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The bloating should overcome the weight belt then the wave action should free the body, this is a gross subject but that is how it normally happens. They had body lost a few years ago around the nursery pond that showed up at horseshoe bend and I heard it had been hit by at least 10 boats. I really wonder how tangled up you can get in a ceder try that has been under water for 50 years, would have to be an old catfish line involved to really hold a body that well. We may never know.

It is an oily bait fish, same as using a carp minnow, creek chub, or other oily bait. Sometimes they want those and sometimes stuck on shad or crawfish but you are right just about anything will hit it if they are feeding.

The bacteria should be enough to bloat this guy up to the top by now, so be on the look out for what you are running over.... Call it in if you find him, don't try to pull the body into your boat.

There are 5lb gold fish in Beaver due to people using them for so long. Too expensive at Wally World and you get bigger ones at Hook, Line and Sinker. Believe me the bait shops would not sell them if it was even border line illegal. Talk to the guys at HL&S about some of the fish people have brought back by after fishing with gold fish, they are full of good stories.

If you want to buy bait gold fish work fine for flatheads and blues, I have even heard of big strippers being caught on gold fish. There might not be a lot of catfish in Beaver but it makes up in size for it lakes in quantity. I have straightened out some very strong hooks and broke 30lb test on some huge catfish around Prairie Creek.

Any word if this guy was found? Guess it is the circle of life, he used to eat fish.

THROW IT BACK it might grow up into a baitcaster......

F&F They stock the Beaver Tailwaters all the time and you never here of trout in Table Rock past Holiday Island and there are very few stripers to deal with in Table Rock.

Another tip is to always have a 3/4 to 1 oz jigging spoon handy when you are on the lake this time of year. I was night fishing with a friend two weeks ago with live bait and the night would have been a bust if not for our spoons. When you see a lot of fish, learn to measure out your line or better yet use your electronics to see your spoon and drop it in their face. Fish near the bottom seem to pick up spoons the fastest but if you can find fish under shad those will bite also, and most of the time when you hit active fish you will catch more on the spoon then the live bait. White and silver, shad and minnow are the only two colors and shapes you really need to have BUT ALWAYS USE GOOD HOOKS. Eight spoons and you have a good box and ready for almost anything, though my spoon box has about 30..lol Not saying this is the best way to target stripers but the best way to catch deep active fish and there doesn't seem to be a fish in Beaver that doesn't like to be spoon feed.

Catfish bait can be small bluegill, so I would just chum up an area at the launch, let them come in and make the first cast count. There seems to always be lots of 2-3 in sunfish in Prairie Creek on the launch due the boats stirring up the bottom. If you catch any sunfish 4in or bigger in your net you must throw them back, only 4in sunfish caught on a hook can be used for bait.

J Doc I was in a ceder forest by Rambo and hit a lot of walleye and a cat, saw lots of big bass but not one crappie. Earlier that night we set up by a dock and that is where we found some crappie. Strange.......

Everyone talks about pressured fish but just like Bill just said on the Table Rock forum those fish down 26-40 feet over 80-100 feet of water see very little pressure. You see a lot of boats off shore on Table Rock fishing vertically but very few on Beaver, hope it stays that way. I am heading to the Rock tomorrow, hope to get out early enough to miss the wake boarders and big boats to spoon up some bass around Shell Knob. Seems funny that I have found the walleye shallower on Beaver lately then the bass... I was out with Inova the other night fishing over lights and we had lots of walleye coming to the lights and only one crappie. The walleye were mostly 16-17 inches though. Is anyone trolling at night for eyes? Seems to me that are are biting really good between midnight and 3am.

Well looks like got em all, everyone else needs to go to Table Rock now. WELCOME to OA

My prediction is the New Madrid fault will open up causing a 8.1 quake under the dam causing the dam to give in reducing Beaver lake back to white river and at the same level as the bottom of the dam 930 feet give or take a foot. Shoot ducks on that.

Bragging rights!!!!

We got way off topic and since the lake is starting to fall thought I would close this thread by declaring F&F the winner with 1125 feet since the high point was 1125.67 feet. No long term drought the way I expected and no flooding the way others thought just a good old back to normal. Congrats to F&F on the win.

You must have been trolling some where besides your usual RT 12 bridge run because I was there until 9pm and didn't see you. We had calm water around the island and lots of top water action but no walleyes. I thought I saw you once but it was the same type of boat with a much younger boater and he was chasing the top water bite. I never went south of the bridge and spent the afternoon around Rock branch and din't find any eyes there either. The whites hitting top were small, seemed the bigger fish were down below 15ft.

You said in another post some up to 5lbs, you should weigh those carefully, the state record is 5lbs 4oz. That was Bull Shoals and I think Beaver could beat that record if someone cared to go through the paperwork.

6 am tomorrow I will be there.......

Water level And I agree, I think this will be the top end for the year maybe a few more inches with current run off.

I think we have just about reached the top for the year with increased generation and the storms acting more like summer storms passing through quickly. I think we can call this in about anther week. The temps look to be rising next week so that will increase the rate of evaporation also. Just as soon as I make that prediction we will get a 10in rain.......lol

Last time my DVR caught this it was a Hockey game.

I could use that tornado just a good little F2 would get the roof redone.

When I started this thread I was thinking two year drought and the start of a new dust bowl, boy was I wrong. Seems we are going to get this year's rain and last years. So glad to see the grass coming back, ponds full and the lake back into the brush. Glad I didn't win this one, I have mowed the lawn more times this year than in all of 2012.

36°16'58.74" N 94°04'25.18" W https://maps.google.com/?ll=36.28298,-94.07366&z=17&t=h The only pic I could find on Google Earth was a little sticking up in 9/2010. Not much left. but great structure for spots and night fishing you can count on 2 LM off there if you are the first to hit it after dark, but it does get hit a lot. Theold boat launch on the right side is another well known night fish spot. Could be old road but looks like old launch...