Lake Hamilton (Arkansas)

Has anyone ever fished this lake before? I've rented a lake house out there for a week with my family. I'm gonna take the bass boat and do some fishing while we are there. Are there many stumps like our east Texas lakes? Easy to run? How's the bite in the summer?

From what I've seen driving through Hot Springs, it looks like docks every 10ft and all open water. Not for sure about what you cannot see from the highways. It's definitely a beautiful lake. Very commercialized. I've heard it's a small fish factory, though....

Hamilton has very few navigation concerns at full pool (it's full now), no stumps to hit anywhere in the lake. It can have a considerable amount of floating woody debris after big storms and water level rise, but I think it has been stable and clear for some time now. Your biggest hazard, and it's substantial, is the boat traffic. It's intense. Every day, until it gets cold.

Fishing there in the summer is not great. Brush piles in front of and under boat docks can be good, just have to find the ones that are brushed up. Shade is a big deal, try to get to the darkest parts under docks with whatever dock lure you like to use. There's some vegetation, appears to be a mix of hydrilla and coontail, starting to pop up in the back of some of the larger coves, especially mid-lake and north that is holding some fish. Brush along the first drops away from the bank were holding decent numbers and some size a few weeks back, biting crankbaits, small swimbaits and shakyheads, but that pattern gets sketchy by mid-morning with the boat traffic in many places. Shad spawn is underway in parts of central Arkansas now, but it may be done at Hamilton by now.

Nice lake, good ramps and facilities, just lots of boat traffic this time of year. Usually really good food options in Hot Springs too, not sure how much covid has affected that aspect lately.

I am originally from the area and my parents have a house on Lake Hamilton. I have fished it many times, though not recently. The only real structure on the lake is docks, the rest of it is wide open with a gravel or mud bottom. Every year during the fall the lake level is lowered dramatically until spring. So much so that most docks are out of the water and only the main lake and river channel are accessible. Honestly, it is a terrible lake for fishing. It is primarily used as a recreational lake by jet skis, wake borders and party barges. It is the party lake of the area.

If you want to really do some good fishing, I highly recommend the 20 minute drive north to Lake Ouachita. It is a CoE lake and therefor has no shoreline development other than a few marinas. It is a fantastic fishing lake and has hosted several FLW and BASS events in the past. It is also some of the most beautiful scenery in Arkansas. Good luck and post pics! That entire area is beautiful!

Rented a lake house there about four years ago that was on the tip of a secondary point in a canal type setup. Would go out right before dark and catch five or six each evening off the bank on a nose weighted fluke, nothing of size but on catching them in five or six feet of water on the edge of weed lines and it was this time of year.

What Moose said. The boat traffic in the summer is horrendous on Hamilton and not even a little bit fun to fish. Ouachita is big and beautiful, one of the most beautiful lakes in the country. Get up in the river arms and get away from the crowds, it's heaven on earth.

Turn on your side image and start looking for brush piles. There are a ton of them.
Also if you night fish there are docks with lights that hold lots of bass.

Run all the way up to the Quachita dam...even in the middle of the day, it feels like a/c on the water
There are several places where you can see folks beaching their boats before you get there...the water is nice and cool

Btw...it isn’t worth Fishing...it’s like a MLF tournament...dink dink done

Thanks for the help boys! I will define hit up ouachita while I’m there as well. Good stuff!

Oh and definitely make a stop on the water for ice or drinks at the marina there by the highway.....their ladies that come out to gas the boat up are qualified for David’s Hump Day posts!

Might check out Lake Degray also. About the same drive and can be good at times.

Yep

spent lots of time up in that area. locals at times catch good fish out of Hamilton but generally its a tough lake to fish. Lake ouachita is a great lake but can be tough in the summer