Guide To Striped Bass & Hybrid Striper Fishing In Arkansas

If you want to catch a monster fish in Arkansas, one of your best bets would be a striper or wiper. These brutes can take over a half hour to land and strip 200 yards of line off your reel so fast you may need to cool off the reel with water. The smaller ones run in packs and feed in frenzies. While they are feeding you can catch them till your arms get tired.

Striped Bass Lakes

Choose from Beaver Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, DeGray Lake, Greers Ferry Lake, Lake Chicot, Lake Dardanelle, Lake Hamilton, Lake Ouachita and Norfork Lake as the best lakes to catch stripers in Arkansas.

Click the images and links above for species details.

Arkansas State Record Striped Bass

The state record striped bass was caught from the White River.

The state record hybrid striped bass came from Greers Ferry Lake.

Fishing for Stripers in Arkansas

When fishing for stripers concentrate on the deeper waters in the lake. If you can locate schools of shad, stripers are often close by. When the baitfish are shallow over the deep water, you can catch stripers on crankbaits or by swimming spoons at appropriate depths. Check Arkansas fishing reports for current striper information. And for the ultimate thrill try large topwater baits if you see any surface feeding action. When the stripers are deep, jigs and jigging spoons work well. Live and cut bait will also take striped bass when they are in medium to deeper water. Fish nearby or in the river channel if it is a defined depth change. Trolling is also an excellent way to fish for stripers. Use flashy lures in bigger sizes.

While stripers are native to salt water, they naturally migrate into fresh water streams to spawn. Their eggs must remain in motion in order to hatch so the fresh water rivers and streams become the ideal spawning grounds for stripers. Landlocked stripers then populate the lakes.

Striper Fishing Video

Learn the basics for catching striped bass.

Striped bass fishing information, by state.