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I am using this site to keep up. http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/Reports/Data/Beaver.htm Looks like we got the good end of this storm, but I don't know about a trip to Grand anytime soon, the radar was yellow and red over there all day yesterday. Seems normal generation is keeping the lake level steady, I am expending a foot or two over the next two days when the flow from the white and war eagle reach the dam. Seems just enough to get the weeds in my back yard going again after spraying them last week. Anybody got eyes on Hickory Creek, I bet it is mud down that way.

Has it just been a great year for bass growth or is it the A-rig that is finding the big fish? If it is about the A-rig I wonder what a 5 bait A-rig could mean? Any word on what part of the lake gave up all the 9 pounders?

I have always noticed that the lake will rise 1ft for every 1in of rain as long as that 1in is over the entire area, so if it does get up to the 10in mark we will be at the top of the flood pool again. They used to pull down to at least 1115ft every winter just to make room for Spring rains then we had one dry year and have had to flood the area every year since. By the time they pull all their data after the fact then guess what, there will be no where to put the water,SURPRISE, it rains down stream too. I don't think this week will go over the dam but last time I checked it is not even Spring yet and I will bet the corps will let the water set at 1129ft right up to the real Spring rains.

They make them in another color besides watermelon seed?? As far as Pearl goes that is my go to color on flukes and usually pays off when the bite is slow on watermelon so guess it would be the same for senkos. I also like the smoke on a 3in grub on Pea gravel banks so don't know why that wouldn't be good on a senko, but every time I pick up senkos they are watermelon seed. When a cold front or a bluebird day or anytime the fish move deep you can't find a better search lure then dragging those grubs across gravel points on TR but never works for me on Beaver for some reason.

Check the Central Pro AM tourneys, they are in the season but backseaters are harder to get sometimes then front seaters. They are not cheap though, even though entry fees are cheaper for the Ams, the front seaters expects you to share expenses like fuel. Sometimes it is really hard to fish behind some of these guys but fishing with different people IMO is the best way to learn. http://central-proam.com/

If I threw a 16ft net from a boat I know what would be in the net, me.lol

Wow!! A guy who could use an A-rig in a tournament had an excellent bite on it but turned to his electronics and knowledge to up grade his weight and won. Makes you wonder what all the local clubs are scared of, it's not $3,000 fish finders or $60,000 boats but five strands of stainless magic wire. But weight it was a football jig that made the difference. OUTLAW THE JIG

I can relate to bass fishing while catfishing, if I do any live bait fishing for catfish or stripers I get bored and have to pick up a bass rod and cast something instead of sitting and watching a rod tip. I will also drag a big worm while drifting or working a bank with the trolling motor with the rod laying on the deck and my foot on the rood and have lost a rod doing that...

I would hate to see anymore laws since I think we have too many and seeing how I had a $75 fine in NY for lifting a smallmouth bass while trying to catch steelhead with an inline spinner and the Game warden called it a bass fishing lure. I would hate to see that here since there are somany more spawning size bass here due to longer growing season. NY and Vermont have a very different fishery than Arkansas so the laws are different as they should be. Spahog; Also I know Johnny who runs castmaster and every dead bass and is probably worried more about how bass are treated more than anyone I know. I have seen him give up a win to let a deep hooked bass go to give it a better chance to survive. I was not at the meeting when they voted to not use the A-rig and unless you were part of that meeting I think it is unfair to say why it was banned. I was there for the meeting when we voted to go over 10 boats where we would have to pay Corp fees for ramp use and his major concern was who would show up and how the fish would be treated but with a two man operation trying to control 200 people at weigh in he is the one who gets the most upset on how some people behave and treat their fish.

I have questioned my wife about this and she has a 3 year license because she is disabled and she receives reminders but she has never seen a reminder for me and she tracks everything that comes in the mail so I am going to stick with Arkansas doesn't send everyone a reminder. For 22 years I received a free license due to being active duty bit for the past 6 years I have paid for them, I think every year in a different place or manor. online, 800 number, mail,HL&S, Walmart you name it but never because of a friendly letter. I also have had the same address since 2001 so I guess I will have to depend on stories like this one to make me check my wallet more often, and I did get a border waters today, almost forgot that one, thanks Mr.Crowder.

I guess we should be happy that there won't be a 100 boats throwing 200 A-rigs every weekend on Beaver. Maybe the other clubs will follow the lead and since there will not be any money involved in investing time and effort in using one, tournament fishermen will not be throwing them for practice and it will get good again. IMO the slow down on the A-rig bite right now is due to the craws starting to come out and still being slow and easy protein for pre spawn bass. They always seem to switch to craws this time of year even though there are plenty of shad around the shad are harder to catch and don't provide the fat content the big slow crawfish do, JMHO. That is why I think the wiggle wart bite turns on...

In his defense I was launching my boat at Eagle Rock a couple of years ago and a game warden checked my license, it was April and I knew I got my license every Nov so I thought I was good then he pointed out that I had missed that last Nov and I had been fishing 5 months without a good license, and I had been fishing a lot even in trout waters. He handed me the 800 number and allowed me to obtain a license via cell phone instead of giving me a ticket, even though I didn't have the boat in the water yet he still could have given me a big fine and I was out of state. It happens to everyone sometimes, I really thick they should send out reminders like they do for vehicles and drivers license. I even made a trip this year forgetting my license had expired and had to call my wife to get them online while I was on my way to the lake.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Crowder did not have a vaild fishing license at the time of the catch and while validating the catch it was noticed that the date on the fishing license was the same day of the catch Feb 28 at 6:02pm. Mr Crowder also told told the AGFC he was using a Mann's Jelly worm and Trilene line then later told the paper he was using a Culprit paddle tail worm and Sufix line. I guess we will never know for sure what happened that day.

