[Wes Ramsey]

I'm headed to Dardanelle in a couple of weeks to spend a few days running trot lines and trolling for striper. I caught a nice striper on a trot line last year on the north shore by Ouita Island, and that's where I'll be again this time. I've got a pack each of green and orange Storm minnow-bodied baits. I figure I'll try them until I run out, catch my limit, or figure out they aren't biting those. I've also got a Rapala bass fingerling look-alike that netted a striper on Norfork, so I'll probably try it too.

Any other tips or suggestions on how to catch them in that area? How deep do I run them? I know there's an old creek bed along the north bank there - should I troll close to the creek bed, in it, or out in the middle? Any walleye in there?

 

[fish]

Wes there are Sauger in the Arkansas River but not Walleyes that I've ever heard of. Stripers are not picky and any good sized Shad imatation should work at the right depth. I've seen Stripers hit cut bait more than once.
Your best bet would be Catfish . The Large Mouth Bass fishing is hot there with most tournaments needing a 4 lb average stringer to win.:thumb:
Get some Turkey liver and catch some good eating Blue Cats. The Crappie fishing should be pretty good too.

Good Luck , please post us some pictures too!:thumb:

 

[Wes Ramsey]

Yeah, the striper I caught on my trot line was either on a live bream or half of one :thumb: Not sure which, but it was only about 4-5 hooks away from the bank - I didn't figure they came up that shallow very often. I also caught a 3-4" striper on a cricket while I was bream fishing. Don't figure a cricket would do too well for trolling though :wink:

I've heard there's a good crappie hole close to the island, so if I get bored trying for striper I might see if I can jig for some crappies. I've caught a few bass there, but haven't boated anything legal yet. The thing I love about Dardanelle is that I always catch fish. I'm not always sure what I'll catch, but I always catch something!