Arkansas Fishing Reports 9/2/2010

Trout fishing is slow, but some good rainbows have been caught on wax worms, Power Eggs and nightcrawlers.

the fish have been hitting like crazy. The water is in good condition with 3 to 4 generators running in the afternoon. The trout are biting excellent on wax worms, Power bait and nightcrawlers.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over twenty five years.

the water level is stable and the temperature is in the low 80s in the mornings and around 87 in the afternoons.

The white and hybrid bass are schooling on top, feeding on small shad around pole timber. The fishing is good now, but should be excellent very soon.

Crappie are hard to come by, but the ones being caught are big; try night fishing or fishing in the pole timber around 22 feet over 60 feet.

Walleye are slow, but some are being caught on crawlers and jigging spoons in 30 feet of water.

The black bass fishing is good with some fish being caught out of the pole timber and up to 70 feet deep. In shallow water, top-water baits and buzzbaits are working in the mornings. Jighead worms, split shot worms, football head jigs and Carolina rigs are working for the deeper fish. Tommy Cauley
Fishing Guide

Good luck and good fishing, and please come and see us at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock for all your fishing needs…Thank you!

AGFC Millwood Lake Fishing & Conditions Report, submitted by
                               Millwood Lake Guide Service each Monday/Tuesday.

}><(((º> Millwood Lake Fishing Report 30 August 2010 <º)))><{

The Overall Picture:

Navigation conditions are well below normal elevation during four foot drawdown. Use extreme caution during navigation on Millwood Lake.

The last week's cooler temperatures have had positive effects on the bass and the fishermen! Fish are schooling, and more fishermen are chasing them!

As of Monday 30 August, Largemouth Bass continue congregating and are good at creek mouth junctions with Little River, ranging 3-5 pounds. The Bass were schooling over the past week in Little River at creek those junctions, and inside lily pads, vegetation such as pond weed, & continuing to converge on creek mouth's intersections with Little River. The four foot drawdown on Millwood is in effect, use extreme caution during navigation. Surface temps dropped slightly over the past week and are currently ranging 83ºF to 88ºF, dependent on location and time of day. For the past few weeks and since drawdown began pulling fish out of creek channels toward Little River, good catches of bass continue on Millwood hitting 5" Bass Assassin Shads, Rat-L-Traps, Buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, Yum BuzzFrogs, & Cordell Crazy Shads. The best bite still remains early thru mid-morning. The Mayfly hatch has finished under willow trees.

As of Monday 30 August 2010, USACE lake level update is now 42 inches below normal pool and steady, with little current in Little River of 220CFS, and drawdown continues to reduce lake level. Use extreme caution at boat ramps, and navigation on Millwood during the four foot drawdown in effect through Feb 2011. Stumps and boat ramps are very shallow. Some cutover boat lanes through timber on main lake are inaccessible during drawdown conditions, and merely inches of depth remain! Call the USACE for updates on all USACE boat ramp closures.

Lake level as of Monday 30 August, is 255.69 mfsl and was unchanged from last week. Normal consv. pool is 259.20 feet. The USACE has reduced total discharge, to 220CFS (cubic feet/ second) with 1 tainer gate open at 1/2 foot and one sluice gate open at 1 foot. Tailwater levels of 225.13 feet are as of Monday 30 August. Clarity on main lake remains approx 8-12 inches, and 10-20" in Little River current depending on location. The oxbows clarity ranging approx 24-48" visibility depending on location. Clarity and visibility can change dramatically on Millwood in just a few hours with high winds.

Millwood's 4' drawdown is currently underway, to control unwanted aquatic vegetation, make scheduled repairs and complete other projects, such as shoreline improvements, Ranger Tony Porter said. It will take approximately 14 days and lower the water level to 255.2 feet, approximately 4 feet below normal and the project will last until 11 February 2011, when the lake will be filled to 261.2 feet, which is 2 feet above normal and return to normal elevation of 259.2 feet after two months, or approx 11 April 2011. Use extreme caution in lake navigation during the drawdown due to stumps nearing the surface in cut over boat lanes, and the river channel. Some boat ramps maybe inaccessible during the drawdown due to sedimentation build up and rebar at / near end of ramp concrete areas. Some boat lanes maybe inaccessible due to water levels.

To volunteer for one of the cleanup dates or ramp and USACE park information, contact Brooke Kervin at the Millwood Tri-Lakes Project Office.

To receive updates or volunteer, call the Corps’ toll-free information line at 888-697-9830.

The Details:

Largemouth Bass: The bass bite over the last week's cooler temperatures improved and numerous schools of Largemouths were surface breaking along Little River. The best times remain from daybreak to around 10am. Numbers of bass from 3-5 pounds each remain concentrating near almost any major creek junction with Little River and close proximity nearby and these fish are hitting crankbaits, Rat-L-Traps, Shad Assassins, buzzbaits and a variety of surface lures like Pop-R's and Jitterbugs. With the four foot drawdown in effect, bass continue to be pulled to the river and creek mouths and points intersecting with Little River. The deeper sections and washouts in Little River from 12-16 feet are beginning to work better for Carolina rigs and crankbait bites.

