Catching memories (and fish)

Still plenty of fun to be had on the water this summer

Arkansas Wildlife Editor Great weather on the weekends has provided lots of chances for young and older to get out and bring in some impressive fish.

Thanks to everyone who has shared their catches with us this year. This week, Addison Sparks (left) shows off a gorgeous redbelly sunfish she caught recently on the Saline River, fishing with crickets; and Wayne Gibson was fishing at Peckerwood Lake in east-central Arkansas between Hazen and Stuttgart when he landed this nice bass, using minnows.

We know the fishing's starting to wind down a little, but this weather is just too much to resist. Find a place to get out this weekend by checking out our fishing report. And, if you catch something memorable (or if you just catch a

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memorable smile from a youngster or the young at heart), send it along to the Fishing Report by emailing it to jim.harris@agfc.ar.gov.

Millwood Lake — The lake Friday was at 259.4 feet msl and falling; oxbows' water clarity had improved. Little River clarity was heavy stain to muddy with current discharge this week. Millwood Lake tailwater elevation was near 237 feet msl with gate discharge at the dam around 10,000 cfs in Little River, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Check the most recent lake level of Millwood Lake on the guide service s website linked above, or the Army Corps of Engineers website, for updated gate release changes and inflow rates with rising and falling lake levels.

Navigation conditions on the lake are improved, he said, with reduced discharge rates and flow conditions in Little River. Still, use extreme caution anytime high gate discharge conditions exist and in the lake watch for random broken or floating timber. Lots of Little River buoy markers along the main lake channel may have moved with recent gate changes at the dam and with recent high winds. Rriver clarity is ranging 2-5 inches visibility depending on location. Clarity and visibility of the oxbows is 10-15 inches depending on location. Further up Little River near White Cliffs and Wilton Landing have heavier stain/muddy inflow conditions. Clarity at Saratoga and Okay areas have improved drastically.

Wilton Landing, Millwood State Park and numerous other campgrounds and boat launch ramps that briefly closed have been reopened.

As for the fishing specifics, Mike reports:

• Largemouth bass: Fishing is best early from daylight to around 10 a.m,, slowing in the heat of the day. Bass Assassin Shads and frogs in black, June Bug and white have been working near pads and grass early.

Custom-built Chatterbaits in Firetiger, chartreuse Sexy Shad and bream colors (pumpkinseed, black and orange) got a few reactions. Brazalo Custom Lures Spinnerbaits in Millwood Mayhem Bream

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also continue working early, fished fast and rambunctious near the surface.

Frogs like the Live Target hollow body, the Zoom Horny Toad and Bass Assassin Shads continue getting reactions in the pads early. The best reactions over the past couple weeks or so have been from the adolescent bass from 10-15 inches and 1-to 2-pound largemouths.

Ten-inch Power Worms in black/blue tail, Black Grape and Plum colors have been working for a few bass up to 3 pounds.

Bulky 4-inch Gitzit Tubes with a rattle inside have been working; best colors were Pumpkinseed/chartreuse tail, purple smoke/chartreuse tail, or black and blue.

Largemouths were slightly lethargic in the hot sun of the midday, and not much response or activity was seen after 10 a.m.

In recent bass tournaments over the past couple of weeks, two trophy-size largemouths were weighed in post-spawn at over 9 pounds each.

Bass Assassin Shad jerkbaits were working in the same flats and stumps with lily pads as the topwater frogs early in the morning.

Pumpkinseed-chartreuse tail, Salt & Pepper Silver Phantom and Bluegill Flash in the 5-inch sizes seemed to draw best reactions. If you can find drops and vertical structure where the alligatorweed and lily pads converge on receding flats or deeper drops on secondary points, from 5-6 feet deep tapering out to 8-9 feet deep, custom-painted S-Cranks and Little John Cranks in bream and shad patterns were getting random reactions over the past few weeks. Bomber Fat Free Guppy in Splatterback and Citrus Shad colors worked. Heavy æ-ounce 1-Knocker Rat-L-Traps in Millwood Magic and Splatterback caught some bass in the oxbows of McGuire where the water clarity has much improved over the past couple weeks. Acres of floating alligatorweed mats in numerous areas of the oxbows up Little River are making fishing with many types of lures and crankbaits difficult and the navigation impossible. The middle of Horseshoe Lake oxbow, inside the cypress tree line on the north and east sides, and the northeast pocket behind the northern peninsula, is completely matted, he said. We noted some large grass mats floating in Little River this week with debris. Bagley Creek, Red Slough and South Hickory pockets are vegetation matted thick, made navigation and fishing impossible.

