Beta

GuidedFloats is in beta. The full site launches March 1, 2027. The mobile app follows.

Guides: claim before March 1, 2027 and your first full season of Premium is free. Claim your founding spot →

Log in List your guide serviceFor guides
Home › Waters › Arkansas › Lake Catherine
Reservoir · Hot Spring and Garland Counties, the narrow Ouachita River impoundment behind Remmel Dam below Carpenter Dam, southeast of Hot Springs in west-central Arkansas · Arkansas

Lake Catherine Fishing Guides

The narrow river lake below Carpenter Dam, cold at the top and warm at the bottom, holding rainbow trout, stripers and bass in the same nineteen hundred acres.

An angler standing in a bass boat along a wooded reservoir shoreline
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Lake Catherine

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Lake Catherine

Lake Catherine is the smallest and most river-like of the Hot Springs chain, about nineteen hundred acres of the Ouachita held behind Remmel Dam and fed directly by the discharge from Carpenter Dam above it. That configuration is what makes it interesting. The upper end below Carpenter receives cold water pulled from the depths of Lake Hamilton, and the lower end near Remmel behaves like a conventional Arkansas warmwater reservoir. A single lake that fishes for rainbow trout at one end and largemouth bass at the other is unusual and worth planning around.

The cold upper section supports stocked rainbow trout and is fished from bank and boat below the Carpenter discharge, with the fishing quality closely tied to whether the dam is generating. Striped bass and white bass work the same cold water and the current seams that generation creates, and they are the reason many anglers make the trip. Downlake, largemouth and spotted bass hold on the rocky banks and the boat docks, crappie use brush and the standing timber in the coves, and channel, blue and flathead catfish are abundant throughout.

The gauge at Jones Mill reads lake stage. Catherine is an Entergy project like Hamilton above it, and because it is small and narrow it responds visibly to generation at Carpenter, with current and level both moving when water is being passed. Reading generation is as useful here as reading stage. Lake Catherine State Park provides the main developed public access with ramps, camping and cabins, and the whole lake is within twenty minutes of Hot Springs. Generation schedules are published by the utility and checking them the night before is the single most useful piece of planning an angler can do here, because the difference between still water and moving water changes the whole approach. The state park ramps are the easiest launch for a first visit.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Lake Catherine.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

Add a photo of this water See the badges

Pioneer badgeUnclaimed

Add a photo of this water

Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.

Never published. It is how the badge is held for you until member accounts open.

Posting to Lake Catherine.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. Landscape orientation looks best at the top of the page. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name printed under the photo and on your badge. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Lake Catherine.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Lake Catherine State Park - the principal public access, with ramps, camping, cabins and bank fishing on the southern shore. / Carpenter Dam - the cold-water inflow at the upper end, the trout and striper water, with bank access below the structure. / Remmel Dam - the outlet at the lower end, near the gauge at Jones Mill. / Jones Mill - the small community at the dam and the nearest named place to the gauge. / Hot Springs - twenty minutes northwest, the base for lodging, tackle and guides. / Malvern - the town southeast on Interstate 30, the nearest approach from Little Rock. / Lake Hamilton - the larger lake immediately above, a natural second stop on the same trip.

Seasons

Spring: bass spawn in the lower coves, crappie move to brush and the striper fishing below Carpenter is at its strongest. / Summer: the cold discharge keeps the upper lake fishable for trout and stripers while the lower end fishes as conventional warmwater, and recreational traffic is heavy. / Fall: schooling white bass and stripers chase shad on the surface and the lake quiets considerably after Labor Day. / Winter: trout fishing in the upper lake is at its best, crappie hold deep on structure and the lake sees very little traffic.

From the water

No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.

Log this water

Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.

Questions

What species can you catch on the Lake Catherine?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bream, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Spotted Bass, Striped Bass, White Bass on the Lake Catherine in Arkansas.

Are there fishing guides on the Lake Catherine?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Lake Catherine. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Lake Catherine?

Lake Catherine State Park - the principal public access, with ramps, camping, cabins and bank fishing on the southern shore. / Carpenter Dam - the cold-water inflow at the upper end, the trout and striper water, with bank access below the structure. / Remmel Dam - the outlet at the lower end, near the gauge at Jones Mill. / Jones Mill - the small community at the dam and the nearest named place to the gauge. / Hot Springs - twenty minutes northwest, the base for lodging, tackle and guides. / Malvern - the town southeast on Interstate 30, the nearest approach from Little Rock. / Lake Hamilton -...

When is the best time to fish the Lake Catherine?

Spring: bass spawn in the lower coves, crappie move to brush and the striper fishing below Carpenter is at its strongest. / Summer: the cold discharge keeps the upper lake fishable for trout and stripers while the lower end fishes as conventional warmwater, and recreational traffic is heavy. / Fall: schooling white bass and stripers chase shad on the surface and the lake quiets considerably after Labor Day. / Winter: trout fishing in the upper lake is at its best, crappie hold deep on structure and the lake sees very little traffic.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Lake Catherine?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Arkansas agency site: https://www.agfc.com/regulations/general-fishing-regulations/