• 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

    As of Tuesday, Millwood Lake is approx 13" above normal conservation pool currently near 260.3 ft-msl; and the discharge around 8,600 CFS in Little River according to the USACE. The tailwater below the dam and gates, as of Tuesday is around 235 ft-msl with good discharge at the gates & dam. Be sure and check the most recent lake level of Millwood Lake on our website helpful link page, or at the US Army Corps of Engineers website for updated gate release changes and inflow rates with rising and falling lake levels, especially during drawdown conditions.


    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 and NUMEROUS RIVER BUOYS are MISSING along Little River from Paraloma Trail to main lake clear-cut.


    USACE recently replaced 19 missing buoy markers on Little River from Yarborough Point to Paraloma Trail, USE CAUTION where river buoys are still missing! 25 more river buoys are on order to complete marking Little River.


    NO-WAKE ZONES are in effect and marked with no-wake river buoys at White Cliffs Campground boat ramp on Little River.


    Surface temps as of Monday, are ranging near 53ºF early to 60ºF range later under full sun, depending on location, and we expect that to drop rapidly over the coming week if the cold fronts slam us again. Continue to use caution in navigation on Little River and Millwood watching for stumps, random broken, or floating timber with high flow rates in Little River are in effect. Clarity consistent from last week, muddy lines are pushing daily into the oxbows. Little River is muddy with rapid current, and worse further up river with random broken timber and logs and debris.


    More stain increased with current in Little River over the past couple weeks, and Monday on main lake structure away from current, clarity & visibility is moderate stain, ranging approx 3-5 inches. Little River's visibility ranges 0-2 inches with current & heavy stain, depending on location and current. The oxbow's clarity currently ranging approx 10-12 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 Trey Shelton 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 about drawdown conditions, Millwood Lake project work, or to report/inquire regarding safety or navigation hazards directly to the US Army Corps of Engineers Tri Lakes Project Office at Millwood.

    The Details:


    Largemouth Bass: Millwood Mayhem continues this week! Bass are still biting with a frenzy and the Largemouth, White Bass, and Kentucky Bass continue fall frenzy feeding. If anything, the cold snap we were hit with last week appears to have kicked the feeding bite into a higher gear this week because the all the Bass are feeding aggressively and biting almost any crankbait or RatLTrap you can throw at them as fast as you can throw it! Its a great time to take a kid fishing on Millwood! Nice, fat, chunky Largemouth Bass continue chasing and busting shad over the past week with cooler temps during early morning, the overall surface activity improved in the pads and on shallow flats adjacent to creek channel swings. Bass continue moving in an out of lily pad stands chasing shad and blowing up with abandon on Bass Assassin Shads, Chrome Johnson Spoons with a 3" grub in pearl, white, or snow storm trailer. This shallow, lily pad bite can break into a frenzy in several different areas at the same time. When bass begin chasing and breaking on shad into the lily pads can be mayhem. The Largemouths, Kentucky's and Whites are following these schools of shad and chasing them at the surface again with improved consistency over the past few weeks. Squarebill crankbaits like the Echo 1.75 in shad patterns and Ghost Minnow, Rat-L-Traps, and Bomber Fat Free Frys, Shads, and Fat Free Guppys continue catching these schooled up Bass. We caught several doubles simultaneously, multiple times on Little John cranks, Rat-L-Traps, Echo 1.75's, and Squarebills like the photo attached over the past few weeks. Good lily pad stands remain in Mud Lake, McGuire Lake, and Horseshoe Lake. Anywhere a creek channel is close by to the deeper creek bends with lily pads, have held good chunky bass willing to blow up, chasing shad in the lily pads, and exploding on a Bass Assassin or a weedless spoon on these cooler mornings over the past several weeks.


    Over the past week, the schooling Bass are in the rear part of Horseshoe and McGuire Lake, with random surface breaking, mostly adolescents and juvenile Bass and tons of fun for kids. Cordell Crazy Shads, Heddon Spit'n Image, and Rat-l-Trap Stuttersteps are working again on the morning schooling Bass when surface breaking. Mostly, juvenile Bass, have been randomly breaking for 30-60 seconds at a time, in rear of several oxbows up Little River. When the Bass are not surface breaking, you can still locate the large schools on your electronics where you see huge clouds of shad. These large schools of juveniles and adolescent Kentucky Bass and Largemouths, when not surface feeding on shad, can still be caught randomly using Bomber Fat Free Shads and Fat Free Frys, in Tennessee Shad or Citrus Shad colors, Cordell hammered spoons, tail spinner Rat-L-Traps, and a 3/4oz War Eagle Underspins using a 3-4" pearl or white grub trailer.


