New to the Board

[Marcd]

Welcome from White County


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[CrappieDave]

Spartec... What kind of boat did you settle on???

A little info on Lake Conway...and places to go.

Lake Conway is a very dangerous Lake for someone that has never run in it and if you do not know where and how to navigate the marked boat lanes. The markers are metal poles with reflectors at the top of most of them. Note Some poles have fallen through the years. But goods navigation is running between them. The Arkansas Game and Fish have maps as you probably know. I would suggest you try to find a friend or someone with experience on this Lake before you venture out Running around. The north end of the Lake has Gold Creek and you can launch at that landing of the same name off 365. Fishing up in the creek channel is a safe bet dodging stumps and the Lake Shad have moved into this area of creek for the winter....so all the Crappie have followed them. Not a lot of running around here so Trolling is the ticket. At the launch, Dano, the owner... can give you a report and tips of whats happening there. He has bait and tackle too.

Another good Crappie water in the LR area is Little and Big Maumelle creeks. They are relatively safe navigation up the middle part of these creeks. There are many Tree laydowns that hold good numbers of crappie along the banks and good boat launches to access.

[humblerev1]

nice congrats and welcome

[Spartec]

Some great info there, thanks!

I got me a Tracker Pro 160 with a 40 4s. I almost went with the base 20HP because I was gonna primarily fish Conway and Barnett, but realized that wasn't gonna cut it for those times I want to head out to Lake Ouachita or Dardanelle.

I met Dan and have rented his boats on occasion. Have you seen the sign-in sheet for his boat rentals? LOL It's like a high school yearbook with all the signatures. I ventured out into the main lake once with my son on one of his jon boats, and noticed that even in the channels, there were some stumps just below the surface. When I do go there with my own boat, I'll prolly just go back up the west side of Gold Creek with the trollin motor. I saw another YT vid of some guys catching crappie in the residential area where that creek ends just past the bridge. I guess that's where most folks go when they venture all the way down.

[CrappieDave]

Yup...that's "the pool" as its been dubbed. 8 to 10 F.O.W. sunken trees abound in the pool. Fishing the pads up and dn the creek is good. Many folks have been going there for years. There are more specialized technics to fishing Gold Creek when using Jigs. Dan can tell you the details of the better anglers when you launchanged next time. I strictly fish with jigs. I have a base color that works everywhere. It's a medium pearl green body with chartreuse tail. Dan has them now... get them.

[Spartec]

...Another good Crappie water in the LR area is Little and Big Maumelle creeks. They are relatively safe navigation up the middle part of these creeks. There are many Tree laydowns that hold good numbers of crappie along the banks and good boat launches to access.

Hadn't considered the creeks on the Maumelle River. I may actually hit this one up first the next chance I get. It looks more sheltered and less wind factor than on the open lake. The creek that shoots NW up off of I-430 looks like a great place, too. Not sure about the public ramp near the Two Rivers Park bridge, though. I know that gets a lot of foot traffic and would probably be more congested. Looking at Google Earth actually shows a bunch of donuts in the boat ramp parking lot.

Have you fished both areas and do you have a preference? Thanks, bud!

[CrappieDave]

Hadn't considered the creeks on the Maumelle River. I may actually hit this one up first the next chance I get. It looks more sheltered and less wind factor than on the open lake. The creek that shoots NW up off of I-430 looks like a great place, too. Not sure about the public ramp near the Two Rivers Park bridge, though. I know that gets a lot of foot traffic and would probably be more congested. Looking at Google Earth actually shows a bunch of donuts in the boat ramp parking lot.

Have you fished both areas and do you have a preference? Thanks, bud!

I fish these creeks a lot. I like Big Maumelle the most. It is the more northern creek. I put in at the visitor center launch. There is a small fishin pier, a large Pavilion and a very nice brand new park bathroom. From that ramp... fish up river. Word of warning... there is and old Farmers dam that went across creek back in the day. It was blown open...but very shallow through there with rocks. It's up river about a mile or less. You can run through but go slow and raise motor way up. Way up this creek it splits. Very shollow gravel bars lead into this split. Hard to get up there but can be rewarding in spring. Lots of cypress trees, banks, logs, and tree top blow downs. If you go down river...it's wider and deeper. Closer to the main river is the big marina with big house boats. On past that in main river is Maumelle Park where everyone camps. Right before you get down to marina.....you will see many tree blow downs along the left bank going down river.

Little Maumelle is the ramp below 430. This can be a good creek too. You can start fishing from ramp up creek on both sides. Has same structure mentioned above. A ways up this creek also has a smaller marina. Slow through there per signs. Good crappie past that around standing cypress. As you go way up be warned may stumps and trees. The water also get clearer.

Of course there are very good spots here and there on both creeksides with not so good areas. And heavy rains blow up everything. High water no go. My go to Jig is a medium green with red tip and chartreuse tail. 16 oz red head. So red head...red tip...green body...Chartreuse tail. This is an outstanding river / creek color.

There is tremendous bass fishing in these Waters too as many know. You can even find good Bream fishing along banks if you work hard in spring.

Hope this helps Sir...see map.

[Spartec]

Very detailed information there, sir. Much appreciated! I'm sure many know about what you described, but for new folks like me just starting out, this is good information to have. With the cold rain this weekend and possible snow next week, it may be awhile before I can head out. I get so after work each day and look forward to getting back on the water and just be at peace.

I appreciate 'ya!

[CrappiePro]

Welcome to the board.

[Mac Daddy]

Welcome from Batesville!