Fishing Tip: Crappie are great to
fish for year round. The trick to catching them in the winter is
finding them. Usually crappie will pile up together on a single piece
of cover in deep water. It is not uncommon to find them stacked up on a
brush pile or drop off in 60 feet of water. Cruise deeper water near
traditional crappie spawning areas and look for the fish with your
electronics. Active fish will appear as streaks instead of arches. Drop
a minnow or jig to the bottom and raise it up to the level the fish are
holding.
White River: Gaston's White River Resort
said trout fishing is decent. The best bet is on redworms, wax worms,
nightcrawlers and Berkley PowerBait. The best artificials were gold/red
Buoyant Spoons, gold or gold/red Little Cleos and floating Rapalas.
Generation is keeping the wading to minimum.
Bull Shoals Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 659.78 feet MSL.
Lake
Norfork: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 556.68 feet MSL.
Cranfield
Junction Bait and Tackle (870-492-5141) said the water clarity is about
8 to 10 feet and the surface temperature is 46 degrees. Crappie are
fair on hair jigs in 12 to 20 feet of water. Bass are decent on
crankbaits and jerkbaits fished close to bluffs. Stripers are biting
well on swim baits and live shad in 30 to 40 feet of water. Spoons are
also working well on the stripers. A few white bass are mixed in with
the schools and are being caught mainly on spoons. Catfishing is poor.
Walleye are slow.
Norfork Tailwater:
Gene’s Trout Dock (870-499-5381) said two generators are running all
day lately. Trout fishing is good on brown/white 1/32-ounce jigs.
Sculpin patterns are working well on large brown trout. Anglers have to
add more weight to their flies and jigs to get them down in the fast
current.
