Largemouth bass activity has improved over the past week. Several large female bass between 6-9 pounds have been caught and released, including in local tournaments held on Millwood Lake recently. The males and females continue moving in bedding areas and building beds near 1-5 feet of depth on bedding flats. Best activity is being seen in the afternoons, near creek channel swings and vertical structure where flats of 1-6 feet deep are holding fresh lily pad blooms and vegetation. Five-inch Bass Assassin Shads, plastic lizards, Brush Hogs, tubes and spinnerbaits will draw a reaction in 2-6 feet depths. Bill Lewis crankbaits like the MR-6, Echo 1.75 and SB-57 MDJ crankbaits were all getting random reaction bites over the past couple of weeks from these active roaming bass (and white bass, too) in the deeper sections of creek channels or drops from the flats into 8- to 12-feet structure with stumps present. We caught good numbers of males & females from 3 to 6 pounds each over the past two weeks. The largemouths’ reaction bites continue to be much more reliable in the oxbows of McGuire, Horseshoe, Mud and Clear Lakes where the water clarity was drastically better, water temps were warmer, and away from river current. Beaver-style baits, creature baits and Baby Brush Hogs have been taking some decent 14- to 17-inch male largemouths roaming flats in the clearer water sections of the oxbows, away from river current. With the water temp continuing to warm into the mid-60’s the males are active, cruising and a few beds are being seen. Where you find shallow 5- to 8-foot depth flats with stumps you can find a few decent 2- to 3-pound male bass roaming on warm afternoons, if near to a quick creek bend drop into 8-12 feet structure. Red Slough and South Hickory golf course pockets are warming up as well and gave up some nice 16- to 19-inch, 3- and 4-pound bass late last week. We got several good reactions from 3- to 5-pound bass over the past week or so with Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and lizards around cypress tree knees. Best reaction colors of Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits have been the Millwood Mayhem Bream, Fire Craw and Firetiger. We are targeting areas around cypress tree knees from 6-10 feet, with 12-15 feet of depth nearby. We are observing numerous bass roaming the flats through the dead lily pad stems from 2-5 pounds each, moving in shallow 3- to 5-feet deep bedding areas, not staying on the flats for very long, and acting spooky. Recent thunderstorms and fresh rain with muddy water have made the color spectrum shift change over the past week, and for Senkos, Trick Worms, Trick Sticks and Twitch Worms the best reaction color we found upriver was Merthiolate or Blackberry. Bass Assassin Shads in Salt & Pepper Silver Phantom or Pumpkinseed, fished by dead-sticking on stumps and cypress trees/knees using an extremely light wire hook, are still catching nice male and female bass roaming in and out of flats to and from the creek channels. * The white bass have continued their migration up Little River, as well as the same activity in the Saline River on the east end of Millwood Lake, and we caught good numbers of 2- to 3-pound whites near Brown’s Slough and Black’s Branch and the U.S. Highway 71 Bridge. Heavy thumping three-quarter-ounce and 1-ounce Rat-L-Traps in Millwood Magic, chrome or Splatterback colors, and Fat Free Shads and Fingerlings or Bill Lewis MR-6 Crankbaits in Tennessee Shad, cranked very slow and deliberately behind points along Little River, caught some decent, white bass over the past few weeks from 7-12 feet deep. A chrome three-quarter-ounce Cordell Hammered Spoon with a red/white hair bucktail vertical-jigging behind primary points near the bottom, where stumps were located on the backside of points, were connecting with a few nice-sized whites over the past several weeks. Swimming a hair jig with a heavy thumping tail swimbait trailer picked up a few whites in 10-14 feet by swimming and dropping the bait. * The crappie bite has continually improved over the past few weeks with water clarity improving in many locations. Our planted brush piles in Pugh Slough, Horseshoe, Bee Lake and Millwood State Park gave up some nice 2-pound slabs over the past couple of weeks. Minnows work one day, and jigs the next, or jigs tipped with a minnow, in planted brush piles 10-16 feet of depth. * No reports on bream or crappie.

Reported by: Arkansas F&G