Arkansas Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Bull Shoals 10/19/06

Water temperature in the Theodosia/Pontiac areas is in the sixties and the water is stained in some coves and clear in others.

Crappie were our best species this past week. They can be found from six feet deep out to Twenty five feet or deeper. The last cold front that passed through the area really had the crappie tight to wood cover. Small chartreuse tube jigs and two inch swim'n minnows with silver flakes caught several crappie.

The bass went to the wood cover also with the passage of the cold front. You really had to fish slow and downsize your baits to get bit. Small texas rigged tubes, four inch lizards with a chartreuse tail or a drop shot rig with a three inch worm fished in brush piles and around isolated wood cover worked well. Before the cold front they were chasing shad and biting crankbaits, spoons and grubs.

Walleye are scattered and if you can find some shad on the flats there will be a walleye or two there also. Trying to guess when they will feed is another problem. The last time I fished for walleye I stopped at the same spot three different times. On the third stop the fish were active and I caught a couple keepers and some shorties around forty feet with a smiley blade worm harness.

Catfish are still biting good on jug lines baited with shiners or bluegill. Set your jugs somewhere between twenty and thirty-five feet deep.