After an awesome blackened chicken sandwhich at Copeland’s Restaurant and a much-needed night’s sleep, we hit the water with Ross Cowling (third photo), Superintendent of the Texarkana, AR Parks & Recreation Department, and his good friend and tournament angler, Trey Whiddon (below). We pulled up to Millwood Lake and after noting the “beware of alligator” sign, we put the boat in and ran down to a big grass flat to throw hollow-body frogs for big bass.
The two, big cold fronts that had rolled through Arkansas this week continued to plague us. We didn’t find a single bite at the first grass bed, so we moved onto the next spot, a large expanse of heavier grass and lily pads. We continued to throw the topwater frogs and started finding fish willing to bite once the sun started warming the water’s surface. The air was still cold, but as the sun warmed more and more, the bass started to follow suit and started biting.
Ross Cowling admitted, “I’m more of a hunter than a fisherman,” but that didn’t stop him from being top rod on the boat, at least until Whiddon started finding his groove. I ended up catching only two bass (the better one is above), breaking off two more and spending the rest of the time behind the lens.
Even though the fish had stopped biting again, (and we still hadn’t found an alligator after a brief search for them) I had to run to catch my flight back up above the Mason-Dixon line. Once I was in the airport waiting to board my flight, Whiddon texted me saying that not only did they go back out on the water after I left, they also caught ten more fish. I’ll have to settle with the excuse that they had a local advantage and head back down to Arkansas soon to try again at a trophy southern bass.
As for alligators, every log we passed gave me an adrenaline rush and made me cry alligator. After quickly shutting my mouth and realizing it was in fact just a log, I was forced to settle with the lack of danger (other than dodging giant logs at 60mph). Maybe next time.
This is the last entry for Ben Duchesney’s Arkansas trip, but be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more trips coming soon, like his visit to Kentucky Lake, Kentucky to cover the first annual Hobie Bass Open.
Want to read about the first day on this Arkansas trip? Check it out here.
