Been years since I fished it but one place there is always fish is the wing dams in the main river and the sloughs adjacent to them. The backwaters always seemed to be stagnant this time of year but the wing dams have current and keep higher oxygen levels in the sloughs. I would have squarebill in crawfish or shad color tied on along with a shad colored spinnerbait to start with. A large and small top water would be next. If the water is off color I would also try a chartreuse blue back 200 bandit on the down stream side of the wing dams. Just make sure to run the channels from place to place as sand bars are a pain in the butt to get off of.

^^^^ Really good advice right there, Hop, those wing dams, or jettys, always have fish out on the current ends. You're going to have a ton of company out there, is it restricted to just that pool or can you lock through?

I think you can lock thru, we are thinking of trailering to a ramp on a slough if thunderstorms crank up. forecast is rain all weekend now. lol
I have been eyeing any points in the main lake/river and the cut to the slough we are thinking of fishing, navionics helps.

I can not help you with the fishing. However I did go to a bachelor party at the police station once in Russellville. Had a stripper and everything. Yes, I said at the police station.

I have a few out of production balsa baits that the only time I ever tie them on is in a big tournament on the river. If you're going to hit I-40 I'll meet you at Checotah and let you borrow them.

will be going thru little rock, leaving from north of winnsboro. appreciate the offer, I would hate to lose any of them tho. I have some sq bills and lipless, trig 8" worm for laydowns.
love some river fishing. used to run up from sixshooter to the river for smallies on tenkiller way back when, me and a 14' with a 10hp and 2 tanks. all day affair.

Hop make sure you have a couple of spinnerbaits with Colorado blades. For some reason slowing rolling one of those next to laydowns is a killer at times.

gonna have plenty of spinners.

with rain forecast I hope it gets the shad active in backwaters, lilly pads with frogs too.

get to fish it 4 days so hopefully I get it figured out.

I'm in a camera boat on Tenkiller this weekend, I'm hoping some of those guys figure out the summertime smallmouth because I sure can't!

it's been literally decades but, the cove on the west side str8 across from sixshooter/cookson used to hold some biguns early am/evening. snake creek out by the mouth was good too. river was always best, run up to the mouth and look for gravel bottom points, fish the eddy line with a lipless (rattle trap was all I had) or a sq bill bumpin the bottom. love that lake and was lucky enough to work at sixshooter as a kid, grandparents let me live there a couple of summers in the 60s.

Whopper Plopper and Lateral Perch.

thanks for all the good info folks, out of here for a bucket list lake adventure.

will put up some pics and try to keep y'all up to date on the great dardanelle adventure.

try to keep up ratz and no there won't be any shine involved.