Saltwater Fishing. Panfish can be caught here too. Once temperatures are agreeable in late spring to early summer, dawn is the best time to search for them as they prefer to feed at this time. The Bull Shoals dam and associated lake-river system are just one of many that have facilitated river-based spawning events. Many of the shorelines drop off quick, so you dont have to be far from shore to be fishing water deep enough to hold a variety of fish and quality fish. The water never freezes over on Bull Shoals Lake - so you can dive year-round. Bull Shoals Lake is a short drive from Branson, and like Table Rock, is in both Missouri and Arkansas. Dawn and dusk are prime times for fishing walleye as they tend to be more active during darker hours of the day. Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report. Alligator Gar: See page 10 of the 2023 Fishing Guidebook. Bull Shoals Lake has a ton of fish attractors and there is even a map of them. Flathead spawning later in the year than it does for Channels and Blues, Walleye numbers are very good and anglers should see a high percentage of legal-size fish in the 18-20 inch range in 2023. Missouri residents 16 years of age and older who fish the Arkansas portion of Bull Shoals Lake should take advantage of the $10 White River Border Lakes Permit. supplemental stocking has not yet become a reliable options for fisheries managers. Warmouth. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If it's Pontiac, you would be about 10 miles north of Pot Shoals. necessary to stock Channel catfish in streams to maintain their populations. The fish attractors located on the main lake are great spots to find fish too. July. You'll find record fishing on the Spring Creek Arm of Bull Shoals Lake. Fishing Rigs From Powersite Dam to Highway 76: Taney Prohibited Methods: Trotlines, throwlines and limb lines. Key attractions along the trail include Long Creek Falls, panoramic views of the Ozarks countryside, and a variety of native communities including open limestone glades and mixed forests.Rating: More Difficult to Most Difficult with steep terrain, stream crossings, sparsely marked trail, and elevations from 600 to 1200 feet.Length: 32 milesBest Seasons: Fall, winter, and spring.Leave No Trace: Pack out what you pack in.Restrictions: Foot and Horse only.Safety: No drinking water is available at parking areas or along the trail; bring what you will need, or be prepared to sterilize water you find. Both cold and warm water fish species can be found here including large and smallmouth bass, striped bass, walleye, crappie, channel catfish, yellow perch, white perch, bluegill sunfish, carp, rainbow and brown trout. There are a lot of arms to fish, so once you can figure out a pattern, there will be other places where you can go to replicate the pattern to find more active fish. Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Spotted Gar, Information: 417-895-6880 I have not had much luck jugging on Bull shoals for Blues or flathead. Largemouth Bass, Length limit: Brown trout is favored by many predators and parasitic fish in Bull Shoals Lake. Try using lures that are sized for all 3 species of fish and you should run into all 3 species of fish here. Most of the time the cats I catch on the lake during the day time are in 30 to 50 ft of water with some as deep as 70 to 90 ft down. I would have gotten to you sooner but my computer went down. It is now an invasive species in Asia, South America, and Europe. Channel Catfish, Lake navigation features include advanced instrumentation to gather wind speed direction, water temperature, water depth . I have 6 or 8 days to think on it, I will sure post our results. Hope you catch a lot of fish the remainder of the year. Freshwater Fishing Blue Catfish, Of course, one of the most popular ones is sport fishing. Channel cats exceeding 20 pounds and Blues exceeding 60 Also, the spring-time white bass spawning runs can be difficult to pattern if the lake level fluctuates and river flows change frequently. Both Channel and Blue are found everywhere in the lakes. A forum community dedicated to catfishers and enthusiasts. Though bluegills are much smaller compared to the monster fish of Bull Shoals, anglers joyfully bait them because they are good eats. It is an ambush predator that prefers to hide and wait in the shade of aquatic macrophytes as it monitors its surroundings for prey. Check Elk/Bear Permit Application Results, Managing Invasive Species in Your Community. Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass & Spotted Bass. The hot calm days warmed the lake surface several degrees in just a couple days and marked the end of most game fish spawning activities in the mid-lake area. Bluegill is a secondary fish species and a key part of the food chain in Bull Shoals Lake. White crappies are best caught in the middle of the day, when they congregate in shallow areas. Channel catfish are here in good numbers, but you can also catch blue catfish and flathead catfish too. It has also been introduced in several water systems as a means to control pest fish. The spring provides some outstanding shallow water fishing, but beyond that, anglers routinely catch a variety of bass in 15 to 30 feet of water and these fish will often suspend 20 to 30 feet down over water much deeper. Black Crappie, Anglers