Lake Charles
(updated 6-8-2023) Shelly Jeffrey at Lake Charles State Park (870-878-6595) reported that as part of the statewide Free Fishing Weekend from noon Friday to the last minute of Sunday, Lake Charles will be hosting a fishing derby Saturday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration is from 9-10 a.m.at the pavilion in the day-use area.
There should be ample fish among all the major species at Lake Charles in an active mode for anglers. They were all ranging fair to good this past week, Shelly says. Bream are good on redworms and crickets, and she recommends Berkley Gulp Alive crickets that are available there. Crappie are good on minnows, jigs and worms. Black bass are fair on crankbaits. Catfish are good on worms and blood bait.
The water remains the usual murky clarity and is at a normal level. Water temperature continued to warm, hitting 75 degrees last Saturday morning.
Lake Poinsett
(updated 6-1-2023) Seth Boone, the superintendent at Lake Poinsett State Park, said Lake Poinsett’s fishing has been good. The bream are biting on worms and Bream Killers. Catfish are good on live or stink bait.
Crappie, while catch-and-release only, have been hammering pink and chartreuse jigs. Bass will bite crankbaits and shallow-water baits, and they also are catch-and-release only. Bream and catfish may be kept at regular state limits.
Spring River
(updated 6-8-2023) Mark Crawford withspringriverfliesandguides.com (870-955-8300) said the Spring has been running at 390 cfs and water clarity has been clear. A long dry spell has the river looking great for catching. Heavy bugs hatches most mornings of Caddis and Mayflies. Nymphing with some dry fly action has been working great. With the water being really clear, on bright sunny days you have to get the fly down with an indicator rig or tight-lining. The rare overcast day has been easy catching with some streamer action.
The are a lot of big fish in the river. It’s been kind of hard to catch them with stocking ramping up for the summer season. It’s hard not to catch a beautiful, freshly stocked rainbow. Average stocking size on the Spring River is around 12 inches and the river is stocked weekly at nine locations. This is a great time to learn to fly-fish – easy fishing on the Spring this time of year.
Smallmouth bass are hitting but have been tough the last few weeks. “This is the time to chase smallies, and we have been so busy with chasing bows, we have not done many trips for smallies, but that should ramp up this month. The smallmouth bass is the native fish of the Spring River and local creeks. Hard to beat skull head Sculpin patterns; heavy-weighted Woollies in olive, brown and black work well; and Clousers. Got to get it to the bottom and work it slow.
“The canoe hatch is on every Saturday on the river now. Saturday is not a great day to fish, but through the week and on Sundays it’s perfect. The canoe hatch will be heavy on Saturdays until September.
“Be safe wading the river is very slick; but, hey, it’s hot out and the river is cold!”
(updated 6-8-2023) John Berry of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter (870-435-2169) said the water level on the Spring River is fishable. “This is a great place to wade fish when they are running water on the White and North Fork rivers,” he says. Wear cleated boots and carry a wading staff. There is a lot of bedrock that can get very slick. The hot flies have been olive Woolly Buggers with a bit of flash, cerise and hot pink San Juan worms and Y2Ks.
White River
The Army Corps of Engineers reported Thursday that the White River stage at Batesville was slightly falling at 8.46 feet (flood stage is 15.0 feet). The Newport stage is slightly falling at 10.59 feet (flood stage is 26 feet). The stage at Augusta dropping at 22.71 feet, below flood stage of 26.00 feet.
