The Overall Picture:


As of Monday, Millwood Lake is back on a slow rise from recent 2-3" rain and thunderstorms. Millwood Lake is currently approx 10 inches above normal conservation pool, near 260.0 ft-msl; and the discharge around 17,000 CFS in Little River according to the USACE. The tailwater below the dam and gates, as of Monday remains around 245 ft-msl with discharge. 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.


Wilton Landing on Little River Highway 71 and White Cliffs boat-ramp on Little River, along with Saratoga boat ramp have recently reopened by the USACE from recent flooding. Millwood State Park and Marina are also open for day use.


Continue to use extreme caution in Little River navigation this week where logs and floaters may be present this week.


25 more river buoys have been replaced marking Little River from mile marker 2 through mile 9, use caution where river current may have moved or damaged river buoys.


NO-WAKE ZONES are in effect at White Cliffs Campground boat ramp on Little River.


Surface temps dropped this week with arrival of late cold fronts and as of Monday, are ranging between 55ºF early to 63ºF 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 in Little River are in effect. Clarity in the oxbows is improving. Little River stain is consistent this week, muddy in locations near Cossatot inflow and Wilton, with increase of current, and with random broken timber and debris.


Clarity consistent in the back of the oxbows, slowly improving this week. Clarity & visibility along Little River worsened with recent thunderstorms. The oxbow's clarity moderate stain, 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: Millwood is back on a slow rise from the recent thunderstorms, and a lot of the Largemouth Bass are post spawn in many locations, especially upriver where they typically spawn first. A few males are still being seen near spawning flats, roaming in and out of flats near vertical structure in the oxbows however. Brazalo Chatterbaits, and Spinnerbaits, along with trick worms, tricky sticks, 6-8" lizards, and twitch worms continue working over the past few weeks. Echo 1.5 crankbaits, chatterbaits, and custom painted Little Johns were getting fair responses over the last week from roaming Bass on flats. 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. The Largemouths continue to be much more reliable in the oxbows of McGuire and Horseshoe Lakes where the water clarity was drastically better, water temps were warmer, and calm/no river current present.


The best responses from Bass continue hitting on Rat-L-Traps are on the Toledo Gold and Red Rayburn Craw. We have still been seeing a few decent 2-3lb male Bass roaming during the heat of the day, if near to a quick creek bend drop into 8-12 feet structure. South Hickory golf course pockets and the Millwood State Park coves continue warming up, and seeing Bass run in and out of cuts with grass and near stumps and vegetation, as well. We continue to see good reactions from 2-3lb males over the past couple weeks, pitching lizards and baby Brush Hogs, Pit Bosses, and Beavers around cypress trees, flooded buck brush, bushes, and back of pockets. Millwood State Park pockets continue fishing well this week, and several nice 5-9 pound Largemouths have been caught near the Millwood State Park over the past week. Dead-sticking Bass Assassin Shads on a light wire hook near cover and stumps have been catching some decent 15-18" Largemouths. A slow fall to the shad Assassin is critical, and too large/heavy a hook will kill the action. Line watching is mandatory, and many times, dead-sticking, the line will just start taking off when the Bass hit it on the fall and swim off with it, like a stick or trick worm. Best colors of Shad Assassins as of late, are the Salt-N-Pepper Silver Phantom, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse, and Houdini colors.


Best reaction colors of Chatterbaits and Spinnerbaits as of lately, continue to be Chartreuse& White, Millwood Mayhem Bream, Spot Remover, or Arkansas River Shad. Best depth zones we are targeting are cypress tree knees from from 6-10 feet, with 12-15 feet of depth nearby. We continue seeing the male Bass roaming the flats from 2-4 pounds each, moving in shallow 3-5' deep bedding areas. The larger females are beginning to move up, near points or creek channel bends and vertical structure drops where broken timber and stumps are present, toward the spawning flats and several have been observed on beds. 6"- 8" Lizards in black/blue tail, junebug, blackberry, and watermelon candy have been picking up some cruising Bass near stumps, on drops into 10' structure. Dipping the tail in chartreuse dye will also get you bit in the stained water clarity.


Trick worms, trick sticks, and twitch worms in watermelon candy, black/blue, blue ice, and blue/purple ice, continue working over the past several days in 5-8' depths on stumps and cypress tree knees. Several nice-size prespawn female Largemouth were hitting jigs using Texas Craw, Millwood Mayhem Bream, and Black/blue, using a black frog plastic trailer, upriver, over the past few weeks.


