2004 FISHING CALENDAR The calendar is in PDF format. The Adobe Reader can be downloaded for free here.

By Keith Sutton

Arkansas encompasses more than 110,000 lakes and ponds, and more than 20,000 miles of streams. If a person could fish on a different body of water every week year 'round, and could do this year after year, it would still take a lifetime to investigate first-hand the thousands of extraordinary fishing waters within the Natural State. To my knowledge, no one has come close to achieving that end.

It's fun to try, though. And if you'll try the following suggestions-three hotspots per month, 36 in all, you'll have sampled some of the best fishing Arkansas has to offer.

You won't find many anglers here in January. You must be tough to brave the frigid temperatures this time of year, and most folks aren't. If you are, though, and you know how to pinpoint winter schools of crappie along bottom channels and other structure, you can sometimes sit in one spot and catch a limit of slabs in no time. Nimrod sits 65 miles west of Little Rock and 25 miles south of Russellville, making it quickly accessible for lots of anglers.

To catch a mess of delicious saugers this month, head straight to the Arkansas River. The tailwaters below Ozark and Murray dams are hotspots.

Put the Little Red River at Heber Springs on your January itinerary as well. You simply won't find better trout fishing anywhere.

Lake Hamilton is a topnotch place for catching big winter crappie this month.

Try for walleyes and rainbow trout below Carpenter Dam on Lake Catherine.

For more March madness, tie into some bucketmouth bass on Lake Dunn or Lake Austell in Village Creek State Park near Wynne.

For a chance at a world-record-class walleye, go early to the tributaries of the Little Red River above Greers Ferry Lake.

Catching paddlefish, however, isn't a sport for wimps. Snagging is the only way to hook these plankton-eaters, and snagging is backbreaking sport. To do it, the angler uses a 10- to 16-foot surf rod to cast a weighted treble hook into the roiling water by the dam. Then he yanks the rig through the water again and again, in hopes of hooking a fish he cannot see. Hundreds of casts often are made before a paddlefish is hooked, but when a hook connects, there's plenty of exciting, white-knuckle action for the fortunate angler. Paddlefish to 25 pounds and more frequently are caught below the Batesville dam.

April is prime time for channel catfish in the Red River in southwest Arkansas.

For fish-a-minute white bass angling, try the White River below Beaver Dam.

May's the action month, because that's when redears spawn in the shallow waters of Bear Creek's long, fingerlike coves. Feed 'em worms or crickets, and place the bait right on the bottom, where redears take their meals.

For more May fishing fun, try float-fishing for rock bass on the north Arkansas' Buffalo National River. Scenery and angling are equally fantastic.

Slab crappie spawn in Lake Overcup north of Morrilton this month. Fishing the shallows could produce numerous fish over a pound.

Lake Ouachita walleyes are getting bigger all the time. Savvy anglers catch plenty of quality fish in June. Photo by Keith Sutton

The bream are bedding on White River National Wildlife Refuge's oxbow lakes this month. Easy-access waters with good fishing include lakes Frazier, Escronges, Columbus and Moon.

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

Of course, the St. Francis traverses a lot of ground, from the Arkansas-Missouri border to its juncture with the Mississippi River in St. Francis National Forest. Where should you fish? Anywhere you can get a boat in and find access to deep, brush-filled water.

Got trout? The White River does, with some extraordinary opportunities for big rainbows and browns in the Bull Shoals Lake tailwater.

Take sturdy tackle to subdue the big blue cats, some topping 100 pounds, in the Mississippi River.

Watch for surface-cruising gar, and cast a baitfish-imitation plug nearby. When a gar approaches, keep the lure motionless and wait till the fish is alongside the plug. Then wiggle the lure a little and hang on. The gar will pounce, and if you can drive a hook into its bony snout, you'll enjoy a dazzling show of aerobatics.

For smallmouth bass action, consider a trip to the upper Ouachita River this month. The stretch from Oden to Pencil Bluff rates high.

Freshwater drum can be caught by the scores at the White River in Henry Gray/Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area east of Bald Knob.

The three-mile stretch from Mammoth Spring to Dam 3 is ideal fly-fishing water. For the best outcomes, wade, or fish from the bank. Rent a canoe or bring your own to experience the great fishing below the dam. The first three miles downstream provide the best action and the biggest fish. One- to 3-pound rainbows are fairly common, although most fish are recently released stockers. Brown trout provide trophy opportunities, with 5-pound-plus fish frequently caught. Trout fishing remains fair to good to Many Islands Campground, nine miles below the dam.

No fish provides more rod-bending action than does the bowfin, and you'll find top fishing for these underrated misfits in the lakes of Dagmar Wildlife Management Area west of Brinkley.

Another good September fishing option: Sit under the stars one of Arkansas' thousands of farm ponds and hook some channel cats.

October finds stripers chasing shad on the surface. The fish may roam large areas as they follow bait, but some action continues day after day in the same locales, usually around dawn and dusk. Fishermen watch the water for feeding fish and then, once the prey's sighted, rush to get in a cast before the stripers dive. Stripers can be taken on any of the river pools from Ft. Smith to the Mississippi, but the best striper pool, perhaps, is Lake Dardanelle near Russellville.

Lots of dandy largemouths will be caught on southwest Arkansas' Lake Erling this month.

Trout fishing is superb on the North Fork River below Norfork Lake.

Bronzebacks in the Saline rarely exceed 2 pounds. But if conditions are right, it's not unusual to catch dozens on a short float. On the stretch of river mentioned above, you'll also find a bonus complement of nice walleyes, rock bass and catfish.

Go south for largemouth action this month. Lake Chicot at Lake Village is tough to beat.

And to round out the black bass action, try for spotted bass at one of the state's top hotspots, Bull Shoals Lake on the Arkansas-Missouri line.

Round out your fishing year by going deep for DeGray Lake's hybrid stripers.

Or try for giant blue cats on one of my favorite winter fishing spots, the lower White River.

(Editor's Note: Keith Sutton is the author of Fishing Arkansas: A Year-Round Guide to Angling Adventures in the Natural State. To order an autographed copy, send a check or money order for $28.25 to C&C Outdoors, 15601 Mountain Dr., Alexander, AR 72002. For credit card orders, log on to www.ccoutdoors.com.)