Black River Bays

Hey Guys, back in AR, the home country, for a week. Fishing tomorrw and Sat. My dad and I are really wanting to fish some of the bays off the black river that we use to fish all the time. Tucker Bay, Shirey Bay, or Horner Bay are the preference. Does anyone know if these bays are fishable right now? My dad is afraid they may all be flooded. Any updates would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Not 100% sure but most are still flooded. I know porshea was still flooded wens.

I fished Portia on Tuesday. The water is still out in the low spots but it is in the banks by a foot or more on the high banks. I put in at the front ramp with no problems. I was bass fishing so I can't give you an update on the crappie. Did catch one rock bass and a 2.5 bass on a buzz bait but it was a slow evening as far as bass went. A friend has fished Shirey and he gives a similar report on the water and the bass. Sorry, no crappie updates.

Haven't been to Tucker ever and Haven't been to Horner this year. I would suspect that Horner would be in a similar state to Portia and Shirey although the road to Horner might be in question. I don't know if it got washed out or not. I would probably want to try it without my boat trailer. Not a lot of turn around spots back there.

Good luck and post up if you do any good.

bet you're too late. A friend caught 62 nice ones there one day last week. I hit it like that one day and went back 2 days later and caught 3 or 4 little ones. Everything looked the same as 2 days before. they had just done their thing and moved on. bet you run into the same thing.

Anyone know or know of a resource that can help my dad and I know the order in which the bays off the Black River near Jonesboro flood and at what river levels? What location river guage should we watch? We fish Shirey, Horner, Robinson, Portia, Sunshine, Straight Lake, Tucker, etc. We know this info or use to know this info for fishing Maddox Bay and all the little lakes off of it back in the woods, but we have never figured it out for the Black River bays that we more frequently fish.

Also, I thought state law required farmers/land owners to allow access to these bays? Is that not the case? We haven't been able to get to Tucker Bay in years; there is always a cable across the two access points we know of. Any info on either of these questions would be much appreciated.

hey htr2133 you can not fish tucker bay at all sunshine can not be fished during duck season portia,shirey.and horner should be fine how do u get 2 straight lake i hear it is private

I don't think you can fish straight lake nomore,farmer wants everybody to stay off.

No such law,if the farmer owns or rents the ground around the oxbows they can block you out.Cann't fish wilson lake either which is north of Portia,alot of the oxbows are getting blocked off to the fisherman.

Swan pond is a pretty good little lake,its between Portia bay and Horner bay.The farmer doesn't let any and everybody fish it but want say anything if you ack like a human:D.Portia bay gets alot of pressure during the warmers months,cost 2 dallors to unload,just put your money in the box.Horner bay cost 5 dallors to unload,just put your money in the box.

Don't know what the river stage would be as to watch,check out the AG&F wed site it should tell ya.

Hey htr2133,
Im interested in fishing Maddox Bay but have never been there. Can you enlighten me to the preferred boat ramp, which direction to head after launching to get the best start, and any bait shops in the area.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
I have fished portia bay once, but it was when the weather was changing and the bite was off.

Thanks again
Tom

You can check the G & F website or the Black River websites for Black Rock. Flood stage there is 14 feet, but the river probably starts coming into the bays and lakes at a lower level. Right now it's under 5 feet, so it ought to be fishable.

Finally, Turtlebait is right. People who own the land have no obligation to open it up for access and every right to shut it off. Unfortunately, a lot of folks have caused a lot of problems for landowners and farmers who tend to respond by closing access.

thanks guys for the info and responses. We will try to find out when the water comes into those bays that are still accessible.

tommyboyrn, i will respond on your question about Maddox as soon as I get the info from my father; I am rusty on the names, directions, and distances since I haven't lived in AR in 10 years and only get to fish there about once a year now.

Thanks a bunch, and I do appreciate your efforts and time
Tom

hey htr2133
I appreciate any information, if you want you can send me a PM when it becomes available to you.
Thanks again
tom