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Millwood Lake Fishing Report

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

Arkansas' swamp giant: 29,000 acres of flooded timber and oxbow character, where big bass and slab crappie live among the cypress.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
98 / 99 F
Wind
ESE 2 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.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Millwood Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 2 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 99. 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)Fair

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

Largemouth bassSlow

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 bassSlow

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 101 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 temp98 F
High / Low99 / 75 F
WindESE 2-4 mph
Pressure1011.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain26% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset06:52 / 19:37
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 · Partly cloudy, 99/75 F, wind 5 mph, rain 3%

Fair or better. Calm and stable: plan around the solunar majors at dawn and dusk.

Species guide

The species that matter on Millwood Lake: 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 Millwood 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
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 Millwood Lake 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 96 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 10 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 99 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. Bass 14-16 slot on portions: check AGFC. Marked-lane navigation strongly advised.

Access

Millwood SP, Cottonshed, Beards Bluff, Saratoga Corps ramps.

About this water

29,260 acres on the Little River, Little River/Hempstead counties, AR. The flooded-timber giant of the southwest corner.

Fishing Millwood Lake: the full guide

The timber sea

Millwood floods the Little River bottomlands into a stump-and-cypress sea: less a reservoir than a navigable swamp. Boat lanes thread the timber (learn them religiously): and the fishery rewards the effort: heavyweight largemouth in the oxbows, crappie stacked on every treetop, and a wildness southern Arkansas keeps to itself.

Swamp bass program

The oxbows and cypress lines fish like Louisiana: swim jigs and spinnerbaits through the gaps, frogs across the duckweed pockets, flipping tubes to every trunk. Stained water keeps fish shallow year-round: 8-lb bass come off wood in February and August alike. McGuire and Horseshoe oxbows anchor the storied runs.

Crappie in the tops

Millwood slabs live vertical: jigs eased beside cypress and planted tops at 8-15 ft, spider rigs along the river channel's timber edges. Spring scatters spawners through the buckbrush: winter stacks them in the old river bends: and the lake's fertility keeps 2-lb fish true. White bass run the Little River each spring as the bonus.

Navigating the maze

Respect is survival: run marked lanes only (the Corps maintains them), idle everything else, and carry the paper map the marinas sell: GPS trails lie where timber shifted. Millwood SP and Corps ramps ring the south shore: the Saratoga side opens the upper swamp. Gators are residents: mind stringers and dogs.

Common questions

How do you navigate Millwood safely?

Marked boat lanes only at speed: everything else is idle water among stumps. The marina map plus humility equals a long boating life here.

Is Millwood good for big bass?

Quietly excellent: stained-water giants in the oxbows, best in early spring's flooded brush. It trades Fork's fame for swamp solitude and reliable heavyweights.

Is fishing good at Millwood Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Wright Patman Lake29 miLake Greeson36 miBroken Bow Lake55 miDeGray Lake59 miCaddo Lake67 miPine Creek Lake70 mi
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