DeGray Lake is about 30 to 45 minutes from Hot Springs, Arkansas depending on what part of the lake you are visiting. This is a good-sized lake that covers more than 13,000 acres. There are a variety of species to target here like many of the other popular lakes in this area. The primary fishery consists of crappie, bass, hybrid striped bass and catfish.
Bluegill
Bluegill and other bream are here on DeGray Lake. The crappie fishery is so good that most anglers will target crappie if they are looking to catch some panfish for the dinner table. Fish the shorelines around cover in the spring as bream can be found in the shallows as they get ready to spawn. With the deep, clear water, you will have to fish deeper in the summer and fall if you’re looking to catch some quality bluegill.
Catfish
DeGray Lake is one of the best lakes in this area for catfish. Anglers target channel catfish, flathead catfish and blue catfish. It is a good lake for numbers and big fish.
Crappie
DeGray Lake is known for its excellent crappie fishing. There are good numbers of them with some very big crappie here too. Several guides target crappie year round. Fish the deeper water cover and you’ll experience good fishing on DeGray Lake. There are a lot of crappie structures on the lake, so get out the electronics and start mapping all the brush piles you can find.
Hybrid Striped Bass
DeGray Lake is known for its excellent hybrid striped bass fishery. It has good numbers of fish as well as big fish. These fish are stocked here since no natural reproduction takes place in the lake. Anglers have success trolling, casting and jigging for them. Find the schools of baitfish and you will most likely find some hybrid striped bass in the area too.
Largemouth Bass
DeGray Lake is a solid lake for largemouth bass. Many anglers will fish the other lakes in this area when coming here to target bass exclusively, but you have a lot of fish here to go along with lots of productive areas to target them. Fish the abundance of shoreline cover early in the year and you’ll catch a lot of bass. In summer and fall, target the drop-offs near shallow water cover and you’ll catch some largemouth bass.
Spotted Bass
There are good numbers of spotted bass in DeGray Lake. You will find plenty of spotted bass mixed in with largemouth bass, so plan on catching both species of fish whether you come here to target largemouth bass or spotted bass.
Walleye
There is a fishable population of walleye in DeGray Lake, although, they are here in limited numbers. Many anglers target walleye as they run up the Caddo River to spawn in the spring. The walleye spawn congregates a lot of fish in a certain area, which makes finding and catching multiple fish in a day a lot more of a possibility than on the lake in the summer and fall.
White Bass
White bass are also here in good numbers, which helps anglers stay busy when the largemouth bass or hybrid striped bass bite is a little slow. The spring spawning run is popular on the upper end where the Caddo River enters the lake. This is the time of year that many anglers will target them on this lake. During the rest of the year, anglers usually catch white bass while targeting largemouth bass or hybrid striped bass.
