The lakes in the White River watershed have been rising due to recent rains. Water levels have been fairly consistent at between 2,000 and 10,000 cfs, during most of each day over the last week and fishing is good. Water clarity at Cotter and upstream is back to normal (clear to excellent) after a few days of dinginess from creek runoff. It’s taking a little longer to improve downriver due to Crooked Creek and Buffalo River drainage.
The brown bite has switched back and forth between sculpins and minnows — keep both on hand if possible. You’ll still catch some great browns with shad a little further upriver. Our best bait was a 4½-inch Violet Cream Smithwick (white with a soft yellow back), but the spoons were producing really well, too. The Thomas Buoyant red/gold hammered quarter-ounce spoon was a winner. Crawdad season is starting; we’re finding a good supply in ponds and smaller tributaries. Trout love crawdads, but if you can’t get your hands on real ones, shrimp is a close imitator, and the Rebel WeeCrawfish (Stream Crawfish color or the chartreuse/green back) works great, too.
Rainbows have been moving toward sunrise and orange PowerBait, and combining that with shrimp or crawdad tail has been an excellent way to reel in some great-sized fish.
Expect increased generation from Bull Shoals Dam in the coming weeks. Deeper water means more drift fishing, no wading opportunities — but the trout love lots of fresh, cold water and they are feisty and healthy when they get it. Stop in on your way to the river.”
Calico Rock area
Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “The heavy rains last week caused flooding through the weekend. At Calico Rock the White River crested at 28 feet. By Monday afternoon the river was back in the banks. Through Wednesday we have seen very muddy water with signs the water is starting to clear up. Hopefully by the weekend the river will be clear and we can get back to fishing.”
Allison/Mountain View area
(updated 4-3-2025) Jack’s White River Fishing Resort reports they had a great week of fishing with several trips out on the water. The water level fluctuated between 2-5 feet, but despite that, “we were able to hit our limits each time. The guides had success using Sunrise Orange PowerBait, handmade hammered silver spinners, and shrimp as bait. Most of the fishing took place just past the Highway 9 bridge by Hansford Bluff near Round Bottom.
An AGFC staffer took in a guided trip with a friend and a Jack’s guide, Braden, the week before last and had a lot of success with rainbows, mostly catching them up to 6 miles or so north of the resort and drifting downstream rapidly with a pretty strong current. The AGFC had stocked the river with rainbows at Mount Olive and at the Sylamore Access several days earlier, and the stockers were hungry. Best success was by spin-fishing with inline spinners, eggs (like X Factor or something similar) and pieces of shrimp. Make sure to use only about a third of a whole shrimp; anything more is too much for the trout to swallow. We caught some more mature rainbows as well as the stockers, too.
