Best Fishing Times in Arkansas This Week
Near Mountain Home, Heber Springs and Hot Springs: today on a 24 hour timeline and the next seven days rated Fair to Best.
Working out the moon and the sun for Mountain Home, AR, and reading the forecast.
Fishing somewhere else? Enter any ZIP for your own spot
Photo: “Fall fishing on the Madison River at sunrise”, Jacob W. Frank, Yellowstone National Park (NPS), Public domain
Arkansas at a glance
Solunar windows plus the agency calendarWhen fish bite in Arkansas
Arkansas fishing turns on the spring white bass run and crappie, catfish feeding on shallow flats at night in late summer, and brown trout spawning in the Little Red River from late October to mid January.
Each entry below is from Arkansas Game and Fish Commission or its published guides, quoted word for word and linked. Line the season up with the week above: a run in its prime and a Great day with a window at first light is the morning to take off.
- Spring, at 50 degrees
White bass
Each spring, white bass gather near the mouths of streams feeding lakes and rivers as surface water nears 50 degrees.
“White bass typically start concentrating near the mouths of streams feeding lakes and rivers each year as the surface water temperature begins to reach 50 degrees.”
White bass run spawns action across Arkansas, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read October 9, 2026 - Spring
Crappie
Crappie can be caught all year, but spring is crappie season in Arkansas.
“Crappie can be caught any time of the year, but spring and crappie go together like ham and eggs, red beans and rice, grits and gravy.”
Fishing tips for the crappie spawn, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read October 9, 2026 - Late summer
Catfish
In late summer, catfish go deep in the heat of the day and move up creek channel edges to shallow flats to feed at sunset.
“Catfish move deep during the heat of the day in late summer, but anglers can set up some ambush points at the edges of creek channels leading to shallow flats, where the catfish will move up to feed as the sun dips below the horizon.”
Chasing Cats After Hours: Passive fishing offers sweat-free summer angling opportunity, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read October 9, 2026 - Late October to mid January
Brown trout
On the Little Red River below Greers Ferry Dam, brown trout spawn from late October through mid January.
“Bly says the brown trout will spawn from late October all the way through the middle of January.”
Cool weather equals hot fishing on Arkansas’s famous trout tailwaters, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read October 9, 2026
Reading the Arkansas timeline
Each day has two major solunar periods of about two hours, centered on the moon overhead and underfoot, and two minor periods of about an hour at moonrise and moonset. A window within an hour of sunrise or sunset is marked in gold. The rating adds the moon phase, the gold windows and a capped nudge from the National Weather Service forecast for each town. Every factor and its points.
Dawn and dusk are the reliable part; the moon windows are the old angler’s rule.
