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This guy did everything right and legal, I hope he gets his winnings and record he deserves it for sure. I hate to see Beaver lose the spot light, but for the chance to catch a quality 20-30lb striper I still think Beaver is on top, but shows what happens when people don't target a species of fish and they are left alone to grow. I am betting there are world class carp in Beaver....some parts of the world that would mean something.

I think that would be the world record for land locked striper from one of the articles I read. I know if it is confirmed he will win $1 million form Mustad hooks since he had pre registered.

Cut the line off as deep as you can and let the fish free himself, unless you are going to keep some to eat and it is a legal fish that one would be a good choice. But the fish usually has a better chance of getting rid of the hook slowly and not dying then it has if you tear it that deep.

Beaver has long been known for it's big stripers but just heard on 40/29 a 68lb Striper was caught in Bull Shoals. There are some problems with the scales that were used but they being checked out. I know here on this forum a lot of Bull Shoals fishermen ere upset about the new stocking of stripers over there but looks like they have had stripers for a while to produce a State Record fish.

I make mine own but saw this deal and almost worth it just for the cost of the swivels. http://wlure.com/product_info.php?cPath=161&products_id=555 I have ordered from the company before and did receive my order, got some little cranks for $.99 but shipping was like $6. I have nothing to do with this site and if this breaks any rules just delete it .

My Mom is 81 and even though she has never been a bass fisherman she is still working 40 hours a week as a CNA in a nursing home, mows her yard and trims a hedge that surrounds a large lot and runs around more than my 44 year old wife. She claims it is all due to exercise and despite my 20 years in the Army I have never been able to match her situps. She works out for 30 minutes every morning and I am not talking senior type workouts but full blown calisthenics and she can do more and keep going longer than my 44 year old wife. I am convinced by watching her that it is not age that gets to someone but inactivity which after working in nursing homes for 40 years she has told me since I was 10 years old and now I can see it and believe it. After having a heart attack at 42 I was convinced that inactivity was a path for me since working out and hard work hurt, but then I realized with the help of my doctor and mom the only way to feel better was to build that muscle back up. Now I am off the pills and don't even realize I have a clogged artery and am moving blood through new veins just like before. So your answer is as long as you don't sit down and get old you won't but you can't sit around and wait for a good day and expect to be able to go, staying young is a daily chore.

Just wondering why you went for that over the Ambassador 5000 series? I have picked a couple of those on sale cheap and looks to be about the same reel. Because of the lack of brakes I never thought about using my round reels to throw an A-rig but will give it a try now. I have always used those reels for live bait and vertical jigging since it is easy to count out the line by watching the line guide but have not done very much real casting with one.

Out door or inside storage?

Yea I have bought some refurbished reels there, but never think to take it with me when I am going through there. I also have a BPS reel that has a broken plastic ring that makes it sing and would like to use it again. But if I get all my reels fixed then I will need more rods........

Right off the beach area it is pretty shallow but drops off better toward the rocks. I have gone there at dusk and thrown a jerk bait and caught stripers before. Also if you walk around toward the docs behind the apartments on the right there is a long point that drops on both sides and have hooked up with stripers there also. I was night fishing for cats there one night and bunch of drunk skinny dipping girls came running out of the apartments and dove into the lake.....didn't catch anything there that night. I have caught a lot more whites then anything but every once in a while you will see stripers working together in a wolf pack running shad up into the shallows. I would suggest throwing a cast net around the shore line and getting bait there, even the little bluegill seem to work better than brood minnows for me. Not a bad place to sit up a chair and enjoy a small fire but expect vists from Benton County and the game warden, I have had my license checked once on a boat on Beaver but everytime I have set in a chair on that beach.

Fin puts it out there pretty good but the easy time for beginners is about over IMO. When the water is 50 and below the stipers are all over the lake and easy to catch.. In the summer a run to the tailwaters at the first generation of the day will fill a livewell with shad just scoop the off the top of the water as the cooler water hits them. Then head to Lost Bridge South or North and set up a drift near some deep trees if you don't pick up a fish move and repeat. Also if you are not going to keep shad over night a few dozen will live in a livewell with ice just no where to put a striper so carry a big cooler for fish you plan to keep and keep those fish on ice to prevent spoilage during hotter months. If you are mid lake go to the water intake area with the cast net, if you can't find shad there hire a guide..lol go to any long deep point and drop a shad down just like a drop shot and drift for a while there are always small stripers and hybrids around it is just how deep as the water warms. People see them feeding on top and then fish shallow but those fish will run back down to 30-60 feet first time a big motor runs through them. As more people start taking their boats out of storage the deeper the fish will go and its my belief it is the sound of the motors, I don't know if it is the shad that gets run deep and stripers fallow or the stripers just hate the sound of big motors. I don't target stripers a lot but have learned some basics from getting the need to bend the big poles a few times a year in the past 12 years of living on Beaver and they are totally different fish in June then in March.

