As of Monday, Millwood Lake is approx 3 feet above normal conservation pool, rising rapidly from recent thunderstorms currently near 262.5 ft-msl; and the discharge around 16,000 CFS in Little River according to the USACE. The tailwater below the dam and gates, as of Monday is around 245 ft-msl with 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 high flow river conditions. Use extreme caution in Little River navigation this week where logs and debris fields are present in the high river flow current conditions this week.


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 now being installed to complete marking Little River from mile marker 2 through mile 9.


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 47ºF early to 52ºF range later under full sun, depending on location. Continue to use caution in navigation on Little River and Millwood watching for stumps, random broken, or floating timber in Little River are in effect. Clarity continues improving in the oxbows with the river receding. Little River is heavy stain, moderate current, and with random broken timber and debris.


Stain increased again with recent thunderstorms and wind, increased current in Little River over the past few days, and Monday on main lake structure away from current, clarity & visibility is heavy stain, ranging approx 3-5 inches. Little River's visibility ranges 2-3 inches with current & heavy stain, depending on location and current. The oxbow's clarity currently ranging approx 10-20 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: What a difference a week and thunderstorms make on Millwood! Recent thunderstorms and high wind have muddied up the main lake and Little River, and with the 3 foot rise in 2-3 days, the Bass are scattered. Last week, Squarebill crankbaits, Rat-L-Traps, Chatterbaits, and Spinnerbaits were working, mainly on shallow, roaming Bass. Rat-L-Traps, MR-6, Echo 1.75, and Little John cranks, were getting decent responses over the past few weeks. Anywhere a creek channel is close by to the deeper creek bends or vertical structure and drops into the oxbows, where stumps and creek mouths drop, have held some decent sized bass over the past several weeks. Seems like over the past few days, the feeding mechanism turns on like a light switch, and shuts off almost as quickly during the heat of the afternoon, best from 12pm-3pm. With the recent 3-4' rapid rise from thunderstorms, those Bass have scattered and picked up a case of lockjaw for a couple days. They were playing hard to get with us over the past week compared to the week before.


RatLTrap MR-6 or Echo 1.75 medium diving cranks in Millwood Magic, Sunburst Shad, or Red Chrome and Craw colors were getting best reactions over the past several weeks, and Bass anglers have been able to find and hook into a nice mixed school of Largemouth and White Bass for the past couple weeks in McGuire Lake and Horseshoe Lake oxbows, up Little River. Majority of these roaming Bass were suspending near vertical structure for many hours of the day, and turn on like a light switch for a few hours under the warmest 2-3 hours of daylight, from 5-9 feet depth with 12-48 feet of depth nearby.


Cordell or Kastmaster spoons, were connecting with vertical suspended Bass from 10-15 feet, when the water clarity was much better last week.


White Bass: Whites were roaming the oxbows of Little River, at creek dumps into the oxbows or connect with the river. Rat-L-Trap Tail Spinners in Millwood Magic, or Splatterback colors, Bomber 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 and near vertical structure. Best Little John crankbait colors were the Millwood Magic, Splatterback, 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. A few Whites were biting in Horseshoe this week, near the back few creek dumps into the oxbow, where the water clarity was much better further from Little River muddy current.


Spotted Bass/Kentuckies: For several weeks, Kentucky Bass have been roaming with the Largemouths chasing Shad. Spin-tail Rat-L-Traps, and Millwood Magic colors were catching some Spotted bass from 2-3 pounds over the past couple weeks, near creek mouth junctions and points in the oxbows along Little River. Rat-L-Traps and Tail Spin Traps continue randomly catching these aggressive feeding Spots, although most are adolescents for the past couple to 3 weeks. The Spotted Bass were not feeding as aggressively over the past few weeks as the Whites.

Crappie: The Crappie were holding near standing timber in the oxbows when clarity had improved for several weeks. With the Little River on a muddy rise, and the unseasonably warm weather, the Crappie have scattered. The oxbows were giving up nice 2-2.5lb Crappie where they were biting jigs and minnows near standing timber 2 weeks before. Now, they have seemed to spread horizontally, with Millwood on a rapid 3 foot rise over the past few days have slowed the bite. Chartreuse jigs were working initially, but as the clarity has improved, a smoke colored Cordell Grub on a jig was markedly better a few weeks ago, and minnows were working by vertical jigging near standing timber in Horseshoe.


Cats: Improved on trot lines in Little River with the increased current. Two guys we spoke to earlier, were catching good 3-4 pound Channel Cats and Hi Fin Blues on trotlines from 8-12 feet deep using chicken livers, gizzards, and cottonseed mill cake.






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




Millwood Lake is now approx 3 feet above normal conservation pool with high, muddy current in Little River due to recent thunderstorms and 4" rain, currently near 262.5 ft-msl; and the discharge around 16,000 CFS in Little River according to the USACE. The tailwater below the dam and gates, as of Monday is around 245 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. The Little River current condition with high discharge rates mandates extreme caution in Little River navigation this week where logs and debris fields are present in the high river flow current conditions, watching for broken timber, random limbs and floaters.


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 are set to be replaced said the USACE.


Surface temps as of Monday, are ranging in the 47ºF early to 52ºF 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 in Little River is muddy with high flow rates. As of Monday on main lake structure away from current, clarity & visibility ranges approx 3-5 inches. Little River's visibility with current, is improving, the river clarity ranges 2-3 inches depending on location and current. The oxbow's clarity currently ranging approx 10-15 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. The oxbows are better near the back, and Little River with high discharge rates and current is muddy. Use extreme caution navigating Little River.

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!!




'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!!


30+ 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!