Cotter Trout Dock Weekly Fishing Report

  June 11, 2025

More reports and other videos are on the Cotter Trout Dock Youtube Channel Page.
Below is the Arkansas Game and Fish Fishing Report June 11, 2025.

White River

Cotter Area

(updated 6-12-2025) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said Bull Shoals Lake is rising slowly, sitting at just above 692 feet msl; water releases have begun to increase a little. Mornings on the river begin with a near-perfect floating level, now averaging four generators operating (about 12,000 cfs). You’ll see higher releases starting later in the afternoon (five to six units, 15,000-18,000 cfs) but not apparent in the Cotter region until 5 p.m. or later.  An angler can drift without hanging up too often.  There are fewer places to safely wade, but bank fishing is not out of the question.

Both boaters and shore anglers can catch a creel full of rainbows with red wigglers or nightcrawlers. Best bait? The rainbows have been hitting the pink worm — Berkley or X-Factor — better when drift-fishing from a boat. A lot of anglers elect to use the “mouse tail” worm. It comes ready-made with a white egg at the top; thread it to cover the eye of your hook and dangle the rest of the imitator worm like you would a live red wiggler.

The average size of the rainbows here in the Ozark region of The Natural State seems to be increasing, and with this new influx of water — which will likely be the norm for the remainder of the spring and summer — they’ll continue to grow. Put your money on bright and shiny: gold spoons and spinners; fluorescent yellow bellies on a Smithwick; bronze Coloradoes; and the scent of shrimp. The bigger brown trout have been looking for sculpins, redworms and shad.
“Keep anglin’ and stay aware of your surroundings with the higher water. Prepare for the heat and come ready to catch some great trout on the White River.”

 

Calico Rock Area

(updated 6-12-2025) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “Before the rains last Friday night/Saturday the river remained high but the water clarity was pretty good.  Drift-fishing the gravel bars with silver inline spinners with eggs and shrimp worked well. Adding an extra sinker to get to the bottom of the deeper holes also produced some nice rainbows. 

The storms dumped a lot of water by noon on Saturday. Saturday afternoon, the fishing was good, but by Sunday morning the Buffalo River had risen and we had muddy water.  Norfork Dam closed their floodgates and without that water to help flush out the dirty water, it was Tuesday before we were seeing fishable water. Fishing on Tuesday was tough but doable, but by Wednesday morning fishing was really good. With more rain later this week into the weekend we will see what happens to the water conditions.  Hopefully it isn’t enough rain to cause the Buffalo River and local creeks to get muddy.

 

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 6-12-2025) Fishing guide Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake said Wednesday the lake level is still on the rise at 692 feet msl and about 33 feet above normal pool with more rain in the forecast. Water temperature is back up to around 74 degrees. The lake may be high, but fish don’t seem to mind. The bigger creeks still have some debris coming in, so be careful with floaters as the wind changes direction. Take debris precautions on flooded launch ramps and courtesy docks. Parking is an issue, as most boat ramps and parking areas are now underwater. The marinas are doing a great job of accommodating everyone. 

The water conditions toward the main lake remain gin clear on toward the dam, with color still in the backs of creeks. Bass are post-spawn and more toward early summer patterns. They are grouping up. Powerfishing shallow has been fair with the right conditions: shad, clouds, rain, wind and stained runoff water. Spinnerbait, Chatterbait and a square bill work well in the stained runoff water. Target wind-blown points and bigger grass flats, and check roads and flooded buckbrush. The ole Big Worm Texas-rigged in laydowns is a good bet. There are always fish to be caught on a flipping jig or Jewel half-ounce green pumpkin variant. Try putting the boat on the old shoreline. Try a shaky head, wobblehead tube or a Ned rig. You’re going to have to contend with flooded bushes, but that’s where they are at. A lot of fish have moved up with the rise. Look at steeper banks as the temperature rises.

The offshore videogamers are going to have to work. The shad are still spread out from almost the backs of creeks out to the main lake. Target larger bait balls or any bait you can find up high near the surface and closer to the shore. If you are targeting shad eaters, a smaller 2.8 swimbait and/or a regular Tater Shad and the Rapala Mooch Minnow are good choices. “You’re gonna have to experiment with head sizes. I’m using 3/16-ounce up to ⅜ depending on the day and the depth of the fish.”

Topwater has slowed. Try a Lucky Craft Gunfish or a small, white Booyah Popper wake bait or Zara Spook Jr.-style bait over flooded points and saddles. “Good luck, have fun, be safe and, as usual, ‘Fish the Conditions.’”

(updated 6-12-2025) Southernwalleye Guide Service said that the walleye fishing has been fair this past week with a few good fish being caught over the flooded buckbrush. If the sun is high, fish a little deeper along the old shoreline. Fish are scattered along rounded points with deep water close by and along steeper creek channel swings that have shad. We’re fishing the shoreline in 30-35 feet of water with spinner and crawler rigs, or working a jig and crawler along in 30-35 feet around the edges  of the flooded brush.

If trolling over buckbrush, try trolling size 7 or 9 Flicker Shads or size 9 Flicker Minnow 20-23 feet down at speeds between 1.5 to 1.7 mph in 26-28 feet of water along wind-blown banks. Some walleye are still being caught in open water over the flooded trees. (However, the lake is still rising and we are seeing a lot of debris floating in the water, making it harder to troll.)

If trolling deep, try deep-diving crankbaits with snap weights to get your baits down 60-70 feet and fish over the flooded trees in 80 or more feet of water at 1.5 to 1.7 mph.

(updated 6-12-2025) Crappie 101 Guide Service says crappie are still super-scattered all over the lake. There isn’t a lot of structure in the right zones but we’re catching some when lucky enough to find it. Minnows have definitely been best as of late. Cover lots of water and look for it around 10-20 feet.

 

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

(updated 6-12-2025) Tom Reynolds reports the lake is 576.75 feet msl and steady. The stripers have begun their migration south. This migration is earlier than in previous years, but with the rain and high water, nothing is normal this year. The stripers are going deeper as the lake is now 80 degrees. Long lines continue to produce early before the sun rises, and then the stripers go deeper. Downlines set 30-50 feet are producing after that. Long flats that have gradually taper bottom hold fish beginning at 40 feet. 

The crawdad bite has started but the main forage is still gizzard shad. Vary your downlines. I like to run my lines so my bait is 1-2 feet off the bottom. You will see lots of stripers lying on the bottom, so adjust your lines to have the bait hit them in the nose.

 

Buffalo National River
(updated 6-12-2025) Fish ’N Stuff said they are hearing from a lot from angling customers doing well on the Buffalo. They are catching smallmouth bass in 2-4 feet of water and throwing a Ned rig with a green pumpkin, worm-style bait or creature bait on about a ⅛-ounce chartreuse jighead. Also, they are catching them on small, white ⅛-ounce Rooster Tails, or a 2½-inch green pumpkin tube with 1/8-ounce jighead. And don’t leave without trying a 4.5-inch Robo Worm in Morning Dawn color with a ⅛-ounce weight for a successful outing.