With Millwood, Monticello, Columbia and Lower White Oak receiving most of the available Florida bass fingerlings each year, it's easy to see why it would be difficult to develop other trophy largemouth lakes in the state. Those four lakes, however, provide bass anglers outstanding opportunities to catch largemouths topping 10 pounds, with larger fish possible. Millwood and Monticello regularly produce bass of 12 pounds and even larger.

SWEPCO Lake, a unique component of Arkansas' Florida bass program, is notable for its better-than-average bass fishing. Though the tiny lake near Siloam Springs is well north of the Florida bass' preferred range, it's artificially heated by a power plant, which, like the nuclear plant on Lake Dardanelle, uses the lake's water for cooling. Unlike Dardanelle, however, SWEPCO is small enough for the hot-water discharge to affect the entire lake's water temps, which in January can reach 70 degrees.

As a result of this singular situation, Florida bass are stocked in SWEPCO. Because of the lake's size, comparatively few Florida bass were needed for the original stocking and are now needed to maintain the lake. A dozen bass per day exceeding 4 pounds is certainly possible, and trophy fish are very possible. The only downside with SWEPCO is its dependency on the power plant: If the plant shuts down in the winter for an extended period, the Florida bass die, and kills have been reported in the past.

SPRING FISHING TACTICS
March and April are the best months for landing a monster bass in one of Arkansas' trophy bass lakes. The spawn in Columbia, Lower White Oak, Millwood and Monticello will start in March and extend into April. Because SWEPCO is artificially heated, the spawn takes place earlier there.

As big bass often prefer to spawn in protective coves near the main lake and like to have cover nearby, target stump- and vegetation-covered flats in main-lake coves that provide quick access to deep channels. Water in the 2- to 8-foot range is ideal.

Big bass like big meals, and big Florida bass like big, slow meals, so jigs, Texas-rigged plastics and weightless Senkos are smart choices for the stained waters of South Arkansas. Other baits, however, such as big Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits and topwaters will also draw strikes from big prespawn and spawning females. When you're dealing with shallow-water cover and big largemouths, you need heavy equipment. Monofilament in 17-pound-test or heavier and even braided line in 50- to 80-pound-test is used. To horse big Florida bass out of cover, a 7-foot medium-heavy flipping stick is a must.

Florida bass aren't hair-trigger aggressive fish, so be patient and work spawning flats methodically. Spend enough time on one of Arkansas' top trophy lakes, and you'll improve your chances of catching a monster largemouth bass.

FLORIDA BASS FACTS
The biological and genetic terminology associated with Florida bass research can get downright confusing, but a few elements of that are worth knowing. First, as noted earlier, a cross between a Florida bass and a northern-strain largemouth creates an offspring that biologists call an "F1" -- a first-generation hybrid. And from there . . .

"An 'F2' is produced from an F1 mating with an F1," said Hal Schramm, a nationally-known fisheries biologist from Mississippi. "An 'Fx' results from an F1 (or 'F2' or 'F3') mating with either parent." It's worth noting that while genetic predispositions for size and growth rates are still very strong in an F1, Florida traits often diminish in each "F" generation.