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| ABOUT THE FISHING IN OUR AREA |
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Lake Ouachita is famed for its fishing, known as the freshwater Striped Bass Capital of the World anglers come from all over the world. Known for their size and tackle busting runs Striped Bass up to 50+ pounds roam the lake. You will find some of the best Striper fishing on Lake Ouachita for numbers of fish caught. With Striper fishing trips good all year with the best times being December through May. Lake Ouachita is well-known for its prolific fishing opportunities, especially for Striped Bass and Largemouth Bass fishing. It consistently ranks in the top 10 nationally for largemouth bass fishing. Lake Ouachita also has an abundance of bass, bream, crappie, walleye, and catfish. Catfish are plentiful ranging in sizes from 2 to 100+ pounds. |
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The Striper body coloration is olive-green to blue-gray on the back with silvery to brassy sides and white on the belly. It is easily recognized by the seven or eight prominent black uninterrupted horizontal stripes along the sides. The stripes are often interrupted or broken and are usually absent on young fish of less than six inches. The striper is longer and sleeker and has a larger head than its close and similar looking relative, the white bass, which rarely exceeds three pounds. The species has been widely introduced in numerous lakes, rivers and impoundments throughout the world. Stripers prefer relatively clear water with a good supply of open-water baitfish. Their preferred water temperature range is 65 to 70 degrees.
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The Stripers are voracious feeders and consume any kind of small fish and a variety of invertebrates. Preferred foods for adults mainly consist of gizzard and threadfin shad, golden shiners and minnows. Younger fish prefer to feed on amphipods and mayflies. Very small stripers feed on zooplankton. Like other temperate bass, they move in schools, and all members of the school tend to feed at the same time. Heaviest feeding is in early morning and in evening, but they feed sporadically throughout the day, especially when skies are overcast. Feeding slows when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees but does not stop completely. Live shad and eels are excellent baits for catching big stripers. Other popular baits include white or yellow bucktail jigs, spoons, deep running crankbaits and a spinner with plastic worm rig. Popping plugs are best when stripers are schooling at the surface. |
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The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission manages Lake Ouachita’s diverse sportfisheries to provide a wide range of quality fishing opportunities. The objectives of the Game and Fish Commission as it relates to Lake Ouachita is to manage the following sportfish to provide an outstanding place for the angler, whether an experienced professional or a young beginner.
Largemouth bass – achieve a quality fishery attractive to anglers.
Spotted bass – provide a viable fishery relative to the lake’s habitat conditions.
Smallmouth bass – establish a self-sustaining population of reservoir-strain smallmouth designed to produce a trophy fishery.
Striped bass – provide large fish at a population density attractive to anglers.
Crappie – maintain an abundant number of both species of crappie for angler harvest.
Walleye – provide a viable population available for angler harvest.
Catfish – provide a viable population available for angler harvest. |
| OUR SEASONS FOR FISHING |
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4 Seasons in Arkansas with Winter snow, Spring flowers, Summer storms, and beautiful Autumn leaves
December to May best months for Stripers. June to November still good fishing with Silver Guide Services. |
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| A FEW OF OUR WELL SATISFIED FISHERS |
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Click Here To SEE MORE OF OUR CLIENTS with their catch. |
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To discover all the variety of fish you may find in the area of Lake Ouachita and other surrounding lakes and rivers see the following listing: Fish in Lake Ouachita and Arkansas |
| A FEW FACTS ABOUT OUR AREA |
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Our base is at Silver, Arkansas, an area about 10 miles east of Mount Ida, Arkansas and just south of Lake Ouachita. Mount Ida is a city in Montgomery County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 981 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County, Arkansas's 45th county, formed on December 9, 1842, and named after Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general. Montgomery County is located in the Ouachita National Forest that lies in the western section of Arkansas and portions of eastern Oklahoma.
The Ouachita National Forest is the oldest National Forest in the southern United States. The forest encompasses more than 1.8 million acres (6,500 km˛) including most of the the rugged and scenic Ouachita Mountains which were first explored in 1541 by Hernando de Soto's party of Spaniards. French explorers followed, flavoring the region with names like Fourche la Fave River. . Six locations in the forest, comprising 65,000 acres (263 km˛), have been designated as wilderness areas. Ouachita is the French spelling of the Indian word Washita which means "good hunting grounds". |
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The Ouachita River begins in the Ouachita Mountains near Mena, Arkansas and flows east into Lake Ouachita north of Mount Ida, Arkansas, where it is joined by the North Fork and South Fork of the Ouachita to join the main stream. Portions of the river in this region flow through the Ouachita National Forest. From the lake, the Ouachita flows south into Lake Hamilton, a reservoir created by Carpenter Dam. The city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, lies on the north side of Lake Hamilton. Another reservoir, Lake Catherine, impounds the Ouachita just below Lake Hamilton. Below Lake Catherine, the river flows free through most of the rest of Arkansas. |
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Lake Ouachita (Pronounced WAH-shi-tah) is a lake created by the damming of the Ouachita River by Blakely Mountain Dam. The lake is located between Hot Springs and Mount Ida, Arkansas. Lake Ouachita is the second largest lake in Arkansas, behind Bull Shoals Lake in Northwest Arkansas. Lake Ouachita has over 975 miles of shoreline and over 40,000 acres (160 km˛). It is completely surrounded by the Ouachita National Forest. Lake Ouachita is located near two other lakes, Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine. These three lakes, DeGray Lake to the near south, and the thermal springs of Hot Springs National Park make Hot Springs a popular tourist getaway. The purpose of the man-made Lake Ouachita is flood control, navigation, recreation, and hydroelectricity. It is one of the cleanest lakes in Arkansas, and its wildlife is very diverse. Some people say that there is a species of rare, non-stinging jellyfish in the lake. These jellyfish are said to have been seen mostly by scuba divers diving in the lake. Also sponges are said to live here. One area of Lake Ouachita features large crystal veins, some of the largest in the world. Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted bass are abundant in the lake. So is Bream, Crappie, Catfish, Walleye, and Striped Bass. In fact, Lake Ouachita is known as the Striped Bass Capital of the World. Blakely Mountain Dam was built in 1955, and is 1,100 feet long, and has an average height of 205 feet. There are 21 recreational parks and areas, 150 picnic sites, 1,106 campsites, 13 swimming beaches, and 24 boat ramps. The eastern side of Lake Ouachita contains Lake Ouachita State Park, a very popular Arkansas state park. (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) |
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Twin Creek Boat Ramp |
Crystal Springs Boat Ramp |
Mountain Harbour Boat Ramp |
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