Greg Keefer.

Arkansas anglers love variety. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission now recognizes state records for 56 species of fish caught in waters ranging from creeks to the mighty Mississippi, from farm ponds to vast reservoirs.

Whether you’re an old-school angler armed with a cane pole and backyard red wigglers or a flyfisherman with graphite rods and hand-tied flies, there’s a time and place for your brand of fishing in the Natural State. Here’s our year-round guide to 36 outstanding destinations.

JANUARY
Upper White River
Trout
When the cold cripples or kills shad in north Arkansas’ Bull Shoals Lake, millions of the hapless baitfish gush through Bull Shoals Dam into the White River, where rainbow, brown, brook and cutthroat trout gorge on them like lumberjacks at a buffet. When this winter phenomenon occurs, focus on the first three miles below the dam with white or silver lures and flies.

Kings River Smallmouth Bass
The 12-mile trophy section of this northwest Arkansas river, from Trigger Gap to the U.S. Route 62 bridge, is the best water in the state for 5-pound smallmouth bass. Bump the bottom with plastic worms and grubs on 6- to 12-pound line.

Arkansas River Saugers
Like its larger cousin, the walleye, the sauger has ghostly eyes and toothsome flesh. In winter they congregate below all dams on the Arkansas River, where anglers catch them from shore by drifting chartreuse or white twistertail grubs on jigs or minnows under floats.

FEBRUARY
Fayetteville City Lakes Crappie
City-owned Lake Fayetteville and 490-acre Lake Sequoyah put many larger crappie lakes to shame. Lake Fayetteville’s 200 acres lie on the city’s northern border, while Sequoyah is southeast of town. On either lake, rustle up a mess of crappie from stumps or brushpiles in the creek beds with black and chartreuse jigs or red and pink Road Runners.

Rainbow Trout
In Municipal Waters
The AGFC’s Family and Community Fishing program transforms city-owned waters into temporary winter trout fisheries. Hatchery trucks deliver the first 1-pound rainbows in December and usually return every two to four weeks through March. Last year, the program served Cabot, Fort Smith, Hope, Hot Springs, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Maumelle, Pine Bluff, Rogers, Russellville, Sherwood, Springdale and West Memphis -- and more communities hope to join this year. For the most current list, call the AGFC at (501) 978-7322.

SWEPCO Lakes Largemouth Bass
For hot winter bass fishing, head to Gentry in Benton County and 500-acre SWEPCO Lake. Heated by water discharged from the adjacent power plant, warm-natured SWEPCO keeps Florida-strain largemouths growing year ‘round. It may be our only fishery where you can expect to catch a 5-pounder on topwater baits in the dead of winter. Locals swear by soft plastics in watermelon and pumpkin tones. Fish tend to congregate around the hot water outlet on cold days.

MARCH
Little Red Forks Walleyes
The South and Middle Forks of the Little Red River, which feed the upper section of Greers Ferry Lake in Van Buren and Cleburne counties, are loaded with spawning walleyes this month. Males with courtship in mind arrive first, and, like you, are anxious to hook up with egg-laden 8- to 20-pound females. Choose bright-colored crankbaits and jerkbaits or jigs and minnows.

Millwood Lake Largemouths
Our southernmost lakes warm up earlier, so you’ll find the largemouth bass in southwest Arkansas’ Millwood Lake stirring this month. This timber- and grass-filled U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake features four river channels and covers 29,000 acres that straddle the intersection of Sevier, Little River, Howard and Hempstead counties. Scour the stumps with spinnerbaits or lipless crankbaits until you find some bass; then, saturate the area with a jig-and-pig or soft plastics.

Lake Maumelle White Bass
At this busiest time of the year at central Arkansas’ water-supply lake, west of Little Rock on state Route 10, white bass, occasionally joined by hybrids and stripers, slash schools of shad. Focus on the west end; rig three rods with a topwater chugger, lipless crankbait and a flashy spoon to pursue the roaming whites throughout the water column.