• Millwood Lake Fishing Report - AR

    Millwood Lake Guide Service
    (870) 772-6840 http://www.millwoodguideservice.com/index.html MillwoodLakeGSvc@aol.com
  • Millwood Lake Guide Service has been featured numerous times on the popular TV show Fishing Country with Charlie Pack. We guide for Largemouth bass, White bass, Kentucky bass, and Crappie. Since 1990, Millwood Lake Guide Service has supported and worked with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and The US Army Corps of Engineers regularly, Catch and Release Foundation, Black Bass Federation and Restoration Projects

  • Millwood Lake Fishing Report - AR

    The Overall Picture:


    As of Monday, 17 September, Millwood Lake remains in 24" drawdown pool; lake level is currently slowly rising, at approx 12 inches below normal conservation pool and lake level (as of Monday) at 258.1 ft-msl; and the discharge was between 168-200 CFS for Little River, Monday, according to the USACE. The tailwater below the dam and gates, as of Monday is stable with gate release, approx 224 ft-msl, with gates releasing near 170CFS. Water temps have jumped over the past week. Be sure and check the most recent lake level of Millwood Lake on our website helpful links page, or at the US Army Corps of Engineers website for updated gate release changes and inflow rates with rising and falling lake levels and conditions while the Corps of Engineers drawdown is in effect. This 24" reduction of normal pool elevation is bringing stumps and broken timber to, and very near surface pool. Use extreme caution in navigation during ongoing drawdown conditions on Millwood. Statement from the USACE indicates as follows:





    ASHDOWN, Ark., – The Army Corps of Engineers will begin a drawdown of Millwood Lake July 16 in an effort to improve shoreline vegetation. The lake will be held near elevation 257.2 until late August, at that time the lake will be permitted to rise as conditions allow, with the target to be back to conservation pool, elevation 259.2, by the end of October. During the drawdown, boaters should exercise extreme caution and always wear a life jacket because submerged stumps and shallow areas will be more prominent, especially in boat lanes. The drawdown exposes an extensive amount of shoreline for re-vegetation; promoting water quality, habitat for wintering waterfowl and fish production. Additionally it concentrates prey fish for predator consumption, promoting growth and production for larger fish. The drawdown was requested by the Southwest Arkansas Water District from their consumptive storage in coordination with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
    For more information on Millwood Lake and the drawdown contact the Millwood Project Office at 870-898-3343.


    ***Be Advised, there are at least 2 BROKEN, MISSING, or DAMAGED BOAT LANE MARKERS ON THE NORTH END OF "LITTLE GAS LINE TO HIGHLINE BOAT LANE" FROM RECENT FLOOD DAMAGE. USE EXTREME CAUTION IN THE UPPER END OF THE BOAT LANE FROM THE HIGH LINE TO THE LITTLE GAS LINE CUTOFF AND WATCH FOR MISSING OR DAMAGED TELEPHONE POLE LANE MARKERS.***

    NO-WAKE ZONES are in effect at White Cliffs Campground on Little River, and marked with No-Wake buoys.


    Surface temps as of Monday, are ranging near 83ºF early to 87ºF range later under full sun, depending on location. Continue to use caution in navigation on Little River and Millwood watching for random, broken, or floating timber.


    Clarity and visibility continue improving over the past week, but remain stained in places, especially up river. As of Monday on main lake structure away from current, clarity & visibility is moderate stain, ranging approx 10-15 inches. Little River's visibility ranges 10-12 inches with heavy to moderate stain, depending on location and current. The oxbow's clarity currently ranging approx 20-30 inches depth of visibility depending on location. Clarity and visibility can change dramatically on Millwood in just a few hours with high winds, rain, or thunderstorms.


    To volunteer for one of the cleanup dates or ramp and USACE park information, contact Tony Porter at the Millwood Tri-Lakes Project Office. To receive project updates, daily lake level information updates, gate release flows, tailwater information, park and campground information, or volunteer, call the US Army Corps of Engrs toll-free Millwood Project information line at 888-697-9830 or the US Army Corps of Engineers' main number to verify another Corp of Engineers project is open, at 877-444-6777. Call the Millwood State Park at 870-898-2800. Call the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for an officer, biologist, or to report AGFC regulation violation at 800-482-9262. Also reach the US Corps of Engineers at 870-898-3343 for more information.

