AGFC Fishing Reports

Arkansas Wildlife

• Lake Hamilton — Greeson Marine, hometown dealer of the Arkansas-born-and-bred Xpress all-aluminum, allwelded fishing boats in Hot Springs, reports Lake Hamilton at full pool and water temps in the low 70s throughout. Bass have been doing pretty well with the water temps being in this predator’s wheel house.

Topwater baits such as Zoom Horny Toad in white or green watermelon work well all day but especially under docks in the middle of the day. “Big fish love shade, just like we do!”

Other techniques that are on right now are the dropshot rig, and Ned rig in green pumpkin worms.

Power fishing is fun, but so is catching fish regularly!

Catfish are really hitting stride right now and can be easily caught just about anywhere but especially on the drop-off between feeding flats and deep water or current. Cheese and cut bait are the go-to on the bottom. Bream have been doing very well! Crickets, worms and the occasional marshmallow shed around 10-15 feet of water on some type of structure (including docks) are producing some quality-eating fish right now. “Be safe out there, everyone! Hamilton is a pleasure boater’s lake.

Keep your head on a swivel and expect the irrational boater to come along. Good luck, and Go Greeson!”

• White River — Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said, “The lakes in our watershed (Beaver, Table Rock and Bull Shoals) remain very high. While the weather forecasts tend to worry many of us, the Army Corps of Engineers is keeping an eye on the ground here in Arkansas and much further downstream on the Mississippi FISHING (cont.)

River to alleviate flood situations all around us. Even with the rains this past week, the releases in the White River below Bull Shoals have been relatively gentle. The flood gates were utilized a couple of weeks ago for several days, but have not been employed since and may not be used throughout the lowering of the lakes. With all that, we still expect to see consistent high water in the weeks ahead. What's that say about the fishing?

It's good news. Trout fishing on high water is all about drifting big baits to lure those big and growing fish. River minnows and sculpins drifted near the grassy banks will bring the browns out of hiding.

Every kind of jerk bait is a worthy agent in your search for the biggest trout to reach your personal best. The rainbows have been biting at just about any worm especially when a bubblegum pink or fluorescent orange worm is used in conjunction with shrimp; but don't discount the red wiggler and the old time nightcrawler for catching great rainbows. Seems the copper-colored spoons and spinners are the baits to cast this time of year if that's your style of fishing.

Whatever form your fishing takes, bring it to the river and enjoy Arkansas, our Natural State.

Sportsman’s White River Resort (870-453-2424) says fishing was good until about Monday. The Corps of Engineers threatened to open the spillways, so all the boats would pulled out preparing for flooding, but nothing happened Tuesday.

Anglers are catching a lot of rainbows and a few browns. Clarity is clear and 6 generators are running as of Tuesday. Overall, the trout fishing is good.

John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said late last week that over the past week they had several rain events that combined for less than an inch of rainfall, with warmer temperatures and heavy winds.

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— Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters said, “Norfork Lake is hot.

Literally the lake temperature went from 72 plus last week to 85 degrees today.

It might cool down a little with coming rains but don't expect much. From now through September it is advised to not throw back any legal stripers. Studies have shown that 75% of stripers caught in water temperatures above 75 degrees will die within seven days. Catch your limit, call it a day, and enjoy your striper dinner.

“The full moon this past weekend had the stripers feeding before light, then about an hour after light, and once the sun came up the shallow water bite quits. For the early bite we are using threadfin shad on a freeline with a small split shot. The stripers and hybrids are about 20 feet down and feeding on schooling shad. If you're lucky you can catch your limit very quickly but all things have to go your way. “Once the early bite is over I switch gears and move to bluffs with a channel swing and set out two freelines 100 to 150 feet behind the boat then six downlines set at 60 feet. Most of my fish are caught on the downlines. I target water around 80 feet deep. The stripers are feeding heavy on crawdads and will attack the shad swimming just above them. This technique will become the standard way you fish for stripers for the next three months. Stripers are being caught at Cranfield, Panther Bay, Crystal Cove, Diamond Bay and the main lake points heading towards Big and Brushy Creeks.”

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— Jon Conklin with FishOn Guide Service (479-233-3474) says Beaver is at 1,128.59 feet msl as of Tuesday, holding at a high level.

Water is warming to near 80 degrees throughout the lake. Stripers are good from Rocky Branch to the dam. Look for bait and catch stripers. Do not waste time where you do not see bait on your graph. Crappie are starting to school up at and around 20 feet deep.

Trolling Bandits is a productive way to fill live well this time of year. Bass are schooled up and, again, use your sonar and look off main points in 20-30 feet of water. Bream are excellent. Catfish are good.

Walleye are fair. Lake has a ton of boat traffic especially on weekends. Side note: Nighttime under lights is starting to work on crappie and white bass in and around the Highway 12 bridge.

Southtown Sporting Goods (479-443-7148) said the lake clarity is fairly clear and it remains near flood level height, though down a half-foot from this time last week. Anglers report fair catches of bream on redworms and crickets.

Crappie have been poor; best opportunity to catch them is trolling and spiderrigging. Black bass are good on flukes and Senkos during the day, and using topwater/plastics/spinnerbaits in the early morning and late evenings. Catfish are providing good results for those using limblines and trotlines. Stripers are good on brood shiners and live shad; find them in 15-20 feet of water.

Guide Austin Kennedy (479-244-0039) says that with all the water in the river, along with seven spillway gates being opened and 1 generator online at Beaver Lake dam, fishing has been quite tricky. However, if you could get out in a boat, you might be able to catch a few trout. “I have not caught any other species other than trout. Most were caught upstream from Bertrand Access, throwing various spoons and crankbaits. The trick was to get the bait down as far as possible. Where it is normally 6 feet, in some areas it was 20 feet. So using deep-diving crankbaits or letting the spoons fall was the key.

“No hot spot to report, as the fish were to spread out.

As of (Monday), the gates have been closed and the river has already dropped a couple of feet in a few hours, so the bite should pick back up. We have some good weather ahead and it will be perfect to get out and fish. Have fun and stay safe.” For more information, contact Austin through his Facebook page (Busch Mountain Fishing Guide Service).