Arkansas River status report

[Steve W]

I fished pretty hard last week end. We caught 5 fish (blues) 5lbs t0 10lbs
but it was slower than I expected. I fish between lock and dam #4 and #5.
It seems like we have better fishing after the water cools down and the shad get harder to find. I'm not convinced there is a shad "die off" like some people say. But I want to know how you guys are doing on other sections of the river. When it gets cold I can usually find a few shad in the creeks feeding into the river. Come back

[Big Sam]

We been tearing them up this way...from clarksville to kerr lake on the river:smile2: The shad are in the feedercreeks and backups....We been catching them on shad :smile2: skippies:crazy: and punch bait:cool2: in shallow water...backups....flats.......brush.........and deep too.

[trnsmsn]

It must be the time of year, I know I'm not in AR but I've been tearing them up on the punch bait myself here, last week I got a 20lber, 10lber & countless 4 &5's.

Saturday night was the only bad night & I think that was due to the fact of the barometric pressure having dropped for more than 24hrs.

We caught 21 in the same spot Fri.:wink:

[TOPS]

I got skunked today, Shep caught a channel about 2 pounds. The wind was tough but we fished on.

[boliver]

i also went today, there was four of us we caught 1 2 1/2 lb blue, no other bites i know of although it was hard to tell the way wind was blowing. used minnows, punch bait and skip jack.
boliver

[jtrew]

Steve, whether or not there's a shad die-off depends on how cold the water gets. Several years ago, right at the end of a really bad cold spell, I was down at Nimrod dam, and there were thousands of dead shad blown up against the dam. And maybe it's just the weaker ones that die off, because below Lake Ouachita, where the water's cold enough for trout, there are plenty of shad swimming around.

[rivercatsc]

Do any of you ever fish the post canal or all of those army core of engineer lakes around there. I have duck hunted this area and looks like it should be some wonderful catfishing.

[poisonpits]

went to wilimena lake in mena 3 weeks ago.dead shad floating every where.couldnt buy a bite.water temp.31 deg.johnnie

[boliver]

i went to river below l&d 13 about 2 weeks ago and had same thing dead shad everywhere on shore and more were dying in the water as i fished.
boliver

[poisonpits]

sorry fellows in my post above the water temp. was 39 deg. not 31

[Pastor E]

Sounds like you folks are haveing Fun