FISHING REPORT: One good use for carp

Nobody around here loves a carp. Practically nobody - there are some strange folks in our community.

Carp are the ugliest fish, resulting in expressions of disgust and disappointment when anglers catch one. But they are used, sometimes. Folks skin 'em and smoke 'em.

Others skin them, pressure cook 'em and can 'em for fish cakes.

My personal practice is to not waste fish that are caught. Catch a carp? Make use of it somehow.

One spring some years back, a spell of trotlining occupied much of April and May. The catfish were reasonably cooperative, and channel catfish fillets were at the center of a number of meals.

But carp also grabbed a baited hook from time to time.

Many anglers simply take a carp off their hook and toss it on to a bank, "getting that nasty thing out of the lake or river."

But there is a use for carp, at least at our place. Plant 'em between the tomato vines. A fellow named Squanto came up with this gimmick a long time ago. History doesn't tell us what kind of fish Squanto taught the Pilgrims to plant with their hills of squash and corn, but carp serves this purpose nicely in the Conway area.

This summer, the one following the serious trotlining, we had some wonderful tomatoes. And I still use this practice. Clean some fish, then take the scraps and bury them in the garden - not the compost pile, but the garden itself.

Doesn't matter if it's winter and nothing is growing. Something will be growing in a few months.

Just bury the fish, carp especially.

LAKE CONWAY

Rick Bates at Bates Field and Stream said the lake level has dropped about one and a half feet. Until the level stabilizes, fishing is expected to be slower than usual.

LITTLE RED RIVER

Billy Lindsey at Lindsey's Rainbow Resort said the river level is down, but there was some generation on Saturday. Brown trout are spawning in the shoals. Trout fishing is good with wax worms with marshmallows, Power Bait, corn, sow bug patterns, egg patterns or brassies.

GREERS FERRY LAKE

Bait Master said largemouth bass are going for soft plastics, spinner baits or crank baits 4 to 15 feet deep.

Hybrid bass have entered their fall pattern, schooling in the mornings, and can be taken on topwater lures or in-line spinner baits. After the schooling action has stopped, hybrids are being caught on CC spoons and white jigs.

Bream are biting well from 12 to 15 feet deep on red worms and crickets. Crappie have entered their fall feeding pattern, and some can be taken from 25 to 30 feet deep on small minnows or small jigs fished in the tree tops on the edge of the river channel.

Catfish are fair on trotlines baited with small bream or large shiners. Walleye are being taken 30 to 35 feet deep with night crawlers over the humps in the lake.

HARRIS BRAKE LAKE

Coffee Creek Landing said the crappie are biting best on minnows. The best crappie location is in the back cove on the southeast side of the lake. Bass fishing is fair with assorted artificial lures. Catfish have been biting really well on worms and chicken liver on rods and on trotlines.

LAKE OVERCUP

Lakeview Landing said the lake is clear but high. Bream are fair on worms and crickets around the dock.

Crappie are fair from 9- to 10-feet deep on minnows and small jigs fished over stumps. Catfishing is good on minnows.

ARKANSAS RIVER

Charlie Hoke at Charley's Hidden Harbor near Oppelo said the flow from Lock and Dam 9 is 52,700 cubic feet with headwater at 285.67 and tailwater at 270.15.

Due to the weather, many fishermen have been staying indoors, and the weather forecast does not look good. Catfishing is good. For blue cats or channel cats, try using shrimp or worms from 15 to 20 feet deep.

Flatheads are biting on live shad fished in 10 to 20 feet of water on top of the jetties. Spotted bass are good on the downstream side of the jetties. Try using lures in fire tiger color. Whites and black bass are good in Cooper's Gap and Flag Lake; use Shad Raps or Roostertails in chartreuse. Crappie fishing is fair on chartreuse jigs in the backwaters from 10 to 15 feet deep.

WHITE RIVER

Ron Branaman at Gaston's White River Resort said there have been one to two units generating around the clock.

The river is clear. Trout fishing is good with yellow or white Power Baits, red worms, night crawlers, gold and red Buoyant Spoons, peach egg patterns, red San Juan Worms or small pink jigs.