I haven't fished with that club in two years but wondering if there was anyone on here who had thoughts about this new rule. I used to fish it when we were lucky to have 6 boats. Seems the tempers rage both on the boats I was fishing on and at weigh in as the money went up so I just don't fish tournaments anymore because the fun went out of it the first time my partner told me "we are not out here for fun." lol

When I do fish jack pots it is on Beaver since I won't travel or go out of my way to loose money. Haven't heard what any tournaments over here are going to do about the A-rig and not a big deal to me anyway, I might hit one or two a year most of the time when a buddy is looking for a backseater or happens to be one going on when I launch out. I much prefer the spur of the moment 6 boat fruit jars among friends then big 40-100 boat tourneys.

Dog woods are blooming?

When fishing gets slow on the Rock and you are not fishing a tourney the best thing I have found(even better than an A-rig) for slow days is a live night crawler on a drop shot. I don't think there is a type of fish that I have not hooked that swims in Table Rock by just lowering a live worm to those arches on the depth finder. So if you are fishing for fun, I would recommend picking up a dozen crawlers for plan B over any other plan. My self I would rather land a 10lb cat then beat the shore all day during one of those windless bluebird days when they just won't turn on, I don't do it often but it has saved a day or two for me.

If you put a split ring or small rubber band (I steel these from my wife's hair bands) on the rig before adding baits you can slide them down when storing the rig to make it a lot more compact. I also would rather throw anything but an A-rig but it beats getting skunked, so when nothing else works out it comes. But in a tournament until I have 5 in the live well I could see where it would be hard to put down. I also hate throwing 20ft diving crank baits but sometimes that is what the situation calls for and I will pick up a spoon or drop shot just because reeling those big cranks are not as much fun and wears out the arms, same with the A-rig. I can't wait to try one on a hot summer's night since I have always sucked at night fishing and this just might turn around my summer jackpot experience. I am thinking two big black thumping spinner baits with 3 small swim baits.

I have sirens in my back yard with 3 big dogs that try to match the pitch and volume every time they go off. I have no problem hearing them.lol

I have set out in Prairie Creek Marina at night and caught some nice cats (channel and flat heads) right off the boat launch casting out towards the marina. But I have not caught any blues. I have seen pics of blues from the bridge on RT 12 and have heard that is a good area and easy to fish from shore. I have also broke lines and had hooks straightened out by some big cats fishing the flat of the beach across the bridge from the RT12 launch area, if you fish right were the rocks end and the flat begins has always been a good night time spot for me. Beaver shores launch area is a good spot for channels, not far from the bridge so should be some blues in there but I just haven't caught any but have had some good channel cat fishing in that area. Good luck

I know on Beaver there are no limits and there are a lot of people who only fish during their spawn in their spawning grounds to fill boats with them. In past years it hasn't even dented the population so whatever happened with mother nature is IMO much worse than what fishermen can do, but put the two together and white fishing my get a real blow for the next few years. I just hope these people don't switch to eating bass.

In Nov I was in Academy and there was Braid everywhere on sale, now you can't find a deal anywhere. I had a broken rod to turn in and wanted a good 7 ft plus MH or H to replace a M 7'10" rod and there were very few that size in the rack. Plus no one was buying swimbaits now they are flying off the shelves. I think of myself as swim bait fisherman and think I lost 6 last year, this year I lost 10 in the same day and MY BOAT IS BROKE. I would hate to be selling a line of baits devoted to drop shotting right now.lol

Just be sure to test your knot before casting, I was trying a couple different swim baits Sunday from shore just to see how they ran and snagged a rock I should have been able to pull off of, but my uni knot slipped. Losing an A-rig and 5 baits hurts when you aren't really fishing. It was not the type of knot that failed just my hap hazard way of tying. A good way to test your knots is a wooden dowel and a truck bumper or trailer hitch. I wish people would use the line they are used to, I used to find Braid deals everywhere I turned. I was buying braid for $4 before everyone started buying A-rigs now it is the last thing on sale. Glad I stocked up before that FLW show aired.

When you need to straighten a hook or break a line it is better to wrap the line around a wooden dowel or the rod handle or a boat cleat to spare your rod and your reel.I have even used the post on the front seat, put the trolling motor on high and still recovered the lure. I have seen a lot of busted tips on rods from 3lb fish and people blame the rod but they forget how many times those rods were stressed on logs and rocks the size of their boat. As far as using flouro over braid there is no difference as far as that goes you could use mono, there is no action to worry about. It is just $10-$25 out there with another $5-$25 in lures and I have lost two on 65lb braid. It is just as easy to throw 15lb flouro as 65lb braid but takes one heck of a reel to throw 65lb flouro so I will stick with braid, but then I am used to braid already and I love the lifespan of briad, but so far the lifespan of an A-rig is about the same as a $2 jig.

Nevada Rig- every time you use it you wake up broke the next morning with no memory of what you caught but sure you caught something due to a strange burning sensation.