TEXARKANA - Fishing and lake activity on Wright Patman Lake and Lake Millwood remains about the same despite the coronavirus pandemic.
At Wright Patman, the boat ramp below the dam on the lakeside at Elliott Bluff is closed because of flooding.
"Everything else is open and we have no intentions of closing any other boat ramps," lake manager Matt Seavy said. "We always get a good amount of people fishing this time of year. At times, it seems like we have more people fishing. I think people are looking to get out of the house. It is close to the normal amount of fishermen that we see this time of year.
"We have restricted vehicles at the outlet part of the dam. Normally, we see shoulder-to-shoulder fishing this time of year. If someone were to walk in that area, we hope that they maintain social distancing."
The largemouth bass fishing is fair on slow-moving jigs and worms. It is best to work creeks and coves. White bass are slow on jigs and spoons. Crappie and catfish are fair. It is optimal to use jigs in creeks for crappie while live bait, cut bait and stinkbait is ideal for catching catfish.
Bow fishing is not allowed within 600 feet of a developed park, roadway, fishing pier, fishing platform or at any other areas posted. Bow fishing is prohibited within the stilling basin and emergency spillway areas. It is allowed in areas east of U.S. Highway 59 below the spillway on the Sulphur River and in remote locations on Wright Patman Lake.
Up at Millwood Lake in Ashdown, there has not been any disruptions in the fishing and access of the boat ramps. No ramps have been closed.
"We are not restricting any boat ramp access," said Tiffany Smith, operations manager for Millwood Lake. "We may close some ramps due to flooding, but we haven't had to do that yet. The fish are biting right now, and there are about the same number of people fishing compared with the same time last year. The fishing always picks up when the crappie are biting."
Seavy and Smith advises lake goers to wear a lifejacket and maintain safety on and around the water.