Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 9 - Lake Ouachita, Arkansas

Largemouths, spotted bass, stripers, walleyes, crappie, bluegill... Lake Ouachita serves up excellent opportunities for catching a bunch of different kinds of fish, and over the past 20-plus years, I've gotten to enjoy many of Ouachita's bounties. Beyond offering excellent fishing, Ouachita is a beautiful lake, bounded by the Ouachita mountains and with clear water and mostly undeveloped, forested shores.

I've spent dozens of days on Ouachita and had fun doing everything from walking Spooks for largemouths, spots and stripers to jig-fishing for mixed catches of big bluegills and crappie. Arguably my single favorite day on Ouachita, though, was with Gary Roach of Minnesota, better known as Mr. Walleye, and Chris Gulstad. We were officially targeting walleyes, using light spinning tackle and jigs tipped with minnows, but instead found crazily good action from stripers up to about 15 pounds. More than once that day, we were tripled up with 8- or 10-pound stripers on our light tackle. Somehow we landed most fish that day. By day's we were happily exhausted.

Similar to what I mentioned about the Tennessee River, Lake Ouachita has been the site for quite a few media events over the years, which explains why I've spent far more time on a lake that's a dozen hours from home than on lakes Hartwell and Lanier combined (each about a half hour from me at the nearest point.) I've established many friendships on this lake and have spent countless enjoyable hours on the water, around a dinner table and in cabins with friends at Ouachita events.



And while it's not technically part of the lake, a bonus to Lake Ouachita is its convenience to the Ouachita River just upstream of the lake. The river, which is ideally suited for floating in a canoe or kayak or to wade-fishing, offers outstanding opportunities for smallmouths and mixed panfish, so I sometimes slip up to the river for some bonus moving water fun when I visit Lake Ouachita.

Good lodging options for Lake Ouachita include Shangri-La Resort and Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa. For guided fishing, contact Jason Lenderman, Hugh Albright or Ty Whisenhunt (870-490-1399)

Shangri-La Resort Experience

The morning view from my room at Shangri-La Resort on Lake Ouachita.

From the first look through my room's picture window, I knew I would like staying at Shangri-La Resort at Lake Ouachita, and that notion didn't change during my four-night stay last week. If anything, I enjoyed my visit even more than expected. I had eaten at Shangri-La's restaurant a few times before and knew how good the food was and had gone out with anglers out of the resort's boat docks. However, I had never before stayed at the resort's motel.

My room's view says a lot about this resort's location, from a fisherman's standpoint. It sits on a point on Lake Ouachita, with a large cove on one side, a small cove on the other and the point itself expending into the South Fork arm of the main lake. You can fish from the shore all around the resort, launch a boat from a public ramp 1/2 mile away and dock a boat at the resort. And while my days were filled with fishing from other people's boats, I could have easily launched my kayak right at the resort at any time.

The room itself was spacious and very comfortable for a modest prices, and had I wanted to cook any meals or had I been traveling with a group, Shangri-La also offers cabins. Of course, I can't imagine wanting to cook my own meals at Shangri-La. The resort's restaurant is legendary for it's down-home cooking (especially fried chicken and homemade pies, both of which I enjoyed during my stay!)

Beyond actual amenities, I appreciated the atmosphere and the "people aspect" at Shangri-La. Staff were unfailingly friendly, and guests all seem relaxed, providing a sense of visiting family or friends. Most Shangri-La guests are fellow fishermen or folks who simply enjoy being around Lake Ouachita, and the restaurant crowd always includes plenty of folks from the local community, who appreciate good food and simply enjoy hanging out at Shangri-La. I know I did, and I know I'll be back.

Fishy Start to Spring

Spring officially got underway last week, and I'm delighted to have gotten to start the season with four days of fishing (and catching!) I spent the first three days of the season on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, fishing mostly a bass and a bit for crappie to take photos for work. I then strayed farther west, to a small lake in the Oklahoma portion of the Ouachita National Forest, to do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak for videos.

