"About half of Lake Columbia is in standing timber," Olive said. "There is a lot of vegetation along the shoreline from different types of lily pads and other submerged vegetation. In the springtime, a soft-plastic lizard is probably the top bait down there. A lot of people throw jigs tipped with pork chunks or craw worms around the woody cover."

Three lakes created by dams on the Ouachita River near Hot Springs offer anglers in that part of the state plenty of places in which to lip bass. In Hot Springs, a dam separates Lake Hamilton from Lake Catherine. Farther upriver, another dam separates Lake Hamilton from Lake Ouachita.

"All the lakes around Hot Springs are good for largemouth bass," Wooldridge said. "People might not catch a lot of 12-pounders, but they do catch a lot of fish in the 3- to 5-pound range. Lake Catherine produces many bass in the 4- to 6-pound range with some larger ones. Lake Hamilton has some in the 8- to 10-pound range; occasionally it produces an 11-pounder."

One of the cleanest and most pristine lakes in the Natural State, Lake Ouachita spreads like an octopus through 40,100 acres of the 1.6-million-acre Ouachita National Forest northwest of Hot Springs. Created in 1953, the lake averages a depth of about 50 feet, but some holes drop to about 200 feet. Numerous creeks create 970 miles of shorelines stretching across 40 miles of mountainous terrain. Some better places to fish include Iron Folk and Twin Creek. Many people fish around the more than 100 small, uninhabited islands dotting the largest lake completely within Arkansas.

"I've fished all over the United States and in many other countries, and I've never seen a lake more beautiful than Ouachita," Cochran asserted. "The entire lake is very good for bass, but at different times of the year. It has three rivers running into it. It's almost like fishing three lakes in one. The lower end near the dam is clear and deep. The middle of the lake is full of vegetation, timber and creek channels. The rivers go for miles, and each of them looks different. Ouachita has produced a lot of 10-pound bass over the years."

Abounding in cover in its numerous coves and creek channels, the lake can grow double-digit bass, some of which break the 12-pound mark. In 2005, Wooldridge explained, the state dropped the 13- to 16-inch-slot limit and established a 13-inch minimum-size limit to increase the harvest of smaller bass. Anglers may keep up to six bass per day.

"Ouachita is a great bass lake," said Scott Rook, a professional bass angler from Little Rock. "Several years ago, it was probably the best bass lake in Arkansas. It gave up incredible numbers of 3- to 5-pound bass and some 10-pounders. It has several rivers that run into it with a lot of hydrilla and milfoil in it. Any lake with good coverage of hydrilla and milfoil will be a good bass lake."