NWA FISHING REPORT

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Beaver Lake: Early birds are enjoying the excitement of catching black bass on topwater lures at Beaver Lake.

James Whittle at Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers said surface lures work best from first light into early morning.

Buzz baits, Zara Spooks, Jitterbugs and other top-water baits are good choices.

Later in the day, try deepdiving crank baits or plastic worms.

For night fishing, try big plastic worms or spinner baitsin dark colors.

White bass fishing is good with jigging spoons in the midlake area, Whittle said.

Locate schools of fish with a depth finder and vertically work a jigging spoon 25 to 30 feet deep.

Crappie are biting minnows or jigs 12 to 15 feet in the Horseshoe Bend area. Anglers report weeding through lots of nonkeepers to get a few keepers 10 inches or longer.

Jug fishing is the best method for catfish. Use liver orgoldfish for bait.

Garland Villines at Hickory Creek Marina said catfishing is good with jug lines baited with small sunfish. Good eatingsized fish of 4 to 6 pounds are coming in.

The best black bass fishing is at night with black spinner baits or dark plastic worms.

Try buzz baits at sunrise and sunset.

Jason Piper at J.T. Crappie Guide Services said the shade of docks or bluffs is the best area to try for crappie.

Fish from the bottom up with jigs or minnows until crappie bite.

Good jig colors include black/ chartreuse, pink/white or pearl/ gray. Productive areas include Horseshoe Bend, Eden’s Bluff and Monte Ne.

White River below Beaver Dam: Tom Steinke at the Beaver Dam Store said fly fishing is the best way to catch trout. Use small olive or black woolly buggers in sizes 12 or 14.

Midges in sizes 18 or 20 areworking, fished under a strike indicator.

Bait fishermen should try Gulp egg clusters. The top lures are small spoons and small Rebel crawdad crank baits.

Bella Vista: Nick Gann at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista said schools of black bass surface in the morning at Lake Windsor and can be caught with Zoom Super Flukes.

Fish at night for bass with big crank baits or big plastic worms 15 to 20 feetdeep near brush.

Bluegill are biting well on crickets or worms at all Bella Vista lakes.

Siloam Springs Lake: Kenny Stroud at BW Outdoors in Siloam Springs said black bass are biting top-water frogs at sunrise and sunset. Use plastic worms at midday.

Illinois River: Stroud said black bass are biting tube baits, 4-inch plastic lizards and Zoom Baby Brush Hogs.

Lake Fayetteville: Dollie Black at Lake Fayetteville boat dock said black bass fishing is good early with plastic worms or spinner baits.

Try liver for catfish. Bluegill are biting crickets or worms 6 feet deep.

Lake Sequoyah: Mike McBride at Lake Sequoyah bait shop said catfish is the best this week. Use liver, worms or shad.

Black bass bite best at sunrise and sunset on spinner baits, crank baits and plastic worms. All other fishing is slow.

Lake Elmdale: Lucky Key at Duck Camp Fishing Retreat said crappie fishing is slow, but a few have been caught 6 to 8 feet deep with red/ chartreuse tube jigs tipped with a crappie nibble.

Try top-water lures at sunrise and sunset for black bass. Go with deep-diving crank baits later in the day.

Prairie Grove Lake: Dennis Kruse, lake manager, said black bass fishing was good with jerk baits and plastic worms last weekend.

Use crickets for bluegill 6 feet deep. Try minnows for crappie 8 feet deep.

The lake is open from6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Only paddlecraft or electric motors are allowed.

Eastern Oklahoma: Kenny Stroud at BW Outdoors in Siloam Springs said black bass at Lake Eucha are biting deepdiving crank baits or plastic worms 20 to 25 feet deep.

Try black spinner baits for nighttime bass.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports fair black bass fishing at Grand Lake on plastic worms or jigs 15 feet deep.

Crappie fishing is good in the shade of docks with minnows or jigs 15 feet deep.