Arkansas Oct. 15 weekly: White River rainbows under a 5.5-foot Bull Shoals drawdown, Chicot cats in 4 feet

The White River tailwater is the lead of Jim Harris’s Arkansas Wildlife weekly for Oct. 15, 2026. Cotter Trout Dock says trout fishing is the draw even with guides in the woods for hunting season, and that the Bull Shoals tailwater is offering all-day action. Bull Shoals Lake is 5.5 feet below power pool, with steady minimum-flow releases and afternoon spikes up to three units, listed as 12,000 cubic feet per second. Rainbows are on flashy baits. The brown bite is described as harder with the spawn underway. At Calico Rock, Jenkins Fishing Service says most mornings are under 3 feet and rise to 5 or 6 feet, then fall through the afternoon.

On Bull Shoals Lake the same week, guide Del Colvin reported water around 76 degrees and a level of 653 feet, 5 feet below pool, with a thermocline moving down around 35 feet. Southernwalleye Guide Service calls the lower lake a fall transition: schools breaking into smaller pods, with fish suspended about 5 feet off the bottom in 33 to 37 feet, and some 18- to 23-inch walleye among a lot of short fish. Crappie 101 says crappie are still in the creeks and also on main-lake structure, mostly in 10 to 20 feet, with live bait outfishing jigs.

Farther south, Lake Chicot State Park’s Shaun Mercer had the lake at 77 to 78 degrees. Catfishing stayed excellent in 3 to 4.5 feet, and a group of about six anglers on two boats fishing around 12 feet deep pulled in about 30 catfish in a short time. Bass were on plastic worms and shad-colored topwater in the morning. At Lake Charles State Park, a 5- to 6-pound largemouth came over the weekend, the surface was 71 degrees, and catfish were also off the shoreline. Lake Poinsett is under an algae warning from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality after a small surface bloom on the east side. AGFC biologist Micah Tindall said fishing is safe and fillets are safe if the fish are cleaned with potable water. The warning stays until two all-clear inspections, which run every 10 to 14 days. Peckerwood Lake’s Oct. 31 fishing closure is already on the desk and is not repeated here.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: AGFC — Arkansas Wildlife Weekly Fishing Report (Jim Harris, Oct. 15, 2026).