Pine Island, Schall, Plum and Mine Creeks are beginning to mat completely over. The Corps of Engineers is currently monitoring and evaluating the excessive alligatorweed densities lake-wide. The Corps did conduct an alligatorweed beetle release several weeks ago and are monitoring success rates.

• Bream: They have been in a spawning mode for a few weeks in a few areas near Jack's Isle and at Millwood State Park off the shoreline. Bream were biting crickets, earthworms, sweet corn and/or bread.

• White bass: Still roaming in Little River and her oxbows, and are stacked up behind points in deeper creek channels dumping into Little River and creekmouth junctions in the oxbows. Random reactions were fair, and best on chrome/blue spoons with a red bucktail. Rooster Tails, Bomber Fat Free Shads and Rocket Shads also caught a few whites over the past two weeks.

• Crappie: Improved on jigs and tubes in planted brushpiles in the oxbows up Little River and on main lake from 8-12 feet of depth. Vertical-jigging seemed to work best for jigs. Minnows caught a few 1.5- to 2-pound black crappie early, but were slow in the afternoon.

• Catfish: Continue to move and feed well in current along Little River.

Limblines, trotlines and yoyos have been working for some nice blues and channel cats over the past couple of weeks with the increase of discharge at Millwood Dam. Cut buffalo, hot dogs, chicken hearts and catalpa worms were working over the past couple of weeks for some nice size 3- to 5-pound cats on trotlines and yo-yos set 8-12 feet deep near current flows in creek channels near the river.

904-8546) reported that lake clarity is dingy and the level has fallen below normal. Crappie were fair this past week. They are at a depth of 16-20 feet and can be caught using minnows, jigs, hand-tied jigs and Bonehead Tackle Jigs in gray/silver and pink/silver colors.

Catfishing remain excellent on anything and everything, they report. Try worms, cut bait and bream for best results. Erling has a nice population of channel, blue and very large flathead catfish, per recent AGFC fish sampling.

No reports on bream or bass this week.

John Duncan of yoyoguideservice. com at iron mountain marina says, “Anyone notice it is hot? Hydrate well, and often, my friends.”

“The lake is changing fast.

Water is clear for the most part all over. There is some tinting as you move past marker 34 toward Shouse Ford. Water temperature has actually cooled down a little (as of Sunday) to the low 80s. Lake level is 405.26 feet msl and dropping.

from Brushy to Point Cedar. Get there early. Use white grubs with a large head to allow for distance, or 2-ounce spoons. There are quite a bit of Kentucky/spotted bass in the surfacing fish. As for hybrids, not much on surface activity. However, good reports on catches with spoons. Use the river channel as a guide to find hybrids if they are not surfacing. Look for schools with electronics and fish accordingly to matching depth. Be there early with spoon, topwater and grub.

Pray for calm winds.”

“The crappie bite is slowing with the heat somewhat. You still can find them in 22-24 feet of water. Getting little response on slow-rolling jigs over piles.

Lots of followers but few takers. Downsize if you are throwing jigs over piles.

Twister tails attract more bites but lose tails to bream. Drop-shotting gets some big ones. Good luck, be safe, courteous, and hydrate.”

Capt. Darryl Morris of Family Fishing Trips Guide Service (501-844-5418) said Wednesday, “It’s truly amazing, but I’m still catching ample numbers of crappie 8-12 feet deep in 15-24 feet of water on live bait.”

“However, not all the brushpiles are holding crappie and it’s getting thinner each day. So, in transition, I’m seeing some surface activity from the spotted bass and I’m still watching for the whites and hybrids to start breaking and doing their morning feed.”