Fishing report
Lake Ouachita
Todd Gadberry, Mountain Harbor Resort harbor master, said that black bass are good. The topwater bite is better, and spotted bass are schooled up chasing baitfish. Try a small 3/8-ounce spoon in submerged schools and your favorite topwater bait in those same areas. Major creek mouths and up the rivers have had the best reports. No reports on walleye. Stripers are fair. These fish are being caught on live bait.
Bream are fair with crickets or worms in 15-25 feet of water.
Crappie are fair to good. Try a small jig or minnow near brush in
15-25 feet of water. Catfish are fair and being caught with rod-and-reel and on jugs. Cut bait and live bait are working best.
The water ranges from 68-73 degrees, and the lake is clear at
577.75 msl.
DeGray Lake
Capt. Darryl Morris of Family Fishing Trips Guide Service said crappie are doing great on minnows under corks 10 feet deep on brushpiles.
White bass can be found in roaming pods near the bottom in 20-plus-feet of water. Vertical-jig spoons and fill the livewell.
Lake Catherine
Shane Goodner, owner of Catch’em All Guide Service, reports that water temperature below the dam is 65 degrees with clear conditions in the tailrace.
Rainbow trout fishing will return in mid-November when the AGFC’s stocking program begins again for the winter. Trout are normally in Lake Catherine the week before the Thanksgiving holiday or earlier, depending on fish availability.
The beginning of fall finds white and hybrid bass still living in the tailrace and feeding on shad. Boaters trolling shallow-running crankbaits that imitate minnows or crawfish have caught these fish in decent numbers this week. Size ranges from 1 to 2 pounds with some hybrid catches over 4 pounds. Topwater action has been observed in the early morning below the bridge.
Walleye still remain in the tailrace and have been caught on minnows tightlined in deep water. The closer to the dam you fish during the fall, the more likely you are to catch walleye. The deepest areas consistently hold walleye that live and feed in the tailrace.
A few catfish have been taken on stink baits around rock structure close to the dam.
No striper activity has been reported this week, but these predator fish migrate in and out of the area frequently.
Lake Hamilton
Greeson Marine reports Lake Hamilton’s water levels continuing to fall slowly due limited flow and evaporation. Water temps are in the mid-60s throughout the lake, except in the river channel.
This is quite simply the absolute worst fishing we have ever seen in recent history. We need rain, folks, but we will settle for a drastic drop in temperatures (not happening anytime soon).
Here is the sum up: Bass — terrible; crappie — horrible, bream — decent on worms and crickets at 15-20 feet off docks and over brush; catfish — no report.
Most game fish are suspended right now in 20-plus feet depths and have no interest in eating. Fish are mostly lethargic due to low oxygen levels. Not just Hamilton is bad, all surrounding lakes are not doing well at all.