Lakes and ponds are great places for fish to live. They produce abundant plant food and offer plenty of cover for fish to hide. Shoreline structures like docks, logs, stumps, brush and rocks provide shelter, shade and protection for fish. Which means they also provide great fishing opportunities for the anxious angler.

You can fish lakes and ponds from the shore or from a boat. You can find fish in shallow or deep water, in open water or near natural or man-made structures. In lakes, you can catch freshwater fish like largemouth and smallmouth bass, pike, pickerel, perch, panfish, trout, even salmon.

Get to know your lake structure. Points, inlets, holes, sunken islands, dams, submerged objects (manmade or natural) and reeds and weeds are all considered structure. You should always fish in and around structure. It's a simple formula.

If you can’t stand the cold, stay off the lake! You know it’s cold when you have to keep thumping the eyes on your fishing rod. It’s hard to get the line through when the eyes freeze up.  A word to the wise: wear your Redhead Wool socks and your LightHouse for the Blind long johns. And bring some Hot Hands. Winter fishing in Arkansas is not for the faint of heart. That’s the bad news. The good news is -it is easier to catch a limit of crappie in the winter than it is during any other season. You just have to get down to their level – and I do.