Beaver Lake
Try the Beaver Dam area for big striped bass.
Jon Conklin, fishing guide, said some big stripers have been caught near the dam on brood minnows or live shad.
Walleye are scattered around the lake. Try 25 to 35 feet deep with a nightcrawler rig behind a bottom bouncer weight. Minnows fished on a drop-shot rig may work. A jig and minnow is worth a try.
Crappie are in shallow water or suspended. Try trolling crank baits in creek channels or work jigs near shallow cover. All types of catfish baits are working. Use live bait to target flatheads. Go with liver, nightcrawlers or stink bait for channel catfish. Average surface water temperature is around 80 degrees.
Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville reports bluegill fishing is fair with crickets or worms. Channel catfish are biting fair on jug lines baited with liver or worms. Try for black bass at night with spinner baits, plastic worms or jig and pigs.
Beaver tailwater
Beaver Dam Store recommends fishing for trout with Power Bait in bright colors, nightcrawlers or worms. Small jigs and small crank baits are good lures to try.
Go with scuds, midges or woolly buggers for fly fishing.
Electricity generation at Beaver Dam usually starts around 2 p.m., creating good wade-fishing conditions much of the day.
Lake Fayetteville
David Powell at the lake office said bluegill fishing is good with crickets or worms. Black bass are biting plastic worms worked around rocks. Some small crappie are biting, but the fishing is slow.
Lake Sequoyah
Angler Mike McBride said catfish are biting a variety of baits including liver, stink bait, nightcrawlers and hot dog chunks. Try for black bass early with top-water lures. Crappie are starting to bite around brush 15 to 20 feet deep.
Bella Vista
Nick Gann at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista said black bass are moving shallow and biting plastic worms at all Bella Vista lakes. Bluegill are biting worms or crickets. Try liver or nightcrawlers for catfish.
Please note that fishing in Bella Vista is open only to POA members and their guests.
Swepco Lake
Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs recommends fishing for black bass with any soft-plastic lure such as plastic worms or lizards. Try top-water lures at dawn and dusk.
Illinois River
Stroud said black bass are biting an array of lures including 4-inch plastic lizards, tube baits, grubs, one-quarter-ounce spinner baits and square-billed crank baits.
Eastern Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports largemouth bass fishing is fair at Grand Lake with Alabama rigs and plastic worms around bush, rocks and docks. Crappie are biting fair on hair jigs or minnows around brush and docks. Blue catfish are biting liver, cut bait or shrimp.
Lake Tenkiller black bass are biting fair on plastic worms, spinner baits and top-water lures around brush, rocks and along points. White bass are biting fair on Alabama rigs and crank baits. Try for crappie with minnows or tube jigs.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing Guide service reports good black bass fishing early with top-water lures cast very close to shore along ledge-rock banks. Later in the day, use a plastic worm on a drop-shot rig 25 to 35 feet deep along gravel points, rock piles and above tree tops.
-- Compiled by Flip Putthoff