🎣 Fishing Reports
Bull Shoals • Table Rock • Norfork Lake • Taneycomo • White River • Greers Ferry • Little Red River • and more
Reports updated nightly — pulling the most current conditions from AGFC, MDC, and local guides so you wake up knowing what the fish are doing.
🎣 Fishing Summary
Bull Shoals Lake • Norfork • Table Rock • White River • Greers Ferry • Little Red • and more
Bull Shoals Lake is in post-spawn transition right now, and that's the big story. Fish are leaving the creeks and moving back to deeper structure—we're talking 10- to 15-foot drains where the power fishermen are absolutely hammering them on deep cranks. The water temp is holding at 66°F with the lake sitting 4 feet below normal at 655 feet msl. Wind and cloud cover matter more than ever during this shift; on the right day you can load up. Meanwhile, the White River below Bull Shoals Dam is on fire—minimum flow has made it dead simple to find and catch both rainbows and browns. First cast, last cast, all day long. If you're targeting stripers or working the deeper main lake stuff, watch for shad movement and fish the stained water where it's easier to trigger bites.
This is prime time for patterns that exploit the transition. The fish aren't fully committed to summer yet, so they're predictable if you fish the zones they're using to get there. Table Rock Lake is loaded with healthy largemouth and spotted bass from recent high-water years, and the spring tailwaters are producing steady trout action when flows cooperate.
🏹 What's Working — Baits & Lures
- 1/2 oz white Chatterbait
- spinnerbaits
- deep-diving crankbaits
- live minnows
- sculpin imitations
🎮 How They're Fishing
- Deep-cranking 10- to 15-foot drains
- slow-rolling spinnerbaits in stained water
- live minnow presentation on trout
- point-transition fishing
💡 Guide's Insider Tip
Del Colvin says timing matters hugely during post-spawn: fish the right day with wind, clouds, rain, or stain to trigger bites on cranks and Chatterbaits in deeper drains.
🏆 Top Picks Right Now
When post-spawn fish leave the creeks at Bull Shoals, they stage on points before committing to main lake deeper water. Hit the creek-to-point transitions on cloudy days—that's where the window opens before they scatter to summer structure.
Bull Shoals Lake
(updated 5-7-2026) Fishing guide Del Colvin at Bull Shoals Lake (815-592-4302), delcolvinfishing.com , said Wednesday that the lake level remains a constant 655 feet msl (4 or so feet below normal pool) and water temperature is also about what it’s been lately: 66 degrees. “Most of the fish are post-spawn, which means big changes. We have the groups of fish in the creeks moving back out to points or chasing shad out from the spawning pockets. The ‘power fishermen’ are still catching on the right day (wind/clouds/rain/stain) deep-cranking in 10- to 15-foot drains. Try spinnerbaits and Chatterba…
Table Rock Lake
Fishing for black bass should be excellent in 2026. Largemouth bass are plentiful throughout the lake as a result of the high lake levels in past years. Fall 2025 electrofishing surveys revealed good numbers of largemouth bass in the 15”-18” range. These surveys also revealed an abundance of spotted bass in the 11”-14” range, with just three percent of the spotted bass captured in the fall 2025 surveys exceeding 15”. Due to the high abundance and slow growth rates of spotted bass in Table Rock Lake, the minimum length limit is planned to be reduced to 12” in 2026. Anglers are encouraged t…
White River
Cotter Area (updated 5-7-2026) Cotter Trout Dock (870-435-6525) said the bite is on, and the anglers on the White River in the Arkansas Ozarks are catching trout on the first cast of the day, the last cast in the afternoon and on a whole lot of casts in between. The river level has been consistently low for the past week, so it’s been a great time to pull up to a favorite brown trout spot and throw out a minnow, sculpin or shad for the sure bite. The rainbow bite has been excellent, too, with many keeper-size rainbows being brought to the boat daily and larger rainbows becoming a lot more comm…
Norfork River
(updated 4-23-2026) Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters (also Facebook.com/stroutfitters or 870-421-1541) guides out of Tracy Ferry Marina. He offered this pointers for spring fishing on Norfork: “Starting in late February we typically will see the winds switch to the south and a gradual warm up of air and water temperatures. The stripers will begin to move from the deep water following the shad. There will be multiple opportunities to catch stripers at that time. Both live bait and artificial baits will be very effective. The night bite will begin once the winds blow from the south. You will want …
Norfork Lake
(updated 4-23-2026) Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters (also Facebook.com/stroutfitters or 870-421-1541) guides out of Tracy Ferry Marina. He offered this pointers for spring fishing on Norfork: “Starting in late February we typically will see the winds switch to the south and a gradual warm up of air and water temperatures. The stripers will begin to move from the deep water following the shad. There will be multiple opportunities to catch stripers at that time. Both live bait and artificial baits will be very effective. The night bite will begin once the winds blow from the south. You will want …
Buffalo River
No report available at this time. Check back after float season begins.