It was definitely a spring bite on Ouachita. The largemouths were shallow and in a pre-spawn mode, and spinnerbaits produced the best action. We mostly caught males, so the bigger females were most likely staged nearby. We also got some good spotted bass atop rocky points and sunken islands that were close to deeper water by dragging Carolina rigs and by swimming a Flash Mob Jr..

The best crappie action occurred in less than 3 feet and around buckbrush. We caught them by suspending curly tail grubs a couple of feet beneath Thill floats, casting close to the buckbrush and twitching rod tip just enough to rock the float and make the jig dance. They were hitting the jigs hard, more like what I'd expect from a bass, ripping the float out of sight in an instant. Big fun!

I only managed a few bass at the little lake, which was pretty busy on the first Friday of spring and with beautiful weather leading into the weekend. However, two of three were way up the lake's most significant creek arm, on a very shallow flat, and hit a Rebel Bluegill, which is a shallow crankbait that looks like you would expect it to based on the name.

Week of Bass Fun

Last week's travels landed me in Fort Smith, Arkansas, which was the jumping off point for fishing trips to Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, an Oklahoma stretch of the Arkansas River and Lake Tenkiller. My company's office is also in Fort Smith, so I slipped in an office visit between fishing days.

At Ouachita we spent a bit of time crappie fishing because of some photos I'd hoped to get. The crappie bite wasn't really happening, though. So we mostly fished for bass, and that was fun. I hadn't done a lot of dedicated bass fishing for a while.

At Ouachita, the fish were looking up, so we caught quite a few spots and largemouths on Spooks and other surface lures. When they wouldn't come up, we went down after them with dropshots, C.C. Spoons and live crawfish, with the of those being a locally popular and extremely effective approach during the fall.

The Arkansas River fishing was all up tributaries and all about cranking. We tried a bit of spinnerbait fishing and a little topwater, but crankbaits were the ticket. Our top producer was a Bandit prototype that I can't show a photo of... Yet!

Tenkiller, which is deep, clear and rocky, offered a nice blend of topwater fishing and cranking opportunities with Bandits and Normans, with a nice mix of smallmouths adding to the fun. I had a big time for a while throwing a small BOOYAH Boss Pop, which is probably my single favorite topwater lure.

Next stop is Santee Cooper, where it'll be back to mixed-species fun!

Ouachita Variety

Last week's travel to the Ouachita Mountains delivered wonderful variety, not only in species caught but in the types of fishing experiences I got to enjoy in short order.

The species variety would be hard to argue. I added green sunfish, spotted bass, smallmouths, walleyes, pumpkinseeds and both black and white crappie to this year's catch list in three days of fishing. Experience-wise, I got to spend an afternoon and a morning on Lake Ouachita bass fishing, an afternoon wading the Ouachita River for stream bass, and a full day on the lake fishing Lindy's new Livebait Jig with crawlers and minnows for walleyes, crappie, bluegills and whatever else bit.

The bass fishing was made extra fun by the fact that I got to spend time in the boat with Alton Jones. That always equates to a lot of learning and great opportunities for gathering photos and story material. Far beyond that, I simply enjoy spending time with Alton and he invariably encourages me in many ways.

The jig/bait fishing was similarly fun because I got to spend a day with longtime Minnesota guide Jeff Sundin. I've spent several days fishing with Jeff, but mostly on the ice. He taught me a new approach, and based on all the fish we caught, you'd sure never know that he'd never been to Lake Ouachita before last week. I look forward to experimenting more with the Lindy Livebait Jig.

The highlight of the river outing had to be standing in a single spot and catching three species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spot) on the same Rebel Crawfish. None were big, but all were big fun!

"Hometown" Pride at Lake Ouachita

As fellow guests raved about the wonderful cottages at Mountain Harbor Resort, the striking, undeveloped landscapes around Lake Ouachita and the friendliness of the people, I felt a strange sense of hometown-like pride. I say "strange" because I don't live in Arkansas. In fact, I've never lived in Arkansas, and I've actually only stayed at Mountain Harbor a half a dozen or so times over the years.

