The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fishing report for May 7:
CENTRAL ARKANSAS:
Lake Conway: Bream are biting well in the afternoon on crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows in 6 to 9 feet of water. Bass are being caught on plastic worms. Catfish are biting well on any bait.
Little Red River: Fishing for trout is very good on Power Bait, corn, spinnerbaits, Rapalas and wax worms.
Greers Ferry: The water is still very high, but some walleye have been caught on large minnows around trees.
Harris Brake Lake: The water has cleared up and the lake is almost back to normal level. Bream are fair on worms and crickets. Crappie are still hit or miss. Bass are biting well on minnows and artificial lures. Catfishing is good on goldfish or bream.
Lake Beaverfork: The water is murky and a little high. Crappie are good on minnows.
Lake Overcup: Bream fishing is good on red worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows. Catfishing is good on shad and nightcrawlers.
Brewer Lake: The water is still high and all species are slow right now.
Sunset Lake: Bream are good on crickets. Crappie are biting well in shallow water on 2-inch lemon-colored grubs. Bass are excellent on watermelonseed lizards and floating worms. A few catfish have been caught on liver.
Saline River Access in Benton: The river is normal. Crappie are biting well on red/chartreuse Road Runners around brush piles. Bass are biting well on crankbaits and pumpkinseed finesse worms.
Lake Maumelle: Largemouth bass are biting very well in 3 to 6 feet of water. They've finished their spawn, but are still shallow. Carolina rigs and spinnerbaits are working the best. Kentucky bass have been mixed in with the largemouths. Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs along the banks in 4 to 10 feet of water. Bream are excellent on worms and crickets, with worms working the best.
Brewer Lake: The water is still very high and dingy. All species are slow right now.
Arkansas River in Little Rock: The water is still high with strong currents. Bass can be caught in the backwaters on spinnerbaits and lizards.
Little Maumelle River: The water level is receding and the surface temperature ranges from 65 to 70. The water visibility and clarity is low. Bream are biting well on crickets and worms. Crappie are biting fairly well on shiners and black/chartreuse 1/8-ounce crappie jigs. Bass are biting fairly well on small chartreuse/white spinnerbaits and small Texas-rigged creature baits. Catfish are biting well on night crawlers.
Palarm Creek: Bream fishing is good on crickets and redworms. Crappie are fair on pink minnows.
Murray Lock and Dam: Crappie are biting well on red or chartreuse jigs and minnows with a slip-cork rig. Catfishing is good snagging or bait fishing. Stripers are biting well on large silk chartreuse twister tails. White bass are fair on CC spoons.
Pickthorne Lake: Bream are good in shallow water on wax worms and crickets. Crappie are fair on slip-cork rigs. Bass are biting well on spinnerbaits early and late. Catfish are fair on nightcrawlers and chicken hearts.
Terry Lock and Dam: Catfish are the best thing going on large minnows.
Clear Lake: The water is stained and high. Bream are biting well on crickets in 4 to 6 feet of water around the banks. Crappie are fair on pink minnows. Black bass are biting well on spinnerbaits and black jigs around logs.
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NORTH ARKANSAS:
White River: The water has been so high most anglers have avoided it all together. A few have fished the upper White with some success, particularly the Catch-and-Release section below Bull Shoals dam.
Bull Shoals Lake: As of Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake's elevation at 693.62 feet MSL.
Lake Norfork: Crappie are biting well on the banks on minnows. Stripers are being caught in 25 to 30 feet of water on flukes and Stump Jumpers. A few catfish have been caught on jugs with minnows.
Norfork Tailwater: Large, brightly colored San Juan worms (red, hot pink, cerise and fire orange have all been productive) and brightly colored egg patterns. One tactic that helped produce fish was the use of a dropper in the sections of the Norfork that were not designated Catch-and-Release. A small nymph can be attached to the bend of the hook of the San Juan worm by a 24-inch tippet with a couple of simple improved clinch knots. A good nymph to use for this technique would be the copper john. Our most reliable mayfly hatch of the year is the sulphur.
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NORTHWEST ARKANSAS:
Beaver Lake: Bass have been biting well on spinnerbaits fished along the points and in the flooded timber. Sight-fishing is at its best in the Indian Creek arm and in the back of the Cliftys. Crappie fishing is the same, slow and tough. Try a minnow under a cork in the flooded timber around 2 to 6 feet deep in the White River and War Eagle arms. White bass action has slowed and the fish have moved back to the main lake. Stripers are scattered and the bite is slow. Fishing live shad around Point 12 has produced well. Catfishing is excellent across the lake.
Lake Fayetteville: Crappie are scattered and are being caught on minnows. Bass are biting well on spinnerbaits and crankbaits.
