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

WALLEYE SEMINAR

MARCH 5th and 6th

DETAILS WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER JANUARY 1ST

If you are interested in this seminar call 870-445-2703 to receive a registration form

Weather patterns can be crazy this time of year, one day the sun shines and it’s 60 degrees, the next day the wind is blowing 30 mph and the temperatures are in the 40’s. Last week was just that kind of week with a little rain thrown in for good measure. Here’s a surprise! The lake level is at 656.28 which is two feet above normal pool. I can’t remember the last time the lake has been this high in December. Lake clarity remains around 16 feet and water temperature is in the low 50’s, perfect conditions for the fall bite which was a little spotty this last week. Crappie backed out away from the brush piles and are now suspended in 30-35 feet of water. There is a feeding bite in the afternoon other than that it’s been tough. Crappie minnows with a bare hook and swimming minnows are the best baits.

Lake Rating: Bass are moving in with the wind otherwise the bite is slow, crappie are suspended and only feeding a few hours a day, walleye are scattered and hard to pattern, so this week we will call it "fair".

Largemouth bass are on the banks on windy days holding on blow downs and large boulders. Crankbaits (Wiggle Warts or Bandits) and spinner baits will trigger some good largemouth's. When conditions don’t have the bass pushed up onto the banks fish secondary points with Spider Jigs or Mojo rigged Brush Hogs. 

Smallmouth bass remain in deep water on the drop-off side of points. They’re moving up onto the points to feed then returning to the deep water drop-offs. Fish the deeper side of the points first with football jigs or Mojo rigged centipedes. If you don’t get bit throw a Spider Jig or tube bait up onto the points. 

Kentucky bass are with the shad and on the chunk rock banks foraging for crawdads. Spoons and drop shots are the key lures for some success with the suspended Kentuckys that are swimming with the shad. Check the end of bluff walls and the middle of main lake cuts for the balls of shad. Fish chunk rock banks with tube baits and Spider Jigs in crawdad colors for the Kentuckys that are up shallow.

Walleye have not been very cooperative this last week. They have moved off the points and are suspended 40-48 feet down over 50-55 feet of water. We think they’re moving back onto the points to feed at night but the weather has been a little nasty to check it out. A few walleye have been caught in 35-40 feet of water but they’re gone by 8:00 am or so. We will se if any changes take place this upcoming week.

PWT Tour Offers Walleye Anglers a Challenging 2005 Brainerd, Minnesota…The In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail announced a challenging 2005 season for the world’s top-ranked walleye anglers. The PWT is a Pro-Am format. Pro anglers are fishing ambassadors who share their boats, tackle and tactics with amateur/co-anglers and those who’ve always wanted to fish a special lake can do it as amateurs/co-anglers. Call PWT headquarters at 218-824-2542, for entry blanks, or go to www.professionalwalleyetrail.com. Entry forms are also available at Wilderness Trail and Bull Shoals Boat Dock.

Trout fishing on the White River has been great this week as some of the trout are already spawning. Power Bait eggs in fluorescent yellow, pink and red have been great. Corn and salmon eggs are also working well. On high current, Buoyant Spoons, Colorado Spoons and Rapala Countdowns have been hot. The fly fishermen have switched over to egg patters flies and are having great success. Browns are being triggered on bigger baits. Suspended Rogues, Shad Raps, Flat Fish and Lucky Craft Pointer 78s have produced many nice browns in the 4-8 pound range this week.

}><(((º> Millwood Lake Fishing Report 12/13/04 <º)))><{

Largemouth bass are fair during the heat of the day, on Rat-L-Traps in black/gold back shad or white colored shad patterns. On cloudy days, gold or red are working better. 10" Berkley power worms in black; or black/chart or pumpkin/chart jigs with a black Uncle Josh 11A or Jumbo frog, pork trailers, and medium diving red crankbaits are working. The jig bite has improved again, in the last week, with the continual drop in water temps of another 5º.

War Eagle Spinnerbaits in white/chart, or spot remover color patterns in the remaining vegetation are taking fair keepers in shallow flats close to the river and deep water. The larger bass have moved again, slightly deeper in the creeks, and closer to the deeper haunts of the river drops at the creek mouths dumping into Little River. With the cold frontals passing over the last week, 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, fished slower. Medium to deep diving crankbaits like the Excalibur Fat Free Shad, Bandit or Bagley B3's in brown craw/orange belly are working well, for the larger bass. Southern Pro Fat Butt Tubes in black/red flake, or pumpkinseed/chart worked slowly on base of cypress trees, are catching decent bass in those areas.

Recent rain and increase in current in Little River has resulted in over a 3 foot rise on the lake with reduced water visibility this week and tremendous current and debris, has slowed the Crappie bite over last 2 weeks. A few crappie were biting live shiners and jigs along the river over planted brush piles between Yarborough point and Bee Lake entrance on north side of the river in 10-13 feet depths.

Blue Catfish remain good in Little River on trot lines, using cut shad or chicken livers, in the outside river bends between between Snake Creek and Jack's Isle, set approx 10-13' deep.

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


For those fishing the river and below the spillway, as of Monday, December 13, with recent deluge of rain, the lake level rose up to 3.5 feet above normal conservation pool, and lake elevation is 262.59, and rising, with 1,224CFS being released at the dam. As of Monday, 3 gates are open this week, at 1 feet each. Water clarity in the river, has remained with heavy stain the last week. River visibility and clarity is approximately 2-4 inches. Clarity is somewhat worse on the main lake, due to high winds and current toward the dam. Northeastern sector of the lake remains muddy with increased current and muddy water in the Saline River.

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 1-2 feet in places. Current in Little River is increased again this week. Water temperatures have also dropped in the last week, and range approx 56ºF early to 60ºF later in the day, depending on area of the lake, wind and sunlight penetrations.