HOT SPOTS
BREWER LAKE Crappie are moving into the shallows and are being caught on live minnows and pink, white and red/chartreuse jigs fished 2-4 feet deep. Catfish are still deep but are being caught on trotlines baited with large minnows and cut bait and on poles with stinkbait or liver. Bass fishing is excellent using a variety of lures around the banks.
LAKE CONWAY The water level is high, but bream are still biting well along the shoreline on worms and crickets. Crappie are responding best to minnows and jigs fished around cypress trees. Bass fishing is good using soft-plastic lizards and worms. Catfishing is good using trotlines and yo-yos baited with live goldfish and minnows.
LAKE DARDANELLE Bass fishing has been very good upriver using jigs, buzzbaits and lizards fished around jetties and in the backwater. Crappie fishing has been very good upriver on the backsides of jetties around dead grass. Crappie are being caught using jigs on spawning flats. Striper fishing has been good below the dams. Catfish are being caught on cut shad and skipjack in the main river. Bream fishing is good in the smaller creeks using crickets and worms around stumps.
DEGRAY LAKE Fishing is getting better as the water warms and the spawn begins. Bass fishing is very good, but most of the fish are in the slot limit (13-16 inches). A few reports of crappie are starting to trickle in with the fish in full spawn. Hybrid fishing is good between Cox Creek and Amity using crankbaits, four-inch swim baits and three-inch curly tail grubs. Catfishing has been fair on trotlines using cut shad, Catfish Charlie, night crawlers and hot dogs.
LAKE OUACHITA Black bass are being caught on just about anything. White bass are still in most of the major creeks. Walleye are biting well on small lipless crankbaits and crappie jigs fished near main lake structure. Bream fishing is fair around brush in the 20-foot range. Crappie are being caught near brush using minnows or crappie jigs 6-14 feet deep. Catfish are being caught on trotlines set near main lake and secondary points.
Sports, Pages 20 on 04/17/2014