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 lower 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.