NWA FISHING REPORT
Beaver Lake
The dog days of summer are barking, but the fish are biting.
Taylor Surly at Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers said catfish are biting well on limb lines, jugs or rod and reel baited with goldfish or small sunfish.
Crappie and white bass can be caught at night using minnows under fishing lights. Try channel swings in the midlake area.
Striped bass are biting from Point 5 to the dam on shad or brood minnows. Stripers are suspended 20 to 30 feet deep over water that’s as deep as 100 feet.
For black bass, try top-water lures from first light until sunrise. Dawn is also a good time to work a spinner bait or flip a jig and pig around bushes. The top lure for nighttime bass fishing is a dark-colored spinner bait.
Beaver tailwater
Lisa Mullins at Beaver Dam Store said trout fishing is good. Fishing from a boat is best because of high water.
Try Power Bait tipped with a waxworm. Nightcrawlers are another good bait. Threadfin shad are plentiful in the tailwater, so fly fishing with a white streamer may be good. Try countdown Rapalas or small spoons for lures.
Lake Fayetteville
David Powell at the lake office said catfish are biting well on glow worms or nightcrawlers. Black bass fishing is good with wacky worms 3 to 10 feet deep. Areas with ledges are good to try.
Bella Vista
ChipWiseman at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista reports good bluegill fishing 2 to 6 feet deep with crickets or worms. Loch Lomond is the hot bluegill lake, but they’re biting at all Bella Vista lakes.
Black bass are biting fair at night on spinner baits. Try top-water lures between first light and sunrise for black bass.
Elk River
Drew Daniel at Big Elk Floats and Camping said black bass fishing is good with top-water lures, tube baits, spinner baits and nightcrawlers. Some big smallmouths have been caught. Pools below riffles have been productive water.
Swepco Lake
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs said black bass fishing is good with all types of soft plastic lures. Try top-water lures at dawn and dusk. A Whopper Plopper is a good top-water choice.
Siloam Springs, Crystal lakes
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass early with top-water lures. Later, try medium-diving crank baits in shad colors. Plastic wor m s should work as well.
Illinois River
Black bass fishing is good with tube baits, grubs and s m all plastic lizards, Stroud said. A Tiny Torpedo top-water lure is good to use.
Eastern Oklahoma
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass during the day at Lake Eucha with deep-diving crank baits. Try bass fishing at night with 10-inch plastic worms in dark colors. Spinner baits in dark colors are also good.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports good largemouth bass fishing at Grand Lake with top-water lures from first light to sunrise. Catfish are biting well on liver, cut bait and shad. Use minnows for crappie. Fish over brush piles.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing Guide Service said top-water lures are good for catching black bass from first light to sunrise. Try a small football jig early, but that bite is slowing down.
Later in the day, use a drop-shot rig over treetops 15 to 45 feet deep. The largest bass are in deep water.