Making memorable catches everywhere

Impressive trophies on the line, reports from East Arkansas

Arkansas Wildlife Editor Allen Middlebrooks got quite a Father's Day surprise on Lake Hamilton back on June 19, landing this massive striped bass that he and his wife (who sent us the photo on the right) estimated was around 50-55 pounds. It certainly checks in as unforgettable.

Later this week, check out reports from Lake Hamilton and Greeson Marine in Hot Springs on the good fishing going on there. Some anglers have found the black bass bite good early and late with such presentations as Zara Spooks, small Whopper Ploppers and non-suspending jerkbaits that resemble small silver baitfish, they tell us. But drop-shot rigs, Ned rigs and finesse jigs are 'holding their own' in areas near or in current.

The key is to be creative in your presentation because by now the fish have seen all kinds of offerings from anglers.

Other lakes, like Ouachita and Beaver, are coming to life with anglers seeking stripers and black bass, and of course the bream should be biting big this week.

Lake Nimrod is enjoying a peak bream bite, we're told. You might find a walleye or two interested in such lakes as Greers Ferry and Beaver now. Justin Toland (bottom left photo) caught his first walleye recently in the Beaver Lake vicinity; this one measured 22 inches long, 3.5 pounds and was hooked while trolling the Beaver tailwater on a Rapala jerkbait.

Meanwhile, in southwest Arkansas, Millwood Lake is finally looking more like itself after storms and wind made a mess of things a month ago. With that in mind, you might want to

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check out the bass bite and more that's going on there.

You might hook a nice bass like Stephanie Wheaton of Iowa recently did (bottom photo right).

Also, we welcome our newest contributor to the Weekly Fishing Report, Lake Erling Guide Service (870-904-8546). You really owe it to yourself to make what is really a pretty easy drive to Lake Erling, south of Lewisville and almost on the Arkansas-Louisiana state line. Yeah, that sounds like a haul if you live in central Arkansas or farther north, but some great fish have been pulled out of that lake of late. Your Fishing Report editor had the opportunity to visit the lake last summer and saw some whopping flathead catfish, and we've heard great reports this year of big bass through our Fisheries Division biologists. It's a large, gorgeous lake that once served as a water source for a paper mill in Springhill, Louisiana, and the AGFC cooperatively manages the fishery with its owner, the AGRED Foundation.

Anyway, read on to catch this week's East Arkansas Fishing Report. And keep sending us these great shots you're getting of memorable summer catches on Arkansas's fishing waters. Email them to jim.harris@agfc.ar.gov.

Lake Charles — Shelly Jeffrey at Lake Charles State Park (870-878-6595) said fishing continues to be good in all species at Lake Charles. Bream are good on worms, crickets and jibs. Crappie are good on minnows, jigs and worms fished around brushpiles, stumps and rocky points.

Bass are good on plastic worms, but anglers may be using other baits and not willing to divulge their secret. Find the bass around the brush or rocky points.

Catfishing is good using worms, blood bait, stink bait, chicken liver, minnows, cutbait and gold fish. The lake is always murky and is high. Surface temperature on the Fourth of July was 77 degrees.

Crown Lake — Boxhound Marina (870-670-4496) reports that water clarity is clear and the water level is normal. Surface temperature is ranging 83-85 degrees. Bream continue to bite well on redworms and crickets. Black bass are good on topwater baits both early in the day and late in the evening. Catfish are biting well on chicken liver. No reports on crappie.

Spring River — Mark Crawford with springriverfliesandguides. com (870955-8300) had no recent report. Check out Mark’s blog at springriverfliesandguides. com for the latest conditions on the Spring River.

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

Look out for the aluminum hatch! Be sure to 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 (size 10), cerise and hot pink San Juan worms (size 10) and Y2Ks (size 10).

White River — The Army Corps of Engineers reported Thursday that the White River stage at Batesville was at 9.67 feet, more than 5 feet below the flood stage of 15.0 feet. The Newport stage continued to fall slightly to 12.05 feet, well below the flood stage of 26.0 feet. The stage at Augusta is sitting at 23.92, more than 2 feet below flood stage of 26.00 feet.

Triangle Sports (870-7937122) report that the river walleye have been fair this week on crankbaits. Black

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bass are fair using crankbaits. That’s all they’ve heard on catches.

The water remains muddy and high in current.

— Jeff Shell, superintendent at Cane Creek State Park, said Cane Creek Lake water temperatures are running in the high 80s to mid-90s.

Water clarity is about 1.5 feet. Crappie are in their summer pattern and can be found around brush and structure with minnows and crappie jigs. Bass are in their summer pattern and can be found suspended around structure and along the bank in early morning and evening hours.

Topwater, spinners and soft plastics are great for working the shoreline, and medium-diving crankbaits and Texas-rigging soft plastics are producing results for suspended fish. Catfish are being caught on trotlines and limblines using large minnows and various attractant baits such as chicken liver.

— Dam repair work is underway by the city of Monticello’s contractor, while the AGFC has been rebuilding the lake bottom and areas near where the shoreline will be for fish habitat when the lake is refilled. Many artificial fish habitat structures have been created and put in place, awaiting the refilling of the lake when dam repair work is done.

— The AGFC’s Wil Hafner at Cook’s Lake Conservation Education Center (870241-3373) reports that the White River at Clarendon continues to drop, creating better fishing conditions for youth and mobilityimpaired anglers during normal business hours. The best species to target right now will be largemouth bass. Any soft plastic that is black with red flake would be a great choice flipped to the banks or cypress trees. Bluegill were slow this past weekend but should pick up with the recent mayfly hatches. No reports on crappie; however, they should be in their normal hiding places near laydowns and hollow cypress trees. Try a jig or minnow in these areas.

All boats that were on the water last weekend caught some fish, Wil reports, with Cook’s Lake finally able to open after continuous flooding of the area.

Cook’s Lake is a 2-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. Following current guidelines, Cook’s Lake will be open to fishing during normal business hours Tuesday through Saturday 8 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. 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

870-241-3373.

— Kent Williams of Oxbow Guide Service (870-278-7978) said crappie are biting on Horseshoe Lake. Right now the most popular way of catching them is spiderrigging. Most folks are fishing in 12-18 feet of water and are catching fish. “As always there are fish around the piers, and some of those fish are in shallower than expected water,” he said. “On a recent trip, we did a single pole trip and found fish as shallow as 4 feet. Jigs were our choice for the day with an olive jig producing better than any other color.”

No reports on bass. Bream catches were just incidental catches while fishing around the piers. “We are seeing lots of bream around the pilings, so a mess of bream should not be tough to catch,” Kent said.

Nothing reported on catfish.

“It is summer and the pleasure boaters are out,” Kent notes. “Please be careful on Horseshoe right now as it can get pretty busy out there right now especially when it gets hot around noon.”