Last week was close to unbelievable with the amount of water that rained on Arkansas for four days, with as much as a foot of water in the Delta region and much rain in a diagonal line from southwestern Arkansas to the northeast corner. It affected Millwood Lake near Ashdown and it flooded the Spring River in the north. The front didn't seem to want to move. Rivers and lakes were left overflowing their banks.
There is still plenty of water left on the horizon, but things appear to be getting closer to normal in a lot of places. Arkansas could stand a few more days of dry. Some places this week had little to report in terms of fishing, while others were seeing good water again and the bite returning. We're in that golden April period when crappie spawn and the bite takes off. Black bass were getting shallow before the storms and are working back into position. White bass, moving on Little River in southwest Arkansas in their annual spawn, were just about to run in central Arkansas as the front moved in.
In our feature photo above, Brandon (no last name provided) wanted to learn how to fly-fish while stationed in Jacksonville at the Little Rock Air Force Base serving in the U.S. Air Force. Mike Winkler guided Brandon to his first brown trout while fishing the Little Red River recently. Winkler said that Brandon's dad came down from Wisconsin to visit and took advantage of the nice weather, too, as the caddis hatch is in full swing on the Little Red. Also, despite all the water that Greers Ferry Lake has taken on after last week's storms, only one unit at the dam is discharging water this week into the Little Red, making for good fishing conditions.
Meanwhile, guide Mike Siefert did not get out the rod and reel and the fishing tackle this week because of the train wreck that was Millwood Lake after last week's storms, but he did get out his camera to give us a look at just what was going on at Millwood. The State Park Marina was swamped and the access at Wilton was closed earlier this week after all the water flowing into Little River from the Tri-Lakes and other tributaries, just days after the area was in demand for the white bass run. It may be a week or two more before some places return to normal.
The weather sure was nice for us at midweek this week, perfect for trying some fishing where conditions have improved. And with conditions changing quickly in many locales, make sure to call or visit the websites of our contributors for the most up-to-date news from those locations if you decide to get out in the next few days.
