Ouachita results on Friday...

Surprise, not a crappie. Not a surprise to me, deep clear lake equals no crappie. I did find somebodies boo-buckets in about 15-25 fow that should have held crappie, alas they didn't. I found a few other places with deeper brush that didn't have crappie. Now I marked some fish on the graph but I think those were spots. I don't usually keep the green carp but I like fish and outa that deep water those lil spots eat pretty good too, managed 4 of those lil critters so the day wasn't a bust.
Good news is we are moving, Yippie, no more of the deep, clear water, dead seas!!! Wife has to finish her clinical's over in edge of OK so I won't be far from Millwood and I can't wait. Seems to be a lot of spots on these lakes but trouble is 75% of them dudes are under 2LBS if you want line stretchers or tournament fish. So sad, such large pretty lakes but pitiful crappie numbers! I plan on setting brush on Gillham and Dequeen lakes once we move. Once again feel lucky if you live near good crappie waters, that isn't the case everywhere.

i have caught a lot of crappie out of ouachita from late february thur april in ceder creek and around the girl scout camp !!!! it just take's time to learn the big deep clear lake's . they all produce good numbers of crappie once you can figure them out you can catch fish consistely .some times you might have to change your technique to catch them but there for the taking !!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto what Jerry said. I too have caught my share from Ouachita but mainly in the spring then I switched over to fish for that lakes big blue gills thru August.


Jigaholic Prostaff
B an M PST
Hi-Tek rod holders
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Lowrance HDS 8 an 10

Well it's a bit disheartening to hear people say all you gotta do is find the brush and from my past experience depth and brush are all you need in lakes with good numbers of crappie to catch them. Now some days you may only catch a handful but even when they aren't biting you still catch a few. I've not caught squat off these lakes. I don't just fish in the Spring of the year. crappie are a cold water fish that will bit well in colder water, I've had to break ice before but still caught crappie so the fact that it's only a Spring bite that will catch them is BS I think we can all agree on as well. I'm seeing guys out on the lake saying they can't find fish either so I know it's not just me.
As I pulled in to the ramp at days end I guy asked me if I caught them. I was like well I didn't' but the fishing report said they are biting....He was like well you can't always go by that, they like to sell minnows and gas too ya know. I was like yeah! I still stand beside the fact that the numbers are low, nowhere near where they should be.

I know for a fact you can catch crappie year round but I struggle on that lake after the spawn. I did ok prespawn and spawn though. Some I think was due to my love for the gill fishing there. That lake has some huge gills and redears.


Jigaholic Prostaff
B an M PST
Hi-Tek rod holders
Xpress Crappie Edition
Lowrance HDS 8 an 10

For me, it is best to go where the fish are biting best for that moment/season. Conway in the fall and winter, Dardanelle in the winter and spring, Brewer from spring to Fall, and I will probably be spending some time on Nimrod from June-September next year. Do the fish leave the lake during those off months? No, but why stay and fight for them when they are better somewhere else? Most lakes have a peak time/season and knowing when to move on is what most good fishermen have in common. I learned this the hard way after battling Conway's Cypress trees all summer with few results. I'm not saying that they cannot be caught there in the summer, it is just much more difficult than now through spring. I will still fish Conway in the summer though because I love the lake and the challenge just keeps calling me back!

Most lakes have fish to be caught. You just gotta figure out how.

X2 ON WHAT CMJ SAID!! have truck & boat will travel !!

Well said cmj. Most lakes i have fished have peak times and then dwindle. IMO it is mother natures way of keeping the lakes producing for the future. My lakes here are still dead with very few fish to be had. If you fished them now you probably would say there arent any fish in them lol.


Jigaholic Prostaff
B an M PST
Hi-Tek rod holders
Xpress Crappie Edition
Lowrance HDS 8 an 10

I like fishing the deeper clearer lakes. I fish Greers, Norfork and Ouachita every year. Ouachita was a real booger to learn. Finding the brush didn't mean finding the fish. The fishing reports said 15 to 25 deep on brush but reality was 20-30 feet deep suspended over humps. Took a few days but I figured it out.

On the plus side, I did manage to pick up several walleye while looking for the crappie! That's always good.

You can do well on Millwood, just watch the locals.

Well I've been down there before, never main lake but in the river. I also have a buddy that's done pretty good down there and I know a guy who commercial nets the river and know's it really well. It can be tricky to navigate certain water situations but I'm really tired of these deep, open lakes over here and will welcome the change. Yall can have these lakes, I don't see how a guy wouldn't starve to death fishing over here! He would if it weren't for other fish, small bass, trout, ect. Old saying goes something like this: You can believe about 20% of what you hear and about 80% of what you see or experience 1st hand. That being said I've caught fish down there before myself. I had a buddy once that loved to catch and take pictures of big bass then say he caught them out of the lake only to find out he caught them out of a farm pond (private). Kinda goes back to the old 80/20 rule. I trust I know how to catch fish and my experience says they are few in numbers over here around the HS area.