Crappie very good using minnows

Stripers are deep using umbrella rigs and deep cranks and live shad

Largemouth Bass good using spinner baits and plastics 

White Bass No Report

October 18, 2004
This week started with a continuation of rain from the previous week. By Wednesday we had a total of 6" but having been so dry through August and September most of the rain soaked into the ground. The back of the creeks and watersheds didn’t even stain up as there was not enough run off. The lake did clear up and visibility is now at 16 feet and the rain was cold, which dropped the lake temperature down to 63.5 to 64.5 degrees. With some stable weather the fall feed should be in full swing by next weekend. The thermocline is holding at 33 feet with a 61 degree temperature break. The lake will start to flip when the surface temperature equals the thermocline temperature so we are within a few degrees of turn over. Lake level is about the same this week even with all the rain, 652.02, which is two feet below normal pool. Crappie have been active this week just outside the brush piles and around pole trees along the bluffs. They are suspended between 25 and 30 feet of water biting on crappie minnows, Swimming Minnows and crappie tube jigs.

Largemouth bass again have left the banks and are hard to pinpoint. A few buck bass can be found running the back of the creeks but it is not a solid pattern. Wiggle Warts and Bandit crankbaits are catching a few on secondary points in the creeks but you will have a sore arm and very few fish after an eight hour day. Keep checking the bank throughout the week, stable weather should move the largemouth back up. 

Smallmouth bass also made a move this week, but it wasn’t what we expected. Do nothing banks, not chunk rock or points, but plain pea gravel nothing banks. Tubes, Carolina rigs and Spider Jigs are the key baits even though there aren’t any crawdads up on the pea gravel banks. Carolina baits that are working are brush hogs, lizards, trick worms and flukes. 

Kentucky bass are still with the shad and the shad are now in 20 to 30 feet of water in cuts and pockets. Spoons work well on the Kentuckys that are under the shad, white spoons have been dominant this week. Drop shot rigs are also triggering a few with small grubs and finesse worms as the lures of choice. Some Kentuckys can be found looking for crawdads around chunk rock banks, best lures have been crankbaits in crawdad colors or spinnerbaits with shad colored skirts.

The PWT will return to Bull Shoals on May 11 through 13, 2005 and entry blanks for amateurs are now available. The can be ordered by phone from PWT at 218-824-2542, or by downloading them from the PWT web site at www.professionalwalleyetrail.com. They are now available at Wilderness Trail. The PWT is a Pro-Am and this past June one-third of the field consisted of local anglers. The week of November 8th, the Bull Shoals PWT tournament from June 2004 can be seen on The Outdoor Channel, Monday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday 3:30 p.m. and Friday 11 p.m.

Walleye are up on points where they were during the spring. A lot of walleye are being caught by bass anglers that are cranking the banks. Shad Raps and Wiggle Warts have worked the best. Crawler harnesses are catching the majority of walleye this week pulled in 26 to 29 feet of water on Bottom Bouncers. Best blade colors have been red, silver and gold. Long liners have switched over to baits that dive 2 to 8 feet deep and using lead core line to get to the desired depth. Try suspending rogues, Hot N’Tots, walleye divers, and Bill Norman’s DLN’s at this time.

Trout fishing on the White River has been good on Power Bait in yellow, chartreuse and white and Belgian red worms. Buoyant Spoons, Little Cleos, and Rooster Tails have been working when the generation is on. The fly fishermen have done well on olive Woolly Buggers, sow bugs, egg pattern in peach and San Juan worms. Browns are being caught on Countdowns, Flat Fish and nightcrawlers.

}><(((º> Millwood Lake Fishing Report 10/18/04 <º)))><{

Millwood Lake Guide Service reports water temps 69º-76º, 0.5 inches above normal pool, fair stain, & steady.

