Big Catches!

Trout, walleye, crappie provide plenty of fishing fun

By Jim Harris Arkansas Wildlife Editor The speing bite is still on in Arkansas waters.

Bryson Harpole of Beebe (top right) caught this dandy brown trout on the Little Red River while fishing with guide Mike Winkler of Little Red Fly Fishing Trips.

Elsewhere around the state…

The water at Greers Ferry Lake is high and the Army Corps of Engineers has been moving water off the lake with long (12-hour) releases at the dam each day this week.

Nevertheless, Mike says, when the water is falling out the trout fishing on the Little Red has been very good. Caddis patterns and pheasant tail nymphs along with midge patterns have been great, he said, and streamer fishing has been excellent.

Lowell Myers of Sore Lip’Em All Guide Service on the Little Red says that what’s happening now is a typical springtime on the Little Red with anglers dealing with rain and times of heavy generation. In the favorable water conditions, though, the fishing has been good with the caddis and other hatches beginning to heat up, he said.

Just make sure to check that water before you head up to the Little Red and north-central Arkansas.

Visit the AGFC website and click on the “Fishing” tab for the pertinent numbers to call or other websites to visit for up-to-date river information.

Great trout action has been going on farther north, up on the White River around Cotter, too. The folks at Cotter Trout Dock say that even though Bull Shoals Lake has been on the rise (12-13 feet above normal pool this week), the tailwater has been staying somewhat low and consistent, though they admit that may soon change because of all the water on Table Rock Lake and elsewhere in the White River system due to the massive rainfall. Still, they say, the trout fishing “has been phenomenal, the catches healthy and the cold water refreshing” as the air temperature begins to inch into the mid-80s.

Also in the northern part of the state, the walleye we’ve been hinting at continue to bite well both in Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes.

Here’s John Fink of St Louis (right photo) with a limit of really nice walleye all caught on a small swimbait at Norfork. The early morning bite for John has been really good, according to Hummingbird Hideaway Resort’s Lou Gabric, who has says they are seeing action from all the active species biting well there in Norfork waters.

And, let’s not forget, crappie are in various stages of prespawn, spawn or donewith- the-spawn throughout Arkansas, depending on where you’re fishing. At Millwood Lake, the crappie are big and very active, but they’re also huge and hungry up at Norfork, too. If you can’s make it to one of

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these hot spots, don’t worry, there’s plenty of good fishing happening all over the state, so you’re sure to find a spot closer to home.

As evidence, we offer a collage of crappie fun from both ends of the state, starting with Dothea Howard (below, top) from near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, returning to Millwood and venturing out with Millwood Lake Guide Service for another crappie slinging expedition; Rom Binkley hoisting some very nice Norfork Lake crappie caught on a jig in shallow water near Blackburn’s Resort bottom left); and Dothea’s husband, Chris Howard, also showing off a nice Millwood crappie he hooked this weekend.