Mirror Lake in the Blanchard Springs Recreation Area near Mountain View receives stockings of rainbow trout and provides good bank-fishing in a scenic setting.

APRIL
Lake Dardanelle Crappie
This honeyhole on the Arkansas River spreads westward from Dardanelle Lock & Dam at Russellville to cover 35,000 acres in five counties. When the dogwoods start blooming in April, crappie begin spawning in shallow, timbered coves and backwaters.

Two excellent crappie-fishing areas are the Spadra Creek and Little Spadra Creek arms south of I-40 at Clarksville. In those areas you'll find 5- to 10-foot depths that jump up to 2- and 3-foot flats. Woody cover on those flats attracts crappie that sometimes weigh 2 pounds or more. The Shoal Bay area near New Blaine on Highway 22 provides similar conditions, with loads of crappie-attracting stumpflats.

Other Choices
Spotted bass fishing in the Arkansas River is good this month as well, particularly in the lower pools. The Pendleton area is one super hotspot for lunkers.

Don't overlook Greers Ferry and its largemouth bass this month, either. Many huge, egg-laden females are moving into the shallows to spawn, which makes them easier to find and catch.

MAY
Lake Ouachita Walleyes
Lake Ouachita, west of Hot Springs, is a top destination for world-class walleye fishing this month. This 40,000-acre Corps lake has always been a good walleye producer, but local aficionados say it just keeps getting better. Eight- to 12-pounders are common, especially around weedbeds and humps. Some longtime Ouachita anglers say that the walleye explosion may have placed these good-eating fish above largemouth bass on the list of most-caught sportfish.

Other Choices
Bluegills are on their beds in Lake Conway. Fishing around logjams and cypress trees in the shallows will turn them up, especially with live crickets as bait.

Striper action heats up on Lake Greeson, with 30-pounders possible.

JUNE
White River NWR Bream
Bream fishing on the oxbows lakes in White River National Wildlife Refuge isn't just good -- it's spectacular. Stringers of 50 bluegills and redears weighing 50 pounds aren't unheard of. Knowledgeable anglers can enjoy extraordinary action in June when the bream spawn is in full swing.

There are literally hundreds of lakes to fish. Favorites with local anglers include Swan, Brown's Shanty, Goose and Buck just north of St. Charles off Highway 1, and Columbus, Escronges, H, Horseshoe and others near Ethel on Highway 17. Live crickets and worms tempt big bream, which usually haunt shoreline shallows near buckbrush, cypress trees and fallen timber. Plan a trip during this month's full moon for peak action.

Other Choices
Caddo River rock bass can be enticed this month with tiny crawfish-imitation crankbaits fished around boulders and rock piles.

Shiner fishermen should zero in on Lake Des Arc for some dandy post-spawn crappies.

JULY
Blue Mountain Lake Catfish
Although often overlooked by catfish aficionados, Blue Mountain Lake provides some of the best fishing for channel cats, blues and flatheads in the western half of Arkansas. Covering 2,910 acres, this honeyhole lies largely in western Yell County near Waveland. The channel cats superabundant here often weigh over 5 pounds. Those who know the ins and outs of fishing for them have a good chance of landing a blue or flathead weighing 30 pounds or more.

Other Choices East Arkansas' Storm Creek Lake in St. Francis National Forest harbors big hybrid stripers that often fall for deep-diving shad imitations.

Night-fishing produces trophy crappie on Nimrod Lake this month as well.

AUGUST
Mississippi River Oxbows Bowfins
A fish that thrives on hot weather, the bowfin (a.k.a. "grinnel") can inject a heavy dose of rip-roaring action into a summer angling excursion. Few anglers target this underwater outlaw, but those who do know that, once hooked, it puts on a tail-walking display unrivaled by any game fish.

Bowfins are common in oxbow lakes along the Mississippi River, including Horseshoe, Midway, Old Town, Whitehall and Paradise. Good lures run the gamut from surface plugs to bottom bumpers, but in August, it's hard to beat a plastic worm fished around stickups, cypress trees and buckbrush.

Other Choices
For fast-paced fun, catch white bass on small jigs worked in the tailwater below Norrell Lock & Dam on the lower White River.