Catfish No Report

Crappie No Report

Stripers No Report

Largemouth Bass No Report

White Bass No Report

Fall weather – two or three days of nice 60’s and 70’s and then a northern front with temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s, and then back to a few days in the 60’s, it is like a bouncing ball. Lake temperature is down to 68.5, which is 2 to 4 degrees down from last week. What we need is a week or two of stable weather to turn the fall bite on. Lake level is at 646.58, almost 8 feet down from normal pool, which isn’t too bad. The thermocline remains at 40 feet, and there is really no temperature break from the surface to 40 feet, so the game fish can be and are somewhere from the bank to 40 feet of water. 

Crappie returned to the brush piles for a few days this week and were feeding on crappie minnows at 23 to 24 feet of water. Once the cold front pushed in they left the crappie cribs and moved toward deeper water in front of the cribs. Crappie minnows will still catch a few but the bite has slowed down.

Largemouth bass continue to cruise in the creeks and pockets making it difficult to pin point a pattern. One day you can find them on the banks with Zara Spooks or buzz baits and the next day they are gone and you can get a few to bite jigs off secondary points or in the brush piles. As stated earlier we need some stable weather to set a fall pattern. 

Smallmouth bass are holding in 36 to 40 feet of water off pea rock banks and transition banks. Small smallies are up on the points and the keeper smallies are in the deeper water. Best baits are Spider Jigs, football jigs and Carolina rigs with baby brush hogs. On sunny calm days try a drop shot rig with 4" finesse worms or other drop shot baits like beaver tails or Zoom meat heads. 

Kentucky bass have dropped into deeper water with the shad over the weekend. The shad will make a move into the cuts and pockets to feed on plankton and the Kentuckys will follow. Meanwhile look for balls of shad at the entrance of the cuts or pockets and vertically drop a spoon or drop shot down to the Kentuckys under the shad.

Walleye are still out around the thermocline and are being caught with lead core line pulling Hot’N Tots, Wally Divers, Bill Norman Deep Little N’s, Reef Runners and Glass Shad. Some walleye have already started to move to the banks and points with the weather change. A few were caught this week by bass anglers on spinner baits and crankbaits. It might be time to prowl the banks with Shad Raps and Lucky Craft Pointer DD’s in the mornings and late afternoons.

LAKE RATING: Rating for the lake is fair to poor until the weather stabilizes.

Fishing for trout on the White River has been good on Berkley Power Eggs in yellow and white and pink. With generation the Buoyant Spoons, Super Dupers, Countdowns and Blue Fox are the bait of choice. The fly fishermen did well on olive Woolly Bugger, olive scud, Zebra Midges and San Juan worms. The Brown trout are being caught on Flat Fish, Countdowns, nightcrawlers and Rogues.

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 10/25/05 <º)))><{

Largemouth (Black) Bass up to 8 pounds are very good on 1/4 to 3/4oz Rat-L-Traps in white; chrome/black or blue, Zoom Horney Toads, Southern Pro Fat butt tubes, buzz baits, and War Eagle spinner baits in spot remover color, along the vegetation lines in Little River. Numbers of bass were caught in the last week over 6-7 pounds each.

Yearling bass are excellent and are schooling in creeks and the oxbows like McGuire and Horseshoe Lakes, along Little River. White Heddon Dying Flutters; clear Baby Torpedoes; and Johnson spoons, are catching the schoolers from surface to 6 feet deep the last few weeks. 5" Bass Assassin Shads and the Johnson spoons with white grub trailers, are taking good size bass in the pads and vegetation.

White bass are still randomly schooling in Little River near Hwy 71 bridge and Cossatot inflow ditch, and are hitting 1/4 to 1/2 oz Rat-L-Traps in chrome/chartreuse, and rocket shads. Throw the Rat-L-Traps or Rocket Shads all around the edges of those bait schools, and count down to approx 4-8 feet depth and yo-yo back through the school at various depths until you connect with the Whites. It's a great time to take kids fishing. Numbers of 30-40 Whites, are common. The heavier 3/4 oz Rat-L-Traps, fished slower and deeper, are catching a better quality, and larger bass.

Kentuckys (Spotted Bass) are good up to 2-1/2 pounds along the river on the smaller spinner baits, live shiners, and rocket shads around laydowns and brush piles.

Crappie are fair to good, suspended, 6-10 feet deep. Best on white or pink grubs or jigs, and shiners, in contact with planted brush piles and tops. The best bite has shifted to later in the day.

Channel Cats are biting fair on chicken livers and cut shad along Little River on trot lines 12-14 feet deep, and under cypress trees on yo-yos using live shiners, 6-8 feet deep.

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

For those fishing the river and below the spillway, as of Sunday, October 24, the lake level is normal, with increased stain. Current is decreased again in Little River due to change discharge at the dam at 138CFS. The lake elevation is 259.2.

Water clarity reduced, in Little River and is approx 8-10". Clarity on the main lake reduced as well, due to all the high winds in last few days, at approx 4-6". North eastern sector of the lake around OK Landing, is heavy stain. Saline River clarity heavy stain.

The upriver oxbows away from any current in Little River, still have much better water visibility, estimated at approx 4-6 feet in places. Water temperatures have decreased in the last week and range approx 66ºF early to 73ºF later in the day, depending on area of the lake and wind and sun. Two rapid moving cold fronts pushed through Millwood this week, and have dropped surface temps another 5-8ºF in the last 3 days.

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!!