# My Aventures to Arkansas



## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Guy's follow me to Arkansas for a virtue tour of my Adventures. Lot's of good info to get you started on an Adventures of your own. Even thou the timing of the front is not in my favor we will still go. On my last trip I remember those fish didn't give a hoot about them fronts. They were curious and just wanted to EAT!! Hopefully by the end of my Aventures this post will be fill with pictures of nice scenery helpfull informations and maybe even a few fish pics. Nothing is for sure. Just because I did well last Adventures doesn't mean I will do well this Adventures. Regardless, Arkansas is a breath of fresh air,beutiful scenery, and just a chance to get away from the busy crowded bad traffics city life. We will leave late tonight and should arrive at Lake Degray just a little before sun rise. Our plans is to checkout Degray then load up on live baits and head on out to Ouachita early morning. Then maybe another Lake but will be decided once we end the day at Ouachita.We will be staying here only 10 minutes from the lake. Cabins with full amenities with kitchen ($65) per night for small cabin$200 weekly. Baits(live and arties big selections) and lodging and non ethanol gas can can be found here. 
http://www.caddovalleylanding.com Thanks for reading my adventures.


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## Notch8 (Apr 24, 2013)

Hope you donâ€™t get skunked and tell lies like other times


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## Ken.Huynh (May 30, 2014)

Man really nice cabin and view. 


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## Rangerharley1959 (Jul 5, 2013)

Looking good , Bring on the Reports


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Ken.Huynh said:


> Man really nice cabin and view.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Here you go Ken. Right on the lake. Maybe you like it here. If it's got a stove that's all I care. Cooking me a big old pot of pho. Anyway there's like a bunch of motels also minutes from the lake. Nice pricey ones, cheap ones.
You get to pick.










http://www.iron-mountain.com


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## fishingtwo (Feb 23, 2009)

I just want the Pho recipe!!!

Be safe and leave some for next time..


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## Ken.Huynh (May 30, 2014)

Really cool looking lake and surrounding. No wonder I have a friend that goes there 2-3 times a years. 


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Made it to Degray. Got my live baits. They got plenty of all sizes. Freakin trot line minnows is about the size of small gizzrds.


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## fishingtwo (Feb 23, 2009)

Is it a little chilly out there?


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

fishingtwo said:


> Is it a little chilly out there?


Perfect temps.38 degrees but feels like 50. Very nice conditions. Wind had laid down.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Looks good so far. Go get em!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Freakin fish are all in the timbers but we know can get them. Lots of timbers out here.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

We pull white bsss untill our arms fell off.


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## Rangerharley1959 (Jul 5, 2013)

Outstanding, Them are some great memories you are making with your son.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

We were doing great than we saw this and the trip was pretty much over. But before we throw in the towels and head home we put the hurt on those white bass. Caught our limits plus 13 hybrids.


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## Northern fisherman (Sep 16, 2014)

Looking good Bruce,Merry Christmas!


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

BruceVanNguyen, the "Lake Guru"!


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

You had some type of engine failure?
Looks like oil slick on water by engine.


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## SD Hawkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Bruce, you lose the L/U? That's a mess of fish, good show and great memories.


Merry Christmas


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Yes, sir had engine problems. I'm already at home. Droved all night last night home. I am very disappointed I couldn't finish the trip to other lakes. Comes to find out that it helps to screw the oil cap back on when you change the engine oil your self. I didn't want to risk damage my engine so I had to make the sad decision to go home. Had oil shooting up and out inside the engine compartment like a volcano. 
It is very beautiful up there. Lake water is crystal clear. Only three boats on the water. Pretty much get the lake to our self. The white bass action was non stop. Just find a deep water channel use the winter methods and jig slabs like it's summer time. White bass and hybrids will follow your boat for nonstop actions. All them BIG hybrids we were catching the past two years we were up there must have died. I think their life spend had expired. We caught not a single big hybrid. All little ones like Conroe hybrids. There are no size limits up there on most AR lakes. Only a 13" minimum on largemouths. $16 for a three days license and can be purchased online or at an AR Walmarts.
Ended the day with 75 white bass and 13 hybrids. I took that college student with me and he was just blown away by how easy and fun it is to catch all those fish. He told me he had never caught a white bass. I think he is hooked for life now. Anyway, I'm gonna go out and walk the streets nearby my house to see if I can find that cap. Got all these minnows swimming in the live well and don't know what to do with it. Maybe if I can find the cap I can go salvage the day at one of our lakes.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Great job and report Bruce. You went to a new lake and caught all the fish you wanted. 
Looks like some very nice size fish!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Winter tips !! Find timbers near deep water. Fish will be all hurdle up in those thickets of timbers getting insulated from the cold water. Use the winter methods and bring the fish up out of those timbers. Then lower bait just above the timber and wack away. A lot of fishermen seems to avoid areas with thick timbers but it could be a fish heaven for fish to hide and get insulated from the cold. Find an area and try it out. You might be surprised at what you see coming up out of those wooded areas. Here's pics where I drifted over a wooded area and had those fish follow me out on to a clear flat. We couldn't get the baits down quick enough. And those that would not follow, they would rise up above the timberlines.


