BEAVER LAKE
Winter tactics are advised for catching black bass. James Whittle at Hook, Line and Sinker recommends using suspending jerk baits, Alabama rigs or crawdad-colored crank baits for black bass. Striped bass action has slowed, he said. Try brood minnows or shad. Locate schools of shad in open water or fish where gulls are feeding. Garland Villines at Hickory Creek Marina said the lake was frozen in the Hickory Creek area much of last week. He recommends using minnows or jigs for crappie 10 to 15 feet deep around any wood cover. Try shad or brood minnows for striped bass. Go with crank baits or jerk baits for black bass.
BEAVER TAILWATER
Lisa Mullins at Beaver Dam Store recommends trout fishing with a Power Bait and waxworm combination. The top lures are small spoons in gold-red or silver-gold. Best flies are pheasant-tails, midges, San Juan worms and Copper Johns.
LAKE FAYETTEVILLE
David Powell at the lake office recommends using small jigs for crappie. Anglers should expect slow fishing. He reminds anglers that 2018 annual city fishing permits may be purchased at the office. A permit is good for Lake Fayetteville and Lake Sequoyah.
LAKE SEQUOYAH
Mike McBride at the lake bait shop recommends fishing for crappie with minnows or jigs. Concentrate on gravel flats eight to 12 feet deep.
SWEPCO LAKE
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs recommends using soft-plastic lures rigged any style. Top-water lures and swim baits may also work.
EASTERN OKLAHOMA
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass at Lake Eucha with Alabama rigs, jig and pigs or jerk baits.
BELLA VISTA
Nick Gann at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista recommends fishing for black bass with jerk baits, jig and pigs or plastic worms on a drop-shot rig at any Bella Vista lake.
TABLE ROCK LAKE
Pete Wenners at Pete’s Professional Guide Service said fishing is slow. He recommends using jerk baits for black bass. Try white with a blue back on cloudy days or chrome with a black back on sunny days. Work the lures around cedar trees and banks that transition from chunk rock to gravel.