Duck hunting could be a good time to get some fishing in

Duck hunting season does start Saturday. Yes, this is a fishing report, but duck season is a good time to take along a fishing rod.

We talked a while back about combining deer hunting and fishing in an outing. You can do it with duck hunting too. True, many — or most — places you hunt ducks won’t be ideal fishing spots. But some could be. If you have a travel rod and reel, one that telescopes down to a small package, it could be useful for this duck-fish combination.

The rod also could come in handy if you don’t have a retriever with you to fetch downed ducks. Use the rod. Cast a lure just past the floating dead duck then carefully retrieve it so the lure pulls the duck to you. Don’t laugh. It works, and it has worked for some hunters for many years.

Cutoff or old oxbow lakes are places where this technique has been used for many years and where the double duty is feasible. Get to the spot just before daylight, get the decoys out then bait a hook, toss it out and wait. Something may come in by air or by water. And you won’t need the lantern system that Paul Revere relied on way back yonder.

What may be more likely to happen is you will get a quick limit — bam, bam, bam. Well, maybe a few more bams. Your buddies haven’t limited out, and you have to wait. What better time than by fishing a little. Land a couple of pan-size crappie and think of the story opportunities.

LAKE CONWAY

Rick Bates at Bates Field and Stream said the water is stained and at normal level. Bream are biting well on red worms fished in deep water. Crappie are biting well on medium-sized silver minnows and jigs fished in creek channels. Bass fishing is slow. Catfishing is slow. Dan Zajac at Gold Creek Landing said crappie fishing has been fair on jigs, shiners and pink minnows. Bass fishing is slow. Bream are fair on red worms and wax worms fished on the bottom. Catfishing is fair on nightcrawlers.

LITTLE RED RIVER

Billy Lindsey at Lindsey’s Resort said the water is clear and at normal level. Trout are biting well on Power Bait and wax worms.    

GREERS FERRY LAKE

Tommy Cauley of Fish Finder Guide Service said the water level is rising. Hybrids and white bass continue to bite very well on vertically jigged spoons, in-line spinners and hair jigs on days with sun, wind and generation. Black bass are biting fairly well on small Rat-L-Traps, spinner baits and small crank baits fished around the flooded brush. A few will still hit a frog in the brush as well. Outside of the brush line, some deeper fish can be caught on crank baits, Carolina rigs and football head jigs. Some crappie are in the bushes and some are out a little deeper over brush piles and suspended in the pole timber. Bream are eating crickets and crawlers around shallow bushes. Some walleye are being caught in areas void of hybrids and white bass. Fish a spoon on the bottom. When you catch one, hold your position and get your spoon right back down. You may catch a limit in one spot.

HARRIS BRAKE LAKE

Coffee Creek Landing said few people are fishing because the lake is being drawn down and will remain so until Dec. 12. 

Greer’s Sporting Goods said crappie are biting well on jigs and minnows. White Crappie Stingers are working especially well. 

LAKE OVERCUP

Overcup Landing said the water is high and clear. Bream are slow. Crappie are biting well on white and chartreuse jigs in shallow water. Bass are fair on spinner baits and soft plastic worms fished around grass and brush near the bank. Catfishing is fair on worms and cut bait at night.  

BREWER LAKE

Overcup Landing said the water is high and clear. Bream are biting fairly well on red worms and crickets. Crappie are biting well on small minnows and jigs. Bass are fair on buzz baits and jigs fished around the grass. Catfishing is fair on cut bait and live bream. 

LAKE MAUMELLE

Roger Nesuda at Jolly Roger’s Marina said the water is 1.6 feet above the spillway. Black bass are in 15 to 20 feet of water and are biting fairly well on spinner baits, crank baits and tubes. Some good catches have come from the banks around muddy water as well. Spotted bass are biting well in 15 feet of water on tubes, jigs and soft-plastic worms. White bass are schooling around the east end of the lake, and some are beginning to gather at the west end of the lake. CC spoons, clear Near Nuthins and Rogues have worked well. Crappie are biting well in 15 to 20 feet of water on minnows and 1/32-ounce jigs. Pink minnows will be the key to good crappie catches in the next few months. Saugeye are fair on trolled Rogues and jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water. Catfishing is good on minnows, worms and prepared baits in 8 to 15 feet of water. 

ARKANSAS RIVER

Charlie Hoke at Charlie’s Hidden Harbor in Oppelo said the flow is well below the 100,000-mark and is dropping. Catfishing is good on the inside of jetty tips. Live shad and bream fished off the bottom are working well. Stripers are below dams 9 and 10 and are biting well on live shad fished 6 to 8 feet deep. Some very large drum are being caught on Mudbug crank baits fished around jetties. Largemouth bass are in the creeks and backwater and are fair on soft-plastics. White bass are biting well on Sassy Shads fished around schools of shad in the warm pockets of water near roads in the evenings.

LAKE OUACHITA

Mountain Harbor Resort said the water is 60 to 66 degrees and stained. Largemouth bass are fair on jigs fished in brush piles in 18 to 25 feet of water. Walleye are fair on jigging spoons fished around main lake points or humps in 20 to 30 feet of water. Stripers are slow on live bait with shad or trotline minnows. Main lake points near creek channels or open water humps are the best areas. Bream are fair on worms or crickets in 18 to 25 feet of water. Crappie are very good and being caught near brush.  Try brush in water 20 to 30 feet deep.  Minnows or Tennessee shad or white crappie grubs are still working best. Catfish are fair on jugs and trotlines with cut bait or live bait.

WHITE RIVER

John Berry at Berry Brothers Guide Service said light but steady generation around the clock with slightly higher flows in the afternoon have been the normal conditions. There has been precious little wadable water. The only thing preventing high levels of generation around the clock is flooding downstream. As soon as it clears, there will be a lot of high water. The stretch from Cotter to Rim Shoals has fished well. The moderate flows we have received have been perfect for drift fishing. The hot flies have been San Juan worms and Y2Ks. Two-fly rigs (San Juan worm and egg) have done particularly well in this area. Small mayfly nymphs like pheasant tails and copper johns and midge patterns (black zebra midges with silver wire and silver bead) also have been effective. Rim Shoals has cooled down some but is still fishing well. The go-to flies have been Y2Ks and cerise San Juan worms. Some of the more productive water that can be accessed includes the water around Jenkins Creek or along the island near the walk-in access.