Spotlight on Central Arkansas

Bundle up and wet a hook this winter

By Jim Harris

Arkansas Wildlife Editor

This is the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s weekly regional fishing report. If there is a body of water you would like included in this report, please email jim.harris@agfc.ar.gov with information on possible sources for reports about that lake or river. Reports are updated weekly, although some reports might be published for two weeks if updates are not received promptly or if reporters say conditions haven’t changed. Contact the reporter for the lake or stream you plan to fish for current news.

Don’t forget to support AGFC programs by renewing your hunting and fishing licenses for 2023.

• Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir — Bates Field and Stream (501-4701846) said lake clarity is still clear this week, but the level is back to normal. Crappie are good in shallow water for anglers using an assortment of jigs or fishing with minnows.

No reports on bass or bream.

Catfish are biting well on cut bait and nightcrawlers.

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— Angler Dennis Charles said water is clear and cold. Crappie have been found midway down and the bite is excellent. Catfish are deep and by the docks.

Black bass are roaming all over and all depths and, like crappie, the bite is excellent.

• Little Red River — Greg Seaton of littleredflyfishingtrips. com (501-690-9166) said the Army Corps of Engineers have generated from the dam each day this week.

Amounts have varied and so has the time. Check each day before planning your trip.

This generation is probably due to the colder temperatures and demand for electricity.

This may be reduced later in the week and over the weekend due to a warmer weather pattern. The river is clear.

Rainbows and browns are still taking egg patterns and small midge pupa.

It is that time of the year when you should be careful wading the shoals where the browns are trying to spawn. A redd is an area on the bottom of the river in the gravel where the fish have cleaned the debris from the rocks and lay their eggs in the gravel.

These areas are easily identified by being cleaner and shining on the bottom. Please avoid wading through these areas. Disturbing the eggs destroys them and therefore reduces the number of browns in the river. Wade around, not through, the redds. The browns are not stocked in the Little Red River and depend on this spawn to survive.

Also, please try fishing below the redds to catch the fish that are feeding on the eggs drifting off the redd. Avoid harassing the fish that are on the redds spawning. These fish will probably be caught by foul hooking rather than taking the fly. “Wishing you a Happy New Year!”

Fish ’N Stuff (501-834-5733) in Sherwood says the river remains low. Trout are good on Power rigs, Buoyant Spoons, Rapala Countdowns in size 7 and Rooster Tails.

Lowell Myers of Sore Lip’em All Guide Service (501-2300730) said, “We are in the typical fall and winter generation pattern for the Little Red River, with very little generation taking place during the week or weekends. This pattern is unpredictable and could change depending on power demands. It’s highly recommended to check forecasted and real-time generation before planning a trip to the Red. For fly-fishing, we recommend midges, egg patterns and soft hackles. Hot pink and cotton-candy-colored bodies on chartreuse jigheads are recommended for Trout Magnet spin-fishing. Be safe while enjoying the river.

Always check before heading to the Little Red River by calling the Army Corps of En-

See FISH, page A9 FISH

From page A8

gineers reports the lake’s elevation at 459.17 feet msl (normal conservation pool: 462.04 feet msl).

Tommy Cauley of Fishfinder Guide Service (501-940-1318) said the water level at Greers Ferry Lake is at 459.16 feet msl and staying pretty steady with no rain and warmer temps not much generation. It looks like the trend will continue until the first of the new year, as forecasts calls. It is 2.88 feet below normal pool of 462.04 feet msl. Black bass will eat crankbaits and spinnerbaits on steeper banks, along with jerkbaits, drop-shots, jigs, Alabama rigs and spoons working for deeper fish and dragging a C-rig or football head. Crappie are eating minnows and jigs fished straight up and down, as fish are getting tighter to pole timber and brushpiles. Some bream are still pretty active in deeper water; try 1220 feet with crawlers and moving baits. No reports on catfish. The river spawning walleye have got it on their minds and are staging and/or moving, while the lake fish are wanting to eat. Best bet is a crankbait trolled in right areas, 12-40 feet. Hybrid and white basses, will eat a lot right now, feeding up before the harsh cold; try spoons, Alabama rigs, hair jigs, inline spinners and the Largo Super Spinners in 35-80 feet.

Fish ’N Stuff (501-834-5733) in Sherwood says the lake remains 3 feet low, while the clarity is clear. Bass are good at the lower end of the lake on jerkbaits, swimbaits, Alabama rigs, crawfish-colored crankbaits, and they are good on the upper end of the lake on white Chatterbaits close to the bottom or by fishing a red crankbait and finesse football jigs. Crappie reports are good; target 10-15 feet depth of water with hair jigs.

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— Harris Brake Lake Resort (501-889-2745) says the lake remains clear; the water level is very low. Crappie are good around the shoreline. Minnows and jigs (particularly pearl white and rainbow colors) are best bets. Crappie are also being caught on trotlines. Black bass and bream are poor. Catfishing is good using nightcrawlers, baby shad, and catfish bait with peanut butter.

• Lake Overcup — Employees and contractors with the AGFC conducted herbicide applications to Overcup through September. The herbicides cause no harm to wildlife, people or aquatic life, but will kill gardens, flowerbeds and lawns if used on neighboring lands. By federal law, these herbicides have up to a 120-day irrigation restriction after application.

The AGFC asks adjacent landowners to NOT irrigate for lawn or garden use with lake water until Feb. 1, 2024. The use of herbicides is necessary to control the current problems with alligatorweed and other invasive vegetation species that have infested the lake and, if left uncontrolled, could restrict access to boathouses, ramps and fishing locations and hinder native wildlife and fish populations.

Randy DeHart at Lakeview Landing (501-354-5309) said fishing has gotten slow. Anglers are catching a few crappie here and there on minnows and jigs. Other than that, there’s nothing to report. The lake clarity is clear and the lake is low by about 1 foot.

• Arkansas River at Morrilton — Charlie Hoke at Charlie's Hidden Harbor at Oppelo (501-354-8080) said the water is clear but not many anglers on the water this week. A few catfish being caught.

• Little Maumelle River — Ray Hudson at River Valley Marina (501-5171250) says river clarity is clear, while level and current have stayed normal.

Bream are good; use worms or crickets. Crappie fishing is excellent on minnows and jigs. Black bass are fair; try crankbaits or plastic worms. No reports on catfish.

• Arkansas River (Little Rock Pool)

— Fish ‘N’ Stuff (501-834-5733) said the pool is at normal level and current and the clarity is muddy. Crappie are good behind Burns Park on orange/chartreuse and black/chartreuse crappie jigs. White bass are being caught in good numbers below the dam on white hair jigs and spoons. Black bass are good on shad-colored crankbaits, jerkbaits, crawfish-colored crankbaits and a black/blue jig.

Zimmerman’s Exxon (501-944-2527) reported that crappie are excellent on the river in the backwaters and below Terry Lock and Dam on minnows, Bobby Garland Jigs (pink lemonade and Cajun cricket colors), Baby Shad and pink/chartreuse Super Jigs. White bass are good below the dams on 3inch chartreuse grubs. Catfish are fair below the dams and the North Little Rock hydroelectric plant at Murray Lock and Dam on cut shad.

• Clear Lake — McSwain Sports Center (501-945-2471) said the lake clarity is a little muddy, and the water has jumped up from last week to a high level. Crappie are fair. Look for them in 6-8 feet of water and fish with minnows or pink/white jigs. No other fish appear to be biting.

• Peckerwood Lake — Herman’s Landing (870-241-3731) is closed for the season and will reopen in February after duck season closes.