BEAVER LAKE
Stripers are biting at the break of day.
James Whittle at Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers said striped bass are hitting top-water lures at first light on the north end of the lake. Anglers are getting on the lake an hour before daylight to be ready for prime time. Fish as deep as 60 feet after sunrise with brood minnows or shad. Some anglers are trolling for stripers with deep-diving crank baits and using lead-core line to get the lures down deep.
Black bass are biting best on jig and pigs along rocky points and shorelines. Some top-water activity is reported at first light.
Crappie fishing is slow. Fish 25 to 30 feet deep with minnows or jigs.
Troll nightcrawler harnesses for walleye 30 feet deep.
BEAVER TAILWATER
Lisa Mullins at Beaver Dam Store said fly fishing for trout is good. Try midges, scuds, soft hackles and woolly buggers. Good woolly bugger colors are black, brown and olive.
Wade-fishing is best in the morning. Power generation is usually from noon to midnight.
The top lures are small jigs and small red and gold spoons. Bait fishermen should use Power Bait in bright colors tipped with a waxworm. Nightcrawlers are another good choice.
LAKE FAYETTEVILLE
David Powell at the lake office said plastic worms are the best lures for black bass. Best fishing is early along the dam.
Crappie can be caught by trolling jigs or minnows eight feet deep. Use liver for catfish.
LAKE SEQUOYAH
Mike Carver at the lake office said bluegill and redear fishing is good with crickets or worms. Catfish are biting fair on stink bait or nightcrawlers. The catching is slow for black bass and crappie.
SWEPCO LAKE
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs recommends using plastic worms for black bass 2 to 20 feet deep.
SILOAM SPRINGS LAKE
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass with medium-diving crank baits or plastic worms.
ILLINOIS RIVER
Fishing is good for black bass with tube baits, grubs, buzz baits and spinner baits, Stroud said.
BELLA VISTA
Chip Wiseman at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista said catfish are biting well at all Bella Vista lakes. The best baits are small sunfish, liver and nightcrawlers.
Try small top-water lures at first light for black bass. Wade-fishing for smallmouth bass is good in Little Sugar Creek with small Rebel crawdad crank baits and Ned rigs. Trout can be caught 25 feet deep at Lake Brittany.
ELK RIVER, BIG SUGAR CREEK
Drew Daniel at Big Elk Camp said good numbers of smallmouth and largemouth bass have been caught with bone-colored Pop-R top-water lure and Baby Rage craws in watermelon red or green pumpkin colors. Tube baits and 4-inch plastic worms are also working.
EASTERN OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports fair fishing for catfish with cut bait below Lake Keystone dam. Trout fishing is slow on the lower Illinois River.
TABLE ROCK LAKE
Focused Fishing guide service said the best bass fishing continues to be on the upstream portion of the lake. Summertime tactics that have been working the past several weeks are still effective.
Top-water lures are working from first light to sunrise. Later, try jig and pigs or drop-shot rigs along 45-degree rocky banks 2 to 15 feet deep. A drop-shot rig fished over treetops may work.
Sports on 09/17/2019