Still Catching Fish Amid All the High Water

The East Arkansas Fishing Reports

From the Arkansas Game & Fish

Commission www.agfc.com

This is about the time when classic rock radio stations start cueing up John Fogerty’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain” regularly, and when weather forecasters promise us there’s an end in sight.

Lakes are on the rise, dams are on round-theclock release schedules as long as the streams below can handle the water, the Arkansas River is running high and fast, and the opportunities to fish don’t seem very prevalent.

Look closer. Be safe, of course, but check out some good opportunities out there.

Guide Mike Siefert sent along the photo left of a young angler who joined Siefert in taking in the white bass action at Millwood Lake in southwest Arkansas.

The lake has seen a lot of water and changing clarity, but there is some clearer water away from the river’s main current.

East Arkansas Fishing Reports (Updated Feb.

15):

• Horseshoe Lake — Professional fishing guide Ronnie Tice said the catfishing is “awesome.” An excellent bite can be had in 4-8 feet of water using stink bait or shad. Also, the crappie bite is good. There is a deep trolling bite, he said. Crappie are biting from 2-30 feet depth. “I caught a limit today,” he said Tuesday afternoon. For best success, fish the piers and canals. Bream reports are poor, as are black bass reports.

Ronnie reported that it was windy and rainy Tuesday afternoon. The water level is high, the temperature feels cold at the surface and the clarity is murky. Ronnie has Facebook page; check it out for photos and other information from his fishing excursions at Horseshoe Lake, an old Mississippi River oxbow not far from Hughes.

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• Bear Creek Lake — Natalie Faughn, assistant superintendent at Mississippi River State Park, says there isn’t much to report from these lakes as of late. Bear Creek lake levels are still low – folks are still fishing and occasional catching some crappie, but nothing major to report. Storm Creek Lake has been slow on activity as well. Hoping for better fishing once spring hits. The USDA Forest Service is diligently working on the project to fix a break in the levee at Bear Creek Lake.

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• Cook’s Lake — The AGFC’s Wil Hafner at Cook’s Lake Conservation Education Center says that they always like to shoot for the first of March to open up Cook’s Lake. However, the White River at Clarendon is approaching 29 feet, and that leaves the boat launch at Cook’s Lake inaccessible for the time being. “We will continue to monitor the conditions and report when it looks like Cook’s Lake will reopen.” For more information, please contact the center at 870-241-3373.