Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report & Lake Conditions
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Current Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 - Hey - Not much new here on anything. The fishing is still awesome and the lake conditions havent changed. Nothing has really changed on the fishing either. I would expect things to change as soon as the water temperature starts to warm up. I will keep you posted. Till next time!

Fishing Patterns: Updated April 25th -

BASS
Some bass have spawned and some haven't. We are seeing eggs in some of them being cleaned. They are being caught from the surface to 20 feet deep. I believe there is a thermocline forming in the 15 to 18 foot range. I know this is early but the water temp has been warmer then normal. The patterns below are in no order. Cloudy-windy days the fish seem to be shallower. Bright sunny non windy days the fish seem to be deeper.

   - Top water has started.

   - Split shot a 4-7 inch trick worm or other plastics in 0 to 15 feet of water. 

   - Square billed or flat billed crank baits. bluegill colored

   - Carolina rigging is producing fish. The lizard, french fry worm, 4 inch worm are just a few baits being    
      used.

    - Retrieving a spoon slowly from the bank is catching fish.

    - Jig with a soft plastic attached is catching fish in 5 - 15 feet of water.

    - Stick baits 

    - Soft plastic baits in 5 to 20 feet of water. Try a variety or different baits and mix it up. Tube jigs, gitzits,
      4 inch finesse worms, 5-7 inch plastic worms, french fry worms, lizards, brush hogs etc. Green
      pumpkin, cotton candy, brownish seem to be the best colors.

  -Spinner baits are producing lots of fish on windy banks. 

   - Minnow fishing with a split shot or jig and minnow is producing all species of fish, bass, walleye,
     crappie, white bass etc.

Walleye
Most of the walleye are done spawning but I have had a report or two of eggs in some. The late afternoon/night fishing is still good. The usual pattern is working the best - a stick bait i.e.- X-rap, rogue, rebel, mega bass just to name a few. A stick bait is a 3-5 inch hard plastic bait that looks like a minnow. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Everybody has there own version of what's the best. I have seen at least a dozen different baits catch fish. I would experiment and switch things up until you find what works. The day fishing is also good- see below.

- Bottom bouncing in 15 to 20 feet of water.

- Throw a bluegill/perch crank bait in shallow water.

- Split shot a night crawler and drift fish with in in 15 to 20 feet of water

- Retrieve a spoon from the bank very slow

- Night fishing- slow retrieval on a green grub and spinner is catching fish.

White Bass
I believe the white bass are done spawning. We haven't had many big stringers come in lately. Not like March. We are seeing a few here and there. I would think trolling would start to catch them. It is also about time for the night fishing under lights to produce some white bass. Jigging spoons in shallow water might also produce some.

Crappie
1. Small jigs and minnows around the brush piles in 10 to 20 feet of water.

Catfish
The catfish are still very deep and will be for a few more weeks. The water temp will have to warm up more before they will come shallow.

White River:
NOTHING EVER CHANGES ON THE RIVER EXCEPT THE WATER LEVEL! THE FISHING IS ALWAYS GREAT! This question gets asked a lot. "When is the best time to fish the river?"  The answer is anytime. The water comes out of the bottom of the lake therefore it is always very cold. It doesn't have the temperature cycle of a normal body of water. It doesn't matter if its 100 degrees out or 10 degrees out. The water temperature stays the same within a few degrees, Therefore, the fishing is always the same and always good. Arkansas stocks the White River with rainbow trout year around so the fishing is good year around. The water level doesn't matter either, you just have to change how you fish. If the water is high then you usually drift and float fish, if its low then you anchor and still fish. Naturally, fly fishing is better when the river is low. SO, COME FISHING WHENEVER YOU CAN!

The river fishing has been great! Check out the 2012 picture page for photos of some big ones caught over the last couple of weeks. Nothing new on the patterns. --- Worms, night crawlers, power baits, salmon eggs, Count down Rapalas, spoons, rooster tails, jigs and just about any other type of trout bait or pattern you have heard of.

Come visit our expanded bait and Tackle department and good luck and good fishing to you all.

Good luck and good fishing, and please come and see us at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock for all your fishing needs…Thank you!    

FISHING INFORMATION

Photos Of Recent Bull Shoals Lake & White River Fish Catches
See what Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock customers caught on Bull Shoals Lake and the White River

Helpful Links

Road Condition Information For Arkansas
1.  http://www.arkansashighways.com/roads/roads.aspx
Web site detailing any road closings due to flooding or construction.

2. http://twitter.com/#!/AHTD
Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department on Twitter. Shows current road closing status.

3. Phone 501-569-2374 for a recording of Arkansas road closures

Surrounding States - Flooded & Closed Road Information
Links for Arkansas & surrounding State highway and road condition information and maps.

Local Weather & Lake Level Information

Bull Shoals Lake/White River Generation Levels
This shows both Bull Shoals Lake level and White River Level. "Elevation" shows the lake level as feet above mean sea level (ft-msl). "Tailwater" shows the river level as feet above mean sea level (ft-msl). "Release" is shown as cubic feet per second (cfs). Electrical "Generation" is shown as megawatt hours (mwh).

Projected Lake Levels
This simple text table shows what the Corps believes lake levels will be a few days into the future. Useful to fishermen and boaters who are familiar with area lake levels.

Daily Lake Projections
A table showing the current lake levels compared to past years. Also shows the lake level each morning, how full each lake is, the 24 hour change in level, and the average daily water releases in cubic feet per second (cfs). "SEAS/CONS POOL" stands for Seasonal Conservation Pool, which is a fancy term for normal. Looking at this table shows, for any given day, whether lake levels are above or below normal, and by how much. Finally it shows just how much water storage capacity is left within the entire water storage system.