NE Arkansas

[winghunting]

Has anybody been fishing in NE Arkansas??? Also, what are some good places to fish in NE Ark? Thanks fellas

[ceb]

I recently moved from Jonesboro. Up there, I liked to fish Shirey Bay and some of the little lakes in the Sunken Lands. I did fish Lake Hogue but never really liked it. CEB -

[winghunting]

In the sunken lands, did you have to catch the river just right to do good on them? What does the river need to be to be "ideal". Where would you put in mostly? Thanks

[luv2fish]

Hi winghunting. I just got back from my duck club just S. of Truman on the St. Francis sunken lands. Since we can only hunt until noon now, on nice days ( and there were alot of those this year) I crappie fish. Didn't tear them up but caught 8-10 decent fish in a couple of hours each time using jigs. You can put in at the Oak Donnic access, that's where my club is, take the channel out to the river. From there I usually just start fishing and make my way north. I just jig the cypress trees. If they are not biting on one side try the other side of the river and you should pick one up here and there. Also people are putting out a lot of cane so you should have plenty of places to fish. Just be careful until you learn your way around.

[crapman]

Hey winghunter, If you check the profile it says NE Ohio, but I just moved from Walnut Ridge. We would typically hit Lake Charles. No Lie man, my buddy and I hit it late april/early early may, and consecutive casts pull out TONS of fish. Believe it or not, we stopped counting after 107, it got TOO hard to count. This was over a 2 hour time span, bout 4-5 in the evening. Hit it shallow with bl/chartruse jigs, if not use metallic blue, depending on water color. But watch out for those snakes, water mocs and copperheads. That same trip we snagged a 4ft water snake, thank god it wasnt poisonous. Not alot of size to them at that point, however it was early season and it was last year, so safe to assume that the size increased.

[crapman]

And before I forget, dont waste your time at Portia bay. The only thing good in there is bullhead and gar. We would fish that cause it was close, but it was really unsucessful. Someone planted a bunch of structure (wooden posts) about 1/4 mile down the bay and more past that. Rumor has it that mid summer you can tag a bunch, however we wouldnt waste our time because we had our honey hole down south. :D

[ceb]

From what I've seen and heard, the crappie population in Lake Charles is out of balance. It is very hard to get a crappie that measures up to the limit. However, in a year or two, it should be good fishing.

Wing -

I only fished the Sunken Lands a few times, so I don't know too much about it. I'm an oxbow veteran, so it was more my style of fishing as opposed to the reservior types in the area. The few times I went, we put in somewhere around Lepanto (I can't remember exactly where it is). I also wanted to try Big Lake, but never got a chance. You might also consider Lake Poinsett and some of the oxbows around West Memphis (Isl 40; Midway; Horseshoe; Wappanoca; Mound City; Dacus). Hope it helps some. CEB -

[winghunting]

I appreciate it fellas.....I have actually bass fished Poinsett and did good, but I have never really crappie fished it. I have heard that the St. Francis can be good fishing, but I have never been over there. I have also heard that you can catch alot on Lake Charles, but not much size to them. The only reason I am asking, is because I have never really crappie fished up here. Most of my crappie fishing takes place on alot of the oxbow lakes off of the white, and lake Ouachita. I am just trying to find me a good place to fish up here so I dont have to drive so far. Thanks

[Darryl Morris]

Hey there Wing. This is a link to a page on my website that has two custom maps I made for Charles and Poinsett. http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/otherlakes.htm The Charles map is merely the outline of the stump fields. The one for Poinsett is actual submerged stumps and brushpiles. Both lakes are good for crappie using jigs or minnows. A couple of years ago Charles put on a length limit and stocked the lake with truckloads of 4-5" crappie. Some of them should be getting close to 10" if they've gotten enough to eat.

Frierson is a good lake for bass. Some say there are crappie in it but I've never caught one out of it. Big Lake and Mallard are good for the crappie and bass. The state record bass came out of Mallard. Hogue, south of Jonesboro, is good for crappie, tillapia, and bass. The last time I was there the boat ramp there is muddy gravel okay for small boats. Of course, to the west, Norfork is about 2.5 hours and then to the east you've go Reelfoot about 1.5 hours away. Yes, there is the St. Francis River, but that place scares me. There are places on that river that have never seen the whites of man's eyes.

Good luck and if you're ever in the Hot Springs area, give me a shout.

[fishingpox]

Where exactly do you live winghunting?

Has anybody been fishing in NE Arkansas??? Also, what are some good places to fish in NE Ark? Thanks fellas