“The Bull Shoals tailwater has remained low over the last several weeks with Bull Shoals Dam holding back water releases to help downstream farmers. The lake level is slowly rising, sitting at 682.72 feet msl as of Wednesday afternoon, so we expect ample releases in the coming weeks. For now, we’re catching more than a fair share of rainbows with spinners and spoons, best with silver or gold Cleos, and best in the morning. You can experiment with shrimp or with various colors of floating eggs and you’ll bag a bunch, but the action will be faster when you use them together.

“Brown trout catches continue to delight the anglers around Cotter, mostly with live bait taken from the river (minnows, crawdads, sculpins), but we heard that more than one brown was hooked with a nightcrawler, sometimes improved with the use of a worm blower.

“Enjoy the rest of spring with the best The Natural State has to offer: trout-catching on the White River in the Arkansas Ozarks. Come visit Cotter’s website (linked above) for more information or to schedule a trip.”

Calico Rock Area

(updated 5-22-2025) Dave McCulley, owner of Jenkins Fishing Service in Calico Rock, said, “The weather and river conditions are not doing us any favors. The rain storms early Monday night caused many creeks and the Buffalo River to rise and become very muddy. As a result, we saw water reach over 12 feet and be extremely muddy Tuesday and Wednesday in Calico Rock. Neither Norfork or Bull Shoals Dams are releasing much water. Combined with more rain through this weekend I expect the river will remain muddy.

“The best bet to catch trout in these conditions is to move up into the creeks where there is cleaner water, tie off to the bank and fish with corn.  Not the most exciting fishing but there have been days where we’ve seen boats catch over 100 fish. Late last week, we received a stocking of 1,000 rainbows at the Calico Rock boat ramp.”