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If you are like me and got the white fire extinguisher at Walmart for your boat, you might want to look at this. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2017/kidde-recalls-fire-extinguishers-with-plastic-handles-due-to-failure-to-discharge-and

I know what you mean, I have NEVER caught a 4 lber while fishing a bass tournament, but I have caught 5 and 6lb bass while pulling Arigs and live shad during bass tournaments trying to catch stripers. Granted the way I was fishing is not allowed in any tournament and I have never been a good tournament fisherman but I think the decision to get a limit first then look for big ones is what separates those that always do good from those that don't. I think those that do really good all the time start and finish with belief and attitude there are enough 5lb fish for them get 5 apiece every time and they do it. Now that being said, I will also add I am not one of those that do good every time or even once in a tournament and have not fished a tournament in 7 years JMO.

J-Doc I am in the same boat, it is just giving money away if I fish a tournament but I do have a theory about how to fish Beaver to win. If you fish for Big Fish only then you zero or you catch big fish, if you fish for smaller fish you catch smaller fish and might get lucky with a bigger one once in a while. I Have seen this while using 6inch shad fishing for a 30lb stripper and 3-4 lb bass eats a six inch shad whole, that is almost as big as some spots I have caught on a drop shot or ned rig. The problem I have is I can't spend 8-10 hours throwing big baits that a 12in spot can't get in it's mouth for 5 good bites a day but I am convinced that the guys who do and stay on the move are the ones that bring in the money. When I fish I want to stay busy catching fish and if I get a pattern that will get 40 fish in the boat I think that will result in 5 being good fish but that is not how it works, not for me anyway. Some day I am going to test that theory, but that means cleaning out all the small fish lures from the boat first.

I see that the corps has tapered off the generation at 1120 feet full pool for summer. Winter level is usually between 1110 and 1115 and usually they pull it down around this time. Does anyone know why they stopped? I am guessing it is because of the rain events expected further south but since this could be held at Bull Shoals that is only my uneducated assumption.

May be time to have a membership drive on the lake and recruit new blood. Though there are a lot of old faces I would like to hear from on here if only to say hi.

Great report, thank you. Glad to see the stripers coming up somewhere on the lake. I knew someone was fishing.

I have not been on the lake for a month now and I am dying for reports. The lake has been flowing like a river for a month, I keep picturing all the bass stacked on every point hitting swimbaits. Doesn't anyone have pics of hogs to show? I will make time for a couple sundown trips this week. Anyone know what the corps winter pool target is for this winter? I am guessing 1115.

All I know is more people throwing cast nets on Beaver will not make my fishing any easier since it is hard enough to catch live bait now. There are tons of shad in Beaver but seems to be so few where you can get to them for some reason. Maybe this will spur a new bait source that will sell bigger bait near the lake?

I know at least 10 people that have been fishing the Arkansas River and Beaver this year. They are bass fishermen that would never use live bait but I would blame their live wells and bilge pumps for spreading Zebra mussels before a few loads of shad being transported. I will look forward to the clearer water Beaver used to have if we do get zebra mussels, if it happens might as well look at the bright side.

I have not been checked on Beaver in years to even see if I was caring a fishing license or fire extinguisher, I can remember once in 2005 someone checked my livewell. The only way this will get enforced is if one guide rats on another one and gathers all the evidence himself.

I posted this over a year ago that Bass Pro was buying Cabela's but I got an email today from both stores saying they are one. I hope this brings down prices at Cabela's but for the short term I have some Bass Pro gift cards I can use at Cabela's if I find something local I want.

We have never been able to buy shad and bait shops have always said it was illegal to sell live shad around Beaver. Where has this been happening?

I'm betting they were caught very deep on the North end and thrown back when the guilty party was leaving. They may have had some chance if release right away. Then again they may have come from the water intake area, there are some big deep fish there all year, but they will die when brought up in this warm of water. I think there is a big spring in that area, I once spooned up a big bluegill at 80 feet in that area. This is not the time of year for catch and release. Those were really nice fish that could have been real trophies in a year or two.