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## Rangerharley1959 (Jul 5, 2013)

Good screen shots


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

A few more pics. Lake is abnormally low. All the fish that hang out on top of 40-50' humps are now hanging out near deep water in 50-60 fow with heavy timbers. I had some cool graph pics of fish hang around timbers but forgot to save it on the SD.


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## Ken.Huynh (May 30, 2014)

Suprise you made it that far with unscrew cap and even make it back. That itself is a bless. 


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Ken.Huynh said:


> Suprise you made it that far with unscrew cap and even make it back. That itself is a bless.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I found the cap Ken. Tomorrow Christmas I shall salvage the the Adventures here at one of our Lakes.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Back to Arkansas again tomorrow. Leaving evening today.


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## denimdeerslayer (Feb 23, 2012)

Awesome trip Bruce. Waiting on more from this trip.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

denimdeerslayer said:


> Awesome trip Bruce. Waiting on more from this trip.


We got 9 Houstonians and 3 Arkansonians a total 12 people. It's gonna get interesting, and with this warming trend I think we just gonna snag them underneath the boat with slabs. Them fish are gonna be very active.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

Poor fish frying pans are coming their way...  Have fun.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

We up to three boats going that direction now. Just left Livingston.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Here ya go denimdeerslayer. It was a hybrid and big whites blood bath day. My friend got his boat slimed good. I don't think his wife ever caught this much hybrids before. Even put her little girl on fish. Hybrids and white was stacked up once we got set up. First spot and they already limited out. All caught dead sticking flukes this time. Colors did not matter. We caught them on every color we had in our tackle box. Water was to cold to slabbed, 42 degrees!!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Our catch. We wack them good too!!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Good catching day. Full report and pics of Sonar when I get home to upload.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

WOW fantastic post! You can really catch em!!!!!
New Lakes too! GO there and key in on em!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Gofish2day said:


> WOW fantastic post! You can really catch em!!!!!
> New Lakes too! GO there and key in on em!


Lake is over 10' low. All fish that use to hang out on flats,points, and humps has now retrieved into the woods in very deep water. Many of those structures are now exposed. It's just a matter of finding the the right wooded areas and bringing them up. Once they are under your boat they're pretty much sitting ducks. Fish took baits very aggressively. Most flukes were swallowed whole and had to be digged out of their mouth.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Not a single crappie ????


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Gofish2day said:


> Not a single crappie ????


Only one big one. Lake Hamilton is the place to be for crappies but we did not go due to seeing a lot of fish on sonar on the previous day at the current lake we were at Degray. Saturday was a bluebird extremely cold day. The extreme drop in water temps 42, air temps 27 in such a short period of time gave the fish the lock jaws. We drove over to Arkansas and to our surprise, everything was frozen up. We had to chisel our rods off the boat floor. 
Day one see lots of fish on sonar but they would not bite. We caught five very big hybrids and a few whites and that was it. We had crappies at Lake Hamilton and Kentucky bass at Lake Greeson on our plan for the next day but following our instinct, we stayed at Degray. Sunday clouds and warmer temps rolled in and sure enough them fish went into a feeding frenzy mode. Our first stop we wacked out everyone limits on nice size hybrids. My friend son even caught a tag hybrid with a $100 dollar bounty hunt on it's head. I'm sure it's a trip my friends had enjoyed. Too bad we did not have an extra few days to go do some more catching. Next year we most definitely will plan a whole week stay at AR. Here's a few more pics.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

A few more pics and pics of a part of our catches.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Wow, Bruce! When do you sleep?? Never seen anyone drive all night and fish all day! Very nice for you to be able to target those fish, on a strange lake!!! I've heard a lot about Lake Degray. You are very good at reading the down scan, and not everyone can find them, that well. Hope you give some of those fish, to relatives? Congrats, for a good job!!!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

tbone2374 said:


> Wow, Bruce! When do you sleep?? Never seen anyone drive all night and fish all day! Very nice for you to be able to target those fish, on a strange lake!!! I've heard a lot about Lake Degray. You are very good at reading the down scan, and not everyone can find them, that well. Hope you give some of those fish, to relatives? Congrats, for a good job!!!


