Beaver Lake
Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville reports fair crappie fishing with minnows or jigs 10 to 20 feet deep around brush. Bluegill are biting well on worms or crickets. Black bass are hitting spinner baits, jig and pigs or plastic worms.
All catfish methods are working, including limb lines, jug lines, trot lines or rod and reel. Use stink bait, liver or nightcrawlers to target channel catfish. Try small sunfish or brood minnows for flathead catfish. Striped bass and walleye are both biting brood minnows.
Guide Jon Conklin reports striped bass fishing is on and off depending on the day. It's necessary to move around and locate schools of shad with a depth finder and stripers may be nearby. Trolling with sunfish, brood minnows or shad may also work for stripers.
Trolling crank baits is a good way to catch crappie. A Bandit 300 is a popular crank bait for crappie. Best trolling speed is 1.75 mph. Bluegill fishing is good with worms or crickets. Catfish are biting well on all types of catfish bait, from stink bait to nightcrawlers to hot dog chunks. Try for black bass along points with plastic worms, spinner baits or jig and pigs.
Average surface water temperature is in the mid to high 80s.
Beaver tailwater
Austin Kennedy, fishing guide, reports trout fishing is good one day, slow the next. The best fishing is in deep water with Power Bait in various colors. Small spoons and countdown Rapalas are good to use.
Walleye can be caught downstream from the town of Beaver by trolling deep-diving crank baits or jigging minnows near the bottom.
Lake Fayetteville
David Powell at the lake office said black bass are biting well on plastic worms. Catfish are biting along the riprap of the dam on all types of catfish baits. Try for crappie with minnows or jigs. Work them from the bottom up until crappie are located.
Lake Sequoyah
Mike Carver at the lake bait shop said black bass are biting best early on top-water lures or spinner baits. Bluegill can be caught on all areas of the lake with worms. Try nightcrawlers or stink bait for channel catfish. Crappie fishing is slow.
Bella Vista
Chip Wiseman at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista recommends fishing for catfish with any type of catfish bait, such as nightcrawlers or liver. Try for bluegill with crickets or worms. Fish early for black bass with top-water lures at any Bella Vista lake.
Please note that fishing in Bella Vista is open only to POA members and their guests.
Swepco Lake
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs said black bass fishing is good with all types of soft plastic lures. Crank baits or soft plastic lures in a bluegill color, such as chartreuse and blue, may work. Swim baits are good to use.
Siloam Springs,
Crystal lakes
Stroud recommends fishing for black bass with plastic worms. Try top-water lures early or on cloudy days.
Illinois River
Stroud said black bass fishing is good with 4-inch plastic lizards or tube baits.
Eastern Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports good black bass fishing at Grand Lake with buzz baits, crank baits and top-water lures worked around brush and docks. Blue catfish are biting fair on liver or cut bait.
At Lake Tenkiller, black bass fishing is good with jig and pigs, plastic worms, spinner baits and top-water lures around brush and docks. Crappie are biting well on minnows, tube jigs and minnows around brush and docks.
Lake Eucha is good for largemouth bass on buzz baits, Alabama rigs, crank baits and top-water lures around docks, points and rocks. Crappie are biting fair on jigs around brush. Catfish are biting fair on liver or stink bait along flats and points.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing Guide service reports black bass can be caught early on top-water lures or jig and pigs along main-lake gravel points. Lures in colors that imitate bluegill are good to try in shallow water.
Plastic worms on a drop-shot rig are working for bass eight to 15 feet deep before sunrise and 20 to 40 feet deep after sunrise along main lake gravel points.
-- Compiled by Flip Putthoff