Fishing this week

A map showing the location of Arkansas fishing spots.
A map showing the location of Arkansas fishing spots.

Hot Spots

ARKANSAS RIVER (ROCKEFELLER LAKE POOL) Catfishing is good drifting fishing with whole shad. Bass are biting well on submerged jetties. Casting green pumpkin jigs through breaks in jetties is working well. White bass are schooling early and late in the day at creek mouths. Try fishing a shad-colored Rat-L-Trap for the white bass. Bream are biting well along the rip-rap and grass clumps on crickets and black Roostertails. Some nice drum are being caught on firetiger crankbaits along the jetties.

LAKE DARDANELLE Black bass fishing has been fair around sand bars, rocks and around vegetation from upriver down to mid-river. The best bite has been on topwater baits early and late, and trick worms and jigs with a Bamboozie trailer at midday off drops and sand bars. Crankbaits have been working well around bridges and drops on the lower end of the river. Stripers are biting well on swimbaits, topwater baits and jerkbaits. Bream fishing is excellent in the main river around wood. Worms and crickets work best. White bass are biting well in the main river around current breaks using white crankbaits and Rat-L-Traps.

HARRIS BRAKE LAKE Crappie are biting well on minnows and Bobby Garland soft-plastic grubs in barbecue chicken, cajun cricket, blue ice and bleeding shad colors. Catfishing is good using minnows, worms and shad. Bass fishing is fair using buzzbaits in the mornings and soft-plastic worms. White bass are biting on cajun spins, Johnson Silver Minnow spoons and Bobby Garland Baby Shads. Bream are biting well on crickets and worms.

LITTLE RED RIVER Trout fishing is good with rainbows taking mayfly nymphs, midge pupae and some dry flies during the hatches. Some browns are being taken along with the rainbows. For Trout Magnet fishing, cotton candy and white bodies on gold and chartreuse jig heads are working well.

MILLWOOD LAKE Bass fishing is excellent using topwaters early and late around shallow vegetation. Buzzbaits, solid-body frogs, and 5- to 7-inch Bass Assassin Shads are working well around grass mats, and Jitterbugs, Spooks and Baby Torpedoes are working around wood cover. White bass are roaming Little River and the oxbows and are being caught on red/white Roostertails, chartreuse/white Little Cleos, shad-colored Rocket Shads and Tennessee shad or citrus shad crankbaits in the back of the oxbows. Catfish are being caught on homemade blood baits, spoiled chicken livers, cheese dough balls and hot dogs on trotlines set 12-14 feet deep.

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