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DeGray Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

DeGray Lake on the Caddo River: a Corps lake of about 13,400 acres with clear-water bass and a state park resort on its shore.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
82 / 82 F
Wind
ESE 4 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

DeGray Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 4 mph, falling pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 82. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:49 AM-11:49 AM and 10:17 PM-12:17 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

WalleyeExcellent

Summer pattern: nightcrawlers and leeches on rigs or jigs near bottom, trolled crankbaits to find scattered fish, and the shallows after dark in clear lakes.

White bassGood

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 85 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Arkansas requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $10.50 for residents. What a Arkansas licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with AGFC before you keep anything. The season dates for Arkansas, read off the agency, are on the Arkansas seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp82 F
High / Low82 / 47 F
WindESE 4-6 mph
Pressure1020.2 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:24 / 18:28
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish DeGray Lake this week

The best day on DeGray Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:49 AM-11:49 AM and 10:17 PM-12:17 AM
Minor period
4:11 AM-5:11 AM
Sun
07:24 to 18:28
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on DeGray Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Summer pattern: nightcrawlers and leeches on rigs or jigs near bottom, trolled crankbaits to find scattered fish, and the shallows after dark in clear lakes.

When to come: the DeGray Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
White bass
Walleye
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks DeGray Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 83 F, wind to 5 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Arkansas requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

DeGray (AGFC 2026–27 guidebook): largemouth and smallmouth 13-in. minimum; 6 black bass combined, plus 10 spotted bass. Statewide: striped and hybrid bass 6 combined, white bass 25, walleye 6.

Access

Corps ramps at Arlie Moore, Amity Landing, Alpine Ridge, Caddo Drive, Iron Mountain, Point Cedar, Ozan Point, Shouse Ford and the Spillway; marina at DeGray Lake Resort State Park.

About this water

DeGray Lake, a Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Caddo River completed in 1972, Clark and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas.

Fishing DeGray Lake: the full guide

The lake

The Corps of Engineers completed DeGray Dam in 1972, backing the Caddo River up some 27 miles just north of Arkadelphia. The Vicksburg District gives 208 miles of shoreline and over 13,400 acres of water surface. A re-regulation dam below the main lake forms the 400-acre Lower Lake, which lets the project pump water back for hydropower; the Corps calls DeGray its first pump-back-capable impoundment.

Bass rules and a lunker

AGFC's 2026–27 guidebook sets a 13-inch minimum for largemouth and smallmouth on DeGray and a combined daily limit of 6 largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, with 10 more spotted bass allowed on top of that limit. The same guidebook's Legacy Lunker feature lists a 12.63-pound, 26ΒΌ-inch bass from DeGray Lake, dated February 1, 2026, as the program's largest.

Ramps and the state park

The Corps lists 11 ramps: Arlie Moore (two), Amity Landing, Alpine Ridge, Caddo Drive, Iron Mountain, Point Cedar, Ozan Point, Shouse Ford and the Spillway, with a launch fee or Corps annual pass. DeGray Lake Resort State Park has a lodge on an island and a full-service marina with bait, tackle, fuel and boat rentals.

Common questions

What is the bass size limit on DeGray?

Largemouth and smallmouth must be 13 inches to keep, and the combined black bass limit is 6, with 10 extra spotted bass allowed (AGFC 2026–27).

Where can I launch?

The Corps maintains 11 ramps, from Arlie Moore and Caddo Drive to Iron Mountain, Shouse Ford and the Spillway; the state park marina is another option.

Is fishing good at DeGray Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Lake Hamilton15 miLake Ouachita26 miLake Greeson30 miNimrod Lake47 miMillwood Lake59 miLake Conway70 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.2497, -93.2088 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 6, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 6, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.