Crooked Creek
No report available at this time. Check back after float season begins.
Spring River
Spring River ( updated 5-7-2026) Mark Crawford with springriverfliesandguides.com (870-955-8300) said water levels are running at 270 cfs (below the average of 350 cfs) and water clarity is clear. Rain showers have stirred up clarity on the Spring last week, but it’s still in need of rain to get river levels up. The river remains very low. Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery is stocking nice-sized rainbows “that have been a blast, but the pressure has been on the fish, too, with the nice weather and low-water conditions.”
Kings River
No report available at this time. Check back after float season begins.
Beaver Lake
(updated 5-7-2026) Jon Conklin with FishOn Guide Service (479-233-3474) said Beaver Lake came up some more from last week. Lake level is at 1121.60 feet msl, which is normal pool level. Water temperature in the 60s. Visit Jon’s Facebook page for the latest updates between weekly reports at FishOn Guide Service Goshen AR . (updated 5-7-2026) Guide Austin Kennedy (479-244-0039) says the Beaver Lake tailwater is in a post-spawn phase. Walleye remain present throughout the system; however, their activity has shifted into recovery and dispersal. As a result, they are not a consistent target at this…
Lake Taneycomo
This has not been a typical spring start for Lake Taneycomo. Our area is still in a drought; although we’ve had some rain this winter, it has not been enough to keep our lakes above power pool levels. And it’s been very warm, except for a couple of very cold spells in January and February. So we haven’t seen the flows we’re used to in late winter or early spring. Our generation patterns have been fairly consistent lately with no generation at night or in the mornings but with some flow late in the day for a few hours. So no generation during the day with flow starting about 5-6 p.m. and las…
Greers Ferry Lake
(updated 4-30-2026) Mike Winkler of Little Red River Fly Fishing Trips (501-507-3688) said, “ Well, we finally got some much-needed rain this past week. It’s not enough to get Arkansas out of the drought we’re in, but it was definitely good to see. Most areas around Greers Ferry Lake picked up close to 2 inches and, honestly, we’ll take anything we can get this spring because it’s been pretty dry overall. “That rain Wednesday night really did a number on the Little Red River. Normally, you’ve got that clear water below the dam at JFK Park, but right now it’s a different story. The runoff turne…
Little Red River
(updated 4-30-2026) Mike Winkler of Little Red River Fly Fishing Trips (501-507-3688) said, “ Well, we finally got some much-needed rain this past week. It’s not enough to get Arkansas out of the drought we’re in, but it was definitely good to see. Most areas around Greers Ferry Lake picked up close to 2 inches and, honestly, we’ll take anything we can get this spring because it’s been pretty dry overall. “That rain Wednesday night really did a number on the Little Red River. Normally, you’ve got that clear water below the dam at JFK Park, but right now it’s a different story. The runoff turne…
| Type | Period | Time (CDT) | Duration | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | Moon Overhead | 8:02 AM | 2 hrs | Upcoming |
| Major | Moon Underfoot | 8:02 PM | 2 hrs | Upcoming |
| Minor | Moonrise | 2:32 AM | 1 hr | Past |
| Minor | Moonset | 1:32 PM | 1 hr | Upcoming |
- Work the major periods: Regardless of moon phase, the major solunar windows above are your best shot at active fish.
- Let conditions lead: In mid-phase moons, water temperature, barometric pressure, and bait location matter most.
- Versatility wins: Keep a reaction bait (spinnerbait, crankbait) and a finesse option (drop shot, wacky rig) ready to adjust to fish mood.