Southwest Arkansas

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[font "Arial"]Millwood Lake: Millwood Lake Guide Service said the water temperature is from 81- to 85-degrees. The lake is 3 inches above normal with a light stain, but it is steady. 2- to 4-pound largemouth bass are good on 5-inch Bass Assassin Shads in pumpkinseed, pinfish and salt-and-pepper colors or Rat-L-Traps in bleeding diamond, Smokey Joe and red colors. Bandit crankbaits in brown craw with an orange belly or Norman cranks in chartreuse-and-blue are catching keeper bass along points of feeding creeks in Little River. Soft-plastic Scum Frogs, Heddon Zara Mice or Zoom Horny Toads in green pumpkin or black colors are taking decent bass in the lily pads, coontail moss and hydrilla. Carolina-rigged Zoom Lizards in watermelon red, redbug or cotton candy are catching keepers on points in Little River and on 8- to14-foot drop-offs in the oxbows upriver. Schooling blacks have been found and caught in the 1- to 2 ½ -pound range up Little River this week; they were caught on the Rat-L-Traps and Cordell Redfins or Smithwick rouges. Action is quick, fast and furious, mostly occurring mid-morning on cloudy days. Hogg Assassins in black-and-blue or smoke-and-red are catching decent-size bass on stumps and scattered grass cover in the edges of the river. Fatbutt Gitzits in black-and-blue tail or pumpkinseed-and-chartreuse tail and 10- to 12-inch Power Worms in red shad, plum or purple are still catching solid 5-pound bass upriver. White jigs with pearl plastic chunks, white grubs, Larew Hog Salt Craws in black-and-blue and Texas-rig magnum size blackberry or junebug lizards are catching keepers in the clearer oxbows. Visibility and clarity continues improving and is approximately 15- to 20-inches on the main lake and the Little River. Little River's clarity continues improving daily. The upriver oxbows such as McGuire, Horseshoe, Mud Lake and Clear Lake, still have much better water clarity - estimated at approximately 5- to 8-feet in places. Current in Little River slightly increased this week; the discharge at the dam is currently at 778 cubic feet per second. Use extreme caution while running the river in low-light conditions. Channel cats remain good on trotlines baited with cut bait, chicken liver and cheese baits fished in the river channel. Blue cats in the 3- to 7-pound range continue biting well on yo-yos baited with cheese baits, shiners and liver underneath cypress trees set at 7- to 9-foot depths. White bass are still trying to school up. Sometimes the whites are schooling with the juvenile black bass and are hitting chrome Chuck-n-Spins, small Roostertails in chrome, small Rat-L-Traps in chrome-and-black or Cordell Crazy Shad top-water lures in chrome-and-black along the feeding mouths of creeks in Little River and in Horseshoe Lake or Mud Lake oxbows. The schooling activities are random and best on cloudy days. These schoolers have shifted their feeding times to mid-morning over the last 2 weeks. As of Tuesday, August 24, the USCE reports a slight change in the gate discharge last week. It is approximately 778 cubic feet per second at the dam. Currently, there are two gates open at one foot each. The lake level has risen this past week and is approximately 3 inches above normal conservation pool; it is steady at 259.44. Water clarity in the river is improving, and visibility is approximately 15 to 20 inches. Many river buoys are missing between Yarborough and Mud Lake in Little River. Water temperatures have stabilized and range approximately from 82 degrees early to 85 degrees later in the day. [/font]
[font "Arial"]Lake Columbia: Steve's Marine said the lake is clear and at a normal water level. A few good redear have been taken. Crappie are slow to fair on minnows and jigs. Some good bass have been caught using a purple plastic worm. Catfish are good on stink bait and live bait.[/font]
[font "Arial"]Lake Erling: Steve's Marine said some bream are being caught. Crappie are slow to fair on minnows and jigs. Bass are being caught at night using buzzbaits and spinner baits. Bass are trying to school. Catfish are good on live bait and stink bait.[/font]
[font "Arial"]White Oak Lake: Charlie’s One Stop said the rain has prevented fishermen from coming out.[/font]
[font "Arial"]Lake Greeson: Lakeside Grocery said the lake clarity is fair, and the lake level has dropped to 541. The lake temperature is in the low 80s. However, fishing has picked up some. Bream and catfish are slow. Crappie fishing is fair on minnows. Bass are good from one- to 8-feet deep using plastic worms or top-water lures.[/font]
[font "Arial"]DeGray Lake: Point Cedar Bait Shop said the lake is murky and very low. Bream fishing is very good on crickets. Hybrids and whites are very good using big spoons.[/font]
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