Cotter Trout Dock Weekly Fishing Report

  September 11, 2024

More reports and other videos are on the Cotter Trout Dock Youtube Channel Page.
Below is the Arkansas Game and Fish Fishing Report September 11, 2024.

White River

(updated 9-12-2024) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said autumn is getting closer — there’s a little nip in the air some mornings. Perfect weather for float fishing on the White: cool mornings, warm afternoons and lots of trout to tease your hook. Bull Shoals Lake is below power pool now, so generation remains low: minimum flow (700 cfs) during the day, with increased releases in evening for a few hours. The lake level is currently 654.96 feet msl, 6 feet lower than normal pool. 

The rainbow catch has been fabulous: They’re snapping up the shrimp and egg combo, and we’re continuing to see success with bubblegum pink worms and mouse tails. Good sizes among the catch, too, measuring 16 inches or above. Artificial bait recommendations: spoons and spinners for this low water. Gold Cleos are a staple on the White, and a gold or silver Blue Fox is a good choice. This is a great time for jig fishing, too. Olive or crawdad-olive/orange jigs are on order this week.

Keep a variety of live bait on board for the browns. Sculpins, redfin minnows and crawdad tails deliver well. Baits should be kept close to the bottom and to the sides of the main channel, or a deep hole for the browns.
“Cooler temperatures surprised us this week; it’s time to add a layer or two in the early morning hours and prepare for warm afternoons. Thanks for sharing our love of the north Arkansas Ozarks in The Natural State. Drop in when you visit Cotter.”

(updated 9-12-2024) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “Late last week we once again saw higher and dingier water in the morning, with the water then dropping and clearing throughout the day. With the cooler temperatures, starting Sunday we saw very low and clear water, which continued through Wednesday. During the times of higher and dingy water, drift-fishing with silver inline spinners with Uncommon Bait UV Neo Pink eggs and shrimp worked well. During the days with the very low and clear water, quarter-ounce Thomas Colorado Spoons in nickel/gold or red/copper resulted in some nice limits of rainbow trout. Additionally, Rapala CD5 Countdowns in rainbow or brown trout colors worked well. 

The AGFC maintenance crews took advantage of the low water to put in gravel at the end of the boat ramp to reduce the drop-off at the end of the ramp. This should make it easier to launch boats during times of low water.

 

Bull Shoals Lake
For the Army Corps of Engineers’ real-time outflow report from Bull Shoals Dam, visit the Corps’ Little Rock office website.

(updated 9-12-2024) Fishing guide Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake (815-592-4302) said the lake level is still dropping slightly each day and is around 654 feet msl. Water temperature Wednesday morning at 79 degrees, a 4-degree drop from this time last week. The water has some algae floating up here and there. Bass fishing has been fair, typical fall fishing. Pretty good numbers of spotted bass, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass are setup on late summer areas and patterns. The thermocline is set up around 35 feet. Shad are spread out from the back of the creek out to the main lake. They are starting to move in with shorter days. Check mouths of creeks, long points, ledges, drop-offs and channel swings as well as treetops that are close to deep water. The bite will definitely slow down if it’s flat bluebird sunny, and they will get fired up with wind/rain and generators running.
A smaller Flutter Spoon will fool a few. Smaller baits have helped. Once the sun gets high up, a lot of the fish will move deep and suspend or move into piles or off ledges. They can be stubborn. Try a drop-shot or Jewel Scuba or big worm. If you get one or two to bite, you might as well go to the next spot. These fish have been educated all summer to fire; finesse will help. You can still catch them off points with a small Jewel Peewee Jig in green pumpkin orange or PB&J, or a tube or shaky head in 10-20 feet early, then at 25-35 feet. Keep the boat out for deep, long casts. There is a lot of activity around the 30-35 feet range. Fall junk. Fishing is about to start; can’t wait to wear out a buzzbait! Remember: Fish the conditions.

Del regularly posts new YouTube videos. Visit his YouTube site (Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report) for more information and tips on fishing Bull Shoals Lake.

(updated 9-12-2024) Southernwalleye Guide Service (501-365-1606) says the walleye fishing has slowed down a good bit this past week with the cooler weather passing through. The thermocline seems to be compressing and is holding at 35-40 feet. The best luck I have had this past week has been drop-shotting night crawlers or Robo Worms around points with brush. Scan points on both sides and tips by zigzagging in 25-40 feet to find fish. Try to fish when they are moving water through the dam; that seems to help the bite.

Pulling nightcrawler harnesses in 27-38 feet — depth depends on wind and clouds – slowly at 0.8 to 0.9 mph with 3-ounce bottom bouncers on the sides of primary and secondary points is still catching fish but it’s slowing down. Fishing with 1.5 Smile Butterfly Blades in gold or orange and chartreuse with an orange bead patterns has caught a few this week. You can still use a No. 4 split shot and #No. 2 Aberdeen hook and a nightcrawler worked slowly around groups of fish or on deeper sides of brushpiles, to catch some, especially when fishing is slow. 

Spooning with a three-quarter-ounce white spoon in water off main lake points in 30-40 feet will also get some fish. Here’s a tip: Cutting one of the hooks off a spoon’s treble hook will help reduce snags.

(updated 9-12-2024) Crappie 101 Guide Service (870-577-2045) says the crappie bite has been fairly tough for the most part. Key on different brush on a daily basis and when you find some that cooperate, don’t expect it to be that way the next time you show up, the next day or days. They are very particular lately, and overall we have still been catching a lot of mixed quality and occasionally a few really nice ones. The jig bite is pretty slow, but if you’re going to fish one, a one-sixteenth-ounce with a small fry bait, minnows, have carried the majority of the load lately. The brush that’s around 20-30 feet seems to be the better stuff. Fall is around the corner and it’s going to get better before long.