    The Details: Millwood Lake is a HOT SPOT!! Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, and White Bass all continue randomly schooling on Millwood Lake!! Watch for 3-5 or more of the white Egrets standing on pads, stumps, and cover in 4-9 foot deep flats. These Egrets are picking off the leaping shad bouncing on top of lily pads while the bass chase the shad in the flats from 4-7' deep! Find those Egrets, and the topwater schoolers, & buck bass are not far away! The Egrets are simply waiting their turn when the bass force the Threadfin Shad up into the shallow flats with nowhere to go except up and over the lily pads. When these bass run the shad out of cover and depth, the shad can be seen bouncing on top of lily pads for several seconds at a time. The Egrets are picking them off and letting the junvenile bass do all their work for them! Its a feedbag fiesta near mid morning where you find groups of these Egrets patiently waiting on their mid morning breakfast catered to them by the bass!! Most of these buck bass are only 2-3 pounds but tons of fun to fight in the lily pads!


    Largemouth Bass: More Bass continue randomly schooling in Little River and its Oxbows over the past couple weeks. Early morning is most definitely best bite for top water blow ups. We continue to find schools of bass surface breaking on shad throughout mid morning. Of course, the dawn and early morning will yield most aggressive top water explosions. More Bass are surface feeding in Little River, running shad to the surface, and in adjacent shallow flats to deeper ditches, creek channels, and points along the river. The Largemouth Bass, Kentucky Bass, and a few White Bass continue randomly surface schooling on shad in Little River and McGuire Lake, along Little River for the past couple weeks, random in nature, and near mid morning, in the oxbows over deep water from 15-20 feet, and also a few of the flats from 5-9' in lily pads and vegetation. We continue finding numerous schools of Largemouths, Kentuckies (Spots), and White Bass at mouths of creeks dumping into Little River on points, ranging from 5-10 feet deep with pads. Bass remain active at daylight up to 2 or 3 pounds. Surface feeding activity levels taper off except for the random schooling fish and we are finding them more frequent in occurrence the past few weeks, and longer in duration with the daylight hours reducing, over the past week. Best baits drawing topwater reactions, at early morning, over the past couple weeks continue to be Heddon Spitn' Images, Cordell Crazy Shads, Baby Torpedoes, Stuttersteps, Rat-L-Traps, and Bass Assassin Shads at dawn near pads and vegetation. Buzzbait and Chatterbait colors drawing best reactions lately continue to be Firecracker or Shad Candy. The Cordell Crazy Shads, Jitterbugs, H&H Spinnerbaits, Baby Torpedoes, RatLTraps, and Bass Assassin Shads continue working near the vegetation and lily pads. The surface schooling Bass are showing up randomly along Little River's creek dumps and the oxbow lakes most days, mid-late morning. 1/4 to 1/2 oz Rat-L-Traps in Millwood Magic, Ghost, Holographic Transparent Shad, Livin Chrome, and most any shad pattern are catching these schoolers breaking surface on shad, along with fast moving Chrome Johnson Silver Minnow Spoons with a white grub trailer over tops of the lily pads, Rocket Shads, Hammered Cordell spoons, Rooster Tails, and H&H Spinnerbaits skipped and retrieved quickly, for the surface breaking fish. Majority of these surface breakers are the younger buck bass, adolescents and juveniles from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds in size. These surface feeders are huge time to get kids interested in fishing, while the action is hot. When you see these surface breakers inside the vegetation and lily pads, throw a H&H Spinnerbait, Bass Assassin Shad, or Johnson Chrome Silver Minnow Spoon with a white grub trailer on the back. We are getting great reactions to those baits inside the vegetation where crankbaits would normally hang up in vegetation, and the shad are bouncing on the top of Lily Pads trying to make their escape! HINT: Watch for the white Egrets standing in groups of 3-4 or more, for some fast and wild action with the surface schooling Bass!!


