Catfish No Report

Crappie No Report

Stripers No Report

Largemouth Bass No Report

White Bass No Report

This week it seemed almost like summer as we had high humidity with temperatures in the 80’s. Night temperatures were in the low 60’s, holding the lake temperature in the low 70’s. In the back of a few creeks and pockets you can find water temperature as high as 78 degrees, but ten feet down it is 68 degrees so it is a false representation of true lake temperature. Lake level this week is 653.62, ½ foot below normal pool, not bad for this time of year. Crappie have started their spawn and are located in shallow water at the back of the coves in the creek arms. The pre-spawn crappie are in 6 to 8 feet of water along the banks and are striking small crappie spinner baits, small crankbaits, crappie minnows and Swimming Minnows. Catfish became active this week on jugs fished with 12 to 14 foot drop lines. Best baits were chicken liver and hot dogs. Nightcrawlers and chicken liver are working well off the banks at night fished on the bottom in 15 to 20 feet of water.

Largemouth bass are coming out of their post spawn hum-drums and moving into ambush areas to feed. Good fish are holding around boat docks, blow downs, brush piles and watersheds. A number of techniques can be used to trigger some strikes. Spinner baits, buzz baits, Chug bugs and Zara Spooks are some of the top water baits to use in the morning. Spider Jigs, tubes, Sinko’s, Hula Grubs, and Trick Worms will work around structure throughout the day. 

Smallmouth bass have schooled up during the week and now you have to find a bank or a point that they are feeding on and you will catch numbers. Jerk baits and slow rolling spinner baits work well in the mornings, Mojo Rigs with centipedes or lizards work well during the day. Spider jigs and tubes are the baits to fish when the smallies are up looking for crawdads. Stay with watermelon or light brown colors to match the crawdad colors. 

Kentucky Bass have moved off the banks and are following their forage food source, which is shad. Now there are shad up along some banks but the Kentucky’s are not keying in on those shad, they are pushing schools of shad into the back of coves and pockets. Pop R’s and Chug bugs work great when the top water frenzy feed is on. Tubes, Spider Jigs and Carolina rigged finesse worms or centipedes will trigger some Kentucky’s that are under the shad or roaming the secondary points.

Walleye have been using a conversion layer of water, which has developed between 18 and 22 feet for their comfort zone. It is not a thermo cline but it is a temperature break. Pulling Glass Shad or Shad Raps is working well along with crawler harnesses around points on the main lake and in the creeks. Open water trollers are having good success with Reef Runners and Deep Little Rippers. The night bite is still okay on suspending rogues and X-raps around main lake points. Fish these baits up next to the bank, the night walleye are very shallow.

Lake Rating: Most of the fame fish are now over post spawn and the bite is picking up. This week we will rate as Good Plus.

Fishing for trout on the White River has been good this past week. Generation one again has been low so the Berkley Power Egg bite has been good in yellow and pink. With generation the Mepp’s spinners, Thomas Colorado’s, and Blue Fox are the bait of choice. The fly fishermen did well on Olive Woolly Bugger, tungsten bead head midges, San Juan worms and soft hackles. The Brown trout are being caught on Flat Fish, Suspending Rogues 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.

}><(((º> Millwood Lake Fishing Report 5/23/05 <º)))><{

Largemouth Bass are good on Buzz Baits in bleeding chartreuse, Zara Spooks in baby bass or fritter shad colors, Spitin' Images and War Eagle Spinner baits in spot remover or firecracker colors, Rat-L-Traps in red, spring bream and gold craw colors. Berkley power worms in blue fleck or motor oil colors are taking solid fish upriver. In addition, most post-spawn Black bass remain good on Carolina rigs with Zoom lizards in pumpkinseed/chart tail, or watermelon red, and Bass Assassin Shads, along Little River. Bass continue feasting on shad near top water, early and late periods of the day, on shallow flats next to deep water.

Spotted Bass remain stacked up in the mouths of creeks to Snake Creek, Pugh Slough, and Jack's Isle creeks, and are hitting the smaller 1/4oz Rat-L-Traps in white, and the Carolina rigged Fork Fries in watermelon red, or the 5" Bass Assassins.

Crappie have transitioned back to deeper water, post spawn also. Crappie fishermen report fair catches in brush piles 9-15 feet depths. Few catches in shallow water around cypress trees in last week between 4-5 feet deep on jigs, but fish in those locations are smaller.

Bream are in spawn mode, in the same shallow water areas around cypress as the Crappie were several weeks ago.

Spotted Gar and very large Carp remain in shallow water areas of 2-5 feet, in back of Horseshoe Lake, McGuire, Mud Lake, Little River flats next to Hurricane Creek, and other oxbows of Little River in the last week. Several huge gar and carp, up to 10 or 20 pounds each, have been noted extremely shallow, and are spawning. This is an excellent time for bow fishermen to take some nice size Gar and Carp OUT of Millwood!!!

Blue (Channel) Catfish are fair to good up to 8-10 lbs each, on trot lines, in Little River using cut shad in 14-17 feet depth areas. Yo-Yos are taking good blue catfish up to 5-7 lbs each, at night, underneath cypress trees in sloughs adjacent to Little River, Horseshoe Lake and in Mud Lake oxbow areas, in 7-12 feet depths using chicken livers, prepared dough baits, and cut bait.

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

Thank you to the US Army Corps of Engineers and AG&FC personnel who are currently in process of evaluating the increase and spread of various vegetation species on Little River and Millwood Lake. A recommendation & report is pending, on potential control measures which would be the most physical effective manner of the vegetation growth explosion in all the creeks, oxbows, Little River and the main lake; as well as which methods could be the most cost effective to maintain.

Use EXTREME caution navigating Little River in low light conditions, and SLOW DOWN! Careful watch for floaters and debris in Little River's current, and wearing your PFD is a requirement!!

For those fishing the river and below the spillway, as of Sunday, May 22, the lake level has fallen approx 2" from last week. Currently, the lake is approx 1 inch above normal conservation pool, falling, with stain improving, Current is decreased in Little River. The lake elevation is 259.30. Release at the dam is 171CFS with only one gate open 0.4 feet. Water clarity in the river is approx 20". Clarity on the main lake approx 5-10". North eastern sector of the lake around OK Landing, Shaw Branch and Mine Creek remains heavy stain, as well as in the Saline River. Creeks and sloughs of Little River are beginning to clear.

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 4-6 feet in places. Water temperatures have increased in the last 2 weeks due to warmer ambient temperatures, and range approx 72ºF early to 85ºF later in the day, depending on area of the lake, wind, and sunlight penetrations.

Millwood Guide Service and all the Millwood anglers, would like to take this opportunity to thank the US Army Corps of Engineers for their dedication to continual improvement in the navigability and maintenance of Millwood Lake, continually fighting mother nature and the rising and falling level due to influx of run off from area lakes and rivers, and rain.

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!