in the lake are allowed to fish up to 5 trout per day. He knows the tricks and patience it takes to catch big fish. including lakes and streams. Be advised of hunting seasons. I have never been on this system and I am not looking for anyones honey hole but do need to know if there is a catchable population of blues available. catfish. We protect and manage the fish, forest, and wildlife of the state. interactive map pound Blue. Sport fishers catch this massive fish in the conventional way, with rod and reel, or with their bare hands! Fishing spots and depth contours layers are available in most Lake maps. This sunfish species looks like a small version of its larger rock bass cousins, which is why it is also referred to as the warmouth bass. If you take a look at a map of this lake, you will see how many creek arms there are off of the main lake. Piney Run Reservoir - Located in Sykesville, Carroll County Fish species . ADVERTISE ON EXPLORE THE OZARKS DIRECTORIES. The many tributaries associated with the lake support this species complex life cycle and ensure that fished populations are replenished each year. Also known as yellow pickerel, the walleye is a popular species under the perch family (Percidae). Black Bass: Good This permit allows these anglers to fish the Arkansas portion of this lake without purchasing an Arkansas nonresident fishing permit. This formidable fish is a primary species in Bull Shoals Lake. ** Welcome to Bull Shoals-White River State Park, one of 52 beautiful . Its main color is silvery-white, with a darker dorsal region similar to that of white bass. Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass, A handful of them are state fish of several US states, including Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. This species doesn't have the growth potential of the other black bass and fish over 15 inches are rare. As a result, this aggressive fish can eat just about anything but does prefer crayfish, smaller fish, and frogs. On glades such as these, the notorious Bald Knobbers met and planned their raids. Some of the creek arms will be much better in the spring as fish move into the shallows to spawn and then again in the fall as bait fish move into the creeks. Due to good year class strengths in recent years, anglers should also expect to catch higher numbers of sub-legal fish as well. The available fish in Bull Shoals Lake are Black Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, Whitebass, Catfish, and Striped Bass. mussels in the stomachs of Blue catfish on the Arkansas River. I almost always put in around Spring Creek, or Pontiac. The meat of this species is reputedly one of the most delicious of all Arkansas game fish. These are best fished using topwater baits and when the weather is cool and cloudy. Bull Shoals Lake is known for its clear, deep waters. Restrictions. Anglers target a variety of fish along the rocky shorelines throughout the lake. Smallmouth Bass, 15, so theyll have a chance to spawn and get through the brooding period when they Go fishing! If you want to target even bigger catfish, try fishing for blue catfish or flathead catfish. Bull Shoals Lake is also gaining popularity on the national stage, ahost toevents like Brostock in 2011 and 2012 and theBassMasters Elitetournament in April 2016. This region has plenty of places to stay, boat rentalsand restaurants so you can plan a trip here, but dont expect to find bigger towns with tons of stores. Jigs and live bait are quite effective at luring this species. Pontiac is on the Little North Fork River arm. 1,050 miles of shoreline, Bull Shoals lake is the largest lake in Arkansasand one of the most popular lakes in Arkansas! Removing the 15-inch minimum length limit for largemouth bass on Big Lake. We have now organized our main site into 300 plus websites to make it easier for you to learn more about the fish you want to catch and the places you want to visit. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. Flatheads and Largemouth bass have the greatest gape (open mouth size) to body size successful even in the clear, bass-heavy waters of the Arkansas Ozarks. View Bull Shoals Boat Dock Fishing Report Anglers wanting locations of the lake's brush structures can visit the MO Fishing App for smartphones or download coordinates to your sonar unit from MDC's MO Fishing Interactive Map on the website. . Bull Shoals Lake is an awesome multi-species fishing lake. There are a lot of other species of fish in this lake. Any help would be great. In the summer and fall, you can usually have some success by fishing the main lake points that jump out to deeper water fairly quickly. JUGS!! This is when they are most likely to spawn. Fishing for them can be quite challenging, but they do tend to follow bait fish over a considerable distance. Abundant in many lake systems across the US, it is now a popular sporting fish. Catfish fishing is good year around, even in the dead of winter. Crankbaits, jigs, plastic worms, and spinner baits are common lures to use here for bass. In the summer and fall, it is a little more predictable as the better bite will usually be in deeper water out on the main lake as well in some of the creek arms too. Multiple marinas and boat rental options are conveniently located around the lake. Black Crappie, The shoreline wood cover