Largemouth bass, have improved over the last week, and are good during the warmer periods of the days. The schooling bass have resumed schooling activities, chasing shad and are random but improving. During schooling periods, try Rat-L-Traps in chrome/black back or white glitter and shad patterns. Cordell Crazy Shads in silver/black back and Johnson spoons with grub trailers in the lily pads along Little River, are taking a few solid bass at various times. Schooling activity is random, and greatly improved over last week, the best times occurring during the warmer period of the day, around 11am-2pm. With the cooler days and nights, surface temps in the last week have stabilized this week. The schooling bass are taking all sizes of the Rat-L-Traps from 1/4 oz to 3/4 oz. The larger fish are hitting the larger 3/4 oz Rat-L-Traps simply because it is fished slower & deeper, underneath the surface breaking 1-2 pound bass. Deep diving crankbaits are beginning to work better, for the larger bass, by working underneath the schools of smaller juvenile bass.

The White Bass are sometimes found schooling along and with the Black Bass and have been caught in the same schools as the blacks, but apparently, the Whites are still preferring the smaller crank baits like Speed traps or Hot Lips or Chuck-N-Spins, etc over the top water baits. Catches of 35-70 per afternoon of blacks, spots, hybrids and whites mixed in the schools, between 1-3 pounds have been common in the last week-10 days.

Carolina Rigging Lake Fork French Fries in watermelon/red or 5" Bass Assassin Shads are catching keepers along cuts and stair-step drops in Little River, at the 6-8 foot drop zones.

Speed Traps or Hot Lips Crankbaits in pearl belly/blue back or white/blue back are catching keeper bass along points of feeding creeks in Little River. The crank bait bite has improved over the last week, taking better quality bass than week before, but slow it down more to entice the big bite in the same area. Don't be surprised if you pick up a few whites or hybrids with the cranks in the same areas along Little River, as well. Also, we have been placing / pinching a small 1/32oz or similar size lead weight 12-15" up the line to give the crank a slightly different depth and wobble for the larger black bass. Bass Assassin 5" shads, or Zoom Horney Toads in black or pumpkin/white belly, are catching decent bass in the lily pads, coontail moss and hydrilla, but slowing unless you find the schoolers chasing shad in the pads and busting them to the surface. In addition, 10-12" power worms in red shad, tequila sunrise and june bug are beginning to catch a few good keeper largemouth's again, as in previous weeks.

No report for Crappie this week due to increased current, high wind and muddy conditions on main lake.

Blue Catfish are hitting chicken liver and cut shad on trot lines in the outside river bends set approx 12-15' deep.

Long nose Gar are still relatively shallow in the backs of the creeks and feeding. There are some excellent bow-fishing opportunities on Millwood at present. While bass fishing, we have seen huge Gar, well in excess of 10 pounds each, in water less than 3 feet in depth, cruising the shallows and feeding on shad, or other baitfish.

}><(((º> Lake Fishing Conditions Report<º)))><{

Be advised the USA Corps of Engineers recently replaced many of the missing river buoys in Little River, although there are still some stretches along the river that are still being worked on. We have seen several of the buoys washed up onto the south bank, between Pugh Slough and Jack's Isle.

The lake level has returned to normal, this past week and as of Monday October 18, is approximately 0.5 inches above normal conservation pool at 259.24, and steady, with 171CFS being released at the dam, gate #2 set at 0.4 feet. Water clarity in the river, is much improved with the reduced inflow and current. Visibility is approximately 4-6 inches. Clarity is somewhat better in Little River, than the main lake, due to the bank protection from the high winds, however, the overall clarity is worsening from recent rain and high winds over the last week.

The upriver oxbows such as McGuire, Horseshoe, Mud Lake, Clear Lake etc, still have much better water visibility, estimated approximately 2-4 feet in places. Current in Little River is increased this week. Water temperatures have stabilized in the last week, and range approx 69ºF early to 76ºF later in the day, depending on area of the lake, wind and sunlight penetrations.

Use EXTREME caution while navigating Little River in low light conditions, and SLOW DOWN! Careful watch for floaters and debris in Little River's current is a requirement. Keep in mind there are a few sections of Little River, where the river buoys have moved out of position or have disappeared, although the USACE is working to get all these buoys replaced as soon as possible, and are working on the navigation daily.