Good weather means good fishing
By JIM HARRIS
Arkansas Wildlife Editor T he temperature may still crawl back into the low 90s by the weekend and send many of you back to the comfort of your AC, but anglers in Arkansas finally got a taste of comfortable fishing weather at midweek thanks to a front that passed through Tuesday evening. Before that front arrived, though, Eddie Peña found a bass he’d long been looking for: He caught his personal best largemouth bass, a fish weighing 7.71 pounds, while fishing Monday evening at the lake at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.
Eddie related to us that he was out walking his dog, Kuzco, and just happened to bring a rod along for the walk around the lake. After about eight casts at their turnaround point, he landed this whopper. Eddie says he was using a spinning rod with 15-pound braid and a 9-inch ribbon tail worm.
Meanwhile, Arkansas’s cool trout waters have provided quite the respite for a lot of anglers through the hot months. Jim Dunivan caught this nice rainbow trout, measuring 17.5 inches, while fishing the White River at Calico Rock. And speaking of trout, Dave McCulley at Jenkins Fishing and Motel at Calico, who sent us the photo of Jim Dunivan, reports that another rainbow stocking totaling 2,300 fish arrived from the Norfork fish hatchery this week.
Crappie are picking back up in spots, maybe sensing a change in the weather, and bream and catfish activity both are strong in places. There’s a striper or a walleye being caught every so often in the big lakes. And the black bass can turn on at any moment, especially with a “chill” in the air of 85 degrees at midday. Check out this week’s reports and plan a fishing trip of your own.
East Arkansas Fishing Reports
Cook’s Lake – The AGFC’s Wil Hafner at Potlatch Cook’s Lake Nature Center (870-241-3373) sys the lake is on the rise while the bite has fallen off. “Hopefully this cooler weather will get some more anglers out and about!” The lake has been on a rise and the bite has fallen off. Hopefully this cooler weather will get some more anglers out and about! Cook’s Lake is open to fishing for youths under 16 or mobility-impaired anglers, and up to two helpers (who may also fish). 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. Fish from the 140-foot mobility-impaired accessible dock or launch a boat.
Please call ahead at least a day in advance to register to fish. Before launching, please check in at the Nature Center classroom and report back before leaving.
For information or unscheduled closures, please call the center at 870-241-3373. The lake continues to rise after recent rains and the action is slowing down.
Bass anglers are having the most luck flipping green pumpkin or black-and-blue jigs to cypress trees. Some bass are being caught in deeper water using forward- facing sonar. A few have been reported to be taken on white spinnerbaits in running water. The bream bite has slowed a bit, but some are still being caught in about 2 feet of water on crickets and redworms. The bite should pick up this week with the peak full moon. Crappie are being caught here and there while bass fishing.
Lake Charles – Shelly Jeffrey at Lake Charles State Park (870-878-6595) said Monday that water temperature has fallen to 78 degrees. Bream and catfish continue to bite well, but crappie and black bass were hiding last week. Bream are good on worms and jigs. Catfish are good on worms, blood bait, chicken liver and cut bait.
The water level is high and the clarity is the usual murky.
Lake Poinsett – Seth Boone, the superintendent at Lake Poinsett State Park, reported that bream have been biting well on crickets and worms. Catfish are biting on nightcrawlers and other smelly things. Bass are biting on spinnerbaits, but are still catch and release. Crappie are catch and release as well.
Spring River – John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the water level on the Spring River is fishable. This is a great place to wade fish when they are running water on the White and North Fork rivers. Canoe season is in full swing and the boats and rafts are here. 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, cerise and hot pink San Juan worms and Y2Ks.
Mark Crawford with Spring River Flies and Guides.com (870-955-8300) had no recent reports. Visit Mark’s website for any updates at springriverfliesandguides. com; his blog is at spring riverfliesandguides.com/ blog.
White River – The Army Corps of Engineers reported Monday that the White River stage at Batesville was down Thursday slightly, sitting at 9.14 feet and less than 6 feet below the flood stage of 15.0 feet. The Newport stage on almost a half-foot rise to 12.02 feet (flood stage was 26.00 feet). The stage at Augusta is up slightly at 23.52 feet, still 2.5 feet below the flood stage of 26.00 feet. Triangle Sports (870-793-7122) in Batesville had no recent fishing reports.
Eddie Peña bagged this big bass. If you make a memorable catch, snap a photo and send it to news@theeveningtimes.com and be featured in the paper!
Photos courtesy of AGFC.
Jim Dunivan shows of a nice trout he caught over the weekend.
