FISHING REPORT

LAKE OUACHITA

Todd Gadberry, Mountain Harbor Resort harbor master, reportsblack bass are good. Try a 3/4 oz. CC Spoon or a drop-shot rig for these fish.

Stripers are very good on live bait or trolling an Alabama rig.

Crappie are still good on small jigs or minnows. Try brushpiles in the 15-25 foot depth range.

No report on catfish, bream or walleye.

The water ranges from 54-58 degrees, and the lake is clear at 567.78 feet msl.

LAKE CATHERINE

Shane Goodner, owner of Catch’em All Guide Service, said rainbow trout are now present and being caught in quality numbers. Wading anglers can easily access areas holding schools of trout. PowerBaits and waxworms fished just off the bottom with a marshmallow floater are working along with nightcrawlers and redworms presented in the same manner. Trout Magnets fished shallow in moving or still water can produce excellent results while the drawdown is in effect. Bank anglers should stick to basic patterns of live bait and PowerBaits while fly-fishermen should cast egg patterns in white or yellow under a strike indicator. Microjigs and Woolly Buggers have taken trout over 14 inches this week.

White Bass have been observed breaking in the early morning hours chasing threadfin shad below the bridge. Casting spinnerbaits and jigs in 1/8 oz. weights has been the best presentation to catch these fish the past week.

Hybrid bass school alongside white bass and are being caught on the same techniques. Trolling shallow-running crankbaits against the current has been productive catching white bass and hybrids, as well as walleye in the 2-pound class. Walleye thrive in the tailrace during this time as these fish prefer colder water temperatures than other area game fish.

The arrival of rainbow trout to Lake Catherine in November and December brings life to the Carpenter Dam tailrace and kicks off the trout fishing season. Almost 3,000 rainbows are scheduled to be stocked below Carpenter Dam this month, and this additional influx of fish will greatly enhance fishing opportunities for the public.

The water is 55 degrees and clear with a generation schedule that can be found at www.entergy.com/hydro.

LAKE HAMILTON

Greeson Marine reports bass up to this point have been very good. Now that the cold wave of high pressure has moved in for a few days, the fishing has really dropped off. It’s easy to find the bass but they have a strong case of lockjaw some days and we have been dealing with that the last 48 hours. Go-to — and we use that term loosely this week — are vertical presentations of the Ned rig and Damiki rig at deeper depths than normal. The pressure seems to have pushed the aggressive fish out to 30 feet or more of water in ditches and sunken structures (brush, rocks, etc.) Shad silver colors as the plastic for both presentations has worked. Be prepared that the hybrid and yellow bass are mixed in with the deep bass. It’s normal to pull 10 hybrids to one bass in the conditions we have right now. Even an occasional walleye shows up to get the vertical drops.

Crappie have been fair but the pressure has messed them up, also. A live small minnow dropped over brush or sunken structure in 35 feet or more of water in the early morning gets results.

Hybrid bass are pretty much in every main channel meeting ditch at 20-30 feet throughout the lake. These fish eat great, but it’s hard to get any decent slabs as most are all small ones. You can target these fish easily with a pink-headed crappie jig bounced off the bottom.

The water is in the mid-50s and clear.

DEGRAY LAKE

No report.