Fishing this week

LITTLE ROCK — HOT SPOTS1. LAKE ATKINS Crappie are finally starting to move into the coves. They are being caught on minnows, rosy red minnows and jigs. Bass have picked up after a few slow weeks. Catfish are being caught in deep water using minnows and cut bait. Bream are also deep and are being caught on small jigs and worms. White bass are being caught in coves where the shad are schooling.

1. LAKE CONWAY Crappie fishing is

excellent using pink minnows and pearl Crappie Stingers in Gold Creek and Caney Creek. Crappie also are biting well at night on yo-yos baited with minnows. Bass fishing is fair using white/silver spinnerbaits fished around lily pads. Bream are being caught on redworms and crickets, and catfishing is fair using night crawlers, cut bait and

trotline minnows.

1. LAKE DARDANELLE Largemouth bass are biting best on Rat-L-Traps and plastic worms. White bass are still biting,but they are starting to thin out to make room for the bigger crappie. Anglers have been catching bigger crappie lately. Jig color preferences have been anything with sparkle or silver in it.

Crappie minnow fishermen have been fishing 4-6 feet deep and

have been catching bigger fish at the end of tree tops. Catfish have been biting best on shad.

1. LAKE NORFORK Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing

has been outstanding, and it should only improve as the water temperature drops into the 60s. Bluegill fishing also has been fantastic. Crickets have

been working the best, but cut night crawlers threaded on the hook will work as well. Stripers are showing up all over the lake but the bite is a little slow.

Crappie are moving into the creeks after large schools of shad in the mornings.Trolling with Bandit crankbaits 8-12 feet deep has worked well.

1. SPRING RIVER Trout fishing has been excellent early in the mornings but slows in the afternoons. New varieties of caddis and mayfly emergers are working well, and Y2K Bugs are working extremely well at times. Brown trout and cutthroats are hitting well just after dawn.