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Lake Ouachita Striped Bass Fishing is the fastest
growing segment of sports fishing in Arkansas.. Lake Ouachita is known
as the Trophy Striped Bass capital of the World. Definitely hire a Striper
Fishing Guide if you've never fished for Striped Bass before at Lake
Ouachita.
Lake Ouachita Striped Bass are ferocious fighters and can be
caught all year long.
Lake Ouachita Striped Bass prefer live shad over other baits/lures.
January
Follow the Birds! Seagulls will move in and take you to
the feeding stripers. The 'gulls follow the feeding Striped Bass and
will give you the location of the feeding school. Stripers can be caught
on jigs/spoons throughout the day. We'll be free-lining big shad on
Planers boards when the birds are not diving.
February
Stripers start getting active and schools form over
underwater humps and islands. We like to troll for these and also cast
to submerged humps for bigger than average stripers. Still chasing the
birds!
March
Planer Board Time! The action starts heating up by
pulling bait on Planers for action throughout the day for big stripers
getting ready for the spawn. March is historically known for catching
big stripers
April
Planer Board action gets hotter. The warming water gets
the stripers active and wanting to feed for the spawn. Busting stripers
in the morning and evening. The most consistence month for trophy
Striped Bass in the 40 to 50 pound class. The most exciting time of the
year to fish Lake Ouachita.
May
This is a favorite time to fish for stripers for a lot
of clients since the fish are so schooled, that when they come through,
all of the rods will get hit! This is the time to catch a fat female
striper.
June
June is a great month for numbers. A variety of
techniques can be used in this time of the year with a mixture of
live-baiting and light tackle jigging.
July
When the summer heat pushes the stripers deep, different
techniques ranging from deep downlines to jiggin' will be implemented.
Lake Ouachita's pioneered Style of Tree Fishing Begins.
August
The Striped Bass at Smith Mountain begin schooling deep.
Still using deep downlines and jiggin' to catch stripers. We'll be
jiggin' these bad boys up on light tackle. Its a blast!
September
Cooling water temperatures begin raising stripers though
out the water column. In '03 and '04 we got into several huge surface
feedings and also had tremendous success fishing with big bait after
dark. A lot of big fish start feeding since they haven't been able to
eat during the summer.
October
Stripers turn on their ferocious appetite and begin
busting in the morning and evening. During October we'll be chasin'
bustin' stripers and pullin' big baits on planers. Possibly
November
Stripers begin to blitz the shallows and more surface
action occurs. Great time for casting to busting fish. The bigger
stripers are feeding more and are caught mostly on live bait. November
2006 was our 2nd best month for size.
December
Stripers feeding in the shallows early and late in the day.
Late morning we pull live bait on planers and downline on big stripers. We
also start jigging up good numbers on light tackle with spoons and jigs. It
was a mid December day that we caught 12 Striped Bass on topwater baits that
weighted over 330 pounds.
Striped Bass fishing patterns in Lake Ouachita
Mid-October through the end of October:
This is the time of the year to start seeing the tail spacking.
When the water temperatures drop to their liking, the stripers will
school up the bait on the surface and ACRES of stripers can be
busting these shad at the same time. Its the most heart-pounding
experience to see thousands of stripers splashing the surface and
they'll hit what you cast everytime. These striper frenzies usually
occur in the evenings, but can happen in the morning as well. If the
stripers are not busting, we'll be pulling big bait on planers and
shallow downlines.
November
Early mornings and late evenings the stripers will be feeding in
shallow water. In the mornings we'll get out there before the sun
rises and wait for the stripers to come in and start feeding. If
they're blitzing, we'll be casting plugs to the shallows and it'll
be a giant explosion when the striper crushes you plug. After the
stripers leave the shallows, we'll be pulling bait strategically at
the mouths of coves and creeks.
December through February:
Its cold, but its a good time of the year for some trophy
stripers. During this period, you dont have to get up early, head
out mid-morning through mid-afternoon. When the sun is at its
highest and brightest, its time to pull out the spoons.
March through April:
Time to pull out the planer boards. This is a very exciting time
to fish for stripers because they will stalk your bait behind the
planers and then explode on them like only a striper can. We'll be
catching stripers in shallow water, so there's alot of visuals of
the bite and fight. While we're pulling planer boards, I encourage
my clients to cast to the banks as well. Somedays artificials will
out-produce live bait. No joke. The fish are not schooled up this
time of the year, and its mostly individuals and pairs of stripers
cruising the banks.
May through June:
The weather starts warming up and the stripers start migrating
downlake. This is a great time for those who want to relax and
just watch the live bait rods. Very popular time to fish since the
fish are so schooled up, that when they come through, get ready
because they'll hit ALL the rods at once.
July through September:
Some very fast limits during this time of the year. The stripers
school up in big schools and migrate to their summer hideouts. Its a
lot of fun to jig these stripers up on light tackle, rather than a
heavy trolling rod with 50lb test.
"There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but
only a few will catch your heart.....pursue those."
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