Fishing Reports News

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s fishing report for Nov. 8:

CENTRAL ARKANSAS:

Lake Conway: The water is low and murky. Crappie fishing is excellent on pink minnows and chartreuse jigs with pink heads fished around stumps along the main channels. The best depth for the crappie has been 12 inches to 2 feet deep. Bass are fair in the shallows on top-water lures and large minnows. Catfishing is fair.

Little Red River: The water is low and brown trout are beginning their spawning run. Rainbows and browns are biting very well on PowerBait and wax worms. The primary flies that are working the best are tan bead head sow bugs, red or black zebra midges, copper Johns, pheasant tails and princes, olive woolly buggers and egg patterns.

Greers Ferry: Crappie are fair on live minnows under a slip-cork. Black bass are biting well on top-water lures until about 10 a.m. Hybrid and white bass are schooling a little around 40 feet of water. When they’re not on the surface, try chasing them down with a spoon. Walleye are fair around 35 feet deep.

Harris Brake Lake: The water is murky and low from the winter drawdown. Crappie fishing is good on crickets, jigs and minnows. Bass fishing is good on spinnerbaits. The lake was recently stocked with catfish and the new cats are biting like crazy on minnows.

Lake Overcup: The water is murky and at normal levels. Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie are fair on black/chartreuse tube jigs and minnows. Catfishing is hit-or-or miss on live brood minnows.

Little Maumelle River: The river is at normal levels and clarity for this time of year. Bream are biting well on small panfish worms. Crappie are biting well around 3 feet deep on minnows and jigs. Bass fishing is fair on spinnerbaits and minnows fished under a slip-cork. Catfishing is fair on live and prepared baits fished on the bottom in the main channel.

Arkansas River: Stripers are strong below dams 9 and 10 on spoons. Some stripers are also being caught around Grandma’s Point, Copper’s Gap, Flagg Lake Cut-off and the Petit Jean River on shad-colored deep-diving crankbaits. White bass are around sand bars around balls of shad. Tie a 3-inch fluke to your line.

Pickthorne Lake: Crappie are biting well on pink minnows.

Sunset Lake: The water is low and clear. Bream are fair on crickets. All other species are slow.

Saline River Access in Benton: The water is low and clear. Bream are biting well on crickets. Bass are biting fairly well on small crawdad-colored crankbaits. All other species are slow.

NORTH ARKANSAS:

White River: Many fish are being caught on red/gold Cleo spoons, Buoyant spoons and gold No. 7 and 9 Countdown Rapalas. Bull Shoals Dam has been running between one and two units daily during the weekends, which is great for fly-fishing. Best flies are sow bugs, pink micro jigs and all colors of woolly buggers and soft hackles.

Bull Shoals Lake: The fall bite has not quite gotten into full swing yet. Crappie are still suspending in the 28- to 32-foot range away from the brush piles in the middle of the cuts and coves. Largemouth bass have moved up some and a few can be caught on shad-colored spinnerbaits and crankbaits during the day.

Lake Norfork: Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well in 10 to 30 feet of water on minnows and jigs fished tight to brush piles. Bass are biting well on spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Catfishing is fair on trotlines baited with stinkbait. Stripers are schooling up and biting well on spoons.

Norfork Tailwater: The river is at normal levels and the oxygen levels are a bit low, but the fishery is doing well. Rainbow and brown trout are biting well on corn. Fly-fishing a black/green woolly bugger across the current is working as well.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS:

Beaver Lake: The water is low and clear. Bream are biting fairly well on crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows in 8 to 15 feet of water. Bass are fair on top-water lures and spinnerbaits in the morning and spoons and drop-shots in the afternoon. Catfishing is fair on live bait. Stripers and white bass are biting well.

Beaver Tailwater: There has been very little generation over the last few days, providing plenty of wade-fishing opportunities. Of course, scuds and sow bugs as well as midge pupa patterns have been very productive; however, cream midge adult patterns have hooked several trout over the past week.

Lake Sequoyah: The water is about one foot high and muddy. Catfishing is good on stinkbait. All other fishing is slow.

NORTHEAST ARKANSAS:

Spring River: Fishing is good just about anyplace on the Upper Spring River. Below the spring is a choice spot for large Browns. Cold springs access any place below Dam 3. The “Bayou” and its access, with fast runs and deep pools, hold an enormous number of rainbows and walleye.

Crown Lake: The water is high and clear. Crappie are biting well in 12 feet of water on minnows. Bass are fair on jig-and-pig combos. Catfishing is fair on large minnows and chicken livers.

SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS:

Lake Chicot: Increased rainfall is bringing the water level up. Anglers report catching a few nice crappie next to docks and other submerged structure. Catfishing is good on worms and chicken livers.

