Beaver Lake
Fishing is unpredictable, reports guide Jon Conklin.
"Fishing is in an up and down pattern, just like this crazy weather" he said.
Try for striped bass in the Horseshoe Bend and Monte Ne areas. Anglers report catching several in the 20-pound range. Troll slowly with brood minnows or umbrella rigs, Conklin advised.
Crappie fishing is fair. Fish jigs or spider rigs around timber or in open water where there are shad. Black bass fishing is slow. Try Alabama rigs or jerk baits. Average surface water temperature is in the mid-40s.
Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville reports crappie are biting jigs or minnows equally well. Striped bass are biting brood minnows or shad in the midlake area. Try jerk baits, spinner baits or jig and pigs for black bass.
Beaver tailwater
Austin Kennedy, fishing guide, said trout are biting prepared trout baits such as Pautzke Fire Bait when the water is low. During power generation, switch to Pautzke Fire Worms in the higher water. Use them on a one-sixteenth-ounce jig head. Fishing has been good in the Spider Creek and Parker Bottms areas.
Power generation at Beaver Dam takes place mainly on cold mornings and evenings.
Lake Fayetteville
Angela Perea at the lake office recommends using plastic worms for black bass. Try minnows or jigs six feet deep to catch crappie.
Lake Sequoyah
Angler Mike McBride recommends fishing for crappie around the pilings of the old White River bridge or the one-lane bridge that crosses the lake. Use minnows or jigs two to 15 feet deep.
Bella Vista
Chip Wiseman at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista recommends fishing for black bass at any Bella Vista lake with crank baits, jerk baits or Alabama rigs. Trout at Lake Brittany are biting Power Bait or small spoons.
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 plastic worms on shaky-head or drop-shot rigs. Ned rigs may also work.
Eastern Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reports fair fishing at Grand Lake for crappie on hair jigs or tube jigs around brush, rocks or docks. Try for catfish with liver or stink bait on the main lake.
At Lake Tenkiller, black bass fishing is fair with crank baits, jerk baits or plastic worms around brush, rocks or docks. Crappie are biting well on hair jigs or minnows around brush or rock and gravel shorelines.
Table Rock Lake
Focused Fishing Guide Service recommends fishing for black bass with jerk baits or crank baits around timber or docks. Breeze improves the bite.
Deep fishing has been productive. Work jigging spoons or ice fishing jigs vertically 50 to 70 feet deep along main lake gravel points and banks where there are shad. Finding shad is key.
-- Compiled by Flip Putthoff