Are you Fishing this weekend in Arkansas?

[Arkie55]

OK guys and gals, lets hear who is fishing this weekend and where. I know someone is going and I'm sure someone will catch some fish. We really need to get this Arkansas section pumped up. There are several Arkies here but for some reason (me included) we don't post a lot of information. I know we fish places other than the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers so lets hear about some of them.:)

[TOPS]

You nailed it on the head, Arkansas members will not even give a roll call any more. I cant under stand it. Arkies used to be very active here. Oh well, to each his own!!:confused: :confused:

[CharlieD]

I can't fish for a couple more weeks so I would love to hear some fish stories and find out if and where they're biting.

[Lngbo]

Well folks I have been fishin but they ain't been bitin. I ahve fished the St. Francis and Mississippi last weekend. I hve fished Horseshoe, Island 40 and Mound City Chute. All I have done is relaxed and burnt up gas and killed bait.

But

Plan on tryin again this weekend, maybe Sunday

[TOPS]

Charlie,Buster, thanks for the replies. I have not been out in about 3 weeks, I do not have a truck to pull my boat and must rely on some one to pull the boat.

[boliver]

i went below l&d 13 both fri and sat no cat only drum they weren't running any water. i saw they were catching skipjack so went today and caught 9 large skips in about 30 minutes caught them on pink and chartruese crappie jigs. thsy weighed up to 2lb 2 oz. i have never used skipies for bait how do you cut them and whar portions do you use. thanks

[TOPS]

Most of us just cut the skips cross wise. Use all the skip even the head. I have seen some good blues caught from the head. I have seen some people cut them in fillets but I do not like to use mine in that way. The gut pocket has always produced good bites/catches for me.

[boliver]

thanks i tried one today no luck but below the dam was very crowded i tried the head but it was very large i then filleted one in thin strips i got some nibbles but it was probably drum couldn't fish but a couple of hrs. did catch 15 skippies in about 30 minutes.

[Arkie55]

Like Tops says, cut the skippie across the body. I cut mine about 3/4 of an inch wide like catfish stakes. Then I split the stake at the back bone to make two baits from one stake. Then just hook the bait in one corner leaving the hook exposed. The only part of a skippie I don't use is the tail. To be honest, I can't tell one portion is any better than the next. I just know they catch more fish for me than any other bait.

[Big Sam]

:) Went out to the Ar. river this weekend. The water temp dropped to 59 on the surface of the channel, the shallows were 60 starting off the day. Had to earn the fish this weekend....caught my limit...the cold front pushed em' back out in the channel...we need a BIG Warm rain:)

[BigDuck]

I went turkey hunting up around Hardy this weekend, my family has a place over on the spring river . I ordered some Danny Kings punch bait and it made it last thursday so I figured I'd try it on the river while we were up there anyway. Well the turkey weren't cooperating and neither were the catfish! Oh well, there is always next weekend :)

[squirtspop]

Hey Big Duck, next time you decide to come to Hardy, send me a pm a day or so before you come and we can get together and drown something. I have access to that big strip of water in the Spring River bout a mile or so before you get into Hardy. Can't put in the bass boat there but could fish off the bank. Also know some good trout spots up river.

[SeedTick]

Hey Guys, I didn't fish for cats but me and the wife went over to Lake Conway this afternoon and caught some nice bluegills and 3 redears, we brought home 20 all together. It was a lot of fun and will make a good supper tomorrow night.

Do you guys think I could catch some skips below the dam at Toadsuck? I think I'm plumb out.

ST



:0a18:

[kbgrillin]

I went saturday to craighead forest lake and caught my first cat of the season, 5lb. albino cat. It's going to be a good year.

[jtrew]

SeedTick, if you and your wife like fishing for hand sized bream, there's a spot down at Wilbur Mills you ought to try. As you are going into the second campground, where we always have our gatherings, there's an old oxbow off to the right. Lots of trees and such in the water. I saw 2 people come out with enough bream in one day's fishing to make about 8#-10# of fillets. They caught them on crickets.

