Good crappie fishing awaits in cold waters

Arkansas anglers are bundling up for big bites all over this winter

By Jim Harris

AGFC Wildlife Editor

We're hearing great news about crappie fishing from throughout the state, from Beaver Lake down to the south of Arkansas. It usually means a really great time both for fishing and for some later eating.

The word around Lake Conway is that the Gold Creek area is on fire, or at least it was before the big storms that moved through Monday muddied things up a bit. And in the photo at top right, Mike Casey Sr., a finance professor at the University of Central Arkansas, caught a few keeper crappie in that hot Gold Creek area of Lake Conway before Christmas (Dec.

20, to be exact) with his colleague Tom Snyder. They were fishing with Bobby Garland Jigs. Tom, who took the photo, relates that the weather was great for canoeing down Gold Creek.

Bottom right: David (no last name available) from Rose Creek shows off one of his nice catches at Lake Overcup near Morrilton. Lacey Williams, who reports from Overcup regularly, said the crappie bite in December was outstanding, and she sent us a few more pictures to prove it (we'll have more next week).

You can also go to Lakeview Landing's Facebook page to check out the action.

Ray Hudson at River Valley Marina on the LIttle Maumelle River told us Thursday that before the major storm front Monday, crappie were biting very well, and Ray was hopeful the bite would be returning by this weekend as the water clears.

“They were biting as good as you could want before the rain hit,” he said. Anglers were using jigs and minnows and catching crappie at about 8-9 feet, almost near the bottom.

That's just a sampling of what we heard from our reporters this week. Whether you're close to Lake Erling or Millwood Lake in south Arkansas or up Beaver Lake way, there is great news on the crappie front. Check out more in this week's Fishing Reports in upcoming editions, and if bass or some other species of fish is more your thing, there are great reports for you as well.

From Clay to Chicot county, East Arkansas offers a wide array of fishing opportunities.

Here’s a look ast what’s been happening over the last week:

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— Seth Boone, the superintendent at Lake Poinsett State Park, reported had nothing new to report from Lake Poinsett.

Remember that bass and crappie are catch-and-release only as the lake’s sport fish build back up after Poinsett’s renovation work. Bream and catfish also abound. The daily limit for bream is now the same as it is statewide.

• Crown Lake — Boxhound Marina (870-670-4496) is closed for the winter and will reopen in February. They are taking reservations on their

See FISH, page A14

East Arkansas Fishing Reports FISH

From page A8

answering machine for spring.

•

— Mark Crawford with springriverfliesandguides.com (870-955-8300) said water levels have been getting low at 320 cfs, and water clarity has been heavily green tinted.

“Perfect conditions over the last week. A few weeks ago the river was very clear, but recent rains helped stain the water. Always check our blog for current river conditions. The warm weather this week has storms in the forecast, heavy rain can change river conditions.” he said.

The brown trout are biting with this warm up lately, with streamers, nymph rigs, tight lining and, heck – the browns are even eating the Y2Ks.

The AGFC is really working to get browns in the Spring River. One of our browns was caught on the world famous bead-head olive Woolly Bugger, and on the swing, no doubt! A few bigger rainbows were rolling up on the flies, but stocking size has been smaller lately. Caddis and mayflies are hatching heavily with some dry fly action, but really good nymphing during hatches.

A few smallmouth have been caught lately, but they are few and far between. “The smallie bite should pick up as it gets colder. My most productive smallie setup during winter is a white lightning below an indicator. It really slows the presentation down and seems to work.

“Crazy nice weather for winter! Get out and enjoy it while it lasts!”

Check out Mark’s blog for latest fishing conditions at springriverfliesandguides. com.

John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the water level on the Spring River is fishable. This is a great place to wade fish when they are running water on the White and North Fork rivers.

Canoe season is over. Wear cleated boots and carry a wading staff. There is a lot of bedrock that can get very slick. The hot flies have been olive Woolly Buggers with a bit of flash, cerise and hot pink San Juan worms and Y2Ks.

• White River — The Army Corps of Engineers reported Saturday that the White River stage at Batesville was steady at 9.06, 6 feet below the flood stage of 15.0 feet. The Newport stage was at 16.76 feet (flood stage was 26.00 feet). The stage at Augusta at 28.12 and rising Thursday, 2.12 feet above flood stage of 26.00 feet.

Triangle Sports (870-793-7122) in Batesville had no reports.

• White River (Clarendon Area) — The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday reported the Clarendon gauge on the rise (1.30 feet in the past 24 hours from 1 9.m. Thursday to 1 p.m. Friday) at 23.27 feet, about 2.7 feet below the flood stage of 26.00 feet.

• Cook’s Lake — The lake is closed to fishing until spring as it serves as a rest area for migrating waterfowl. Call the center at 870-241-3373 for more information.

• Arkansas River (Pine Bluff Pool) — On Friday, the Corps of Engineers said water flow at the Emmett Sanders Lock and Dam at Pine Bluff was 40,007 cfs. The stage at Pine Bluff is at 31.50 feet and falling (flood stage is 42 feet). Further upstream, the flow at the Maynard Lock and Dam was 44,769 cfs. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Bass Fishing Team had no news from the river.

• Lake Monticello — After a twoyear project of rebuilding the lake habitat by the AGFC while the city of Monticello had the dam rebuilt, the water in Lake Monticello now covers about 470 acres. The acreage of water in Lake Monticello’s lakebed has only increased about 20 acres since May as a result of minimal rainfall. The water in Lake Monticello covers about 1,520 acres when it is at full pool. When the lake was first flooded, it took about five years for Lake Monticello to reach full pool, with two drought years during this period.

Fisheries District 5 staff in Monticello worked with AGFC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery staff to stock about 180,000 fathead minnows, 111,902 golden shiners, 78,840 bluegill and 82,056 redear sunfish into Lake Monticello during the month of October. The fish were placed in a hog trough on a trailer pulled by a UTV.

The fish were then transported about 220 yards from the boat ramp to the water’s edge, where they were stocked. It took quite a few trips to stock all of the fish that were on the hatchery truck.

The AGFC plans on stocking threadfin shad this fall. Florida largemouth bass will be stocked during the summer of 2025. The aforementioned forage and bream species will be stocked again in the fall of 2025, along with black crappie.

Photo courtesy of AGFC