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| FISH IN LAKE OUACHITA |
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Striped Bass - Striped Bass are members of the family Percichthyidae, the temperate basses. They are elongated with 7-8 dark stripes extending horizontally, a dark olive to steel blue back and silver underside with a brassy sheen. The two dorsal fins are separated by a gap, and two spines are present on the edge of the opercle. The caudal fin, or tail, of striped bass is clearly forked. Males reach a maximum length 45 in, whereas females grow to about 72 in. Maximum recorded weight is about 125 lbs. The Striped Bass is the largest member of the sea bass family, often called "temperate" or "true" bass to distinguish it from species such as largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass which are actually members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae.
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Largemouth Bass - The largemouth bass occurs in nearly all Arkansas waters. It has a deep gap between the spiny and soft dorsal fins, and the upper jaw extends far behind the rear margin of the eye. The midside has a dark horizontal stripe. One- to 3-pounders are common, and state waters have produced largemouths over 16 pounds. They'll eat almost anything and are caught on a variety of natural and artificial baits. |
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Spotted Bass - The spotted or "Kentucky" bass, a largemouth lookalike, is found primarily in streams and rocky mountain reservoirs. The notch between the dorsal fins is shallow, and the upper jaw doesn't extend much, if any, behind the eye. It has a rough tooth patch on the tongue that's absent on largemouths, and there's a lengthwise row of dark spots below the dark midside stripe. Arkansas has yielded state-record-size "spots" nearing 8 pounds, but typical fish are around a pound. Spinnerbaits, jig and pork frog combinations, live crayfish and crayfish-imitation artificials are among the best baits. |
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Blue Catfish - The blue catfish is a heavyweight, sometimes weighing over 100 pounds. It's a migratory fish found in large rivers and reservoirs, and, like the channel cat, prefers waters with good current over bottoms of rock, gravel or sand. Blues resemble channel cats but have a distinct hump-backed appearance, a straight-edged anal fin with 30 to 35 rays and lack the black body spots typical of small channel cats. Cut shad and crayfish are among the most popular baits. |
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Channel Catfish - The channel catfish is Arkansas' most widespread and abundant catfish. Weighing up to 30 pounds, it's typically a stream fish, but, millions are produced in state hatcheries each year and stocked in lakes and ponds where natural reproduction is limited. Characteristics include a deeply forked tail, gray to brown back and sides fading to white underneath, and a rounded anal fin with 24 to 29 rays. Channels occasionally strike artificials, but most are taken using natural bait fished on or near the bottom. They are especially fond of chicken liver, earthworms, crayfish, minnows, catalpa worms and stinkbaits. |
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Flathead Catfish - The flathead catfish is most common around dam tailwaters and in deep pools of large rivers, bayous and reservoirs. It's pot-bellied, wide-headed and beady-eyed, but what it may lack in looks, it makes up for in size and good taste. Many weigh 3 to 10 pounds, but 25 to 50 pounders aren't rare, and flatheads up to 139 pounds have been taken in Arkansas waters. Color is yellow to light brown, usually mottled with dark brown or black. The tail is only slightly forked, and the lower jaw projects out from the flattened head. Most are caught on live minnows, bream or goldfish. |
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Yellow Bullhead - Bullheads seldom exceed 1-1/2 pounds, but they are common in many waters and popular with young anglers. They are short, chubby catfish with a slightly notched tail, and unlike the flathead cat, the lower jaw doesn't stick out noticeably. The yellow bullhead, the most widely distributed species, has white or yellow chin barbels and prefers areas with little current in clear, rock-bottomed streams. The black bullhead has gray or black chin barbels and is common in oxbow lakes and quiet, mud-bottomed streams and backwaters. The brown bullhead, an uncommon Arkansas resident, has dark chin barbels like the black bullhead but can be distinguished by examining the pectoral fin spines. On brown bullheads, these spines have well-developed teeth along the rear edge; teeth are absent or weakly developed on the black bullhead's pectoral fin spines. Chicken liver and earthworms are the most popular bullhead baits. |
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Rainbow Trout - Rainbow trout are the most common trout in Arkansas and are found in all state trout waters. Natural reproduction is limited, and populations are maintained through stocking programs. Rainbows up to 1 pound are common, with some exceeding 15 pounds. This trout is usually thickly speckled with black spots on the head, sides and slightly notched tail. A broad pink to reddish stripe runs lengthwise along the side, although hatchery fish may lack the side stripe until they've been in a river or lake for several weeks. |
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Bluegill - Bluegills are the most widely distributed, abundant and sought-after fish in this group. They're found in nearly every body of water in Arkansas. Most bluegills weight 1/2 pound or less, with occasional fish up to 1 pound. They have a small mouth, a solid black ear flap, a dark spot at the base of the soft dorsal fin, and long, pointed pectoral fins. Colors vary, running from nearly black or purplish to dark brown, green or gold. Breeding males have a vivid blue head and throat and a bright-orange breast. |
