Arkansas Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Bull Shoals 05/23/06

Dam area to Lead Hill: The bite continues to be strong on Bull Shoals; move out a little deeper with a shaky head, mojo or Carolina rig and you will be successful. Most of the fish are following main lake and secondary points to their deep water summer homes and can be caught from 20’ – 35’ deep holding close to the bottom. The top water bite has been off an on, on mornings and evenings that the shad move up to the surface it is awesome, if the don’t move up it is a waste of time.

Lead Hill to Power site: An Eakins’ jig in brown / purple flash or PB&J with a green pumpkin Eakins craw continues to catch fish on channel swing and bluff ends in the major creek arms and on the main lake. Look for the fish to be 6’ – 15’ deep around some type of cover. Much like the main lake the top water bite has been hit or miss at best. In the backs of some of the creeks you can find some off colored water and flooded brush, throw a Jewel Tandem Rush Keel spinnerbait through this brush and around any other cover you find.

Report #2

Fishing report for BULL SHOALS LAKE home of the record Largemouth Bass.
Submitted as a community service by SPRING CREEK ENTERPRISES, Don and Judy Schnable 417 273 4859 schnabs@webound.com

SPRING CREEK ENTERPRISES http://www.maout.com/springcreek is sponsored by HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS Mountain Home Arkansas http://www.hiexpress.com , SCHOCKEYS BOAT and MOTOR http://www.bullshoals.com/schockey/

May 22, 2006

The phrase for the week is “Dynamic Change”. The daytime temperature jumped into the upper 80’s and low 90’s. The lake temperature jumped from 64.8 degrees to 70.4 degrees in two days. The Largemouth, Smallmouth and Kentucky bass that had not spawned are all on beds. Lake level stayed steady over the week and is at 654.51, ½ foot above normal pool. We now have buck brush in 2+ feet of water, which will give us a great survival rate from the bass spawn. We have a correction to last week’s report on the Missouri Walleye Tournament that was held on May 13 th. The winning weight was 19 pounds 5.6 ounces (not the 15 pounds we reported). The winning team was Mike Worley and Brad Wiseman. Congratulations!

The catfish are biting – limb lines and jugs in the back of pockets and on the main creek arms. According to the guides at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock the catfish are biting on almost everything; small sunfish, Magic Bait, nightcrawlers and even on hot dogs. White bass are back in the creeks suspended at around 25 feet and are coming to the top feeding on shad. Have a top water tied on and be ready for them to break the surface.

Largemouth bass were in 20 feet of water last week and by Friday they were in 4 feet of water and on beds. Leaving them alone during this period is a good idea, a good spawn helps insure a better fishery in the future. The post spawn largemouth are striking top water baits in the mornings and late afternoons on main lake points and secondary points in the creeks and pockets. Zara Spooks, Sammy’s, Spit’N Image and Chug Bugs are just a few of the top water baits that are working. Spider jigs, tubes and brush hogs are catching a few during the day off the ledges, under docks and on secondary points. Smallmouth bass are spawned out and the bite is increasing in some areas daily. Most of the nice smallies are in 23 to 27 feet of water and they are on the bottom. There are a number of ways to catch them – rigs, jigs, grubs and flukes or sinko’s but the majority of keepers are being caught on tubes. Working your bait slowly across the bottom will increase your bite ratio. There is some top water action in the morning in the coves and creeks. Best baits have been Zara Spook, Jr., Pop R’s, Sammy’s and Chug Bugs. Kentuckys are on their shad chasing pattern again and are pushing the shad to the surface throughout the day. Pop R’s and Spit’N Images are triggering bites on frenzy feeding Kentuckys . This surface action can take place at any time of the day so have something tied on ready to use. Kentuckys are also using brush piles for cover and can be caught on flukes or jigs during the daylight hours.

Walleye are becoming active during the day and there is a zone – 23 to 26 feet of water. Flats and points with small rock are holding numbers of walleye. Crawler harnesses and leech harnesses with bottom bouncers are really starting to turn on. Shad Raps and Glass Shad will also catch a few if you wish to cast the banks, a little wind is necessary for this technique to work. Long liners are able to find a few on Reef Runners and Glass Shad pulling planer boards in the afternoon along shady banks. The bites are few and far between but the quality is in the 4 to 8 pound range.

Remember to keep only what you can eat and release the rest for another day. Rick Culver of Wilderness Trail does the research for this report and the writing of this report. For more information call Rick or Sue Culver at Wilderness Trail at 870-445-2703, e-mail us at wtrail@bullshoals.net or check out our web site at www.wildernesstrail.com

For stories and info in the our Ozark area and data on recreational activities in the midwest log on to one of the nations largest and most complete Internet magazines Don and Judy Schnable 417 273 4859 schnabs@webound.com

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