‘Striping it’ on Beaver Lake

Bundle up and get out where they are biting across the state

By Randy Zellers

AGFC Communications

Around the Boathouse

Steve and Kim Emirch (right) fished for Beaver Lake's famous stripers this past week and joined the 30-pound club, their guide, Jon Conklin, reported.

Despite Beaver Lake being as low as it's been in quite some time, Conklin says stripers are picking up on winter patterns and are starting to set up; they should get better in the coming month. Conklin operates FishOn Guides on Beaver Lake, and he provides regular updates on Beaver Lake in the weekly fishing reports.

Meanwhile, southwest Arkansas's Millwood Lake (one of the few major lakes in Arkansas that is not below normal pool for this time of year) is not disappointing, whether you're looking for the usual largemouth bass (and, lately, hungry spotted bass) or if it's something else, like slab crappie.

In the photo below, Robert Jones from central Arkansas was fishing with Mackey Harvin of Millwood Lake Guide Service recently when he landed several slabs, including this 2pounder. Crappie are biting jigs one day, minnows the next; try them both and see what works best.

We're hearing good reports on the crappie from Lake Maumelle in central Arkansas, too; Central Arkansas Water has drawn the lake down 6 feet with plans to reach an 8-feet drawdown this winter, in hopes of eradicating hydrilla. Lake Maumelle, owned by CAW, is first a water source for region, but it's also a great spot now to catch some crappie as the pool grows smaller.

• Last week, AGFC Fisheries Division staff added 450 tons of lime to Tommy L. Sproles Lake Pickthorne on Holland Bottoms WMAin Jacksonville.

Recent soil tests from the 300-acre lake indicated that liming at a rate of 1.5 tons per acre was necessary to increase fish production.

Water alkalinity in the lake is low, which can lead to wide daily fluctuations in pH, which can be stressful for fish. Low alkalinity also limits lake productivity because acidic soil can easily absorb phosphate, making it unavailable for phytoplankton production. Phytoplankton is the base of the food chain in ponds and lakes, and higher levels of phytoplankton lead to improved fish growth and increased fish biomass in a lake or pond.

The lime was loaded onto the AGFC's habitat barges using a telehandler with a loader bucket, and then the lime was washed off into the lake using highpressure water pumps.

• The AGFC and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce are extending the “Cash In on Conway” tagged fish promotion to carry through Feb. 29, 2024. According to JJ Gladden, AGFC assistant chief of education, only two of the 55 fish originally tagged during the promotion were turned in by Oct.

31, the planned expiration date for the reward tags distributed in Lake Conway, which is being drawn down for a major renovation.

“We had worked with the chamber to budget for many more fish being turned in, so the decision was made to honor the tags throughout winter,” Gladden said. “There’s still more than $50,000 worth of unclaimed tags still out there somewhere.”

Initially the tags were worth $500 each to the lucky angler who caught them, but after a lower-than-expected return, the AGFC and Chamber of Commerce doubled the reward for each fish turned in. That $1,000 reward will remain in place for the duration of the extended promotion.

AGFC Fisheries district supervisor Nick Feltz in Mayflower said he wants to encourage fishing at the lake as long as possible. “We want people to be able to use the resource and harvest as many fish as they can,” he said. “Even as the water level continues to drop, there will be locations that still have enough water to fish throughout winter. The Adams Lake area of Lake Conway will still have fishable water even after the lake has dropped as far as we can get it by opening the dam.”

Anglers who catch a tagged fish must mail the tag to the AGFC to claim their reward.