Beaver Lake
Trolling crank baits is a good way to catch a mixed bag of fish.
James Whittle at Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers said anglers are catching mostly crappie, but an occasional walleye or catfish as well. Troll crank baits that run 10 to 15 feet deep. A crank bait with some chartreuse in the pattern is good.
Flats, points and creek arms are good places to troll. Crappie are also biting minnows around brush 15 to 25 feet deep.
For black bass, try top-water lures at dawn. Use a small plastic worm on a drop-shot rig later around main lake points and rocky banks. Anglers report catching the largest bass on the south end of the lake.
Stripers are biting brood minnows or shad 50 feet deep on the north end of the lake. Catfish are biting small sunfish or liver on jug lines.
Beaver tailwater
Lisa Mullins at Beaver Dam Store said fly fishing is good with 1/125th ounce jigs. Good colors are olive or brown with some orange in the pattern. White also is a good color. Fishing is best in the morning when no electricity is being generated at Beaver Dam.
The top lures are small spoons in silver and gold or gold and red. For bait fishing, try Power Bait tipped with a waxworm. Nightcrawlers are also good.
Lake Fayetteville
David Powell at the lake office said catfish are biting well on nightcrawlers or glow worms. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recently stocked 600 catfish in the lake.
Black bass fishing is good on plastic worms and chatter baits. Crappie fishing is best done with a spider rig baited with minnows set 8 feet deep. Some big crappie have been caught. Fish for bluegill with crickets four feet deep.
Lake Sequoyah
Toby Carroll at the lake office said channel catfish can be caught with most catfish baits including stink bait and nightcrawlers. Use live bait for flathead catfish. Game and Fish recently stocked channel catfish in the lake.
Bluegill fishing is fair with crickets or worms in shallow water. Black bass are biting plastic worms and spinner baits. Try for crappie with jigs five to 10 feet deep.
Bella Vista
Chip Wiseman at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista said black bass are being caught around grass beds 10 feet deep or less at Loch Lomond. Bass fishing has improved at Lake Windsor.
Try for hybrid striped bass at Loch Lomond and Lake Windsor with swim baits or crank baits. Small top-water lures are working for black bass at dawn on Lake Norwood.
Bluegill fishing is fair at all Bella Vista lakes with crickets or worms. All catfish baits are working at all the city's lakes.
Elk River, Big Sugar Creek
Pat Tinsley at Big Elk Camp said good numbers of smallmouth bass are being caught on both streams with six-inch plastic worms. Try tube baits and buzz baits as well.
Swepco Lake
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs said black bass fishing is good with plastic worms. Try top-water lures at dawn, dusk and cloudy days. October starts the season of good fall and winter fishing at the lake, Stroud said.
Siloam Springs Lake
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass with plastic worms.
Illinois River
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass with tube baits, buzz baits or grubs.
Eastern Oklahoma
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass at Lake Eucha with plastic worms rigged Carolina style. Try medium-diving or deep-diving crank baits.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing guide service said top-water lures are working to catch black bass at dawn. The bite is good one day, slower the next.
After sunrise, try plastic worms, tube baits or Ned rigs at the ends of channel swings and along chunk rock banks. Fish five to 20 feet deep. With the cooler weather, spinner baits and crank baits may also work.
Sports on 10/08/2019