Printable View
Heading down there friday morning! Was just wondering if anyone knows if the old store on the corner of hwy's 85 & 44 is still open? We camped there last year an it worked out ok for us considering. Also if anyone has any reports for down there lately...Thanks
Heard the cats are biting real good and crappie are fair
I was there last Thur and Fri and the store was closed. Fishing was terrible. We fished hard both days (until the storms got too rough on Friday afternoon) and had 6 keepers. Tried shallows, cypress in middle, North end, South end, jigs, minnows, yo-yo's, and even a little trolling open water. Hopefully you will have better luck.
Had a friend go down and fish last week and had 12 keepers by 2 that afternoon but he said the best fishing was on the west end of the lake
Brian P - Just to make sure! Now im talking abouth the store on west side of lake i call it the corner store (dont know correct name for). An older woman ran it last year and you could camp there if enough room. Just making sure we are talking about same spot. That may be only store around there. I do know theres a bait shop on north end, but dang that place was packed last year. Thank you for report.
that store is closed down
Roger that! What happened to the store if anyone knows?
Probably shut down due to lack of paying customers. I camped there sometimes also. You might try Rudy Mauldin just east of there where you said it was crowded. Not many people know this but there are soem places right on the bank that you can camp or about 5 miles south of Elaine at Melwood Old River there are cabins available.
Thanks Gut Shot! That was the report i needed......Good luck fishing my friend! Hope your coolerfull.........
No Problem coolerfull. I travel from Huntsville, AL regularly to fish there but I stay at the cabins at Maddox Bay about 25 to 30 minutes from the lake. If I can be of any assistance just let me know. I grew up in and fished that area all of my life.
I stayed at the cabins Gutshot referred to on Melwood lake. Not too bad of a drive, nice folks and decent accomodations.
I am curious to know what someone was calling the "West" end of the lake. It is a horse shoe with both "ends" on the East side. I fished the West side of the middle of the shoe pretty hard, with no luck.
Brian I believe that what most folks are calling the West end is the end closest to Helena, AR. That would be North if anything. The water normally gets warmer there about a week or 2 earlier than the rest of the lake. I have seen years that it was the opposite though.
Gut Shot you and Brian P are very close to figuring out what took me 3 years! The West side of any lake you fish right now will be worth the effort! Good luck! coolerfullllll
The northeast of most lakes will warm faster. Winds froms sweet are generally warmer.also protected from cooler northern winds.
Something to keep in mind about Old Town is that since the water is generally 4 to 5 feet everywhere with only a few exceptions where it may be 6 to 8 in small spots is that the water will warm (and cool) very rapidly. In my humble opinion that is why the fishing on Old Town can be absolutely great one day and absolutely terrible the next. Rarely is the fishing just so-so. It is either one extreme or the other.
Thats very true.