Cotter Trout Dock Weekly Fishing Report

  May 6, 2026

More reports and other videos are on the Cotter Trout Dock Youtube Channel Page.
Below is the Arkansas Game and Fish Fishing Report May 6, 2026.

White River

Cotter Area
(updated 5-7-2026) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said the bite is on, and the anglers on the White River in the Arkansas Ozarks are catching trout on the first cast of the day, the last cast in the afternoon and on a whole lot of casts in between. The river level has been consistently low for the past week, so it’s been a great time to pull up to a favorite brown trout spot and throw out a minnow, sculpin or shad for the sure bite. The rainbow bite has been excellent, too, with many keeper-size rainbows being brought to the boat daily and larger rainbows becoming a lot more common.
Releases from Bull Shoals Dam have been at minimum flow all week with few higher releases. The lake at this writing is sitting at 655.93 feet msl where it has remained for a while now, give or take 1/10 of a foot. If boating, stay in the channel and cast toward the bank; you’ll most often pull in a rainbow in no time. Get their attention with fluorescent, bright baits and flashy silver spoons on these overcast days — black D2 jigs or Rooster Tails with dark bodies otherwise. 

“Plenty of sunshine requires plenty of sunscreen. Come prepared but make sure to keep the sunscreen away from your fishing gear and baits. Sunscreen not only repels harmful rays from above, but repels fish as well. Clean your hands of sunscreen before handling rods, reels and baits; no spraying in the boat. 

“Join us on the White River for some great fishing” 

 

Calico Rock Area
(updated 5-7-2026) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “For the majority of the week, we have seen lower water levels in the morning and rising water starting late morning until early afternoon. During these low-water times we are seeing a lot of success with several different lures. The lure our guides used the most was the quarter-ounce Thomas Colorado Spoon in nickel/gold. Additionally, they use they CD5 Rapala Countdown in rainbow trout or brown trout colors, Dynamic J-Spec or HD lures in ghost brown or rainbow trout. Drift-fishing with sculpins resulted in some nice rainbows and brown trout. 

 

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 5-7-2026) Fishing guide Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake said Wednesday that the lake level remains a constant 655 feet msl (4 or so feet below normal pool) and water temperature is also about what it’s been lately: 66 degrees. “Most of the fish are post-spawn, which means big changes. We have the groups of fish in the creeks moving back out to points or chasing shad out from the spawning pockets. The ‘power fishermen’ are still catching on the right day (wind/clouds/rain/stain) deep-cranking in 10- to 15-foot drains. Try spinnerbaits and Chatterbaits in the stained water. 

“The shad are not everywhere and moving, so you’re going to have to keep an eye out.

“Topwater has started in the early mornings, and I’m covering water with a Spook or popper-style lures. A small Tater Swimbait or Mayor 2.5 is working in natural shad-imitation colors. I’ve been using the Jewel Shad Spoon or traditional fluke if they are busting the surface, or try your favorite minnow to shake around the shad.
“If the conditions are like cold fronts, flat water, high-pressure bluebird and sunny, it will get tough. I will slow down, downsize and get way off the bank and bomb cast with lighter fluorocarbon line. Try a finesse Jewel Pee-Wee Jig in green pumpkin orange, or a Bass Whacker is working, and a green pumpkin shaky head Neko rig and a Ned rig are also working. Time to start checking post-spawn early summer areas, long points, ledges, brushpiles and bluff ends. While some bass will be moving in on the sunfish spawn, most seem to be heading out with the shad.
“The tube wobble heads are still in play but have slowed down. The post-spawn fish tend to be finicky, and some move deep to recover, especially if there is shad around. Graph time pays off as usual. The wolf-packing or grouping up has been going. Remember: ‘Fish the conditions!’” 

(updated 5-7-2026) Southernwalleye Guide Service said the fishing this past week has been similar to last week: fair in the morning and a little better in the evening when the dam is moving water. Post-spawn fishing patterns are still in place as water surface temperature have not come up much this week. Fish are moving with the shad and seem only to be holding on points close to them.

Look for walleye on long points close to the channel swings. Main lake and secondary points have been producing a few fish during the day. Fish shallow in the early mornings and on cloudy days in 18-20 feet of water and deeper in 25-35 feet of water if there is little or no cloud cover. Casting jigging spoons (⅜- to ¾-ounce), or using jigs and plastic ringworms or Ned rigs will work well after the sun comes up.

If trolling, try shad-style and small banana-style baits like No. 7 Flicker Shads or No. 9 Flicker Minnow in natural colors. Trolling in 25-35 feet of water at speeds of 1.5 to 1.7 mph seems to work best.

The open-water trolling bite has been hit or miss with passing cold fronts. Deep-diving crankbaits like Bandits, Rapala Tail Dancers size 11 and Reef Runners trolled over the flooded forest along the old river channel will get some nice fish. 

(updated 5-7-2026) Crappie 101 Guide Service says crappie seem to be back on brush, still mixed up with a lot of short fish mixed in. Look for brush in 15-20 feet and throw a 1/16-ounce jig and a Small Fry Bait or minnows. 

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

(updated 4-23-2026) Tom Reynolds offered this pointers 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.”