    RatLTrap MR-6 or Echo 1.75 medium diving cranks in Millwood Magic, Threadfin Shad, or Louisiana Shad colors and Bomber Fat Free Shads, Fry's, and Guppys continue getting reactions over the past several weeks, on the fringes of large schools of juvenile Black and White Bass chasing Shad in the mouths of creek dumps into the oxbows. Bass anglers should be able to find and hook into a nice mixed school of Largemouth and White Bass for the past couple weeks by trolling crankbaits in McGuire Lake and Horseshoe Lake oxbows, up Little River. Trolling medium to medium-deep, crankbaits from 6-12 feet deep, will connect with large, mixed-bag schools of Black and White Bass. Once you locate a large blob or school of shad on your electronics, that is a good place to begin slow trolling crankbaits from 30-40 yards behind the boat. Most of these schooled up Bass are suspending under the Shad from 10-15 feet deep.


    War Eagle Underspins, Heddon Rattling Sonar, or Heddon Gay Blade will be able to cast and reach any surface breaking Bass that may randomly appear.


    White Bass: Whites continue roaming and schooling up with juvenile Largemouths and Spotted Bass following shad in Little River at creek dumps and the oxbows at dawn, most surface breaking diminished over the past couple weeks in Horseshoe and McGuire Lakes in the oxbows up Little River. Rat-L-Trap Tail Spinners, Bomber Fat Free Shads, Fingerlings, and Fat Free Guppy cranks in Tennessee Shad or Citrus Shad were catching a mixed bag of Bass following schools of shad along both sides of points extending into the oxbows where stumps present. Best colors were the Millwood Magic, Citrus Shad, and Louisiana Shad colors over the past couple weeks. Some mouths of creek dumps held very large schools of Whites and Kentucky Bass over the past several weeks.


    Spotted Bass/Kentuckies: For several weeks, juvenile and adolescent Kentucky Bass have been roaming and schooled up with the Largemouths and White Bass chasing Shad. Spin-tail Rat-L-Traps, Bomber Fat Free Frys, and Fat Free Shads in Citrus Shad or Tennessee Shad colors were catching some Spotted bass from 1-2 pounds over the past couple weeks, near creek mouth junctions and points in the oxbows along Little River, away from muddy increased flow rates. Millwood Magic Rat-L-Traps and Tail Spin Traps continue catching nice bag of these aggressive feeding Spots, although most are adolescents for the past couple to 3 weeks.

    Crappie: The Crappie in the river have scattered over the past couple weeks with the increased current and muddy inflow in Little River, but in the back of the oxbow lakes along Little River, the Crappie are recovering, and biting jigs and minnows near standing timber where water clarity is much better. Blue/white, white/chartreuse, or blue/chartreuse jigs, and minnows were getting bit again over the past week, vertical jigging near standing timber in Horseshoe.


    Cats: Improved over the past week with the increased current in Little River. Hanging yoyo's, jug lines and noodles in oxbows like Horseshoe on Little River and White Cliffs Campground were working early in the week, best in the afternoon, using blood bait, Punch Baits, or chicken livers.






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




    Millwood Lake is now approx 12 inches above normal conservation pool currently near 260.3 ft-msl; and the discharge around 8,600 CFS in Little River according to the USACE. The tailwater below the dam and gates, as of Monday is around 235 ft-msl. Be sure and check the most recent lake level of Millwood Lake on our website helpful link page, or at the US Army Corps of Engineers website for updated gate release changes and inflow rates with rising and falling lake levels, especially during drawdown conditions.


    USE 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 and NUMBERS of MISSING RIVER BUOYS ARE STILL ABSENT FROM YARBOROUGH TO TO THE CLEARCUT ON OPEN WATER!


    USACE recently replaced 19 river buoy markers from Yarborough Point to Paraloma Trail. Use caution in Little River where buoys are yet to be replaced.


    25 More River buoy markers remain on order to complete marking Little River from Paraloma to the clear cut in open water in front of the dam, and should be completed soon.


    Surface temps as of Monday, are ranging in the 53ºF early to 60ºF late in the day, depending on location.


    Wear your life jacket and kill switch and watch for obstructions, floaters, broken limbs, logs, and debris along Little River during navigation. NO-WAKE ZONES are in effect at White Cliffs Campground on Little River.

    Clarity and visibility moderate stain, but muddy further up river. As of Monday on main lake structure away from current, clarity & visibility ranges approx 3-5 inches. Little River's visibility with current, is muddy up river, the river clarity ranges 0-2 inches depending on location and current. The oxbow's clarity currently ranging approx 10-12 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. Mud lines are pushing into the oxbows and the lake is still rising as of Monday.

    Be sure to note, NO WAKE ZONE marked and in affect on Little River at White Cliffs Campground, is being enforced by AGFC.


    To volunteer for one of the cleanup dates or ramp and USACE park information, contact Trey Shelton 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 AGFC Florida Bass Stocking Program photos, 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!!






    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!!


    29+ 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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