Beaver Lake

It’s crappie crazy at Beaver Lake, reports James Whittle at Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers.

Crappie are biting well from the headwaters to the dam on minnows or any type of crappie jig. A minnow-jig combination is the best of both worlds. A good jig color is black or red with a chartreuse tail.

Fish one to 10 feet deep around bushes and any wood cover. The clearer the water, the deeper the crappie may dwell. Crappie must be 10 inches long to keep at Beaver Lake. The daily limit is 15 per angler.

For black bass, try spinner baits or square-billed crank baits. Flipping a jig and pig around bushes may bring some bites.

Striped bass are prowling the lake between Prairie Creek and Rocky Branch park. Use shad or brood minnows.

Mike Whitehouse at Hickory Creek Marina said crappie fishing is good with minnows or jigs. Catfish are biting sunfish fished on jug lines.

Beaver tailwater

Lisa Mullins at Beaver Dam Store said rainbow trout were stocked recently. Fly fishermen report catching good numbers of fish with nymphs, midges and micro jigs.

Small spoons are the top lures. Red-gold or gold-silver are good colors. Power Bait in bright colors is always effective for trout, Mullins said.

Lake Fayetteville

Loretta Tanner at the lake office said crappie are biting well on minnows. Black bass fishing is good with plastic worms.

Lake Sequoyah

Mike McBride at the lake bait shop said crappie are scattered. They’re biting one to 10 feet deep on minnows or jigs.

Black bass fishing is good with spinner baits or plastic worms. Bluegill are moving into shallow water and biting worms or small jigs. Use liver or sunfish to catch catfish.

Lake Atalanta

Black bass are biting black plastic worms, Whittle said.

Bella Vista

Taylor Surly at Hook, Line and Sinker in Bella Vista said black bass are biting at all Bella Vista lakes on all styles of soft plastic lures. Top-water lures are working at sunrise and sunset.

Bluegill fishing is best at lakes Avalon or Windsor. Use worms eight to 15 feet deep.

Swepco Lake

Kenny Stroud in Siloam Springs said black bass are biting all types of soft plastic lures. The largest bass are being caught at night.

Siloam Springs Lake

Stroud recommends using minnows or jigs six feet deep for crappie.

Eastern Oklahoma

Black bass at Lake Eucha are biting plastic worms, jig and pigs or square-billed crank baits, Stroud said.

Table Rock Lake

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports good crappie fishing in the James River arm with minnows or white jigs 10 feet deep in coves.

Black bass fishing is fair lake wide on swim baits, jerk baits or Ned rigs 10 to 20 feet deep along points.

Sports on 05/08/2018