GRANDPA TATER

My friend and I had what we consider a successful trip. We fished 7 hours on Tuesday, 7 hours on Wednesday, and 5 hours on Thursday before heading home. Tuesday was the most successful as we had 13 walleye - 7 keepers, and 16 very nice crappie. Wind was west and it was partly to mostly cloudy. The bite got better as the day went on. When we got on the water Wednesday morning the water temp had dropped 4 degrees. It was bright and sunny and the wind had switched to more NW. It was slow going early but we caught 11 walleye but only 3 keepers. The crappie were tougher as we only caught 7 but there were nice. Water temp was back up to 69 at the end. On Thursday we fished 7:30 to 12:30 and caught 6 walleye - 3 keepers and another 7 crappie including a dandy black crappie. Again sunny skies and light NW wind. All fish were caught while trolling. We fished on a variety of baits (Matt Glover cranks, Delta Crappie cranks and #7 Flicker shads) and had success on all of them. We caught fish on a variety of colors. The best Flicker shad was definitely a shiny firetiger. We never got onto a real "pattern" with the crappie - just one here and one there. Going back over a spot we caught fish, which was usually successful in the past, didn't seem to work this trip. The walleye were mostly related to secondary points in coves but we caught some others out in the open. We fished all reels with braid in both green and high vis yellow - it didn't seem to matter. With braid we only lost one bait the whole trip - of course it was a Glover that was catching fish! Tight lines to you all! Tater

Thanks top_dollar for the report. Of course when we'll be down there it sounds like when a pretty good cold front moves in. I hope that doesn't mess them up too much! With the wind forecast I'm glad we'll be in my buddy's Lund!

I'm checking in to see if anyone has a report for trolling crankbaits for crappie? My buddy and I will be down there next week for a few days and we like to troll. I'm hoping to get some hints (coves? main lake? 20 FOW? 30 FOW? etc.) to shorten our learning curve a bit. TIA Grandpa Tater

Dan I am coming down this week. Thanks for the information! I tried emailing a couple guides but was unsuccessful in booking anything. It looks like I'll just be hanging around Eureka Springs while the wife is in her conference.

Thanks RB!!

I've been out with Ed Callaway several times and plan to go with him again. He is an excellent teacher of multiple tactics. I highly recommend him.

Thanks QB!

Members 41 Members Posted just now I'm going to be headed to Eureka Springs with my wife in March. She is in a conference during the day so I'm going to have a vehicle and free time. I have never caught a true striped bass (I have caught hybrids as big as 11 pounds and white bass) and my understanding is Beaver Lake is a great place to catch a big one. Catching a big striper is a bucket list item for me. So I am looking for a recommendation for a striper guide who might be able to help me cross off that bucket list item. TIA for suggestions. Grandpa Tater

Members 41 Members Posted just now I'm going to be headed to Eureka Springs with my wife in March. She is in a conference during the day so I'm going to have a vehicle and free time. I have never caught a true striped bass (I have caught hybrids as big as 11 pounds and white bass) and my understanding is Beaver Lake is a great place to catch a big one. Catching a big striper is a bucket list item for me. So I am looking for a recommendation for a striper guide who might be able to help me cross off that bucket list item. TIA for suggestions. Grandpa Tater

I'm going to be headed to Eureka Springs with my wife in March. She is in a conference during the day so I'm going to have a vehicle and free time. I have never caught a true striped bass (I have caught hybrids as big as 11 pounds and white bass) and my understanding is Beaver Lake is a great place to catch a big one. Catching a big striper is a bucket list item for me. So I am looking for a recommendation for a striper guide who might be able to help me cross off that bucket list item. TIA for suggestions. Grandpa Tater

My buddy and I are heading down in a few days and plan on trolling cranks primarily hoping to catch crappie. I'm checking in to see if anyone has been pulling cranks for crappie recently and how it's been. I'm not looking for specific spots but any help on water depth, main lake or coves, etc. would be appreciated. I would expect them to be on secondary points towards the backs of coves recovering from the spawn but the weather has been so weird this year that I'm afraid that I'm off base. We will have bottom bouncing rigs and jigs to have a go at the walleye if we're successful on the crappie. It sounds like there isn't a definitive pattern set up yet and it's one here and one there. Any advice in that area is also appreciated. Tater

Thanks Xraydude! Some else had suggested Southwinds, so I'll be looking into it. Unless they've been updated, I was told the Orleans Trail cabins are not in the greatest condition. Anyone had any recent experience at the Orleans Trails cabins or those at State park?

Do yo9u have a name for them Dutch?

Owl Haven has been my go to place to stay when I am at Stockton. I went to make a reservation today and found out it is apparently closed? I saw another link that indicated it was for sale. So, I am looking for a different spot to stay and thought this would be a great place to ask. We liked the Owl Haven because we could get a two bedroom place, with a kitchen (we like to cook our own meals rather than going out) and it was at a reasonable price. We sure don't need fancy and don't spend a lot of time in the room anyway. We also like that at Owl Haven we could get something on the ground floor and it had a place to charge the batteries on the boat within sight of the room. It was also close to a launch site (Orleans Trail) but we're not locked into that part of the lake either. I heard that there was a place near Mutton Creek somewhat similar but can't seem to find it in a search. So fellow fishers of Stockton do you have any recommendations? Thanks in advance for any assistance. Tater

Thanks