Southwest Arkansas Fishing Report - July 2, 2008

July 3, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Southwest Arkansas

Arkansas Fish and Game - http://www.agfc.com/

Millwood Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 259.69 feet MSL.
Millwood Lake Guide Service said the water clarity is 3 to 6 inches in the main lake away from current. The surface temperature is 78 to 88 degrees. Current in Little River is 1,168 cubic feet per second. Use caution navigating Little River during low light because debris and broken vegetation are floating downstream and some river markers have broken loose. Largemouth bass are biting well early and late in the day, but the bite gets tough from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Top-water toads, Bass Assassin Shads, 10- to 12-inch worms, swim baits and jerk baits are all working well on the bass during low-light hours. The mayfly hatch is in full swing. Many bass are chasing and feeding on bream that are under willow and cypress trees taking advantage of the mayflies. The best bite is in 2 to 12 feet of water. Chunky bass from 3-5 pounds remain consistent over the past week, but are tough to find and entice after 11am until just before dark. Swimming jigs in white or blue glimmer w/ pearl white chunk or craw trailers around grass and pads are best producers over the past week for a big bite. Not much change in overall patterns over the past couple weeks. White bass are biting well between White Cliffs and Cemetery Slough, in 12 to 16 feet of water along Little River using Little Cleos, Little Georges, Rooster Tails and Rocket Shads in white, red and chrome. The crappie bite improved again with the reduced current and discharge at the dam. The most consistent bite remains on live shiners, smoke grubs on light wire jig heads and Mizmo tubes. Blue and channel catfish continue to hit well on trotlines, and remain best in current in Little River. Bream continue to bite well along the banks on crickets and redworms. Many bream can be caught under a single cypress or willow tree on ultra light or spincast tackle on smoke-colored tubes, jigs and white/chartreuse popping bugs.
Cossatot River: Davy Ashcraft at Cossatot River State Park (870-385-2201) said USGA states that the water level is 2.12 feet with the surface temperatures ranging from 68 to 72 degrees. The water is beginning to clear up, which will cause problems for some anglers using baits with spinners on them. Bream are biting great on worms and crickets in 3 feet of water. The smallmouth bass are biting very well on green pumpkinseed finesse worms and crawdad crankbaits around structure in pools at 4 to 5 feet of water. Small, dark-colored grubs are doing well, too. Black bass are fair with some being taken on dark-colored finesse worms and grubs fished very slowly around deep structure. Minnow-rigged setups are producing some limits of bass. Catfish are good with some being taken on chunks of hot dogs, live perch baited on trotlines are doing good as well.
Lake Columbia: Steve’s Marine (870-234-2222) said water conditions are normal. Bream are fair on crickets and worms. Catfishing is good on shiners and worms.
Lake Erling: Steve’s Marine (870-234-2222) said water conditions are normal. Bream are biting well on crickets. Bass are fair on spinnerbaits. Catfishing is good on worms.
White Oak Lake: White Oak Lake State Park said the water level is continuing to be stable but the clarity is still poor. The bass are hitting all types of spinnerbaits, especially blue and red. The catfish are biting fairly well on trotlines. Crappie and bream are slow.
Lake Greeson: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 547.03 feet MSL.
Darryl Morris at Family Fishing Trips said the surface temperature is 85 degrees. The dog days of summer are upon us, but the fish are still biting. Anglers are consistently catching crappie, bream, bass and catfish on hardwood and bamboo brush piles with minnows. Fish 14 to 16 feet deep in 24 to 30 feet of water.
Lakeside Grocery said the water is murky and at normal level with a surface temperature at 88 degrees. Bream are biting well in 3 to 8 feet of water on crickets. Crappie are fair around brush on minnows. Bass are biting well in the evenings on top-water lures, jigs and spinnerbaits. Catfish are fair on noodles and trotlines with bream. Stripers are good early in the morning on spoons and top-water lures.
DeGray Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 407.43 feet MSL.
DeGray One Stop (501-865-3511) said the water is high and all species are slow.