NWA FISHING REPORT

Beaver Lake: Early risers are catching black bass with topwater lures at sunrise.

James Whittle at Hook, Line and Sinker said top-water fishing is also good at sunset.

Go with a jig or try a finesse worm on a drop-shot rig 25 feet deep for midday bass fishing.

Points are good spots to fish.

Whittle recommends using minnows 15 feet deep around brush for crappie. Another option for crappie or walleye is to troll a Bandit 300 series crank bait or a Berkley FlickerShad crank bait.

Garland Villines at Hickory Creek Marina said crappie are biting fair on jigs fished around brush. Anglers are having to work at it to catch a mess of crappie, Villines said.

Best jig color is a chartreuse tail with a red or black body.

Jason Piper at J.T. Crappie Guide Services said fall crappie fishing is good.

Use minnows or jigs 15 to 20 feet deep over water that is 25 to 40 feet deep and close to some type of channel or ditch.

Try bluff lines, the center of small coves or channel bends around Horseshoe Bend, Monte Ne, Eden’s Bluff or Pine Creek.

Good jig colors are black/ chartreuse or pink/white.

White River below Beaver Dam: Nancy Rose at the Beaver Dam Store said the best flies for trout are prince nymphs, olive woolly buggers and grasshopper patterns.

The top lures are olive or black micro jigs, Rapalas or gold spoons.

Best baits are a combination of white and orange Power Bait tipped with a waxworm. Red worms and nightcrawlers are also working.

Generation at Beaver Dam typically is in mid afternoon.

Lake Fayetteville: Dollie Black at Lake Fayetteville boat dock said black bass fishing remains good with buzz baits, crank baits, spinner baits or plastic worms.

Bluegill are biting worms or crickets 6 feet deep.

Lake Sequoyah: Mike McBride at Lake Sequoyah bait shop said catfishing remains good with liver, sunfish or shad.

Crappie are biting jigs 4 to 10 feet deep.

Lake Elmdale: Lucky Key at Duck Camp Fishing Retreat recommends soft plastics in green colors for black bass.

Try trolling crank baits for crappie or using minnows 10 feet deep.

Swepco Lake: Kenny Stroud at BW Outdoors in Siloam Springs said largemouth bass are biting Alabama rigs or shallow-diving crank baits.

Spinner baits are effective on windy days.

Plastic worms are working 1 to 30 feet deep.

Siloam Springs Lake: Stroud said top-water lures are working at sunrise and sunset.

Go to a jig and pig for midday fishing.

Illinois River: Stroud said black bass are biting marabou jigs, grubs and tube baits.

Bella Vista: Harvey Horne at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista said black bass fishing is fair at all Bella Vista lakes on plastic worms or crank baits.

Bluegill are biting at all lakes on crickets or worms. Try liver or nightcrawlers for catfish.

Upper Table Rock Lake: J.D. Fletcher at Eagle Rock, Mo., said black bass fishing is slow to fair with spinner baits worked along rocky shorelinesand standing timber.

Fletcher said a 7-pound largemouth was caught deep last week near Big M boat dock.

Crappie are biting jigs around timber.

Eastern Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports largemouth bass fishing at Grand Lake is excellent with crank baits or plastic worms.

Catfishing is excellent with cut bait.

At Lake Eucha, black bass are biting fair on crank baits.

Crappie are fair on jigs or minnows around brush 14 feet deep.

• COMPILED BY FLIP PUTTHOFF