ouachita

[barehook]

I was wondering if anyone had fished here lately. We make an annual trip around the end of April, and have done fairly well in the past. We launch at Mt. Harbor and have done well in the forks but I'm afraid with the lake up around 10' over normal I might be a bit lost. Any help would be appreciated.

[Jerry Blake]

They are pulling around 9,000 cubic feet per SECOND out of Ouachita around the clock and expect to do so for at least two more weeks - longer if we get any significant rainfall. I haven't heard any good reports from there and have heard a couple dismal ones. It will straighten out when the water stops falling but the will be a little while.

We're catching some decent rainbow trout and a few walleye in all that fresh water coming out of the dam and I'll be glad to tell you how and where if you want to give it a try.

[DRPEPPER]

When the lake is high, look for them to be deeper than you would think. I have found the fish really relate to the grass in Ouachita. With the lake being 10' to 12' high, the normal bank is going to be out in relative water (10 to 12 ft deep). I would fish out from the banks in about 15' water looking for beds. I haven't made my usual spring trip there this year so, I really couldn't give a pattern. If you can find some clear water, I always love to cast roostertails this time of year on up into June. No telling what you will catch.
DP

[barehook]

Well, I talked to the guy we rent the houseboat from, he said we might have some trouble finding bank to park the boat. This lake has always been a challenge to me but this opens a whole other can of worms. I may be taking some frozen fish for the fish fry this year.

[Woohdog]

I hope to try out there this weekend sometime. I'll let you know if I do any good.

[Woohdog]

Okay, I got to fish yesterday and this morning. Fishing was tough. The water's still 4 or 5 feet above normal, I think, but I heard the Corp is dropping it 3-4" per day, so it should be about normal by the time you get here. The water temp is perfect for spawning right now. We were in 60-65oF water all over the place, but we found very few fish up shallow. Most of the fish we marked were still staging about 3 ft off the bottom in about 16 ft of water. We couldn't decide why they wouldn't bite, but it could've been a/the full moon, b/high pressure, c/high, dropping water, d/it's been cold overnight lately. All of the above? I don't know. It was a beautiful weekend, tho, and it's supposed to be warm all week. Maybe next weekend they'll be on. Or maybe after the water level stabilizes!

[barehook]

Thanks for the report. Was the water clear? Did you use any live bait on those deep fish? I've had decent luck tight lining minnows for fish in similar situations. We are going down on Thursday. Looks like it might rain, again, but we're going to give it a try.

[Shot]

I found a few crappie, about 20 , in 16 feet of water.The moss came up to about 8 feet. Slow rolled lemon morange twister tail grubs right on top of the moss.Hope this helps. Good Luck

[Woohdog]

Thanks for the report. Was the water clear? Did you use any live bait on those deep fish? I've had decent luck tight lining minnows for fish in similar situations. We are going down on Thursday. Looks like it might rain, again, but we're going to give it a try.

The water's stained still. Nope, we didn't try minnows, but that might work for ya. Best of luck, barehook!

[barehook]

It was an interesting weekend, the fishing was tough. I did manage to catch enough to feed the ten people, but it took some time. I tried all of the usual Ouachita colors with no luck. All of the fish I caught were on pink heads with black/chartreuse grubs fished as slow as you could reel. Thanks again for all of the help