Catfish are biting river worms and shrimp

Bluegill good on crickets waxworks and river worms

Crappie fair to poor on minnows

Bass fair top water early am

Fishing Report by:     Wilderness Trail      

ANGLER'S EDGE 3RD ANNUAL TEAM BASS TOURNAMENT
OCTOBER 15-16, 2005
Entry Fee $200.00 plus $20.00 Big Bass (100% payback - optional)
Each team will receive 2 Free Falcon Rods and a Free Buffet Dinner at Mario's
Entry forms can be picked up at Wilderness Trail - Entry fees can be paid at Wilderness Trail also
For more Information call us at 870-445-2703

It is still warm during the day but the nights are dropping into the 60’s, which makes the morning fishing very comfortable. Lake level continues to drop, generation has been consistent round the clock with the heat in Texas and Oklahoma. The pool is at 648.17 this week, 6 feet below normal pool. As the lake level goes down so does the thermocline, which has stabilized at 34 feet. Lake temperature is around 81 degrees in the morning, heating to 84 degrees by mid-day and we really need some rain.

Crappie continue moving to back to the brush piles and around docks with structure. Live crappie minnows are the best bait fished on a plain hook and split shot. Fish 26 to 30 feet of water in the morning and 30 to 35 feet of water throughout the day.

Catfish were active this week on jugs with a 12 foot drop line. The entrance of the pockets in the creek arms seem to be producing numbers of catfish. Chicken liver, Magic Bait and frozen shad have been the best bait.

Largemouth bass can still be found up on the banks in the morning on buzz baits, Zara Spooks and Spit’N Image baits, most of the strikes are reaction strikes, so make sure you cover a lot of water. Secondary points and main lake points are holding largemouth in deeper water (30 to 35 feet). Best baits under these conditions are Spider Jigs, football jigs, Carolina rigs with brush hogs or trick worms and spoons fished vertically.

Smallmouth bass are holding out in the thermocline until mid-afternoon, then they are moving up on points in shallow water, not sure what that is all about. Spider Jigs, tubes and Mojo rigs with finesse worms or lizards have been working the best. Drop shot rigs with 4" drop shot worms or Swimming Minnows will trigger a few smallies that are suspended off the points.

Kentucky bass have been pushing shad to the surface throughout the day. Almost any top water lure will trigger some strikes during the frenzy feeding. Searching for schools of shad in the creeks and around the ends of the main lake channel swings is still the key for catching some nice Kentuckys. When you work a school, drop a ¾ to 1 oz spoon (white, blue/silver or silver) down through the shad, the Kentuckys are under the school of shad.

Walleye slowed down a bit this last week, at least the larger walleye; the 16 to 17" fish are still very active. With the thermocline now in the 34 to 36 foot range long liners are only getting bit if they are pulling lead core to get the baits down to the walleye. Hot baits are Reef Runners (blue/silver, trout and gray ghost colors), Hot’N Tot (fire tiger and purple passion) and Bill Norman’s DD14’s in 000 and 133 (shad) colors. Vertical spooning is also working well on the walleye that are hugging the bottom. Best colors are blue/silver, white and gray/orange belly).

LAKE RATING: The rating continues to be fair as the lake continues to fall and the bite is "iffy".

Fishing for trout on the White River has been good on Berkley Power Eggs in yellow and Nuggets in orange. With generation the Buoyant Spoons, Blue Fox and Little Cleo's are the bait of choice. The fly fishermen did well on olive Woolly Bugger, soft hackles, Zebra Midge and olive scuds and sow bugs. The Brown trout are being caught on Countdowns, Flat Fish and nightcrawlers.

Remember to keep only what you can eat and release the rest for another day. Rick Culver of Wilderness Trail does the research for this report and the writing of this report.

Catfish No Report

Bass No Report

Crappie No Report

Catfish are biting river worms and shrimp

Bluegill good on crickets waxworks and river worms

Crappie fair to poor on minnows

Bass fair top water early am

Channel Catfish GOOD

Largemouth Bass GOOD

Bluegill Sunfish FAIR

Redear Sunfish FAIR

Crappie FAIR

Catfish: Good: Bruce and Jeanette did pretty good catfishing off the docks this weekend. They used nightcrawlers fished about 4’ below their bobbers. Cut shad bellies continue to work well out in the main channel. The fish are still in the deeper water until water temperatures drop a few more degrees.

Stripers: No report

Remember a bad day fishing is better than a great day at work.

Lake Level : 600.9 
Normal Lake Level : 606
Water Condition: Clear
Surface Water Temp: 79 - 82

The rivers feeding Mark Twain Lake are turning over. The 21st annual Bud-Light Bass Tournament is this weekend, good luck to all that enter.

Crappie reports have been spotty this week. It's still mostly small crappie, bigger ones have been more frequent the past week and a half. The weather fronts this week have messed with the fishing. The best reports have come off of the main lake points and tree lines, about 10 - 15 feet deep. Minnows have worked the best. If using jigs, then tip them with minnows.

Bass fishing has been fair. Plastics around main lake points.

Cat Fishing continues to be good. The rain this week has the rivers and creeks flowing. Nightcrawlers and cut shad have been the best bait for rod and reel fishermen, still catching mostly channel cats. Flatheads on trotline have been fair, using gold fish and perch.

White Bass fishing has been fair. There have been a few reports of fishermen catching good numbers of white bass.