Nothing changes on New Year's Day: Arkansas now sets its fishing rules each July 1, and this year's made the trout limits on the four big tailwaters lasting, two fish a day and mostly small ones. The top of the White below Bull Shoals Dam is shut from November 1 to January 31 for the brown trout spawn. Licenses run a year from purchase, and the Commission's own fishing report comes every two weeks from December.
What to fish for in early November
Arkansas's winter runs on the Ozark tailwaters and the big impoundments. The browns spawn in the White and the Norfork as the year turns, with the top of the White shut to protect them, the rainbows ride out the generation schedule, and in the Ozark and Ouachita reservoirs the walleye, crappie and stripers feed between fronts. The Arkansas River pools give crappie and white bass in their backwaters, and most winters the family fishing ponds near the towns get trout around Christmas.
Brown Trout
Spawns on the gravel below Bull Shoals and Norfork as the year turns, and the big fish come then, on streamers in high water, below the stretch closed for the spawn.
Where. The White below the closed water at Bull Shoals down past Cotter, the Norfork below its dam, and the Little Red below Greers Ferry.
The brown trout waters we forecast Water Forecast White River below Bull Shoals Dam Best Fri, Nov 13, A+Today's forecast Rainbow Trout
Holds in the slack water while the generators run and spreads over the shoals when they stop, so the release schedule decides the day more than the weather does.
Where. Rim Shoals and the White's long shoals, the Norfork's catch-and-release water, the Spring River at Mammoth Spring, and the family fishing ponds near the towns.
The rainbow trout waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Little Red River near Heber Springs about 51F Best Fri, Nov 13, AToday's forecast North Fork River below Norfork Dam not modeled Today's forecast Walleye
Gathers at the heads of the Ozark impoundments late in the winter, ahead of the spring run up the rivers.
Where. The upper ends of Bull Shoals, Norfork and Greers Ferry, and the creeks feeding Beaver.
The walleye waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Bull Shoals Lake about 63F Today's forecast Greers Ferry Lake about 63F Best Fri, Nov 13, AToday's forecast Crappie
Suspends over deep brush and creek channels and bites slowly in the cold, moving shallower in the warm spells.
Where. Brush piles on DeGray, Ouachita and Millwood, and the backwaters and oxbows of the Arkansas River pools.
The crappie waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Chicot about 65F Best Sun, Nov 8, A+Today's forecast Striped Bass
Follows the shad across the open water of the deep lakes and gathers below the dams, where moving water stacks the bait.
Where. Lake Ouachita, Beaver, Norfork and DeGray, and the water below the Arkansas River dams and Carpenter Dam.
The striped bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Ouachita about 64F Best Thu, Nov 12, A+Today's forecast
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for Arkansas in the next six weeks.
In the last two weeks
- Sun November 1The White River from 100 yards below Bull Shoals Dam to the wing dike at the state park trout dock closes to fishing until January 31, and from there to the park's downstream boundary every brown trout must go back, while the brown trout spawn.
Every date for Arkansas from November to February (2)
- Sun November 1The White River from 100 yards below Bull Shoals Dam to the wing dike at the state park trout dock closes to fishing until January 31, and from there to the park's downstream boundary every brown trout must go back, while the brown trout spawn.
- Sun January 31In Arkansas the Bull Shoals Dam closed area and the seasonal brown trout area end, and the catch-and-release water below the dam reopens on February 1.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Arkansas is reported by its own agency all winter. The Commission's Arkansas Wildlife Weekly Fishing Report covers every region of the state, water by water, each from a named guide, dock or bait shop and often with a water temperature. It runs weekly through November and every two weeks from December through February, with none at Christmas or New Year's. The Mississippi itself and the Delta oxbows are its thinnest water.
Where to fish in Arkansas, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
The Ozark trout tailwaters
White River below Bull Shoals Dam · North Fork River below Norfork Dam · Little Red River · White River below Beaver Dam · Spring River
The cold water below the Corps dams in north Arkansas: the White River from Bull Shoals Dam past Cotter to Guion, the North Fork below Norfork Dam, the Little Red below Greers Ferry and the upper White below Beaver Dam, with the spring-fed Spring River at Mammoth Spring. Trout water all year, rising and falling with the generation schedule, and the home of the state's trophy brown trout.
Who reports here. The Commission's report carries all four tailwaters and the Spring in nearly every issue, from the trout docks and guides who fish them, often with the temperature below the dam. Between issues it tells readers to call the reporter it names for each.