Largemouths continue in roaming Little River in search of shad schools and many of these schools will be found at the numerous creek intersections w/ the river. Best bite still remains best early and late, and the reaction bite pattern, around vegetation such as coontail, hydrilla, pondweed, and lily pads, remains very good on numerous surface lures such as Cordell Crazy Shads, clear Baby Torpedoes, Yum BuzzFrogs, Bass Assassin Shads in salt and pepper silver phantom, and gold pepper shiner colors. Yum Dingers, 10" worms, and jigs are also working when the surface schools along Little River subside the breaking activity. With the 4' draw down in effect, we are catching good numbers of bass on crankbaits like the Fat Free Shad and Rat-L-Traps. Carolina rigged lizards, bulky worms, jigs, and 4" magnum tubes are working along river wash outs and cut outs in river bank in 10-12 feet stair-step washouts. Berkley 10" Power worms in Plum, Cherry Seed, and Blue Fleck are catching good keeper bass from 16" to 19" in length. Peanut butter / jelly colors are working for deeper bass, or suspending bass on Carolina Rigs.

Slow cranking or trolling Rat-L-Traps in White Shad, Millwood Magic, (or Chrome/Blue on sunny days) colors continue working well in tandem with the crankbait bite, on points of Little River, ditches, and creek intersections and dumps into Little River, and around new pondweed grass, creek channel mouths, standing timber, and stumps as long as you remain in the creek channel, or deeper drop sections of the oxbows and river.

Jigs in black/blue, pumpkinseed, green pumpkin or Texas craw colors, are catching bass on cypress trees and stumps in deeper sections of the creek channels and on points in the river. Siefert's Buzz Baits are working for a reaction bite early in the morning hours around daylight, in Casper Ghost and Firecracker colors.

Slow moving, or dead sticking Bass Assassins Shads, Yum Dingers (wacky rigged), and skipping/hopping the Yum BuzzFrogs or Rattling Zara Mouses around pads, are still randomly taking fish early and late. Lily pads, hydrilla, and pondweed, where the vegetation is growing in close proximity to stumps in deeper water, those areas will produce good catches. .

White Bass: Large schools continue breaking topwater in Little River in front of Hurricane Creek, Jack's Isle Mud Lake's first and second entrances, and the Horseshoe and McGuire oxbows over the past several weeks. These White Bass were schooling early morning and ranging in size from 2-4 pounds each.There were some yearling Largemouths chasing the schools of threadfin shad, mixed in with the Whites this week and were noted schooling inside the lily pads and grass. Johnson spoons in chrome, with a white trailer are catching these schoolers inside the vegetations

Crappie: continue to bite fair now that the current has reduced and water clarity is improved. Best spots along Little River are over planted brush in 18-23 feet and stacking nicely on your electronics, early, on live shiners, jigs, smoke grubs, and vertical jigging Tiny Rat-L-Traps in chrome or white. Bite dies off substantially after 9-10am.

Cats: Channel Cat's bite picked up somewhat over the past week on trot lines in Little River and yo-yo's hung from cypress tree branches in 8-9' depths using Charlie, chicken livers/gizzards and dough baits. Cut shad and catalpa worms are also working in the same areas, along Little River and in Mud Lake or Horseshoe Oxbows, on yo-yo's hung from cypress trees in the oxbows.

}><(((º> Millwood Lake Level & Little River Conditions Report <º)))><{

Navigation conditions are well below normal elevation during four foot drawdown. Use extreme caution during navigation on Millwood Lake.

As of Monday 30 August, surface temps dropped slightly over the past week and are currently ranging 83ºF to 88ºF, dependent on location and time of day.

Wear your Life Jacket and kill switch!! If you are suddenly or unxpectedly thrown from your boat, it could be your only chance of survival. Use caution navigating Little River in low light conditions, SLOW DOWN, and pass friendly to other boaters! As always, careful watch for any random floaters and debris in Little River's current, and wearing your PFD and kill switch is a requirement!!

Don't forget, be courteous, and respect the other guy's right to use the lake too. Release those big bass to spawn and fight again, and take home those little 16"ers to fry up! Use caution in low light conditions, and wear your flotation device! If you are suddenly thrown from your boat, or knocked unconscious, your life preserver can potentially be your only hope to survive.

Visit us on the web for the most current Millwood Lake fishing report, updated weekly. See some great catch and release photos, sponsor links, tons of great information and resources on the lake available to you, along with excellent related direct links to Arkansas' State Parks, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Black Bass Program, The US Army Corps of Engineers, and Arkansas.com.

And As Always,

"""""<º)))><{"""""GOOD FISHIN' !"""""<º)))><{"""""""

Mike