Still, I felt a sense of ownership, and I think that goes back to the friendliness of the people. Folks like Chris Elder, a local angler I've gotten to fish with several times, and resort owner Bill Barnes have a way of making you feel so much at home that when you return for visits you're eager to share the area's virtues with anyone who hasn't been there before. When Barnes asks if you need anything at all, you can tell that he really means that question and that he is genuinely pleased that you've chosen to visit the resort that his family has owned and operated for more than 50 years.

I'm back in my real home in northeast Georgia, but I know I'll be back to Lake Ouachita and to Mountain Harbor Resort, and I have no doubt that I'll again feel right at home and will swell up at least a little with pride when someone talks about a great day of striper fishing or the beauty of the mountains that surround the lake.

Hobie Play

I'd often heard about what great boats Hobie kayaks were to fish from, but until today I'd never had the opportunity to spend significant time in one. The ease of the MirageDrive pedal system and the stability and spaciousness of the Hobie Mirage Pro Angler were everything I'd always heard. Most importantly, though, these boats are just plain fun to maneuver around in and to fish from.

We didn't tear up the fish today, but Lake Ouachita is a great place to spend a day whether or not fish cooperate. I did manage to catch a couple of largemouths on a Super Spook Jr. and a spotted bass on a Rebel Crappie Crank'R.

I'm not sure exactly what tomorrow's plans are, but from looking at the forecast, I'm pretty sure I'll make good use of my Frabill FXE Stormsuit and my waterproof camera!

Destination Arkansas!

Beautiful Mountain Harbor at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas

My bag is nearly packed, and I'm ready to fly to The Natural State tomorrow. The plane lands in Little Rock, but my final destination is Lake Ouatchita, a splendid playplace in the Ouachita Mountains. The fall color should be past peak, but I suspect the high hills will still show plenty of gold and bronze. The weather looks like it will be mild.

I get to Arkansas as often as possible, but usually I find myself in the Ozarks -- whether enjoying folk music in Mountain View, trout fishing out of Gaston's Resort or floating Buffalo National Scenic River. The Ouachitas rival the Ozarks in beauty and get less attention overall, and I've enjoyed some really fun days of fishing on Lake Ouachita. Probably my favorite was a day I spent with Gary Roach (Mr. Walleye) about 10 years ago. We were officially walleye fishing, but the fish that kept grabbing our minnow-tipped jigs were 10- to 20-pound striped bass. We were fishing with fairly light spinning gear and 8-pound-test line, so every striper was seriously exciting!

One cool element of this trip is that it is co-sponsored by the folks who make Rebel Lures and set at Mountain Harbor Resort, and Mountain Harbor played an important part in Rebel's history. The first Rebel Minnows were "tank tested" in the pool at Mountain Harbor 50 years ago!

Another extra fun part for me will be fishing from a Hobie Kayak. I've played a little with these boats and their unique Mirage Drive foot-control system, but I've never before spent a full day fishing from one.

Better finish packing!

FLW, Favorite Waters & Walleye World

The Forrest Wood Cup begins this morning on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita. It's the FLW Tour's championship event, and the winner takes home both the title of champion and a half a million dollars. A beautiful mountain-bounded lake, Ouachita reportedly has been stingy during practice. Someone will figure them out, though, and it will be fun to see what patterns and which anglers will emerge during the course of the next few days.

Closer to home, Nathaniel and I will meet a friend at my favorite trout stream tomorrow. Nathaniel title a recent blog "Anticipation," and I agree with him. He's looking forward to exploring the West Fork for the first time, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with him. A trip down this river is a rugged full-day adventure that starts with a mile-long hike and then a creek and ridge crossing and includes a couple of miles of wading down a sometimes-steep mountain river. The scenery is the some of the most spectacular I've seen in Georgia, though, and we seldom see anywhere else.

Next week I head north -- way north -- to Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota/Canada border to spend a few days walleye fishing and taking photos. Mid-60s in Mid-August sure will be nice, and of course I'm looking forward to eating some fresh walleye!