Engine outlook
- Best: Fri, Nov 13, A11 good hours52F measured Nov 3 at Little Red River near Heber Springsbest run 6h38 cfsat Little Red River at Greers Ferry Damon this water
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
- Best: Fri, Nov 13, A+11 good hours60F measured Nov 3 at White River below Bull Shoals Dam at Bull Shoalsbest run 4h1004 cfsat White River at Bull Shoals Damon this water
The Ozark lakes and streams
Bull Shoals Lake · Norfork Lake · Beaver Lake · Greers Ferry Lake · Table Rock Lake
The deep, clear Corps reservoirs of the Ozarks, Bull Shoals, Norfork, Beaver, Greers Ferry and the Arkansas end of Table Rock, with walleye, striped bass, crappie and three kinds of black bass, and the smallmouth streams that drain the plateau, the Buffalo, Crooked Creek and the Kings among them.
Who reports here. The report's North and Northwest sections carried each of these lakes in the January issue, from the marinas and guides on them.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
- Best: Fri, Nov 13, A12 good hours69F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 6h
The Ouachita lakes
Lake Ouachita · Lake Hamilton · Lake Catherine · DeGray Lake · Lake Greeson
The Ouachita Mountain reservoirs around Hot Springs and Arkadelphia: Lake Ouachita, the largest lake wholly inside the state, with Hamilton and Catherine below it on the Ouachita River, DeGray on the Caddo, and Greeson with the Little Missouri's trout water below Narrows Dam.
Who reports here. The report's West-Central and Southwest sections carried every one of these lakes in the January issue, along with the water below Carpenter Dam.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 12, A+13 good hours69F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h135 cfsat Ouachita River near Mount Ida, AR16 mi away
The Arkansas River
Arkansas River · Lake Dardanelle · Ozark Pool · Little Rock pools · Pine Bluff pool
The navigation pools of the Arkansas River from Fort Smith past Dardanelle, Little Rock and Pine Bluff to the Mississippi, stepped by locks and dams, with their backwaters and oxbows: big-river water for blue and channel catfish, white bass, crappie and largemouth.
Who reports here. The report covers the Little Rock, Maumelle and Pine Bluff pools, Morrilton and Lake Dardanelle in its Central and West-Central sections.
The Delta and the south
Mississippi River · Lake Chicot · Lake Monticello · Millwood Lake · lower White River
The flat country of the east and south: the Mississippi and its oxbows, Lake Chicot, the state's largest natural lake, the bottomland rivers, the lower White and the Cache, and the southern reservoirs, Millwood on the Little River and Lake Monticello.
Who reports here. The report reaches the lakes of the south and the lower White at Clarendon, though the Mississippi itself and most backwaters had no entry in the January issue read.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A+14 good hours70F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 14h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- New since last winter: Arkansas fishing rules now change on July 1 each year rather than in January, so guidebooks printed in January 2026 are out of date.
- The tailwater trout limits began as an emergency order in October 2025, after the Norfork National Fish Hatchery lost up to 80 percent of its rainbow trout and floods damaged the Commission's Spring River hatchery, and were adopted until further notice from July 1, 2026: 2 rainbow trout under 14 inches below Bull Shoals down to the Norfork Access and on the Norfork, 2 trout with only 1 over 14 from the Norfork Access to Guion, and 2 trout under 14 below Greers Ferry and Beaver.
- Also new on July 1: ten Blue Ribbon smallmouth streams at 1 a day longer than 15 inches, 2 a day of at least 12 inches on other flowing water, no possession limits, a 16-inch walleye minimum on Greers Ferry Lake, a 16-inch brown trout minimum on the Spring River, and the winter catch-and-release area below Narrows Dam on the Little Missouri removed.
- Last winter the hatchery losses cut the Christmas trout stockings at the Family and Community Fishing Program ponds to less than a quarter of the usual supply. This winter's program had not been announced by October 19.
Read on October 19, 2026, from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: its Code of Regulations (D1.01, N1.01 and N1.03, effective July 1, 2026), the 2026-27 Fishing Guidebook, its license fee page, and its news releases of October 16, 2025, November 14, 2025, January 17, 2026, and July 1, 2026.
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- Anglers 16 and older need an Arkansas fishing license, and a trout permit to keep trout anywhere or to fish the tailwaters below Beaver, Bull Shoals, Norfork, Greers Ferry and Greeson dams. A resident pays $10.50 for a year and $10 for the trout permit; a visitor pays $60 for a year, $15 for a day or $30 for three days, and $20 for the trout permit.