[boliver]

i'm sure you can catch skippies below toad suck, i told my boy about catching them up here and he went to toadsuck sunday ans there were so many people fishing below the dam he couldn't get in and went to lake conway crappie fishing he said most were rigged for skips but only saw them catching a few small cat on their rigs. lol

[BigDuck]

Thanks for the invite Chuck! I'll be sure and look you up next time to see if our schedules will match up. :thumbsup:

[jtrew]

I went by Murray L&D this afternoon to see if anybody was catching anything. Three guys were leaving without having done any good; they said some other guys that left earlier hadn't had any luck either. The cut that's so productive for skippies when the water is right is only accessable by boat now, because of the construction going on. Also, the water isn't right to attract the skippies there.

[squirtspop]

Don't look like I'll be doing any fishing this weekend. I just dropped of the boat seats for a re-upholster job. Hail storm wrecked em good. Should be ready by the following weekend tho.

The upholsterer lives in Walnut Ridge and he said some friends of his (there was 16 of em) went to Millwood and brought back over 90 crappies that would go a pound to a pound and a half.

[SeedTick]

Hey Guys, I didn't fish for cats but me and the wife went over to Lake Conway this afternoon and caught some nice bluegills and 3 redears, we brought home 20 all together. It was a lot of fun and will make a good supper tomorrow night.

Do you guys think I could catch some skips below the dam at Toadsuck? I think I'm plumb out.

ST




:0a18:


I am so full of them fresh bluegills I can't hardly breathe. Man they were good. And to think they are just bait for some folks.

ST

[SeedTick]

SeedTick, if you and your wife like fishing for hand sized bream, there's a spot down at Wilbur Mills you ought to try. As you are going into the second campground, where we always have our gatherings, there's an old oxbow off to the right. Lots of trees and such in the water. I saw 2 people come out with enough bream in one day's fishing to make about 8#-10# of fillets. They caught them on crickets.


Boy they are sure fun to catch. I'm expecting any day now for the redears to bed up hear on Lake Conway. When the males first move into the shallow water you can wear them out. They seem to be later this year than they normally are. They generally spawn here about the same time as the crappie and the crappie fisherman said yesterday that the crappie are starting now.

ST


edit: oh yeah, I may run over to Toadsuck tomorrow and check out the skips.

[I_try]

Been to toad suck quite a few times in the last month, not worth going on a weekend. literally over 30 people fishing from the bank and a good deal of boats patrolling the waters, but in the middle of the day of a weekday its good.

[Smellycat]

Well, I`m not going out this weekend, but plan to go to Tablerock thursday.

[SeedTick]

Me and my sister went to Lake Conway today and got back into the bream. We got on the water about 10:00 and they bit good till about noon and then they shut down. If the wind ain't blowing they will slow way down like that while the sun is high and start back up in a couple of hours. We kept 43 and left around 2:00 so we didn't do too bad. Sure was fun.

ST



:0a23:

[Smellycat]

SeedTick, you stockin up on bait or you plan to eat them bream?

[Lngbo]

Took my sister and braved the wind at Midway yesterday. She cought a very nice 5 pound channel before I had to get out due to the waves. The wind was doing some serious whitecapping. It was her first time fishing this year and a nice first fish of the year.

[SeedTick]

SeedTick, you stockin up on bait or you plan to eat them bream?


We are eatin 'em. My sister has a couple of grandsons that can sure go through them bream fillets. I've got some small ones and some heads in the freezer for bait. I even got me a blender and made some bream smoothies. You got to go slow on them smoothies though, I burned up that brand new blender. But the scraps from cleaning makes good chum.

ST

[SeedTick]

Buster, that wind has been rough a few days this week. Where or what is Midway? I've never heard of it.

