Beaver Lake
Live bait is working best to catch striped bass.
Jon Conklin, fishing guide, recommends fishing for stripers between Rocky Branch and Hickory Creek parks. Trolling with brood minnows or umbrella rigs is a good tactic.
Crappie can be caught around pole timber and brush in the same stretch of lake. Use minnows or jigs 5 to 25 feet deep. Try for walleye by trolling crank baits over flats that are 25 feet deep. Use Alabama rigs along points to catch black bass.
Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville reports fishing is hit or miss. Crappie are in their winter pattern and staying close to brush. Fish 10 to 14 feet deep with minnows or jigs. Black bass are biting crank baits or Alabama rigs.
Beaver tailwater
Beaver Dam Store reports good fly fishing for trout with red or brown size 18 midges. Small olive jigs with some peach or orange in the color pattern are good to use. Small red and gold spoons are worth a cast. Use light line for best results.
Power generation at Beaver Dam is sporadic, depending on the weather.
Lake Fayetteville
The lake is closed and will reopen Jan. 14.
Lake Sequoyah
Angler Mike McBride said the lake has been frozen until recently. Try jerk baits or plastic worms for black bass. Use minnows or small jigs for crappie.
Bella Vista
Nick Gann at Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers recommends fishing for trout at Lake Brittany with Power Bait or small spoons. Fish for black bass at any Bella Vista Lake with Alabama rigs, crank baits or jig and pigs.
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 Ned rigs or plastic worms on a drop-shot rig or rigged shaky-head style. Jerk baits may also work.
Eastern Oklahoma
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass at Lake Eucha with jerk baits, Alabama rigs or jig and pigs. Use hair jigs for crappie.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports fair largemouth bass fishing at Keystone Lake with crank baits, plastic worms or jig and pigs around brush or rocks. No report from lakes Grand or Tenkiller.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing Guide service said black bass fishing is good. Use crank baits on cloudy, breezy days along rock or gravel banks. Jig and pigs are working eight to 15 feet deep along points.
For deeper fish use a jigging spoon or drop-shot rig 40 to 60 feet deep along gravel points and humps.
Compiled by Flip Putthoff