CENTRAL ARKANSAS

“Harris Brake would be my first choice for bass,” said Carl Perrin, who began his 35th year of stewardship over the fisheries in central Arkansas’s District 10 in February. “We put 1,000 tons of lime in there during a two-year period to raise the pH, and it seems to have made a tremendous difference.”

Adding lime is just one of several improvements the AGFC instituted after forming a special citizens’ committee. Perrin noted that during the past few years, the lake went from having a low bass population with almost all big bass to high numbers of fish and a good balance of sizes.

For trophy hunters, Perrin recommended Barnett Lake in western White County. Formed from an inundated canyon, this quirky lake, Perrin said, “year in and year out produces 10-pound fish.”

Greers Ferry, like many other Corps reservoirs, benefited from high water in the spring of 2004. “Spotted bass reproduction was particularly good, and the smallmouths look good, too. The largemouths from the spawn in 2002 will be in the 12- to 15-inch range, and in good numbers,” Perrin said.

When Perrin and assistant biologist Tom Bly sampled Pool 7 of the Arkansas River last year, they found better numbers of bass, particularly in the Toadsuck and Palarm Creek areas.

Add Pulaski County fisheries biologist Clifton Jackson to the list of folks who believe that fishing on the Arkansas River will improve next year. In the Little Rock pool, he said, “there’s been a total turnaround as far as having a good base of 2-pound fish goes.”

While many tournament anglers pass through multiple locks after launching from the ramp near ALLTEL Arena in North Little Rock, Jackson recommended staying within sight of the capital city’s skyline.

“Lots of fishermen catch lots of fish in other pools, but they all come back there to weigh their fish in. Research done in other states suggests that bass don’t go very far after they’ve been released, so I might stay right around ALLTEL arena,” Jackson said with a laugh.

Lake Maumelle, west of Little Rock, still brims with undersized largemouth and spotted bass, but not many sizeable fish. With its clear, infertile water and lack of structure, its capacity for producing forage is limited. It takes bass several years to reach the 10- to 12-inch range, where their growth then seems to stall. “But it has a good number of bass for the kind of lake that it is,” Jackson said.

EASTERN ARKANSAS

Beautiful scenery in the St. Francis National Forest is a bonus for bass fishermen who give Bear Creek Lake a try this year. Biologist Jeff Farwick rates the 625-acre U.S. Forest Service lake as the best bass fishery in District 4. “Bear Creek Lake has a 13- to 16-inch slot and a good population of fish over 16 inches long. You’re going to catch a fair number of 16- to 18-inch bass there,” he said.

For fast action and the chance to fill a very generous 10-bass stringer, Farwick recommended Lake Austelle in Village Creek State Park (southern Cross County). Late last year, he said, the AGFC planned to change its 16- to 21-inch slot (with a four-fish limit) to a 13- to 16-inch slot with a 10-fish daily limit.

“Small fish are stockpiling in the lake due to competition for limited food sources, and we want to get those numbers down, so we need the fishermen to help us,” he said. “Of course, there’s still an occasional lunker out there.”

Nearby 65-acre Lake Dunn, also in the state park, is still capable of surrendering bass in the 8-pound range, as is Austelle.

OUACHITA MOUNTAINS

Lake Ouachita should continue to be one of the state’s most popular and reliable bass fisheries in 2005, despite a slight decline in the numbers and size of bass. The big news this year is the new 13-inch minimum-length limit, which went into effect Jan. 1.

“The 13- to 16-inch slot had been on there for 10 years, and we didn’t produce the fish we wanted to, so this change should allow enhanced growth for larger fish,” fisheries biologist Brett Hobbs explained.

For a chance at outsized bass in his district, Hobbs recommended Lake Catherine — “old as the hills and kind of an underdog,” as he described it. “But,” he continued, “it’s a fairly consistent producer of 6- to 8-pound bass with the possibility for bigger fish. It doesn’t have the Ouachita Mountains in the background or the undeveloped shoreline that so many people seem to like, but there’s plenty of laydowns, and it’s a good lake.”

Catherine lies southeast of Hot Springs in Garland and Hot Spring counties.

Hobbs expects DeGray Lake, a Corps reservoir in Clark and Hot Spring counties, to provide fast action from a strong population of young bass. “An 11- to 13-inch bass in good condition will fatten up pretty nice,” he said, encouraging anglers to keep a limit and help manage the bass by harvesting enough to allow others to grow up.

SOUTH ARKANSAS

The AGFC’s investment in Florida-strain bass planted in the warm waters of south Arkansas continues to pay off handsomely.

Anglers take a few 10- or 11-pounders from 3,000-acre Lake Columbia (western Columbia County) and l
ower White Oak Lake (1,200 acres, western Ouachita County) each year. These two lakes continue to top biologist Don Turman’s list of trophy destinations in District 6. “Upper White Oak has more vegetation and lily pads and is doing about as well as our trophy lakes without being managed like a trophy lake,” he explained.

The 800-acre reservoir produces outsized largemouths without the 16- to 21-inch slot that appears to be an important factor at both Columbia and lower White Oak.

For those looking to catch larger numbers of fish as opposed to focusing on larger individual fish, Turman recommended the Ouachita River and lakes within the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in parts of Ashley, Bradley and Union counties. Lake Jack Lee is the largest and best-known of the lakes within the refuge.

The key to fishing these highly-vegetated lakes consists in understanding seasonal changes in oxygen levels, Turman said. The bass head to the deeper, clearer water when oxygen levels get lean in the summer. In the fall and winter, when oxygen levels rise, fishing can be excellent.

The bass population in Calion Lake (northern Union County, near El Dorado) also has taken an upward swing in recent years, providing lots of action from small bass.

SOUTHWEST CORNER

Fishermen head to District 7 year after year because Millwood Lake is one of the most reliable lakes in the state. “It’s perennially good,” said biologist Les Claybrook.

The AGFC has maximized Millwood’s potential by stocking Florida-strain bass. “Tissue samples show that 80 percent of the bass have Florida genes — at least one gene —which means we’ve actually altered the gene pool on this lake,” Claybrook said. Unfortunately, siltation threatens spawning environments in the same way that silt clogs portions of Lake Conway and the Arkansas River.

If you’re after fast action from cooperative bass and a good setting for teaching kids to fish, Claybrook would send you to the lakes within the Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMA. The 4,885-acre WMA offers two small lakes where Claybrook has caught bass up to 7 pounds. Spotted bass are becoming the featured species on DeQueen Lake, where there are a lot of fish, and some nice ones, according to Claybrook.

SOUTHEAST CORNER

Bass in the 12- and 13-pound class were almost common on Drew County’s Lake Monticello during the 1990s. While the 1,500-acre lake is no longer red-hot, it’s still producing occasional bass up to 10 pounds, according to biologist Diana Andrews. “It’s not uncommon for us to get several 5-pounders while we’re electrofishing. The population density and condition of the fish are good.”

As for Lake Chicot in Chicot County, “(It) doesn’t have as many big fish, but 3-pounders are common,” Andrews reported. Shad and bream provide a solid forage base, and Chicot is, she added, “very productive, because it receives a lot of agricultural run-off, which makes it fertile.”

She also recommended the new Morgan Point Bendway Lake near Pendleton, a 7-mile waterway constructed in 1999, which is refreshed by flooding from the nearby Arkansas River each year. “We’ve heard nothing but good reports from there, and we always see plenty of fish,” she said.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

The AGFC’s Arkansas Outdoor Atlas shows all the public facilities on every fishery mentioned in this article and many more. You can buy one for $18 with a credit card by calling 1-800-364-GAME.

G&F