Tunica Cutoff Mississippi Fishing Report

Charlie stated Tuesday that there continues to be little fishing activity now.   Since the lake gets snowmelt water from up north, spawning season here is about a month afterward than close lakes that aren’t connected to the Mississippi River.  The fish bite better this time of year after some warm, sunny days.   Unlike summer, best bet is to fish noon on steep, sunny banks near deeper water.   With the water increasing, fish shallower on the inside edges of cover.   Move stationary gear  lines, yo-yos, etc. usually.   frequently, yo-yo’s baited with minnows are the early season gear of choice. (Check out this site)

The lake is below the good fishing range this week and will be falling gradually caused by the weir. Charlie stated Tuesday that a commercial fisherman had been catching good catfish in nets, however few reports from sport anglers; the fish are there, but. A couple of anglers have stated decent catches not big numbers of crappie in the lower end of the lake towards the runout, however no word on bait, depth, or technique. White bass stripes have been biting on the ramps fishing small spoons, jigs, or crankbaits. With the lake connected to the river, it s not strange to hang a sea-run striped bass or hybrid white X striped bass ; these fish travel widely up and down the river and adjoining waters. (fishhound.com)

The Army to straighten and streamline the navigation channel along this stretch of the river for barge traffic. So t he crews fa shioned a new channel and dynamited it open. With that, the old channel started to silt in and cut Tunica Lake off from the major river. But, the Arkansas-Mississippi border stayed unchanged. you’ll find simila r circu mst a nces a ll along the river because of its meandering nature. (arkansasonline.com)

The crappie are moving toward the shallow banks, and now of year, they either will be preparing to spawn, spawning or just finished spawning. The crappie really like three things – increasing water levels, which inundate new bushes, trees and grass; warm-water temperatures, which you usually will find in shallow oxbow lakes like the Tunica Cut-Off that warm-up quicker and stay warmer longer than the water in the Mississippi River; and regions where there’s no wind. One other factor that looks to influence the crappie and where to find them is the amount of new water produced when the river level rises, and the water in the Tunica Cut-Off begins to back-up. (nighthawkpublications.com)

Just in case it’s available, if the water gets up and starts falling, find any spot on a lake you may be able to find where there’s concentrated current. One perfect example is the connecting channel between Chotard and Albermarle lakes. A 20- to 30-foot-large channel runs about 500 yards connecting the two. When the water is falling, in the hottest of summer months, concentrate your efforts above the channel in Albermarle and below it at Chotard. The falling water pulls baitfish toward the channel and bass stack up at both ends to gorge. They can frequently be seen blasting into baitfish schools on the surface. (gameandfishmag.com)

Anglers can navigate the chute to/from the river when the river is at, or above, 6 feet on the Arkansas City Gauge, however they should be cautious of snags when doing so. As the river drops below 6 feet access through the chute gets very hard and treacherous, and Boaters are told not to attempt to navigate the chute when the river is below 6 feet Arkansas City Gauge . When the lake is at a level equivalent to 6 feet Ark. City Gauge one can get from one end of the lake to the other, however anglers have to be aware that at this water level shallow water is present at the flats at Burnt Island up lake from Benoit Outing Club & Goat Island . (desototimes.com)

Best spots have been Redgrass and Turkey Creeks and coves around Graysport, Choctaw and Gums landings. A new wave of crappie should hit the banks as the water stabilizes, warms and clears a little. The next two weeks or so should be good if it does not get too hot too fast. White bass have been biting in Turkey Creek; fish jigs or small crankbaits over a sand bottom. Catfish have been biting in the rivers after the rain; fish worms or stink baits. Bass fishing should improve as water clears in flooded grass; fish spinnerbaits or buzzbaits. The water level is 0. 7 ft below rule curve; expect little change in the gates. (lacrossetribune.com)

I fished Tunica Lake AKA Tunica Cutoff this Saturday and man it was hot. I trolled from 7:30AM to about 2:00PM with double minnow rigs and Jigs tipped with minnows. There was lots of boats on the water but majority of people were either fishing brush tops or bream fishing. The water was going down but it wasn’t right still. My experience at Tunica for trolling is best in July/August when most lakes slow down. I guess I will attempt again in some weeks. (crappie101.com)

Residents of this Tunica Cutoff community fish camp flee from the high water from the Mississippi River that forced the closure of their northwestern Mississippi fish camp, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, near Tunica, Miss. Though most of the residents have left their homes, some number of who live in houses on stilts are left over as the area floods. The National Weather Service predicts a somewhat lower crest than earlier estimates.  . (Check it out)

Five Mississippi lakes have been listed as the top fisheries to visit for trophy-size crappie, as indicated by a recent survey by Wired2Fish. Com. The survey identified the top 10 lakes to catch trophy crappie in the United States. Four of the top 10 are in North Mississippi, as well as No. 1-ranked Grenada, with three other Corps of Engineers lakes — Arkabutla, Sardis and Enid, which were joint and ranked as the nation’s No. 3 crappie fisheries. (commercialappeal.com)