Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report & Lake Conditions
by Ricky Eastwold and Crew at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock "We Rent Fun!"
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Current Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report
Thursday, January 11,  2012

Hey Everybody - Sorry I haven't kept up with this report much in December. I caught Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever and have been sick for a month. Anyway, I am better now. I am leaving to go on the road for my winter sport-boat and travel show run. 8 cities in 8 weeks. I will try to update the report when I can but I will probably be March before I can.

Early December had colder then normal temperatures so there wasn't a whole lot of fishing going on or being reported. However the last 10 days or so it have been nice so there is a lot of fishing going on. Reports have the largemouth being caught in shallow water on flat billed crankbaits back in the creeks. The smallmouth and spotted bass are being caught anywhere from 25 feet to 45 feet on soft plastics, grubs, jigs and spoons. The crappie are biting on the brush piles in 15 to 25 feet of water on 1/32 jigs or small minnows. There are a few walleye being caught in 45 to 55 feet of water on spoons or night crawlers. White River trout fishing is great with lots of stringers and bigger browns being caught as usual.

The lake is normal level at this time and the water temp is in the high 40's to mid 50's depending on where you take it.

Thanks for your patience and looking forward to a great 2012 fishing year.!!

Ricky Eastwold

White River Fishing Report:

NOTHING EVER CHANGES ON THE RIVER EXCEPT THE WATER LEVEL! THE FISHING IS ALWAYS GREAT! This question gets asked a lot. "When is the best time to fish the river?" The answer is anytime. The water comes out of the bottom of the lake therefore it is always very cold. It doesn't have the temperature cycle of a normal body of water. It doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees out or 10 degrees out. The water temperature stays the same within a few degrees. Therefore, the fishing is always the same and always good. Arkansas stocks the White River with rainbow trout year around so the fishing is good year around. The water level doesn't matter either, you just have to change how you fish. If the water is high then you usually drift and float fish, if its low then you anchor and still fish. Naturally, fly fishing is better when the river is low. SO, COME FISHING WHENEVER YOU CAN!

The river fishing has been great! Check out the 2011 picture page for photos of some big ones caught over the last couple of weeks. Nothing new on the patterns. --- Worms, night crawlers, power baits, salmon eggs, Count down Rapalas, spoons, rooster tails, jigs and just about any other type of trout bait or pattern you have heard of.

Come visit our expanded bait and tackle department and good luck and good fishing to you all.

Good luck and good fishing, and please come and see us at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock for all your fishing needs…Thank you!  

Photos Of Recent Bull Shoals Lake & White River Fish Catches
See what Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock customers caught on Bull Shoals Lake and the White River

Helpful Links

Road Condition Information For Arkansas
1.  http://www.arkansashighways.com/roads/roads.aspx
Web site detailing any road closings due to flooding or construction.

2. http://twitter.com/#!/AHTD
Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department on Twitter. Shows current road closing status.

3. Phone 501-569-2374 for a recording of Arkansas road closures

Surrounding States - Flooded & Closed Road Information
Links for Arkansas & surrounding State highway and road condition information and maps.

Local Weather & Lake Level Information

Bull Shoals Lake/White River Generation Levels
This shows both Bull Shoals Lake level and White River Level. "Elevation" shows the lake level as feet above mean sea level (ft-msl). "Tailwater" shows the river level as feet above mean sea level (ft-msl). "Release" is shown as cubic feet per second (cfs). Electrical "Generation" is shown as megawatt hours (mwh).

Projected Lake Levels
This simple text table shows what the Corps believes lake levels will be a few days into the future. Useful to fishermen and boaters who are familiar with area lake levels.

Daily Lake Projections
A table showing the current lake levels compared to past years. Also shows the lake level each morning, how full each lake is, the 24 hour change in level, and the average daily water releases in cubic feet per second (cfs). "SEAS/CONS POOL" stands for Seasonal Conservation Pool, which is a fancy term for normal. Looking at this table shows, for any given day, whether lake levels are above or below normal, and by how much. Finally it shows just how much water storage capacity is left within the entire water storage system.