East Arkansas Fishing Reports

You don’t have to go far to find some good fall fishing action

Arkansas Wildlife Editor

• Cook’s Lake — The AGFC’s Wil Hafner at Cook’s Lake Conservation Education Center (870-241-3373) said that although the weather is perfect, the fish at Cooks Lake have had an extreme case of lockjaw, so really no change from the previous report. The beautiful fall weather makes a trip worthwhile, though. Black bass typically now are shallow and can be caught on spinnerbaits, jigs and tubes. Black and red flake or green pumpkin are always great colors to try in plastics. A chartreuse and white spinnerbait with a gold and orange blade should also do the trick. Some anglers had success last week but were pretty tight-lipped on lures and techniques.

Crappie are starting to be caught on jigs in hollow trees.

Cook’s Lake is a 2.5-mile long oxbow off of the White River, nestled in the heart of the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge near Casscoe in Arkansas County. This fertile oxbow receives very little fishing pressure due to being used only for education purposes and youth and mobilityimpaired fishing. The scenic lake is full of slab crappie, giant bluegills, largemouth bass and catfish of all species. Due to current guidelines, Cook’s Lake will be open to fishing during normal business hours Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., water level pending.

Cook’s Lake is open to fishing for youths under 16 or mobility-impaired anglers, and up to two helpers (who may also fish). Fish from the 140foot mobility-impaired accessible dock or launch a boat, but we ask for trolling motors only. To comply with current guidelines, please call ahead at least a day in advance to register to fish. Before launching, please check in at the Conservation Education Center, and report back before leaving.

For information or unscheduled closures, call the center at 870-241-3373.

• Storm Creek Lake — Tyler Ball, park ranger at Mississippi River State Park (870-295-4040), says anglers have been experiencing very poor fishing quality out of Storm Creek Lake. No new reports at this time.

• Lake Charles — Shelly Jeffrey at Lake Charles State Park (870-878-6595) said fishing picked up Sunday with the sunshine.

Black bass reports were good. The bass were being caught in shallow water on topwater bait. Make sure to throw to topwaters close to the brush or rocky points.

No reports on bream, crappie or catfish this past week. Water clarity is murky as usual, and the surface temperature Sunday was 70 degrees.

Water level is high. Shelly says the best fishing days based on moon times should be now through Oct. 19.

• Lake Poinsett — The lake at Lake Poinsett State Park has been undergoing a two-year renovation with plans to refill it later this year and for fishing to resume at levels far better than in recent years, thanks to improved fish habitat and new underwater structures. The water control structure was also repaired.

• Crown Lake — Boxhound Marina (870-670-4496) said the lake clarity is continues to be clear. The surface water temperature stayed at 70-72 degrees. Water level is normal. Bream are still fair. Use redworms or crickets. Crappie are good and they continue to be suspended in 15-17 feet of water. Use minnows or jigs. Black bass are good; swimbaits are your best bet. Catfish were not biting.

• Spring River — Mark Crawford with springriverfliesandguides. com (870-955-8300) said water levels are at 330 cfs (350 cfs is average) and water clarity has been clear. Low, clear water has made the bite tough on some days.

Lots of bugs hatching off, mainly caddis and mayflies. Leaves are beginning to fall, so an ant pattern can work some days.

On the really tough days, bouncing a Y2K off the bottom will get bites. For spin-fishers it has been Trout Magnets in hot pink, red, black and candy corn.

Got to fish them just off the bottom. Great for catch-and-release. For the bigger fish like browns or smallmouth, trout cranks can work well. The rainbow and brown trout crank are favorites.

The AGFC Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery has been stocking really nice-sized rainbows of 12-14 inches. They are still waiting on funding to rebuild the hatchery from past flooding. It has been at less than half capacity since the 2017 flood. Jim Hinkle Hatchery stocks all the trout rivers in Arkansas and we all hope rebuilding and improvements will start soon. The hatchery has done an excellent job with the limited resources over the last three years.

With no catch-and-release areas and no slot limit for rainbows, weekly stocking is very important. We catch-and-release all fish at Spring River Flies and Guides, we are trying to start a trend, Mark said.

He adds, “Wading for the first time this year has become much easier with lower water, but do be careful with the very slick river bottom. Still lots of vegetation on the river.

Cold weather is what we are all waiting for. It will kill off the vegetation and get the bigger trout moving.”

For the latest river conditions and more information from Mark, visit his blog at springriverfliesandguides.c om.

John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the Spring River is navigable. This is a great place to wade fish when they are running water on the White and North Fork rivers. Be sure to wearPine Bluff 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 (size 10), cerise and hot pink San Juan worms (size 10) and Y2Ks (size 10).

• White River — The Army Corps of Engineers reported Wednesday that the White River stage at Batesville was at 9.34 feet, well below the flood stage of 15.0 feet. At Newport, the river is at 11.01 almost 14 feet below the flood stage of 26.0 feet. The stage at Augusta is 23.04 feet, more than 2 feet below the flood stage of 26.0 feet.