Lake Sequoyah: The water is clearing up and at normal level. Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs. Bass are fair on minnows.
Sugarloaf Lake: All species are slow.
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NORTHEAST ARKANSAS:
Lake Charles: Bream are biting well on jigs. Crappie are biting fairly well on minnows, and crappie candy. Catfish are biting on minnows. No report on bass.
Crown Lake: Bream are biting well on red worms and crickets. Crappie fishing is good on minnows and small jigs. Bass are biting well on small spinnerbaits and plastic worms.
Lake Frierson: The water is high. All species are slow.
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SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS:
Lake Chicot: Bream fishing is good on crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows and silver jigs. Catfish are being caught on soap.
Grand Lake: All species are slow.
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SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
Millwood Lake: The water clarity is improving away from the current. There is still much debris coming down the river. along the river and main lake, is beginning to improve. Most bass are still pre-spawn in the lake. Jigs, 10-12-inch worms, magnum lizards large Rat-L-Traps and magnum tubes continue working well on the bass. Overall the bass bite continues improving. Fish are slowly recovering with lake level reaching closer to normal pool.
Cossatot River: Bream are biting fairly well on worms and crickets in 3 to 4 feet of water. Smallmouth bass are biting fairly well on green pumpkin finesse worms and crawdad-colored Crain baits around cover in deeper pools around 4 to 5 feet deep. Largemouth bass are slow, but a few have been taken on dark-colored finesse worms and grubs fished slowly through deep cover.
Lake Columbia: Bream are the best thing going, with worms and crickets producing the best results.
Lake Erling: Bream are biting well on worms and crickets. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are being caught on liver and nightcrawlers.
White Oak Lake: Bream are biting well on crickets. Crappie are slow, but a few have been caught on live minnows and jigs. Bass are fair on surface poppers. Catfish are biting well on live and artificial baits hung from jugs.
Lake Greeson: Bream fishing is fair on crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows and small jigs. Bass fishing is very good in shallow water on topwater lures and plastic worms. Catfishing is good on trotlines and jugs with stinkbait or large minnows.
DeGray Lake: Black bass are being seen paired up in the shallows. Bream is starting to move in, with some starting to hit crickets, but they're still on the small side. The catfish are starting to come in a big way from the bank to 15 feet of water, including a 37-pound flathead caught on a noodle. The hybrids are breaking more now than they have in the last three years; they are coming up and staying longer while schooling the shad. The water temperature is 62 degrees, down 5 degrees from last week, but warming in the shallows. Clarity is dingy from the high water but clearing slowly.
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WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS:
Lake Dardanelle: Bass are good in shallow water on top-water lures. Catfish are biting well on shad.
Blue Mountain Lake: Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs. Bass are fair on lures. Catfish are being caught on worms and chicken liver.
Ozark Pool: Bream are fair in the creeks on nightcrawlers and crickets. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Black bass are fair on spinnerbaits. Catfish are being caught below the dam on cut bait, nightcrawlers and minnows.
Lake Ouachita: Walleye are excellent. Many big walleye are being caught on spinnerbaits, jigs and jerkbaits over the grass. Bass are biting very well with larger fish coming on crankbaits and a jig. Bass are on the points and creek turns. Stripers are improving, but are still spotty.
Lake Catherine: Despite almost two months of storms and statewide flooding, the rainbow trout population is alive and well below the dam. The trout are healthy and feeding heavily on the threadfin shad schools that are migrating towards the dam. Fly-fishermen are catching limits of trout on streamers and micro jigs in white or grey with the best results during periods of generation. Boaters are landing trout in the 2- to 3-pound range by trolling the channels with small crankbaits that run 4 to 6 feet deep.
Lake Hamilton: Carolina rigs and crankbaits are working well on flats near brush and stumps. Some walleye are being caught on jerkbaits.
Lake Hinkle: Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs. Bass are also hitting minnows. Catfishing is very good on worms, shiners and liver.
Lake Atkins: Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfishing is good on shad and large minnows.
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EAST ARKANSAS:
Arkansas River (Pine Bluff): Bream are biting well on redworms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on minnows and jigs. Bass are fair on top-water lures and lizards. Catfishing is good on shad, liver and nightcrawlers.
White River: Bream fishing is good on worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well around stumps on minnows and small jigs. Bass fishing is good on shiners.
Bear Creek Lake: Bream are the best thing going on worms and crickets.
Horseshoe Lake: Bream fishing is good on redworms and crickets around lily pads. Crappie are biting well in shallow water on minnows and jigs. Bass are fair on spinnerbaits. Catfishing is good on stink bait.