Millwood Trip Planning - Need area informaiton please.

I'm starting to plan a family fishing trip over spring break. We are thinking about giving Millwood a try March 20-25 or so. Seems like there might be a good chance that they will be in the shallow water then.
I've read over posts about the lake and have a few questions that I could use your help with.
I haven't called the Corps project office yet but plan to on Monday to find out what help they might be.
My wife read something about alligators there. Are they a problem?
I love to wade around in the shallows and doodlesock. Is that an option at Millwood or do we need to plan to just fish out of the boat?
We looked at the state park campground but then noticed that it looks like there is more standing timber on the north end away from the dam. Is this right?
We are looking at Paraloma and Cottonshed campgrounds. Good idea? Bad idea? ....comments or ideas welcomed.

Cottonshed (very good camp ground ,2 ramps, fish cleaning station, long ways out to store or bait), Yarborough (cabin like lodging, good ramp, store, bait, restaurant, not all that far from the State Park (Millwood State Park is very nice, they have a good marina and well supplied bait store, great employees and sponsor a friendly crappie tournament every year)),(most bass tournaments launch from Yarborough) the Dam and tailrace or Ashdown/Texarkanna for other like Spousal activities. Jacks Isle, all the areas mentioned have shallow water with river close by, lots of cypress, close to some old oxbow lakes. Yes there are Gators, some very large (12' & 13' plus), I have a friend that frog gigs by wading, he has not encountered the death roll yet, (yet). There are signs at the landings warning about Gators and advising not to wade. I have had to exit the boat a time or two to get it off stumps, fortunately I still have all my limbs. Combineing the use of a boat to get to good wade areas might be advisable. Stump filled lake but with a good map and a couple days of manuvering you can get around fine. You might like to know that on Millwood they have increased the amount of blue cat you can keep because there seem to be so many. that is an excellent time for trotlining, limblining, jug fishing or yo yo'ing at night to add to your take. Oh, be sure to bring some good (100% deet) bug spray for those B-52 sized mo-skitters. Beautiful area, lots of water birds and water snakes. You will enjoy. Good luck.

The gators are scaring the wife. The kids like the idea of seeing them. I'm alright with them if they stay in the water and me in the boat. We will leave the waders at home for sure!
If I just have to wade I'll go to Eufaule........ no gators there.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate your time.

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket was down there last June and this is the only size that I saw...about 4 footers......hope the picture opens...

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Originally Posted by Doodlesock

The gators are scaring the wife. The kids like the idea of seeing them. I'm alright with them if they stay in the water and me in the boat. We will leave the waders at home for sure!
If I just have to wade I'll go to Eufaule........ no gators there.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate your time.

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Gotta support Arkansas. Eufaula is in Oklahoma, you don't want to have to buy their license and all.

I may be misrepresenting the "amount"of gators present in Millwood. You probably would not even see one without looking for them. In March the water and air temp is still fairly cool so they are not super active. They inhabit the backwaters and less traveled areas, they are not crazy about people and most of the time will sink down and swim away when approached. I see them generally in the old oxbows like Mud Lake, Huricane and McGuire, though there are some along Little River close to White Cliffs. Beards Lake below the Dam at Millwood has lots of em.

A different lake that is real nice has good crappie fishing, good camp grounds and no gators that I know of is Dierks Lake. Millwood would be a nice day trip from there.
Dierks Lake has a 12" slot on bass but has a real good population of < 12" which can be a lot of fun for kids. It has a good shad population so there can be a lot of surface feeding action at times.

Lake Greeson is another beautiful lake, stay at Daisy State Park, hire a guide like Darryll Morris or Jerry Blake(Family Fishing.com) for a day of great crappie fishing, on a off day go visit the Crater of Diamonds State Park, go down below Narrows Dam and catch trout, or run over to the Cossatot River State Park. Oh, did I mention, no gators.

Actually you could easily fish a different lake every day while staying at Daisy on Lake Greeson, Lakes Degray, Millwood, Dierks, Gilham and Ouachita are just short drives away.