Grand Lake: Fishing success has been low with few reports.

Mississippi River: Very little fishing activity and few reports.

Cane Creek Lake: The water is clear and at normal levels. Crappie fishing is good.

SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS:

Millwood Lake: Activity levels of bass and crappie have improved with the decrease in cold fronts and steady water temperatures.Feeding periods are fair to good during early and late periods of the day, with good to very good feeding periods during the warmest periods of the day. Large schools of white bass continue roaming the river and main lake.

White Oak Lake: The water is low and murky. Catfishing is about the only thing going on at the lake. A few anglers are catching some catfish on large minnows fished on the bottom.

Lake Columbia: Bass fishing is good on spinnerbaits and soft-plastics. Catfishing is good on live and prepared baits.

Lake Erling: Bream are picking up and biting decently on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting fairly well on minnows and jigs. Bass are good on soft-plastics. Catfishing is good on worms, chicken livers and minnows.

Lake Greeson: The crappie are scattered and on the move. Recently, 12- to 15-inch crappies were being caught as shallow as 4 feet deep, but most are now in the 15- to 24-foot range hitting small shiners. They’ll hit jigs and spoons, too, but live bait boated more fish. The smaller bass and bream are holding in brush piles.

DeGray Lake: Bream are biting decently in 20 to 30 feet of water. Crappie are biting well in 10 to 15 feet of water on minnows, but are scattered. Black bass and Kentucky bass are biting well on crankbaits and spinnerbaits. In the mornings, they’re holding in 5 to 15 feet of water, and they’re moving to 15-25 feet of water in the afternoons.

Little Missouri River: Cahills are past the peak of their hatch, but a few nice flights are showing in the afternoons on sunny days. Trout are still taking Light Cahill pattern flies, but the take is very light.

WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS:

Lake Dardanelle: Crappie have been biting sporadically. When they do start hitting, you can easily catch 15-20. They are doing well this week on minnows and alewife. Catfish are still doing well, but not as good as the last couple of weeks. Whole and cut shad are your best options. Bass tournament participants report some good hard bites on chartreuse colors.

Blue Mountain Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 387.00 feet MSL. The water is at normal levels and muddy. Crappie are fair on minnows. Bass fishing is fair. Catfish are biting well on chicken livers.

Ozark Pool: The water is muddy and at normal pool. Crappie are fair around 6 feet deep on minnows. Bass are fair on spinnerbaits and jigs. Catfishing is fair on nightcrawlers and whole live shad.

Lake Ouachita: Largemouth bass are biting well on crankbaits fished along the outside edge of the moss. Top-water action is good with Spooks and Boy Howdies. Try moss flats and points for best results. Kentucky bass are very good on live crawfish near brush 20-28 feet deep. Walleye are still fair with reports of these fish being caught near brush.

Lake Catherine: The fishing has been slow, and not many anglers are visiting the lake.

Lake Hamilton: Bass fishing is fair to good with a lot of methods working. For best results throw a shallow-running shad or crawdad color crankbait in 6 to 8 feet of water, targeting the flats up in the creeks. Crappie are very good around brush piles 15 to 18 feet deep on white and chartreuse crappie jigs.

Lake Hinkle: The water clarity is good. Bass are pretty good, with a few beginning to come up to the shallows. Spinnerbaits and other shad-imitations are a good bet right now. Catfishing is good on trotlines baited with live minnows.

Lake Atkins: The water is low and clear. Bream fishing is excellent on red worms and crickets near the bank. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs fished 8 feet deep. Catfishing is good on minnows around cypress trees. Bass fishing is poor.

Lake Nimrod: The water is clear and at normal levels. Crappie fishing is excellent around the main river on minnows. Catfishing is good on live and prepared baits near creek channels around the base of brush piles.

SOUTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS:

Felsenthal: The water is clear and at normal levels. Crappie are biting well at night around 15 feet deep on live shiners fished under lights.

EAST ARKANSAS:

Arkansas River (Pine Bluff): Bream are poor. Crappie fishing is good on shiners and rosy red minnows. White bass are biting well on crappie shiners. Catfishing is good at Riverport.

Maddox Bay: The water is low and muddy. No fishing report available.

Bear Creek Lake: The water is low and full of leaves from the color change. Not many anglers are on the water.

White River: The water is at normal levels. Crappie fishing is poor. Bass are fair on top-water lures in the mornings along shallow banks. Walleye are biting decently on single-tailed grubs fished in deep holes of the river. Catfishing is poor.

Horseshoe Lake: The lake is low. Bream fishing is good on crickets still. Crappie are fair on minnows trolled slowly around the channels. Bass are good on spinnerbaits in the shallows, but most are small. Catfishing is excellent.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

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