- A $10 White River Border Lakes License lets an Arkansas resident fish the Missouri waters of Bull Shoals, Norfork and Table Rock lakes without a Missouri license. Arkansas and Missouri licenses are both good on the flowing St. Francis River where it is the state line, Arkansas and Tennessee licenses on the Mississippi where it is the line, and Arkansas and Mississippi resident licenses on the Mississippi and its waters between the main levees. There is no agreement with Oklahoma: on the Arkansas River at Fort Smith, the side of the state line you fish decides the license.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- On the Bull Shoals, Norfork, Greers Ferry and Beaver tailwaters nobody may fish within 100 yards of the dam, every angler needs a trout permit, an angler may fish only one rod at a time and must attend it, and bait may be fished only on a single hooking point. In their catch-and-release areas every trout goes back, only artificial lures or flies with barbless hooks are allowed, and natural or scented bait is banned.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Statewide, black bass are 10 a day together. Smallmouth are 6 a day of at least 12 inches in reservoirs and 2 a day of at least 12 inches in flowing water, and on the ten Blue Ribbon smallmouth streams, the Buffalo, Crooked Creek, the Kings and the White among them, 1 a day longer than 15 inches. Crappie are 30 a day, catfish 10 of all kinds together, white bass 25, striped and hybrid bass 6, and walleye and sauger 6 each. There are no possession limits.
- The big Ozark lakes set their own limits. Bull Shoals, Norfork and Beaver allow 4 walleye of at least 18 inches, as do Table Rock and the White between it and Beaver Dam; Beaver and Norfork allow 3 striped and hybrid bass together, stripers at least 20 inches; and on these lakes crappie are 15 a day of at least 10 inches. On Greers Ferry Lake and its tributaries walleye must be at least 16 inches.
- Statewide, trout are 5 a day, with no more than 2 each of brown, cutthroat and brook trout. On the Spring River a brown trout must be at least 16 inches.
- On the White River from Bull Shoals Dam down to the Norfork Access ramp, and on the whole Norfork tailwater, the limit is 2 rainbow trout a day, none longer than 14 inches, and every other kind of trout goes back. From the Norfork Access to the Highway 58 bridge at Guion it is 2 trout, only 1 of them over 14 inches, with brown, cutthroat and tiger trout at least 24 inches and brook trout at least 14. The Greers Ferry and Beaver tailwaters allow 2 trout, both shorter than 14 inches. Between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise only rainbow trout may be kept below Bull Shoals.
- From November 1 through January 31 the White River from 100 yards below Bull Shoals Dam to the wing dike at the state park trout dock is closed to fishing, and from the wing dike to the park's downstream boundary every brown trout goes back, with no fishing from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise. The catch-and-release area below the dam reopens on February 1.
Read on these agency pages: AGFC: Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, AGFC: 2026-27 Arkansas Fishing Guidebook (PDF), AGFC: Arkansas 2026-27 Fishing Regulations Changes in Effect, New Guidebook Released (July 1, 2026).
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bull Shoals Lake | 65F | 54F | 46F | 44F | 47F |
| Greers Ferry Lake | 65F | 54F | 46F | 45F | 48F |
| Lake Chicot | 67F | 56F | 49F | 49F | 54F |
| Lake Ouachita | 66F | 56F | 48F | 46F | 50F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Red River near Heber SpringsLittle Red River near Heber Springs, 1991 to 2026 | 51F | 51F | 49F | 47F | 47F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ozark trout tailwatersat White River below Bull Shoals Dam | 9h 41m, Dec 21 | 4:57pm, around Dec 6 | 7:24am, around Jan 6 |
| The Ozark lakes and streamsat Bull Shoals Lake | 9h 40m, Dec 21 | 4:57pm, around Dec 6 | 7:24am, around Jan 6 |
| The Ouachita lakesat Lake Ouachita | 9h 50m, Dec 21 | 5:04pm, around Dec 5 | 7:22am, around Jan 7 |
| The Arkansas Riverat Little Rock | 9h 49m, Dec 21 | 4:59pm, around Dec 5 | 7:18am, around Jan 7 |
| The Delta and the southat Lake Chicot | 9h 57m, Dec 21 | 4:59pm, around Dec 4 | 7:11am, around Jan 8 |