Decisions, decisions, good luck.

here is one for the kids this was down from white cliffs area i fish there a lot never been any trouble with gators i like to see them alsoAttachment 54891

The gators are a part of the plan to rid the water system of trash fish and turtles and other rotten stuff, plus early pioneers almost wiped out the gators when they colonized the America,s.
The gator is cute, but believe me there is gators much much bigger than the cute one. The biggest ones I have seen was in McQuire and Snake Creek. Game and Fish told me there is no Gators in Arkansas over 12ft. and I said beg your pardon--they just do not know. I spend a lot of time in the backwaters and I like to see them also.
I am going to start taking my cell phone / camera with me, it is nice to film the outdoors.

I live there just about every weekend and I would strongly advise you NOT to wade. I lost a lab about 7 years ago at the ramp at Yarborough Landing to a 14 foot gator. Had there been the kids there that were swimming just an hour earlier, it would have been really bad. Loosing my lab was terrible thing to watch. On most nights from middle of April until last of May, I can almost gaurantee showing someone at a minimum 50 gators with a spotlight. Lots of little ones but I know wher two over 16 feet are right now basking in the sun. Saw them last weekend all day long. The water will be up 2 feet above normal during your timeframe and those mega-lizards will be roaming the shallows in search of (waders) among other things. The fishing will be tremedous for every species, skeeters are big enough to stand flat footed and make love to a turkey, and the snakew will be clinging to every limb on every tree. Navigation will be easier but still trecherous due to floating logs, and submerged stumps. Crappie and cats will be in 3 foot or less of water and under the cypress trees, around large stumps etc.

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Originally Posted by Millwood Lip Ripper

I lost a lab about 7 years ago at the ramp at Yarborough Landing to a 14 foot gator.

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I was already convinced that I wasn't going to wade but still curious. Was your dog in the water at the ramp or just right by the water?

Anyone know for sure if there is water and elelcricity at White Cliffs. I've read that there is and that there isn't.

Gators will come out of the water for a dog. Some say they can run about 35 MPH for a short distance. I have not seen any attacks nor have I been in any danger but I have moved my boat when one starts toward my boat.
I am not hanging another to find out what will happen.

I,m not going to wade to fish, but dont let the gators keep you away from Millwood. We are going to be at the State Park that same week. There will be a slew of kids there, including my own. The State Park is a nice place to camp. I also like Cottonshed, but I have a small boat and on that side of the lake a little wind will make it rough. There is some really good places to put out lines there though. Ive never camped at White Cliffs but the campground is nice. Not to awful far from some good fishing.

Each to his own--Myself I prefer to camp at White Cliff---it is a smaller area and may not be as nice as the other areas but a lot more private and not too many camp sites.
White Cliff is right on the river, I mean only a few feet away and there is areas to tie up your boat out of the current.
Minnow had it correct--you are in the middle of the best fishing--not to far from the oxbow lakes or Yarbough / Jacks Isle-----I use the river to move around.
I would like to say in my opinion campers go to the main camp ground to camp and hang out---some will have boats and pittle around---Fishermen will go to White Cliff.
There is a wind issue at Cottonshed and the main camp site. The wind comes right at you across the lake or it is big open water to cross to the fishing areas.

My dog was at the ramp at Yarborough, actually in the water. I was working him on retrieves during the summer to keep him in shape. He was swimming toward the trainer deke when the dang gator pulled him under. We all saw the gator so we knew what happened. About a year and a half later, the corps of engineers finally decided to put up the watch out for gator sign. The reason they stay around that ramp is it has a long concrete pier that fishermen think is the optimal place to dump fish heads. If they would quit doing that the gators would go somewhere else.

I have never seen a gator on the main lake (open water) but have seen sevral around the state park, golf cource slough, and everywhere up river and all the oxbow's. Cottonshed, OK Landing, Saratoga landing, Paraloma landing all have plenty of them too.

To all who replied, thanks for the help. Still haven't got all the details worked out but getting closer.