Cotter Trout Dock Weekly Fishing Report

  March 4, 2026

More reports and other videos are on the Cotter Trout Dock Youtube Channel Page.
Below is the Arkansas Game and Fish Fishing Report March 4, 2026.


White River

Cotter Area

(updated 3-5-2026) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said winter “is seemingly behind us already and we’re looking at warmer days and more sunshine — mostly. March can still throw a curve, so come prepared for all kinds of weather conditions.” Bull Shoals Lake is at 652.81 feet msl elevation, 6 feet below normal power pool. Generation over the past three days through Wednesday has been slow — mostly minimum flow (700 cfs) but rising to four units (12,000 cfs) or more at times.

“The trout bite will pick up when water releases settle to a steady amount. Keep your egg patterns handy, along with wriggling redworms. Drifting shrimp and PowerBait while letting the current move you downstream should stir some excitement in the rainbow community. Silver-and-blue hammered spoons are a springtime fave with the rainbows, too.

“While the rainbow bite has been good, the brown catch has been phenomenal. Most were enticed with a sculpin, but shad is always a great temptation for the browns.

“Spring break is upon us, and one of the best places for family connection and wholesome time together is on the White River making new memories. Come on over and experience trout catching at Cotter on the White River in the Arkansas Ozarks.”

Calico Rock Area
(updated 3-5-2026) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “We are seeing consistently low water around 2.5 feet with an occasional spike as high as 5 feet. Due to the low flow, we aren’t seeing much success drift-fishing with spinners, eggs and shrimp. Quarter-ounce Thomas Colorado Spoons in nickel/gold have been very effective for rainbow trout. We have seen many nice 15-inch-plus rainbows with great color. Dynamic J-Spec in ghost rainbow and brown trout, Dynamic HD in ghost brown, or Rapala Countdown CD7 in brown trout or rainbow trout colors have all worked well for browns and rainbows — and as an added bonus, we are seeing nice smallmouth and largemouth bass being caught.

“With the rains coming in, we could see some dingier water, but don’t expect to see any significant rise to the river.
“Wednesday morning, we received a stocking of 1,100 rainbows from the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery, with additional stockings scheduled for Chessmond Ferry and Reds Landing. Also on Wednesday, we received an additional stocking of rainbows from the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.”

 

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 3-5-2026) Fishing guide Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake said Wednesday that, “Everyone is starting to catch fish!”
He says the lake level is 652 feet msl “for now. Looks like we have some rain in the forecast.” Water temperature is ranging 47-51 degrees, give or take a degree.

“Spring is happening, and a lot of folks are catching. Fish are moving up on the bank. Look at late-winter, early pre-spawn areas. Power fisherman are doing well cranking on windy, cloudy days before the fronts. A Wiggle Wart and SPRO Rock Crawler Red Craw are working, as well as variants like the Mo Craw.
Del added, “Stone cold in the dirty steeper 45-degree chunky, nasty rock and ledges and transition banks, try covering water — wind and clouds are ideal. Also, a spinnerbait should be tried, especially in stained water.”
The shad are now everywhere and spread out, so graphing will pay off. A swimbait or a Tater Shad fluke or your favorite minnow around the shad are working. A Megabass jerkbait is also working. If the conditions are clear water and post-front weather, flat and sunny, get off the bank and try a Jewel Jig in green pumpkin orange, as well as try a green pumpkin shaky head or a Ned rig around points in 15-25 feet depth.

“Remember: Fish the conditions.”

(updated 3-5-2026) Southernwalleye Guide Service said walleye fishing patterns seemed to be moving more into the spawning stage this past week. Look for fish on and around known spawning sights.

Fish shallow in the early mornings and on cloudy days in 2-6 feet of water and deeper in 8-15 feet water if there is little or no cloud cover.

Jigs (⅛-ounce to ⅜-ounce) and minnows, or jigs and plastic, work well after the sun comes up. Jerkbaits such as the 110 and 110+1 or +2 style in black and silver or clown colors are also good at this time.
If trolling, try stick baits like Rattlin’ Rogues in purple/chartreuse or black/gold. Troll in 8-15 feet of water at slow speeds — 0.8 to 1.0 mph seems to work best this early in the season.

If you’re into night fishing, now is the time to start going. Two hours before light and up to two to three hours after dark seem to be the best times. Fishing slow is the key.

(updated 3-5-2026) Crappie 101 Guide Service says they are finding crappie in all sections of the creeks. Lots of small ones on brushpiles, but they’re finding some nice ones if you cover enough piles in 15-20 feet of water. Minnows have been working well, as well as Tater Baits jigs.

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

(updated 3-5-2026) Tom Reynolds offered this pointers this week for spring fishing on Norfork:

“Starting in late February we typically will see the winds switch to the south and a gradual warm up of air and water temperatures. The stripers will begin to move from the deep water following the shad. There will be multiple opportunities to catch stripers at that time. Both live bait and artificial baits will be very effective. The night bite will begin once the winds blow from the south. You will want to fish the northern and northeastern banks of the bays and main lake and main arm points. Some excellent spots are the points near Norfork Dam, Koso Bay and Point, the Hudson area, Frog Pond, Diamond Bay, Cranfield Island and the points north of the Cranfield area heading toward Red Bank Access.
“The best time to night fish is a half-hour before dark until about 10 p.m. The best bait historically is a 5-inch or 6-inch Rogues. The color of the Rogue varies, with black/gold, clown and blue/black combinations seeming to work the best, but experiment with the colors until you find the one that works best that night. Bone color has been hot the last few years. Make long casts parallel to the bank and reel very, very slowly. A lot of the bites will be right next to the boat, so always have a big net ready. Stripers, hybrids and walleye are all active during this time. Watch the water temperature. As it moves up toward 60 degrees, the bite will get stronger.
“During this time of year, live bait, shad and shiners are also very effective. The stripers will be roaming the shoreline looking for food. I use shad, but everything I do can be done using shiners. Most days I will run a large spread of lines. I begin with two inside planer boards, one near the shore and other out 20 to 30 yards. These board lines will have large gizzard shad in the 4- to 8-inch range. Out of the back of the boat I will have two lines with floats, shad on the hooks, with no weight at various depths from 10 to 30 feet from the floats. These lines will be set back from the boat between 30 to 60 yards. I then set out two free lines with a split shot weight on one line and nothing on the other. Both will have large shad on them and will be set 40-60 feet from the back of the boat. The last outside line will have one planer board with a large shad out 40 yards from the back of the boat. I will put out a wake bait: It is a large shad about 1 foot under the water right behind the engine. The wake bait is very effective for stripers roaming shallow water.
“As the water warms, the stripers will continue to move into the larger creeks to spawn. The magic water temperature number is 60 degrees. Your tactic to catch stripers should be to keep moving with the fish and continue to experiment with your techniques.”