    After the topwater activity diminishes, a fairly good bite has been found for several weeks by medium depth-running (5' to 9' deep) Rat-L-Traps, Fat Free Shad crankbaits or squarebill crankbaits, 2.0 & 3.0 & S-cranks, Echo 1.75's, to draw a few good random reactions by deflecting and banging/deflecting them off stumps, from 8-10 feet deep in creek channels and points. The bass from 2-3 pounds are randomly responding to crankbaits in shad colors. Best color of cranks in the oxbows, like the 2.0 S-cranks, and Echo 1.75 squarebills, for the past couple weeks or so have been the Millwood Magic, and Ghosts. Increasing size up to a 3/4 oz Rat-L-Trap, fished much slower and deeper will draw a few random hits during late mornings in creek channels and across points converging with Little River. Best colors of Traps over the past week or so have been Millwood Magic and White Smoke. The Squarebills, S-cranks, and Echo 1.75 cranks and shallow running crankbaits in shad, and ghost colors, and Fat Free Shads, Fat Free Guppys, and Fat Free Frys in Tennessee Shad and Citrus Shad colors are working near creek mouths and points extending into Little River for the past week or so. Working the cranks in a stop and go, slow retrieve will draw a better reaction than fast retrieves. After the dawn shallow bite, the drawdown currently in process has pulled Largemouths to creek mouths and points in junction with Little River.

    Bass Assassin Shads in Molting, Grey Ghost, Salt & Pepper Silver Phantom, and Bad to the Bone colors continue working for the past couple weeks near creek channels with stumps, lily pads, and vegetation. Magnum Tubes like Gitzits, over the past couple weeks have been working on stumps with best reactions on Black & Blue tail, Pumpkinseed/Chartreuse tail, or Bluegill colors. Bass Assassin Skunk Apes are working in creeks from 8-10 feet deep on stumps. Best color of Skunk Apes over the past week has been the Houdini or Hillbilly Special color.

    After 9-10 am early topwater bite, switching to medium diving cranks, or a big, bulky, 10"-12" worm and the Skunk Apes, around stumps on points and deeper in the creeks, will draw a few reactions from feeding Largemouth Bass, and on points dumping into Little River, and secondary points along Little River. Berkley Power worms, and Zoom Ole Monster 10"-12" worms in June-Bug/Red, Black, Blue Fleck, Red Shad, Junebug colors continue drawing random reactions from Largemouths along steeper vertical washouts, ledges, and stairsteps along Little River and near creek mouth junctions, points, and intersecting feeder creeks dumping into Little River.

    Vertical jigging spoons are still working with Kentucky (Spotted) bass and schools of Largemouths in Little River behind points and washouts. Schools of Kentuckies and Largemouths feeding on river shad, will hit vertical jigged spoons with abandon, once the topwater bite subsides late in the morning. We have been using Cotton Cordell hammered spoons over the past couple weeks, with added bucktails. Some mornings a white bucktail is best, and seems like cloudy mornings that a red bucktail works better. Between Jack's Isle and Hurricane Creek along Little River, in 10-15 foot of depth where broken timber and stumps are located, will find the most aggressive spoon-bass feeders. Hurricane creek had some spoon feeding bass early over the past few weeks, near mid-morning, and surface schooling Kentucky Bass and White Bass several days where bends of creeks contained deeper water in the 10-15 feet depth range.


    White Bass: Whites have been randomly schooling on surface feeding shad in Little River with the Largemouths and Kentucky Bass, and are fair to good on Fat Free Shads, Rat-L-Traps, Cordell Hammered Spoons with red/white bucktails, and Rocket Shads.


    Crappie: Improved over the past week from 8-13 feet of depth on minnows, shiners, and vertically jigging Crappie tubes in red/white, blue/white, or Cordell paddle tail grubs in smoke colors.

    Cats: Channel and Blue cats from 3-4 pounds continue biting up Little River on yo-yos hung from Cypress trees using cut bait (gizzard shad, buffalo, or gar), chicken livers and homemade blood baits for a couple weeks.





    }><(((º> Lake Level & River Conditions Report <º)))><{

    Millwood Lake is currently in 24" pool reduction drawdown by USACE, and currently elevation is 12" below normal conservation pool and slowly rising. Use extreme caution navigation on Millwood Lake during 24" drawdown conditions.

    **** Be Advised, there are at least 2 BROKEN, MISSING, or DAMAGED BOAT LANE MARKERS ON THE "LITTLE GAS LINE TO HIGHLINE BOAT LANE" FROM RECENT FLOOD DAMAGE. USE EXTREME CAUTION IN THE UPPER END OF THE BOAT LANE FROM THE HIGH LINE TO THE LITTLE GAS LINE CUTOFF AND WATCH FOR MISSING OR DAMAGED TELEPHONE POLE LANE MARKERS.


    Surface temps as of Monday, are ranging in the 83ºF early to 87ºF range, depending on location and time of day.