Cooler weather coming next weekend, should heat up the fishing. Shorter days and nights in the 50s should get the water temp down. Maybe we can get a few top water stripers on the North end in a couple of weeks.

That is easy, there will be a big school of 30lb stripers off the PC ramp about 25 yards out either the day before or the day after I fish there, I will forward you the pics the guy who got into them will send them to me. The best bet is to fish the day before I do since I always here "you should have been here yesterday, check out this pic".

I just looked at the NOAA forecast for this winter and they predict above average temps for this winter. That probably means we will see the lake froze solid by Jan1. I have never seen NOAA get it right....LOL When I moved here in 2001 the first couple of Polar Bears I fished had highs in the 20s the past couple went into the 70s. It is really hard to predict right now, but an old rule was the number of days over 100 in July will tell you how many snows you will have in the winter. I don't recall one 100 plus day in July so that would call for a very mild winter.

I saw a women who was bite in the toe by one of those and few years a ago. Her entire leg turned black, swelled up to twice it's normal size, she was on crouches for two weeks. The doctor did not give her anything for it, said it was safer to just run it's course.

I was looking back at last years post and around the first week of November and the water temp was still 63-65 and we were looking forward to Stripers moving South. I wonder how long we will wait this year?

Once you see the water temps in the 50s the Stripers will move south, there are small stripers all over the lake all year but I am referring to the 10lb plus fish. Then it depends on the bait that depend on the weather. You can get a report that 30lbers are all over PC in the morning and get out after noon not to find one fish. The secret is to move around and find feeding fish on large shad balls. During the winter you can see a lot of big fish in the 30-50 foot range all day long but if they are not active it does little good. So the answer to your question, yes to both there will be stripers in PC and every other area of the lake. It is a water temp thing, not a area of the lake thing that gets them moving. PC gets the attention because of the creek that attracts shad and it is an easy place to fish besides that other creeks can hold more fish on a given day. Then there are days all the fish like the open lake deep water or shore lines in 1 foot of water depending again on where the food prefers to feed. Good luck and welcome to the lake.

My wife caught a sunfish, not a bluegill but same family around 2lbs during a bass tournament and it was the biggest fish we had all day. It hit a 10inch worm on a Crig. That was like 10 years ago, haven't seen anything over 8 inches since, but I stopped fishing tournaments. Seems like the more shad you have the less bluegill and with warm winters and no ice over and shad die off that is the cost.

I just watched the video on the live wells, you will be a floating bait store !

I was board and starting looking at the Night tournament weights on NWA Castmasters. I saw were 10-11 lbs 5 bass limits were top bags this year and last year would not have even placed. Spring bags were around 20lbs. I don't have a clue what the nightly jackpots or other clubs that fish all summer are doing. Any thoughts on this? It is my theory the fish are in the same spots but those spots are further from shore and deeper now, but like I said I am not a good night fisherman at all.

Took a trip to Holiday Island hoping to get out of the warm water and see some activity in the cool water. Generation was from 1pm to 7pm so thought it would be easy fishing. To my surprise there were people playing all the way down to Houseman's along with kids riding jet skies that were way to young to be alone. Lots of pontoons packed full of sight seers running at full speed though the river. I fished 57 degree water back to 72 degree water and caught one good trout and few dink bass. Talked to other fishermen on the river and they had about the same luck. No big shad stunned by the cold water like I am used to seeing in Aug, lots of very small shad in balls so there has been some spawning. Water was very muddy for that area due to high boat traffic washing mud off the shore. Maybe when school starts it might pick up again. This post has been promoted to an article

I have not fished much this summer but what I have noticed is the abundance of shad and fewer sunfish in the clear water end. That makes for short feeding times and the bass are not running up shallow to raid sunfish nest. Could be different south of the bridge and that might be where all the sunfish ran. I always find summer hard and I have little patience for the summer time crew playing in the water so I don't try very much anymore and have been too busy to fish after midnight this summer so not much help.

Did you two ever pull up any decent size shad to the light you could use for bait?