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Arkabutla Lake Fishing Report

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

Arkabutla Lake: a north Mississippi flood-control reservoir held low for dam repairs, with crappie rules of its own.

Lake held low for dam repairs. The Army Corps of Engineers is keeping Arkabutla Lake well below its normal level until long-term dam repairs are done. Hwy. 51 Landing is the only open ramp and the spillway is closed to fishing; bank fishing is still possible. Source, read October 8, 2026.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Flow
48 cfs
Air / High
81 / 81 F
Wind
E 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 07276000, 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.

Arkabutla Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The main inflow is running 48 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 5 mph, falling pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 81. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:37 AM-11:37 AM and 10:04 PM-12:04 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Catfish (blue, channel)Excellent

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Coldwater River near Lewisburg (inflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 07276000.

55677948 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp81 F
High / Low81 / 49 F
WindE 5-7 mph
Pressure1020.1 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:13 / 18:15
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 Arkabutla Lake this week

The best day on Arkabutla 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
9:37 AM-11:37 AM and 10:04 PM-12:04 AM
Minor period
3:58 AM-4:58 AM
Sun
07:13 to 18:15
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

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.

When to come: the Arkabutla 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
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
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 Arkabutla 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. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 79 F, wind to 7 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Mississippi fishing license. Crappie: release fish under 12 inches; 10 per angler a day and 25 per boat with three or more anglers; no more than 4 poles per angler, each with no more than 2 hooks or lures. Fish may be cleaned only at designated cleaning stations, not on the water or in ramp parking lots. The spillway is closed to fishing during the dam repair.

Access

Only the gravel ramp into the north river channel at Hwy. 51 Landing is open; how far you can run depends on river flow and lake level. Most Corps day-use areas and campgrounds remain open. Arkabutla Lake Field Office: 5500 Arkabutla Dam Road, Hernando.

About this water

A Corps of Engineers flood-control reservoir on the Coldwater River, built in 1943, in Tate and DeSoto counties, Mississippi.

Fishing Arkabutla Lake: the full guide

Held low for dam repairs

The Corps of Engineers says Arkabutla Lake will have substantially lower water for an extended period: long-term repairs to Arkabutla Dam must be completed before levels return to normal, after problems were found in 2023. Many boat ramps are closed, and Hwy. 51 Landing is the only open ramp. MDWFP's report of October 6, 2026 says the Corps is holding the lake near 205 feet, that any rise is followed by a fast drawdown, and that the spillway is closed to fishing.

A Corps flood-control lake

Built by the Corps in 1943 on the Coldwater River, Arkabutla is one of four flood-control reservoirs in north Mississippi and, per MDWFP, the smallest of them. MDWFP gives a summer pool of 11,870 acres, a winter pool of 4,640 acres and a flood pool of 33,400 acres, and calls the lake a popular destination for crappie and catfish anglers.

Fishing while the lake is down

MDWFP suggests fishing from the bank or in creek and river pools for bass, crappie, white bass and catfish, and notes that rain runoff usually triggers a catfish bite. Its September 2026 survey found willows 20 to 30 feet tall colonizing the exposed lakebed, cover that will be flooded when the lake refills.

About the gauge

The flow on this page is the Coldwater River near Lewisburg (USGS 07276000), an inflow gauge upstream of the lake; it is not a reading of the lake level.

Common questions

Can I launch a boat?

Only at Hwy. 51 Landing, where a gravel ramp reaches the north river channel; MDWFP says the other ramps are blocked off.

Why is the water so low?

The Corps is keeping the lake low until long-term repairs to Arkabutla Dam are complete, after problems found in 2023.

What are the crappie limits?

Release crappie under 12 inches; keep up to 10 a day, or 25 per boat with three or more anglers, with no more than 4 poles each.

Is fishing good at Arkabutla 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

Sardis Lake30 miEnid Lake44 miGrenada Lake66 miBay Springs Lake103 miLake Ferguson109 miLake Chicot115 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 07276000 β€” Coldwater River near Lewisburg (inflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.7500, -90.1200 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 8, 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 8, 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.