    Lake elevation Drawdown on Millwood Lake began last week for a 24" reduction in normal pool surface through late August. Note Statement from USACE:

    ASHDOWN, Ark., – The Army Corps of Engineers will begin a drawdown of Millwood Lake July 16 in an effort to improve shoreline vegetation.
    The lake will be held near elevation 257.2 until late August, at that time the lake will be permitted to rise as conditions allow, with the target to be back to conservation pool, elevation 259.2, by the end of October.
    During the drawdown, boaters should exercise extreme caution and always wear a life jacket because submerged stumps and shallow areas will be more prominent, especially in boat lanes.
    The drawdown exposes an extensive amount of shoreline for re-vegetation; promoting water quality, habitat for wintering waterfowl and fish production. Additionally it concentrates prey fish for predator consumption, promoting growth and production for larger fish. The drawdown was requested by the Southwest Arkansas Water District from their consumptive storage in coordination with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
    For more information on Millwood Lake and the drawdown contact the Millwood Project Office at 870-898-3343.

    Exercise EXTREME CAUTION on Millwood Lake during the 24" drawdown now in process, as this will bring stumps, broken timber, and debris near surface, especially in some of the more shallow creek channels, and boat lanes across the main lake.


    Lake level as of Monday approx 12" inches BELOW normal conservation pool, at 258.1 ft-msl and rising (as of Monday) with current and discharge near 168 CFS in 24" drawdown, as of Monday. Normal consv. pool is 259.2 feet. The tailwater level as of Monday, approx 224 ft-msl with gates releasing near 168CFS. Wear your life jacket and kill switch and watch for obstructions, floaters, broken limbs, logs, and debris along Little River during navigation. New NO-WAKE ZONE in effect at White Cliffs Campground on the river, and marked with river buoys. Be advised, no tolerance of boat wakes within the marked area, is being enforced by AGFC along the river.

    Clarity and visibility is improving, moderate stain, but muddy further up river. As of Monday on main lake structure away from current, clarity & visibility ranges approx 10-15 inches. Little River's visibility is muddy up river, but improving further down to the main lake, the river clarity ranges 10-12 inches depending on location and current. The oxbow's clarity currently ranging approx 20-30 inches depth of visibility depending on location. Little River above McGuire oxbow is rolling muddy with current. Clarity and visibility can change dramatically on Millwood in just a few hours with high winds, rain, or thunderstorms.


    To volunteer for one of the cleanup dates or ramp and USACE park information, contact Tony Porter at the Millwood Tri-Lakes Project Office. To receive project updates, daily lake level information updates, gate release flows, tailwater information, park and campground information, or volunteer, call the US Army Corps of Engrs toll-free information line at 888-697-9830 or the US Army Corps of Engineers' main number to verify another Corps of Engrs project is open, at 877-444-6777.


    Wear your Life Jacket and kill switch!! If you are suddenly or unexpectedly thrown from your boat, it could be your only chance of survival. Use caution navigating Little River in low light conditions, SLOW DOWN, and pass friendly to other boaters! As always, careful watch for any random floaters and debris in Little River's current, and wearing your PFD and kill switch is a requirement!


    Visit with us on our website, YouTube, and on Facebook, for the most current Millwood Lake fishing and water conditions report, updated weekly. See some great catch and release photos, sponsor links, tons of great information and resources on the lake available to you, along with excellent related direct links to Arkansas' State Parks, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Black Bass Program, The US Army Corps of Engineers, Arkansas.com and tons more great fishing stuff....


    Use extreme caution in navigation, wear your life jacket and let us know how we can help you GET OUT THERE!




    'Get The Net.............




    Mike Siefert
    Owner/Operator
    www.MillwoodGuideService.com
    P.O.Box 4957
    Texarkana, AR/TX/USA 75505-4957
    Shop: 870-772-6840


    "Your fun we take seriously, so you don't have to!"


    """"""""GOFISH""""<º)))><{{"""""""""""

    "Some Photos courtesy, Jason Sealock"
    Thanks for your interest in
    Millwood Lake Guide Service ~ Arkansas' Best Bass Fishing!


    """"""""GOFISH""""<º)))><{{"""""""""""


    Come see what all the excitement's about! Southwest Arkansas' best bassin' getaway! Watch our videos on Youtube and FaceBook by searching keywords: Millwood Lake Guide Service!!
    28+ years in the professional guide business on Millwood Lake since 1990, and over 5 million Florida Bass stocked by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission! Let us help YOU, GET OUT THERE!
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