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Lake Chicot Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Mississippi’s abandoned bend: Chicot is Arkansas’s largest natural lake, a 20-mile oxbow full of crappie and bream.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
95 / 96 F
Wind
E 3 mph

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

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 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.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Chicot locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 3 mph, rising pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 96. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

White bassFair

Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 98 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp95 F
High / Low96 / 73 F
WindE 3-9 mph
Pressure1012.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 21%
Sunrise / Sunset06:41 / 19:26
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 96/73 F, wind 11 mph, rain 21%

Fair or better. A 11 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: Mar-May run

River-run spawners and open-water schoolers. Fast limits when you find them. Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

When to come: the Lake Chicot 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
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 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 Lake Chicot today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 94 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 94 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 96 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

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

Arkansas license. Crappie 25 per day and bass limits per current AGFC regulations.

Access

Lake Chicot State Park ramps at the north end, plus public access points around the lake near Lake Village.

About this water

A 5,000-acre oxbow lake of the Mississippi River in Chicot County, Arkansas: the largest natural lake in the state.

Fishing Lake Chicot: the full guide

An oxbow with history

Lake Chicot curves twenty miles through southeast Arkansas, a cutoff meander of the Mississippi River and the largest natural lake in the state. Cypress line the banks, the water runs fertile, and the fishery is classic Delta: crappie in numbers, bream that reach hand size, largemouth in the cover and catfish through the deeper water. A pumping station built decades ago improved water clarity dramatically.

Crappie and bream

Crappie are the mainstay: cypress trees, brush and any wood hold fish, with spring shallow fishing the most productive and winter finding them deeper along the old channel. Bream fishing in late spring is exceptional: bedding bluegill and shellcracker around the cypress and shallow flats take crickets and worms as fast as you can bait a hook, and the fish run big.

Bass and cats

Largemouth relate to the cypress, laydowns and any grass: spinnerbaits, jigs and topwater over the cover in warm months. The lake is shallow and fertile, so summer heat pushes fish to shade and the deeper channel bends. Catfish work the bottom throughout and are fished with trotlines and rod-and-reel alike, a Delta tradition as old as the lake.

Lake Chicot State Park logistics

The state park at the north end provides ramps, cabins, camping and a visitor center, with additional access around the lake. Lake Village is the local town. The setting: cypress, herons and the old river bend: is as much the draw as the fishing, and the park’s birding programs bring visitors who never wet a line.

Common questions

Why is it so long and narrow?

It is an abandoned meander of the Mississippi River, cut off centuries ago: the shape is the old river channel.

When is bream fishing best?

Late spring around the full moons, when bluegill and shellcracker bed in the shallows: exceptional fishing for families.

Is the water clear?

Much clearer than it once was: a pumping station diverts sediment-laden inflow, which transformed the fishery.

Is fishing good at Lake Chicot right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

White River42 miBig Black River72 miOuachita River79 miLake D Arbonne82 miGrenada Lake90 miRoss Barnett Reservoir94 mi
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