Cotter Trout Dock Weekly Fishing Report

  September 25, 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 25, 2024.

White River

(updated 9-26-2024) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said, “We just fell into fall and our Ozarks weather is perfect for an outing on the river. Trout fishing the White River waters near Cotter is great, and in a typical September day you’ll see many rainbows and very likely a brown or two. Releases from Bull Shoals Dam are at minimum flow or less (700 cfs) with a burst in the late evening bringing the

river level to 12,000 cfs (four units) for an hour or two. The lake is steadily falling to 653.38 feet mls, and is almost 8 feet below power pool for this time of year.”
Wade anglers will find many accessible locations. Be alert and always have an exit plan if you see a change in water level. John boaters will find it slow and go, a must-stay in the main channel of the river.

Any pink scented egg bait (Berkley PowerBait or XFactor) and shrimp are reliable baits to provide a lot of action for rainbows. Peach and brown flashy baits (1/8 oz. maribou or D2 jigs, quarter-ounce with the higher water), gold Cleos or bronze Colorado spoons were a sure bet this past week. Catch a sculpin or two to put on your hook for brown trout bait. Crawdads are still causing a stir and should be great bait for at least another month before it gets too cold.
Planning your fall/winter fishing trip? Your weather check should include a study of the nighttime lows as well as the daytime highs. Assume your day will start at the lowest temperature from the night before and may even be several degrees colder on the water. Layer up and you’ll enjoy your trip a whole lot more.

(updated 9-26-2024) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “It has been a great week of fishing around Calico Rock. It wasn’t uncommon for boats to land over 100 fish in a day. Late last week and into the weekend we saw water depths starting around 4 feet in the mornings and rising to 6-7 feet before dropping again in the afternoons. There has been some dinginess to the water in the morning and then clearing throughout the day. On Monday we had low and clear water and by Tuesday we were back to low water in the morning but only rising to between 5-6 feet.
“No matter the fishing conditions, we saw a lot of success with drift-fishing using shrimp with Uncommon Baits Eggs with ultraviolet Neo Pink eggs being the most popular, but also a combination of one UV orange and one white egg also working well. Others reported success using silver inline spinners with the Uncommon Bait eggs and tipping the hook with worms. 

“Drift-fishing with sculpins resulted in some nice trout over 18 inches to include a fat 22-inch hook jaw male weighing over 5 pounds at the dock but probably closer to 6 pounds when caught.
“During the lower water, quarter-ounce Thomas Colorado spoons in nickel/gold or Thomas Bouyant spoon in rainbow trout colors resulted in plenty of fish being caught. Rapala Countdowns size 5 and size 7 in brown trout colors worked very well for larger rainbows and browns. Keep an eye on the weather Friday — we are expecting 1.5 inches or more of rain. The fish don’t seem to mind the rain as long as the river doesn’t rise and get muddy.

“This week the AGFC’s Kent Coffey, a trout bologist, used the pontoon raft to stock over 5,000 rainbow trout from the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery between the confluence of the Norfork and White down to a few miles below Calico Rock. The use of the raft allows fish to be spread out and stocked in those areas not close to normal stocking locations and repopulate some of the lesser known ‘honey holes.’”

 

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 9-19-2024) Fishing guide Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake (815-592-4302) said the lake level is still dropping slightly each day and is still around 654 feet msl. Water temperature Wednesday morning at 75 degrees, give or take a degree. They haven’t been running as much water this past week at the dam. Heads up! We have a Super BFL and a kayak tournament coming up and the lake will be busy this weekend.

Bass junk fishing has started. It has been fair, typical fall fishing. It’s pretty good when they move up during the hurricane weather. But it’s supposed to get hot again. Lots of bass are still set up on late-summer areas and patterns. It takes a while for this drink to cool down, guys. The thermocline is set up around 35 feet. Shad are spread out from the back of the creek out to the main lake. A lot of the dirty backs have shad but are starting to get that nasty, funky water. If we get the right powerfishing conditions, those fish will eat a Chatterbait, square bill, buzzbait or Whopper Plopper. I’m using shad colors. 

If it’s sunny and flat I’m going to check main lake mouths of creeks, on long points, ledges, piles, drop-offs and bluff ends as well as treetops that are close to deep water and with shad nearby. There are schools chasing shad balls, but they are cruising fast. For this, a flutter spoon or small swimbait will fool a few. You better be a good front-looker; having to hit them on the move isn’t easy. 

Overall, smaller baits have helped. It’s fall; the fish can be stubborn. For me, a drop-shot has been the deal. I know, not what you want to hear, but it is what it is. So, if you find them and get one or two to bite, you might as well go to the next spot. You can still catch them off points and swings with a big worm or small Jewel Jig in green pumpkin variants, PB&J, or a tube or a shaky head in 10-20 feet early, then 25-35 feet of depth. Keep the boat out deep for long casts. There is still lots of activity around the 30- to 40-feet range. 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 9-19-2024) Southernwalleye Guide Service (501-365-1606) says the walleye fishing has been very slow this week with mostly small fish being caught.

“The best luck I have had this past week has still been the drop-shot rig and nightcrawler or a Robo Worm around pints with brush. Scan points on both sides and tips by zigzagging in 30-45 feet to find fish. Try to fish when the Corps of Engineers is moving water through the dam. This seems t o help the bite some.

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. This will catch some, especially when fishing is slow. Spooning with a three-quarter-ounce white spoon in water off main lake points in 30-45 feet will also get some fish. Tip: Cutting one of the hooks off a spoon’s treble hook will help reduce snags.

(updated 9-19-2024) Crappie 101 Guide Service (870-577-2045) says crappie are still mainly scattered in creeks on brushpiles. The bite is still somewhat finicky, but they have started biting a jig again a little bit. Minnows are also working, but if you pull up to fish and they don’t bite in the first 10 minutes, move on and find some more.