ST

[Lngbo]

Midway is one of the river chutes off the Mississippi River, it is behind Hughes Arkansas. Is a very nice area to fish. I have four or five of these close to the house. Most get stocked when the Mississippi is up.

[SeedTick]

Wow, that sounds like a honey hole. Thanks.

ST

[SeedTick]

I bet ole Top is fishing. Ain't seen much of him in a couple of days.

ST

[CharlieD]

Went down below the dam (Ozark-Jetta-Taylor) Saturday. Didn't get there till about 10:30. Found shad in the shallows along the bank. Got nine eaters. Biggest- about 5 Lbs. The wife outfished me again.

[TOPS]

Greg, I have not been fishing in about a month. My fishing partner is remodeling his home. I must rely on him and his truck to pull my boat. I had to sell my truck when I got hurt on the job.

[SeedTick]

Top, you get ready to fishing give me a hollar. I bet we can get together. The bream are starting to bed up on Lake Conway and they need catching.

ST

[Big Sam]

:) Went to the Ar. river this weekend by Ft. Smith....caught several nice fish..they were only biting punch bait..they would not hit shad.

[TOPS]

Sam, sure are glad to hear that you are catching something, I really need to go. It has been about a month sense I have gone.:crying: :crying:

[Little Mac]

Top, Im almost done with moving and I hope to be able to go fishin this comin Saturday, Dont hold me too it But its lookin hopeful Providing the weather isnt bad. How about we launch out of Piney and hit the river runnin... :) later Mac

[squirtspop]

Upholstery shop called last night. My "new" seats are ready to be picked up. That means I'm gonna have to clean up the boat so it'll look good with those seats. But lookout the next few days. Gonna have to go and put em to use to see how they feel. Good luck fishin.

[Arkie55]

Squirtspop,
Is that Glencoe your from up near Lake Norfork? I thought I read where the shop you took your seat to is in or near Walnut Ridge. Where do you usually fish? Shoot me a PM sometime. I live close to Lake Charles State Park and Black River. We might just be able to hook up of a trip.

[jtrew]

Chuck, you mean you didn't get the new upholstery pattern of blood, slime, and pieces of various fish baits?

[squirtspop]

Dang, didn't know it came out in those patterns or I would have ordered it instead.

Got the seats, polished and waxed the boat, installed the new seats, loaded the tackle box and poles. Got up this morning and it's pouring down rain. Can't complain to much as we did need the rain. If it keeps up I'll head up to Mammoth Spring this evening bout dark and pick up loads of night crawlers.

[BigDuck]

Chuck, where at Mammoth do you find the night crawlers? If you don't mind tellin :)

[squirtspop]

Got a cousin that lives right there in Mammoth and he tells me that after a rain and during it, you can go down to the visitor's center right there at the spring and pick em by the bucket fulls. Haven't tried it myself but as it's raining today, might just give em whirl tonight.

[SeedTick]

Hey Guys, Me and Sis got into the gills again yesterday. It was 2:30 before we got on the water because of the rain and they didn't start bitting good until almost 5. We brought home 47 with only 1 redear. I sure hope we can find them good redears before too long.

ST

[SeedTick]

We didn't do quite as good yesterday as we did last Thursday. We only brought home 27. One redear and the rest were bluegills. They don't look like they have even started spawning yet, this is a weird spring. It was a beautiful day though. I'm ready for some of this pollen to go away my allergies problems have been terrible this past week.

ST

[Arkie55]

Seedtick,
Man you are wearing those bream out!!!!! 27 keepers is not a bad day!! From what reports I here up here, the bream are not bedding yet and the crappie are finished. I agree, it's been a very weird spring. Heard an ole timmer say yesterday that we are in blackberry winter right now and once it warms back up into the 80's we won't see any more cool days. Anyway, that's what he said.

[LarryE]

yep it's definitely Blackberry Winter.. cats really don't bite at all around here during the Blackberry Spell..

It's rainy and in the 40's here today in East Ky