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

November 15, 2004

Fall weather finally arrived with wind, rain and a peak of sunshine. Temperatures have been running from the mid 30s at night to the lower 50s during the day. Lake level is about the same as last week 652.76 feet, 1 ½ feet below normal pool. The lake temperature has dropped down to 58.5 to 60 degrees throughout most of the lake. Here’s the kicker! The thermocline is gone. That’s right, gone!!! Did the lake flip or turn over? Well if it did flip it flipped over night which is absolutely impossible. I talked to Mark Oliver the area’s leading Biologist from the Arkansas Game & Fish. Mark stated that it’s possible that the thermocline dissolved, which can happen when there is very little temperature variation between the surface temperature down to the thermocline. So what we have is 59 degree surface temperature and 58 degrees 60 feet down, the bass, walleye and crappie can go anywhere they want.

Lake rating this week remains (fair). Game fish are roaming and hard to pattern.

Largemouth bass might be in the back of creeks and coves, then again they might not be. Start your day off by checking the backs with buzz baits, spinner baits and top water prop baits to see if the largemouth’s are in. If the shallow water bite is not on pull out to secondary points and channel swing ends and fish crank baits or Jig & pig from the bank out to 35 feet of water. Also, when there is a high sun fish docks with Spider Jigs or tubes. 

Smallmouth bass are now scattered from pea rock points to chunk rock banks and points. There not holding in any certain depth of water. Best bet is to start out in 40 foot of water and work in. Football jigs are triggering the deeper smallies in 40+ feet of water. Carolina rigs are working between 28 to 38 feet and Spider Jigs and tubes are the best baits from the bank out to 35 feet of water. On windy days use crankbaits (Wiggle Warts or Bandits) in crawdad colors. 

Kentucky bass are still holding around groups of shad and at this time shad are both in shallow back ends, middle of pockets and cuts off deep points. Spooning is still triggering a few along with drop shot rigs but the best bite is on crankbaits or slow rolling spinner baits fished through the shad. Some Kentuckys are looking for crawdads and can be caught on the bottom with spider jigs and tubes.

Walleye are suspended over deep water down 28 to 35 feet. They are hard to catch and even harder to locate as they roam around. Long liners are able to trick a few with Hot-N-Tots and Suspending Rogues around the outside of main lake points, glass Shad Raps and Reef Runners are also a good bet. Most of the walleye seem to be feeding up on the banks inside of 20 feet of water. Crankbaits, spinner baits, crawler harnesses on Bottom Bouncers have been the key baits. Work chunk rock points and steep pea rock banks for best results.

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

Trout fishing on the White River has been good on Power Bait in yellow and orange and Belgian red worms. Buoyant Spoons, Colorado spoons and Little Cleos have been working when the generation is on. The fly fishermen have done well on olive Woolly Buggers, scuds, egg pattern in peach and San Juan worms. Browns are being caught on Suspending Rogues, Countdowns and nightcrawlers.

Largemouth bass are fair to good with reduced periodic schooling activities continuing during the heat of the day, on Rat-L-Traps in chrome on sunny days, and white or light colored shad patterns or gold on cloudy days. Black buzz baits remain taking some decent size keepers in the 16" to 18" class, in Little River, on points of creek channels dumping into the river. This pattern has remained fairly constant over the last few weeks.

During random schooling periods, black bass, spotted bass and white bass are chasing shad on the edges of Little River, in grass and dying lily pads, back in mouths of creeks dumping into Little River, and away from current. During these periods of the day, the aggressive feeders remain very good on 1/4oz to 3/4oz Rat-L-Traps in chrome/black back or white glitter and various shad patterns; and War Eagle Spinnerbaits in white/chart or firecracker color patterns in the lily pads and grass along edges of Little River. The smaller Rat-L-Traps are taking better quantities of all sizes of bass, but the larger 3/4 size Traps are definitely catching the larger fish. When you see shad busting to the surface, or stranded on tops of lily pads and vegetation, lightly pitch in a small 1/4oz War Eagle spinnerbait in firecracker, spot remover, or a white/chart Rocket Shad and just "Let It Rip" back through the remaining vegetation. Many of the strikes are occurring just as the spinnerbait rips free of the grass. Schooling activities have remained good over the last few weeks, only slightly reduced with the cooler water surface temps and cooler nights. With the cooler days and nights, surface temps in the last week have dropped again slightly, this week. The larger fish continue hitting the larger 3/4 oz Rat-L-Traps since it is typically fished slower & deeper, underneath the breaking 1-2 pound juvenile bass. In addition, if you can get a 1/2oz to 3/4oz hammered spoon, through the schoolers, be ready for the big bite just underneath the schooling bass. Tip: put on a white bucktail on the business end of the spoon. Medium to deep diving crankbaits like the Excalibur Fat Free Shad or Bagley B3's are beginning to work better as well, for the larger bass, by working the cranks underneath the schools of smaller bass. The larger bass appear on your electronics underneath the schooling juveniles, as suspended and waiting for the injured or hit shad to fall out from under the schoolers. In addition, a smoke or watermelon w/ chart tip, colored Southern Pro Fat Butt Tube pitched into the edges of the dying lily pads, grass and on base of cypress trees are catching decent bass in those areas.

White Bass are sometimes found schooling along and with the Black Bass and have been caught in the same schools as the blacks, but the Whites are still preferring the smaller crank baits like Speed Traps, Hot Lips, and small spinners like Chuck-n-spins or white rocket shads, over the top water baits. Catches of 20-30 per afternoon of blacks, spots, hybrids and whites mixed in the schools, between 1-3 pounds have been common in the last few weeks.

Crappie bite improved last week due to improved visibility / water clarity, and main lake conditions. Recent rain and 6" rise on the lake with reduced water visibility this week has slowed the Crappie bite this week. Best bite within last week is on shiners in 12-17 feet depth planted brush piles in front of Mud Lake entrance, and in the cypress stands in the second entrance to Mud Lake (look for the huge bait schools on your graph in 12-17 feet depths, over planted brush piles) as well as the cypress trees on right hand bank at back of Horseshoe Lake in 7-12 feet depths.

Blue Catfish in Little River are good on trot lines and yo-yos, using cut shad or chicken livers, in the outside river bends between Hole in the Wall (on Little River) and Pugh Slough, set approx 15-18' deep.

The upriver oxbows such as McGuire, Horseshoe, Mud Lake, Cemetery Slough, etc, away from the current in Little River still have much better water visibility, estimated at approx 3-4 feet in places. Current in Little River is increased again this week. Water temperatures have also dropped in the last week, and range approx 63ºF early to 67ºF later in the day, depending on area of the lake, wind and sunlight penetrations.

Be advised the US Army 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.

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.

Don't forget, be safe, 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, wear your Life Preserver and SUNSCREEN! If you are suddenly thrown from your boat, or knocked unconscious, your life preserver can potentially be your only hope to survive, so PUT IT ON!