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Black Crappie - Black crappies are slightly more fussy about their environment and prefer cool, deep waters with abundant aquatic vegetation. The silvery sides are marked with irregularly scattered black spots that don't form vertical bars. The "black-nosed crappie", an unusually marked strain of black crappie, has a dark brown or black stripe running under the chin, over the nose and across part of the back. Originally found in Beaver and Bull Shoals lakes, this distinctive crappie is now being raised in state fish hatcheries for stocking public fishing waters. |
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White Crappie - Although white and black crappies often occupy the same waters, white crappies can flourish in warmer, siltier waters than black crappies. The two species look very similar, but the white crappie is paler in colors, with dark spots on the silver sides usually arranged in regular vertical bars. The best way to distinguish the two species is to count the dorsal fin spines. White crappies typically have six, and black crappies usually have seven or eight. |
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Walleye - The walleye is the largest perch family member in North America. This long, streamlined fish has glassy, marble-like eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Unlike its cousin, the sauger, the spiny dorsal fin has a large black blotch near the bases of the last few spines. Adults commonly weigh 4 to 10 pounds and several fish over 20 pounds, near world-record size, have been caught in Arkansas, usually during the peak spawning months of February, March and April. The state's best-known walleye fishing is in Greers Ferry Lake and its headwaters where the annual World Walleye Classic is held. This lake and its tributaries may produce more big walleyes ---fish weighing 15 to 20 pounds --- than any body of water in the United States. Other walleye lakes include Bull Shoals, Greeson, Nimrod, Norfork, Ouachita, Catherine, Hamilton and Table Rock. Stream-running walleyes are found in the Black, Caddo, Current, Eleven Point, Kings, Little Missouri, middle and upper White, North Fork, Spring, upper Ouachita, upper Saline and War Eagle rivers. Good baits include live minnows and bream, minnow-imitation crankbaits and jig/minnow combinations. |
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Spotted Gar - The spotted gar is very similar to the shortnose but has well-defined round black spots on top of the head, snout and body. It seldom exceeds three feet long and 8 pounds in weight. This gar prefers quiet, clear waters with heavy aquatic vegetation or standing timber and is most common in the lowland streams of eastern, central and outhern Arkansas. |
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Longnose Gar - The longnose gar is Arkansas' most widespread and abundant gar. It is common in sluggish pools and backwaters of streams statewide and is the gar most frequently found in lakes. It has a very long narrow snout, and the width of the upper jaw at the nostrils is less than the eye diameter. This large fish commonly exceeds three feet in length and may weigh over 25 pounds. |
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Chain Pickerel - The chain pickerel has a long, slender body and a black, chainlike pattern on its sides. Like the grass pickerel, it's often call "jackfish" and is easily recognized by the duck-billed shape of the snout. Body color ranges from bronze to green, and the mouth is full of needlelike teeth. Most weigh 2 to 3 pounds, with occasional individuals up to 7. Chain pickerels are found in many streams and lakes in eastern and southern Arkansas, including the lower Ouachita, Saline and White rivers, Champagnolle Creek, and lakes Barnett, Conway, Enterprise, Grampus, Grand, Harris Brake, Overcup, Tri-County, Wallace, White Oak and Ouachita. |
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Green Sunfish - Green sunfish thrive in areas where few other sunfish can live. They are equally at home in silty, sluggish, mud-bottomed hideouts and clear, cool mountain streams. Most weight less than 1/2 pound. They have heavy lips, a large mouth, a short rounded pectoral fin and a short, black, light-edged ear flap. Body color is typically bluish green with emerald and yellow reflections. The cheeks have prominent blue streaks, and the dorsal fin has a heavy dark blotch. Breeding males have broad whitish or orange fringes on the dorsal, tail and anal fins. |
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Warmouth - The warmouth or "goggleye" is seldom sought for its own merits, but many are caught while fishing for other species. It is usually found in quiet lakes with mud bottoms and abundant vegetation where it often hides in hollow trees or stumps. Color is typically olive-brown with dark markings, and unlike its lookalike cousins, the rock bass, the warmouth has three anal fin spines and a rough patch of teeth on the tongue. |
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| SOME GAME FISH and BAITS |
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| Some of the game fish in Arkansas with baits listed that you may want to try. |
Trout
Live Bait
Artificial Lures
Worms Streamer Flies
Sculpins Dry & Wet Flies
Sowbugs Spoons & Spinners
Crawfish Nymph-like tied Flies
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Largemouth Bass
Live Bait
Plastic Worms
Poppers
Crankbaits
Fly Rod Deer Hair Bass Bugs
Surface Lures
Spinnerbaits
Jigs
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Smallmouth Bass & Spotted Bass
Flies
Artificial Lures
Live Bait
Streamers & Poppers
Crankbaits
Crayfish
Woolly Buggers
Jigs
Leopard Frogs
Clouser Minnows
Plastic Twisters
Shiner Minnows
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White Bass, Stripers & Hybrids
Live Bait
Artificial Lures
Shiners
Surface Plugs
Shad
Minnow-Like Plugs & Spoons
Suckers
Jigs & Spinners
Herring
Large Streamers
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Walleyes
Live Bait
Nightcrawlers
Small Salamanders
Shiner Minnows
Chubs
Leeches
Artificial Trolling Lures
Spinner Rigs
Jointed Minnows
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