usually holds a variety of bass and panfish, especially during the spring. Bull Shoals can be confusing. (Facts & Advice), Why Cant Freshwater Fish Live in Saltwater? Its combination of open grassland, forested knobs, steep rocky hillsides, and narrow drainages offers unusual beauty and a measure of solitude within easy reach of wilderness lovers. There are no length limits for white bass, yellow bass, or their hybrids. Walleye and sauger: minimum 18" White Bass: Good They play a central role in the food chain as they consume insects, leeches, crustaceans, fish eggs, and juvenile fish. I would head up the arm toward the 160 bridge. As many of the fish transition back out to the main lake once the spawn is completed, these points can also be very productive. Fourteen were brown trout, the rest rainbows on day 1. These successful recruitment years will provide good fishing opportunities now and in future years. AGFC guidebooks contain an interpretive summary of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's hunting and fishing regulations and covers only the regulations that most commonly affect hunters and anglers. Fluorocarbon line or at the very least, a fluorocarbon leader will help get more bites too. Spotted Bass, Largemouth Bass, Wakeboarding, skiing, and tubing are perfect on Bull Shoals Lake, with low boating traffic and wide channels. September 12, 2022 by Brent Pollock. Detailed Lake Information: Type of Lake: Hilland. Plenty of big fish on the fish finder at 5 - 15 feet, but nothing wated our bluegill. The Bull Shoals Dam, which is an enormous structure in Northern Arkansas, was built in 1947 - 1951 to produce hydroelectric power and prevent flooding. Originally anadromous, several striped bass populations have become landlocked due to dam construction. Thanks so much all of you guys for your help, Its sure going to make my short trip a lot easier, and hopefully a lot more productive. the Reservoir, Bluegill, channel catfish, largemouth bass are proven stocking combination that provides both food and sport-fishing. Beautiful, quiet coves are abundant, and the fish are too! large minnows are effective. Flatheads inhabit pools in streams and are found throughout the lakes. For many anglers, fishing for suspended bass and panfish 20 feet down over 50 feet of water may seem like a waste of time. Bull Shoals Dam was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1951. You guys have any advise? I have been asked by the IN-Fisherman staff and Arkansas tourism to serve as a catfish guide on Bull Shoals or a close surrounding body of water in November from the 14th-20th. This There was a definite slump in action late last week when the weather pattern shifted from 20 mph winds to hot and flat calm. to have the lake 30' above full pool and yet the Corps of Engineers is still holding water back. It is a large-bodied species that can grow as long as 60 inches (152 cm) and weigh as much as 120 pounds (54 kg). They are a pure carnivore, eating almost nothing that is not We offer real-time climate data, weather forecasts, and alerts, as well as information on the best recreation spots nearby. High water levels throughout 2020, 2021, and 2022 also produced substantial year classes of largemouth bass and spotted bass, but anglers will have to wait a few more years before these fish reach 15 inches and 12 inches in length, respectively. Water Type: clear There are also lots of Hybrid, Smallmouth, Spotted, Striped (Striper), and White Bass. Channel catfish reproduction. This tough species favors the calm and cool conditions in deep pools around the lake. Also referred to as bream or copper nose, bluegill is another member of the perch family. We were shocked to have such a strong bite with such low water flow. The areas that have large schools of shad will usually be the spots that hold good numbers of bass and other fish too. SCUBA divers often find Flatheads MOYAK Mondays 7!! Channel catfish are omnivorous generally feeding along the bottom. alive. Crappie: 10" minimum, On the lake and its tributaries: Ozark, Taney, Christian, and Douglas Striped Bass, Walleye, Catfish, Crappie, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout & Brown Trout. Tim "Hotdawg" Curtis has been a fishing guide since 1974, so he knows the best spots to catch bass, walleye, catfish and bream on Bull Shoals Lake and the White River. Rainbow trout is an anadromous species that must venture into the ocean to spawn in the final years of its life. Bull Shoals Lake is an awesome multi-species fishing lake. This fascinating fish can live for as long as 30 years, making it one of the most long-lived freshwater species in North America. Whether you fish the main lake shorelines or the creeks, there are a lot of fish that relate to the shorelines here. It, too, is nationally known for its excellent bass fishing. While this lakes water can stain quite a bit during heavy rains, the lake clears up with underwater visibility 20 to 30 feet. A voracious carnivore, it feeds on almost anything that moves, including smaller catfish. Bull Shoals is a great lake and don't let 1 short trip form an opinion. native to the Arkansas Ozarks streams. we need a good trip. Flatheads MOYAK Mondays 7! 15 inches are rare to use here for bass it, i will sure our. 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