Tropical, Not Typical

WARM WATER LAKE IS WINTERTIME HAVEN FOR ANGLERS

Stroud nets the first largemouth bass caught during the trip.
Stroud nets the first largemouth bass caught during the trip.

— When geese form great Vs in the sky and head south for winter, anglers start their own migration from chilly reservoirs to always-warm Swepco Lake.

It starts around October.

Vehicles with boats in tow roll along highways with headlights pointed toward the 500-acre lake situated west of Gentry. This conga line of fishermen peaks in December and January in rhythm with waterfowl and bald eagles that travel to Northwest Arkansas.

Birds move south to escape the snow and ice up north so they can feed along Arkansas’ unfrozen lakes and rivers. Legions of anglers shift their fi shing to Swepco Lake to escape falling water temperatures that can make fish slow to bite.

Swepco Lake is warm all winter thanks to the coal-fueled Flint Creek Power Plant, the main producer of electricity for the region. Water is drawn from the lake during power production.

The flow comes back into the lake hot-tub warm, around 100 degrees. Swepco Lake’s water temperature in December can be 90 degrees near the plant and 60 to 70 degrees at the dam, away from the outfl ow.

Compare that to water that is in the 40s at Beaver Lake, even chillier on smaller lakes.

The surface temperature was a comfortable 65 degrees when Kenny Stroud of Siloam Springs backed his boat down the concrete launch ramp at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3.

What? 9 a.m.? Don’t die-hard bass chasers start at dawn? Not Stroud. Since the lake is warm, fog can be thick on cold mornings.

Waiting until 8:30 or 9 a.m. allows time for some fog to burn off and makes it safer to be on the unique lake.

“Here it’s like spring fi shing during wintertime,” said Stroud, who has fished at Swepco Lake most of his life.

Nearly all anglers come to catch largemouth bass. Since water is warm all the time, the growing season is long. Bass thrive. There’s always a potential for a trophy fi sh at Swepco. In fact, the daily limit is 10 largemouth bass, but only one may be longer than 18 inches.

Soft plastics rule the roost for bass fishing at Swepco, at least in Stroud’s boat. He carries a satchel that is crammed so full of plastic worms, plastic grubs, plastic crawdads that it’s heavy to lift. Soft plastics are about the only lure Stroud casts at Swepco, but it’s not the only one that will work.

Top-water lures are worth a try, Stroud said, especially in low light. Swim baits and crank baits are good choices. Steep, rocky banks are his favorite shorelines, but he’s caught fish from every pebble, every type of shoreline to be found at this winter bass haven.

No telling when you’re worm will get smacked. On our Dec. 3 trip, bass sometimes bit as soon as the worm hit water. We caught them down to 15 feet deep along steep shorelines.

Some fish took our plastic worms so gently we never felt a bite, only extra weight like we’d picked up a leaf or twig.

Others were determined to yank that fishing rod right out of our hands. One nearly did.

We’d barely got the bottom of the boat wet before a fi sh bit my plastic worm and ran for it, pulling the fi shing rod’s tip into the water. Line ripped from the spool of the spinning reel.

No need to holler, “Net!” Stroud already had mesh inthe water and a grip on the handle. He slipped the net under the splashing bass and hoisted 2-plus pounds of largemouth aboard. These bass have some fi ght.

This f irst largemouth would be the day’s largest. It all added to the excitement of a 40-fish day at Swepco Lake. Every bass hit a soft-plastic bait. We did well on small plastic worms 4 to 6 inches long. Curly-tail grubs in a shad color worked well to put several bass into Stroud’s boat.

CHECKUP FOR LAKE

Fishing has been on a good run at Swepco for several years now. The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission does an electrofi shing study to keep tabs on the bass population. The latest study took place Tuesday night. Ron Moore, district fi sheries biologist, said results were good.

Moore and biologist Jon Stein shocked up lots of 1-year-old bass. That indicates last year’s spawn was good, Moore said. Bass spawnat Swepco Lake from mid-December into March because of the warm water. They don’t spawn in April or May as in typical Ozark reservoirs.

Impressive numbers of largemouth bass from 15 to 17 inches were shocked up, measured and released. “The ones that size looked really healthy,” Moore said.

The study turned up several big bass of 3 to 6 pounds, including one just shy of 7.

Ample forage was seen, so Swepco’s bass have plenty to eat, Moore noted. Bluegill are the primary forage. “In some areas we saw clouds of them.”

One figure concerns the biologists. That’s the high number of fish in the lake. The population could use some thinning. Anglers can help by keeping their allotted daily limit of 10 largemouth bass. Bass of any length are legal, but only one may exceed 18 inches.

“People shouldn’t be shy about keeping the small ones,” Moore said.

Catch and release has itsplace. At Swepco, keeping fish is the best thing for the lake, he said.

GOING GREEN

Good fishing is the norm at Swepco Lake, but our trip had an unusual twist. It was Stroud’s fishing boat. A 3-horsepower Briggs & Stratton electric motor pushes his john boat.

It’s not a trolling motor. The engine looks like a small gasoline-powered outboard on the stern of the boat, but it’s powered by four 12-volt batteries. Stroud can fi sh all day on a full charge.

Fishing was outstanding this December day at Swepco. So was the bird watching. The lake is home to one of the area’s largest concentrations of bald eagles.

The Eagle Watch Nature Trail is a one-half mile path that starts at Arkansas 12 west of Gentry. It leads to a viewing pavilion along the shore where bald eagles are routinely seen.

The water is warm and the fishing is good for anglers, and eagles, at Swepco Lake.

Outdoor, Pages 6 on 12/19/2013

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