Bull Shoals Lake Is a deep clear water lake fed by the White River located in north central Arkansas, in the heart of the Ozark Mountains.

Bull Shoals Lake is considered a highland lake, formed by damming the White River valley, in turn creating some deep waters. Bull Shoals Dam is the Fifth largest concrete dam in the U.S . In the dam area the waters can reach to over 200 ft. deep, with the average depth being around 75 ft.

Bull Shoals Lake is about one mile wide at the widest section, and is 79 miles long from dam to dam. It has numerous creeks, coves, and run offs, which equals 45,500 acres at normal pool and 750 miles of shoreline The normal lake elevation is 654 ft. above sea level (conservation pool) and can reach up to 71,000 acres at 695 ft. above sea level(flood control pool), and 1,000 miles of shoreline Bull Shoals Lake was built was built for the purpose of flood control, and hydro-electric generation. It protects the lower White River valley downstream of the dam. Bull Shoals Lake is the last in a series of 4 lakes and has dams at each end of the lake. Because of this the water level in the lake , it can and does fluctuate , often on a daily basis. The lake can fluctuate as much as 40 foot in of a year , but normally only about 10 foot average during the course of a year.  The record lake level was 695.2 and happened in 2008.

Due to the clear water make up of the lake, visibility can be as far down as20 ft , especially in the early spring of the year. In the summer and fall of the year the visibility may drop down to around the 10 ft. range due to the plankton growth, but very seldom less than 10 ft.

Bull Shoals Lake never freezes! The coldest water temperature usually does not fall below 40 degrees. In the late summer, the surface water temperature can reach as high as 90dgs.  Due to it depth and the cold water from the White River feeding the system , the deeper water stays cool. The Lake does develop a thermocline during the summer months . The thermocline starts to set up at about 25 ft. to 35 ft. and at times may go as deep as 90 ft. in the very late summer.

Bull Shoals Lake is mostly made up of rock shoreline, everything from shallow gravel banks to steep bluffs, ledges to chunk size rock. The lake is void of any weed type structure due to it rocky nature. and its depth. There are however plenty of man made brush piles constructed and installed by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, also many private individual's have sunken there own brush piles. These brush piles are all marked by blue placard's on the bank, the sizes of these piles can be as small as just a few sunken cedar trees to piles 20 ft. in height and over 100 ft long . There are some brush piles that reach the surface but most of the brush piles are between 30and 50 foot deep. The timber in the lake is below the 630 ft. above sea level (approximately 45 ft and deeper)  During construction of the lake the timber was removed between 630 and 690 ft. above sea level leaving the banks clear of any wood structure. Manny of  the game  fish in the lake do use the deep timber stands during the summer, A favorite hang out for the big walleye. During periods of high water, there is a large amount of brush and willows (normally on the bank)in the water, which becomes important habitat for all species of fish. It also gives the young of the year a place to hide from other predator fish. After high water years are known to be excellent fishing on Bull Shoals for all species due to the tremendous spawn and survival rates.