HOT SPOTS
LAKE OVERCUP Water clarity is good, and the surface temperature is about 59 degrees. Bream fishing is picking up around the shoreline and walkways on crickets and Trout Magnets. Bass are biting well around brush and in shallow water using plastic worms and crankbaits, and also with black Rooster Tails. Catfish are biting well on yo-yo’s, trotlines and jugs with cut shad, bass minnows and bream. Anglers caught a 32-pound flathead cat, and three blue cats weighing 32, 28 and 21 pounds last weekend. Crappie are at different depths, but anglers are catching a lot of small crappie near the shoreline.
BULL SHOALS LAKE The lake is low at 651 feet msl, and fish are in pre-spawn mode. Bass are shallow, near the backs of creeks and in the flats. They’re hitting jerkbaits and shaky head jigs. Swimbaits are working well on the outside edges of boat docks. Around the transition banks, the fish seem to be on the sides of the points or where it goes from bluff wall to gravel. Use bright colors in stained water and more natural colors in clear water. Anglers are catching a lot of bass on jigs off steep banks and pockets. Walleyes are still hitting jerkbaits about 18 inches deep within an hour before and an hour after sunset. White bass moving out of the creeksand are being caught off secondary points.
DeGRAY LAKE Bass fishing is good with the warming water. Look for fish on secondary points in the major spawning coves. Crankbaits in natural shad and chartreuse are working well across points. Another good pattern is a double spinnerbait slow-rolled along the windy banks near the flooded brush. It should contain some chartreuse. Look for fish in the upper part of the lake between Point 15 and Cox Creek. Crappie fishing is good in the back of major coves near any wood or brush cover with 2-inch, curly tail grubs on a 1/16-ounce jighead. Best colors are Tennessee Shad in clear water and black/chartreuse in stained water. Crappie are still biting over deep brush piles at 25-30 feet. Fish a 2-inch tube in black/chartreuse on a 1/16-ounce jighead vertically to the top of the brush.