing needs.