White Bass: Whites continue finishing up their annual spawning migration along Little River's headwaters, upriver near Arkansas State Highway 71 and Patterson Shoals. Random schools have been caught between McGuire and Cemetery Slough over the past week, migrating back down river. Trolling medium to deep crankbaits and spoons along primary points extending into Little River will pick up an occasional White Bass. Heavy thumping 3/4 and 1 oz Rat-L-Traps in Millwood Magic, chrome, or Splatterback colors, cranked very slow and deep behind primary or secondary points caught some decent, 2-3lb Whites over the 2-3 past weeks from 9-16 feet deep. A chrome 3/4oz Cordell hammered spoon with a red/white hair bucktail vertical jigging behind primary points near the bottom where stumps were located on the backside of points, were connecting with a few nice sized 2-3 pound Whites over the past several weeks. Swimming jigs with a heavy thumping tail swimbait trailer picked up a few White Bass in 10-14 feet swimming and dropping the bait. Deep running Fat Free Shad cranks in Tennessee Shad or Citrus Shad, H&H Spinnerbaits, red/white Rooster-Tails, Little Cleos, Little Georges, War Eagle Underspins, and swim-baits, all have been catching the White Bass over the past 2 weeks. The White Bass are still being caught in the same areas as last few weeks, but the bite has become more scattered.


Crappie: Crappie continue moving and biting well over the past couple weeks. Increased surface temps have the Crappie on the move shallow to spawn. Minnows and jigs have been working away from current and flow of Little River, in the clearer sections of the oxbows and golf course pockets, from 3-5 feet deep. The Crappie responses continue to improve and we did pick up a few decent Crappie caught near Cypress trees in South Hickory hitting small jigs in chartreuse/white, chartreuse/blue, and black. Small, 1/8oz spinnerbaits like a Rocket Shad or Little Cleo and Blakemore Roadrunners in white/chartreuse continue getting reactions from Crappie near Cypress knees as they move shallow to spawn. Millwood State Park is seeing good activity in the pockets and coves near cypress trees and grass from 4-6 feet of depth. Best responses were on jigs and minnows over the past couple weeks. See photo attached from Crappie caught near the Millwood State Park.


Cats: continue biting consistent over the past few weeks with the increased current along Little River. Channel Cats and Blues remain good on Punch Bait and cut Shad, over the past few weeks on trot lines from 9-12 feet of depth in current.




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




Millwood Lake is back on a slow rise, and Monday, is approx 10 inches above normal conservation pool with increased current in Little River, currently near 260.0 ft-msl; and the discharge around 17,000 CFS in Little River, on Monday according to the USACE. That discharge and current can increase at anytime, more especially if rains continue here and eastern OK this week. 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 high current release rates at the Millwood Dam.


Wilton Landing on Little River Highway 71 and White Cliffs campground and boat-ramp, along with Saratoga boat ramp have been reopened by the USACE from recent flooding. Millwood State Park and Marina is open as well for day use.


Navigation is cautioned this week, as Little River current condition has increased discharge rates and a few logs and floaters are present in the river flow current 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 damaged or moved by current, river buoys on open water!


The USACE has replaced Little River buoy markers from mile marker 2 through 9, use caution where buoys maybe moved or missing due to river current.


Surface temps as of Monday, ranging in the 55ºF early to 63ºF late in the day, depending on location.


USE CAUTION in navigation in random locations where logs and debris maybe present. Wear your life jacket and kill switch and watch for obstructions, floaters, broken limbs, logs, and debris along Little River.


NO-WAKE ZONES are in effect at White Cliffs Campground on Little River.

Clarity and visibility in Little River continues improving with reduced flow rates. As of Monday visibility ranges approx 5-10 inches along Little River, with current, depending on location. The oxbow's clarity continue improving ranging approx 15-30 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. The oxbows are better near the back away from Little River current, 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!!




Our goal is simple, to help you and yours make rewarding fishing experience memories to last a lifetime and increase your knowledge of the vast resource known simply to locals as, "The Jungle" we call Millwood Lake.


Our commitment is simple, whatever it takes to make our goal a reality. If we are able to coach and mentor folks with techniques and experience we have gained in fishing here for over 40 years, to help them be better fishermen long after their time spent with us has passed, then we have succeeded.


Thanks again and we look forward to working to help you on Millwood Lake!


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