Beaver Lake
Jon Conklin, fishing guide, reports fair fishing for striped bass with brood minnows. Stripers are beginning to migrate upstream away from Beaver Dam.
Crappie are moving into brush in and around the main lake channel. Use minnows or jigs 20 feet deep. Try for walleye by trolling crank baits or a jig-minnow combination. Work flats close to deep water. For black bass, try top-water lures at sunrise or sunset in the backs of coves.
Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville reports good bluegill fishing with worms or crickets. Crappie are hit and miss on minnows or jigs around brush and brush piles. Black bass fishing is sporadic. Try top-water lures, crank baits or spinner baits at various depths.
Beaver tailwater
Guide Austin Kennedy recommends trout fishing with prepared trout bait such as Power Bait or Pautzke Fire Bait. Small spoons or small jigs are good to use. Power generation at Beaver Dam has been minimal creating low water that is good for wading, but difficult to navigate in a boat with an outboard motor.
Lake Fayetteville
David Powell at the lake office said crappie are biting at various depths on jigs or minnows. Try tipping a jig with a piece of worm. Use worms or crickets for bluegill. Black bass and catfish are slow.
Lake Sequoyah
Angler Mike McBride said the best fishing is for black bass. Use top-water lures early and plastic worms or spinner baits later in the day. Crappie fishing is slow, but the bite should improve with cooler water and increased flow into the lake.
Bella Vista
Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista reports black bass are biting in shallow water on crank baits or jig and pigs at all Bella Vista lakes. Use crickets or worms for bluegill. Nightcrawlers or liver are good catfish baits.
Please note that fishing in Bella Vista is open only to POA members and their guests.
Swepco Lake
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs recommends fishing for black bass with any type of soft plastic lure such as plastic worms or Ned rigs. Crank baits and top-water lures may also work.
Eastern Oklahoma
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass at Lake Eucha with Ned rigs or plastic worms rigged shaky or drop-shot style.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports largemouth bass fishing is fair at Grand Lake with crank baits around brush, rocks or docks. Crappie are biting fair on jigs or minnows around brush and docks. Blue catfish are biting cut bait or shad near the dam.
At Lake Tenkiller black bass are biting fair on jig and pigs or plastic worms around brush, rocks and along main lake points. Try for crappie with minnows or tube jigs around brush.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing Guide service reports black bass are biting jig and pigs 15 to 25 feet deep along gravel banks mixed with rock. A small plastic worm on a drop-shot rig is good to use 25 to 35 feet deep along gravel points or above tree tops at bluff ends.
A plastic worm or craw rigged shaky style is good to use. Try top-water lures early.
-- Compiled by Flip Putthoff