Yep gave them all away tbone. Don't want to clean fish.My friends took most of them fish home for their family. I only kept what I eat in a few days. It is a strange lake. Lots of timbers. 
Tonight steam hybrids or maybe fried fish in peanut oil and corn meal paired with oysters and shrimp sounds good tbone.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Y'all can see on the down scan some of those trees are 60 feet tall under water. Its like riding through an underwater forest. My friends didn't know this lake and lost all his tackle on all these trees . Luckily I brought plenty and showed him how to not loose that many lures.


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## Dirt Daddy (Sep 11, 2004)

Great report thank you !!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

One other thing I would like to mention. Large mouth bass is a very much appreciated fish in AR . You don't hear them calling them green trash fish. I have bass fisherman in AR asking me to please release all the large mouth bass because their population is dwindling in low numbers. There are more bass fisherman than hybrids/stripers/white bass fisherman in Ar. You go up to Degray anytime of the year and see more bass fisherman than any others type of fisherman. I had one bass fisherman said they didn't care at all if they get rid of all them hybrids. I gutted some of those hybrids and found crappies,walleyes,and small bass in their stomach. I caught one or two small ones on every trip by accident. Not that many large mouth in AR. Not sure if there is any gizzards shads on this lake because I haven't seen one inside those hybrids stomachs. Fish were puking out small thread fins yesterday as they were being landed.


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## creeker (Feb 14, 2005)

Looks like a great trip and proof that patterns can be applied to similar situations in different bodies of water. I have to say that it is impressive for you to get on them on new lakes. Well done. Looking forward to seeing the graph pics.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

creeker said:


> Looks like a great trip and proof that patterns can be applied to similar situations in different bodies of water. I have to say that it is impressive for you to get on them on new lakes. Well done. Looking forward to seeing the graph pics.


Graph pics is above in one of my comments. When water level is normal Degray lake can be an excellant hybrids/white bass lake. A lot of good structures are now too shallow for winter fishing. AR hatch their own hybrids. And they get stock in good numbers and has very little fishing pressures for those species of fish, so you get all class sizes of hybrids on that lake right now. Big ones, little ones, and medium ones. There should also be some trophy size ones too by now.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

WTG Bruce. One of these days I would like to go with you and the son up there.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

fishinganimal said:


> WTG Bruce. One of these days I would like to go with you and the son up there.


You can really spoil yourself up there. Striper on Ouachita then swing on by Hamilton for crappies then last stop at Degray for hybrids and white bass. But yes you can!! You are always welcome!!


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

Bruce "The Bass Slaughter" Nguyen!!!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

*benifit of down scan*

The benefit of down scan. When you cant make out what's down under the boat fish or trees? switch over to down scan. It can pick up tees much better details than 2D. Here's an example.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

I always do an autopsy on fish and see what they are eating and the stages of the egg sacks to determine if it's near time they will head off to the river and spawn. Gutted them hybrids open and every single one of them had a stomach full of small baby threadfins shads. That's what I like to see!! That is an indications that they are feeding hard for the winter before the spawn. What all this has to say. All they have on their mind right now is to feed feed feed. Match the hatch always help too when they refuse to bite larger baits. Now is the time to go catch them!! Them hybrids inhaled all them flukes. Very easy to get a hook set. Very aggressive bites.


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## ML56 (Dec 30, 2008)

Impressive screen shots Bruce, especially the down image trees. Any idea how long since lake was filled? All of the fine sized branch's would have rotted away if it's been inundated a long time(I would think). If I can get downscan images that clear on my new machine, the crappie are going to be in big trouble!-Mike


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

ML56 said:


> Impressive screen shots Bruce, especially the down image trees. Any idea how long since lake was filled? All of the fine sized branch's would have rotted away if it's been inundated a long time(I would think). If I can get downscan images that clear on my new machine, the crappie are going to be in big trouble!-Mike


Mike I jave no idea on the history's of that lake. Theres an info center with parks ranger present all the time. I'll make sure to check on that for you next time. As in for down scan its a great tool for me to compare side by side and confirm what im seeing is tree or bait fish or predator fish. So many slabs and lures has been spared ever since I've been using the side by side comparison. Very important features not to be left out. AR is full of timbers from North end , mid, and South end. Good thing is none is protruding just below the water like LL. 
Heard you got a Helix 12". Congradulation. Fish watch out!!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Lake Hamilton,AR been doing very well on crappies lately. Here's a pics of my friend at Hamilton right now checking out some nice schoolies what looks to be crappies. Too bad he's a bass fisherman. He target bass specificly.


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