September striper fishing is hot

Bobby Graves of Mount Ida, left, and Matt Sutton of Alexander show off a pair of hard-fighting stripers caught in Lake Ouachita.
Bobby Graves of Mount Ida, left, and Matt Sutton of Alexander show off a pair of hard-fighting stripers caught in Lake Ouachita.

The water on Lake Ouachita was calm on that September morning, so my son Matt, my friend Bobby Graves and I had no difficulty seeing big schools of shad churning the surface in several locations. One fountain of baitfish gushed topside 50 yards to the starboard. The school of fish exploded in every direction like silvery shrapnel.

Something swirled beneath the baitfish, something large. Then more shad broke the surface to our left, and another school behind us. More swirls, more shad, and more and more.

The water now boiled, churning like a witches’ cauldron as thousands of baitfish fled predators unseen beneath the surface. Half an acre of water seemed to take on a life of its own.

Matt launched a big topwater plug. When it splashed down, he gave it a twitch, and the water exploded. He set the hook with an upward flip of his rod, and the first battle of the day began.

I launched my own attack, casting a bucktail jig toward the frothy water. My jig, too, was attacked as soon as it made contact. And from the bend in my 7-foot rod, I knew my opponent was sizable — or so it seemed.

Bobby had a fish on, too, and landed it before we could bring ours to the boat. He released the 12-pounder and quickly cast again. Once more, there was a powerful, almost instantaneous strike, and he was battling another bruiser.

Matt soon had his fish near enough to net. Bobby put his rod down, scooped up the thrashing striper, then removed Matt’s lure and released the fish. “Fire again!” he said. Matt did, and this time, we all saw the fish before it hit. A large dark fin sliced the water, running on a collision course with Matt’s lure. Matt twitched the bait and held on tightly as the fish smashed the lure.

I think my son was a bit startled at the unbridled energy of his quarry. The fish ran in broad arcs, peeling line against the drag. But soon it weakened, and Matt brought its 16-pound bulk over the transom. I landed mine soon after, a mere 8-pounder.

Over the next hour, we caught and released eight more striped bass apiece, all between 10 and 18 pounds. For Matt and me, this was the first taste of September striper fishing in Arkansas, and we were left breathless in the wake of the frenzied battle. Rarely have I enjoyed fishing that was more fun.

September is a great month to target Natural State striped bass, even for anglers who have rarely fished for these powerful linesides. As summer’s heat wanes, water temperatures begin cooling, and as surface layers reach more comfortable levels, gizzard and threadfin shad (the main food of striped bass throughout Arkansas) leave their deep, cold-water haunts and make brief forays to the surface. Stripers follow.

What lakes should you visit to get in on this great action? The following four rank among the state’s best.

Lake Ouachita

As the story at the beginning of this article shows, Lake Ouachita is one fine striper fishing hole. Some proclaim it the state’s best striper lake, and with good reason. This 40,000-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment produced three previous state records up to 48 pounds. Twenty-pounders

are common, and 30- to 50-pound fish are always a possibility.

Deep and crystal-clear, with plenty of baitfish, Ouachita is ideal for big stripers. One popular method for catching them, especially during midday, is fishing live gizzard shad around river channels and humps where stripers congregate to fill their bellies on baitfish. A good area is the old Ouachita River channel from near the dam to where the river is joined by the Little Blakely and Big Blakely creek channels. Pinpoint the shad schools on sonar, look for big boomerangs (stripers) around them, drop a bait down, and hang on.

For information on Lake Ouachita, visit www.lakeouachita.com. If you want a guide for your striper outing, I recommend David Cochran. Call him at (501) 844-7974 or (501) 760-5071, or visit www.davidcochranfishing.com.

Lake Greeson

Numerous stripers over 25 pounds are taken yearly in Lake Greeson. Some claim this 7,000-acre Corps of Engineers impoundment contains more stripers per acre than any lake in Arkansas.

In September, look for fish running the Little Missouri River with schools of white bass. Work shallow flats and rocky points in the lake’s upper end early and late in the day with topwaters and minnow-imitation crankbaits. Up in the day, try working drop-offs near points and flats with jigs, spoons or live baits such as shad.

Surface-feeding stripers frequently appear in the Chimney Rock area near dawn and dusk. Once again, minnow-imitation topwaters and crankbaits are the ticket to success.

Lake Greeson is near Kirby in west-central Arkansas. For additional information, visit www.lakegreeson.org. For striper guide service, call Greg Willingham at (501) 276-2318.

Lake Hamilton

Lake Hamilton, a 7,460-acre impoundment, borders the southern edge of Hot Springs in Garland County. This big body of water has the potential to produce some huge striped bass, a fact exemplified by two events that occurred in 1997. On March 21 of that year, Jim Robb of Fort Smith landed a 53-pound, 9-ounce Lake Hamilton striper. Four days later, Mike Grissom of Benton caught another Hamilton heavyweight weighing 53 pounds, 13 ounces.

Both fish were new state records at the time.

Robb’s record-breaker, caught on a gizzard shad, came from the east side of Big Goat Island in the White Oak Basin area, a location considered by local anglers to be one of Hamilton’s premier hot spots. Grissom’s monster striper was caught on a live shad, too, just south of Big Goat Island. Grissom caught a 42-pounder the same day.

Hamilton continues churning out good numbers of big stripers every year. It’s a tough lake to fish, with lots of fishing pressure and scads of recreational traffic. Nevertheless, if it’s a trophy fish you’re after, your chances are much better here than on most other striper waters in the state.

For more information on Lake Hamilton, log on to www.arkansas.com/lakesrivers/lake-hamilton. John Hall with Trophy Striper Fishing offers guide service on the lake. Contact him at (501) 622-9972 or www.fishing-boating.com/trophy-striper.

Beaver Lake

Beaver Lake has given up several 40-pound-plus state-record stripers, the largest weighing

45 pounds, 12 ounces. Dozens of stripers over the 30-pound mark are caught each year, and several usually weigh more than 40 pounds.

These huge fish may be scattered all over the lake in September, but there are some areas and methods you can count on. One prime hot spot encompasses the huge flats near where the White River and War Eagle join in the upper portion of Beaver. The main river channel averages around 60 to 65 feet deep through this area, but is surrounded by flats that average from 10 to 30 feet in depth. Beaver’s late-summer stripers almost always can be found somewhere in this vicinity.

Other good striper-fishing areas are tributary mouths, including the mouths of War Eagle Creek, the White River, Ford’s Creek, Cedar Creek and Rambo Creek. Live shad is the bait favored by many anglers working these areas.

Beaver Lake is in Benton, Washington and Carroll counties, 5 miles east of Rogers. Visit www.beaverlake.com for more information. For guided fishing service, I recommend Brad Wiegmann’s Guide Service in Springdale. Call (479) 756-5279 or visit www.bradwiegmann.com.

Upcoming Events