LAKE HAMILTON

[FISHMASTER07]

hey everyone im new to this forum and someone told me that somebody could probably tell me some information about lake hamilton in AR. i will be fishing it in the summer and wont get to pre fish. is this lake usually clear? any suggestions for what kind of cover the fish will be on and if they will be on the main lake or in the coves / mouths of coves. plus baits and colors would be helpfull. any info will help. thanks

[Ouachita]

I live 2 miles from it. The main cover is docks. Lots of docks. Lots of traffic in summer, sometimes hundreds of jet skis and big power boats for such a narrow lake. Practice skipping lures a long way under docks with high water and not much space under them. There are more "skippers" doing that now, but not many can get it to the far end between posts. Many have brush piles around them, and some are booby trapped to discourage anglers, favoring dock fishermen. Be prepared to lose baits on cables and hog wire draped in the water. Ignore dock owners who come out threatening to call the Sheriff or a hit squad, unless bearing a rifle or shotgun. They have no rights to the water. They feed the fish and consider them pets.

Look for docks that are very close to deeper water. Also, cast multiple times to the transom of any party barges that are not being used. Ignore the ones in shallow flat coves. Fish the vertical rock bluffs with shady water. I trickle jigs down the rock steps. Avoid the open water, as there are too many wipers and stripers there.

I stick to Bluegill colors. George Cochran lives on that lake and took the 05 FLW Championship using among other baits a candy striped buzzbait. Fish one parallel to docks. Keep it high, let it dip below the dock a few inches, zip it back up out of sight of the bass. They will come up to nail it. Smithwicks, Rapalas, and other shallow diving baits (< 3') work well there.

Whenever the Blakely Dam Powerhouse is generating you need to scoot up river to the docks in the narrowest areas where bass turn to their ancient river feeding habits. If you don't have time for that fish under the main Hwy 7 bridges. See my write-up that applies directly to Hamilton at http://theb*******s.com/bassin...792.0 , authored by me "Ouachita". There's a drawing in the post that should help you.

Jim