Will Be Down After Easter

[Bill Jr.]

I'm planning a trip down the weekend of April 13-15th. i'm taking a buddy down and wanted to know if anyone thinks that the whites will still be back in the creeks.. Just trying to plan on what we should be fishing for. With the wacky warm weather I'm not sure... Any insight would be great. In the past I've gone down around 4/26 and killed the bass on shore in the scrub brush but it seems like this year is at least 2 weeks earlier.

[Bill Jr.]

BTW whe i said "Bass" on 4/26 i wasn't talking about Whites... Just trying to prepare for the trip and wondering if i should even try to target the Whites or i should go after the Greens and Browns. Will be around the Shoal Creeek area

[Fishin Hodge]

Will try to keep you updated Bill. There is a lot changing right now best I can tell. Will know a little more after this weekend I hope, but the changes over the next couple weeks should be dramatic.

[Bill Jr.]

Thanks for any help Hodge. Hopefully we will escape some of the worst rain this week with Bull only going up a few feet but i've see this scenario before. With all the rain in Ark that will fall Bull will likely be in a "holding" pattern and not letting out a lot of water. Hope you did well this weekend.

[Fishin Hodge]

Bill,

The wwekend was a tough one. Fished Saturday and had just over 10 pounds in my best 5. 6 keepers on the day with a handful of short fish. Fished a small tournament and took 12 pounds to win. Big fish was right at 6 pounds. All reports are good one day tough the next that I have heard. Fished from big creek to diamond city. The best banks were pea gravel to slightly bigger rock half way back in the pockets whether the pockets were on the main lake or the creeks. My better fish were on carolina rigged lizrds, but I did catch a couple on the a-rig. Actually caught 1 on a spook too. Very little crankbait bite. Water 56 to 62. Will try to keep you updated between now and then, should improve.

[Bill Jr.]

Hodge

Thanks for the report. Hope the rain is not too bad. I can handle up to 10-15 ft. high but after that it is a pain. Thanks for keeping me updated if you get out on the water.

[Bill Jr.]

Hodge

Have you been back to Bull lately? I was hoping they would hold back some of the water but they look to be bringing it down to normal pool... I think it is supposed to be at 654 by Sunday when we are leaving but looks to be earlier with the rate of the fall. I'll be in the Shoal Creek area and will put out a report once i get back. We will target bass but we also want to get some meat so I'll be breaking in the brush i sunk back in December as well as targeting whites in the back end of the creek. I've had some just killer trips mid to late April and just hope this rapid drawdown hasn't put them into a funk.

[Fishin Hodge]

I went over the weekend for a few hours Saturday morning. All reports have been fish in and just outside the brush on the banks, so I hit a lot of those spots, but didn't catch much. The falling water is pushing them out just a little deeper I think. I did pull out on some main lake bluff banks and started throwing a Norman Deep Little N, firetiger and had some luck. Fish on just about all the bluffs I pulled up on on that crankbait. Figured that out about 11 and had to leave at noon. Ended up catching a good white bass, a 23 or 24 inch walleye, a 3 1/4 black, and a bunch of short fish in that hour before I had to load it up. I think that bite may be pretty strong, but with the draw down going on and possibly coming to a hault in the next couple of days it might all change again. Best advice would be keep an open mind because those things could be doing just about anything and fish are in all stages of the spawn. The fish I caught Saturday were spawned out. There could be a topwater bluff end bite anytime with those post spawn fish. Hope you do well, let us know.

[Fishin Hodge]

Hey Bill,

Keep your ears open for turkeys. Would love to know if you hear some and their whereabouts. PM me if you get some good info.

Thanks

Aaron

[Bill Jr.]

Aaron

thanks for the info. I'll be running around on Friday trying to find some sort of pattern but you are right that with them pulling back on the release of water who knows what they will do. Kind of surprised that your fish were already spawned out. I think there will be several waves and a longer spawn this year with such the warm start.

As for the turkeys, I'm staying at my inlaws and they are usually in their yard lol. I'll keep a watch and let you know