One of my favorites is the cut by Horseshoe Bend where you have to come off plane to go between the rocks. The whites seem to like that area for some reason and lots of spots along the rocks also. The lights from the Horseshoe bend Marina draw in whites and crappie also. The flat just west of the RT12 bridge draw whites on a good moonlite night this time of year, I have gone out and caught 50 whites on full moons from shore when I couldn't sleep. There is no one spot they will be every night but move around and you should find them. I would say PC area is the easiest area to find them but the most boat traffic to put up with also. I like the sandy flats for whites at night more than bluffs, and now I say that I just remember the sand flat as you round Horseshoe bend some nights they are stacked up there.

I really hope they have reps coming in and fixing reels and giving classes. I have a shiminio Citica that needs some little springs and to be put back together after I took it apart for cleaning and it never got put back together.....

I am sure though we will be able to order through the catalog and save shipping and get sale items not advertised on line without paying shipping. It has to be a better place to shop then Academy.

Are you looking to put out lights for crappie or night fishing for bass or ? There are a lot of people who fish under the route 12 bridge with lights in the hotter months, I have catfished under the lights in PC this time of year with some good sucess on channels and flatheads but we need a little more info. Then there are people who pull rattle traps after dark for stripers.

J&J is the place in Lowell surrounded by a chain link fence that has all the used boats. (479) 770-2161 Going South from Rogers it is on the right hand side of 71B before you get to the light.

By lack of replies I would say it is too early but if you call Hook,line and sinker or send them a PM though here since they are a member I am sure they will have an idea when they are going to start. Also you may want to check with outdoor world to see if they are running the Thursday night tournaments this year. Castmasters start their night tournaments June 9th so I am guessing that is about the time for others to start.

J&J Marine is an over looked place and has little over head to support they have always done me right. Very easy place to talk to the mechanic instead of talking to gate keepers and salesmen.Only place left you can have a cup of coffee and a smoke while you talk about your boat

I put in an application online and have an interview for the 22nd.....discounts, meeting people who fish..sounds win,win.

I won't be here this weekend, but if I was fishing just for one big bass I would not get North of RT12 and might stay south enough to use that Hickory Creek weigh in. Just sayin...With an every hour weigh in I would head to the weigh in with anything over 4lbs and bet there are some checks for 3 somethings during the day.

The sign out front says opening this summer and the interviews for floor staff are the 22-25 of May so I would say it is getting close.

Is anyone else excited about Cabela's coming to town? Has anyone here applied or even got a job there yet? I noticed they have the management positions filled and are taking apps for sales associates or outfitters as they refer to them. I do like our smaller local stores but it is nice to have have the large retailers so close also since I have got their catalogs for so many years but never visited one of the stores.

Is this the one that has biggest bass by the hour? That sounds fun.

Sounds better than the morning I had painting living room.......good fish

That's nothing compared to Table Rock. I like the Arkansas side of the Rock just because it is quite and when the fog moves in I don't have to fear for my life there might be a 100 boat take off about to happen. I would love to move over to Bull Shoals just for the lack of population it is like seeing Beaver 20 years ago but that is the price you pay for growth and alot of people that have moved here are really good people. After the Elites fished Bull Shoals I still don't think it will get much more action since it has been a tournament lake for 20 years but with the main population centers around the Rock and North Fork it is just easier for the weekend tournaments to stay on their local lakes. Weekend tournaments don't bother near as much as the WAKE BOAT craze, I can't fish the dog days in the daylight anymore just because of those boats......guess it's just a sign of age. That's funny Fin that people are starting to chase them, I did that one year, I followed the leader around for the last two days and I was the only one doing so. I only have a 115hp so the camera man started cluing me in on the next move so I could get a head start..lol I was really wanting to be the back seater on day three the guy was just sitting there most of the time while the Pro was flipping into flooded brush I just kept thinking of a hundred different lures he could have been throwing that would not have affected the pro at all. Then again I hardly fished fished both days just took notes and talked to the camera boat no need to mark anything on the GPS since he was just hitting brush around all the hot map points. Funny though how bass fisherman like the bank and less than 10 feet of water when Beaver is a flooded farmland, forest and towns and just full of structure everywhere. I have even seen bass spawning on cliffs 20ft deep and escape to 80ft of water when I tried to cast to their bed.