Feathers and Fins

and the mud line is at 12 bridge

they are a little deeper than I thought they'd be. There from 16 to 24 feet

Tommy I never beat banks, I like the more open water fish. But with the knowledge the gates are open and generators ripping that means current and current means fish sitting in ambush points on points. I didn't make it out last night like I wanted but I will be out today and may even Bass fish a little. If I do it will be what I said earlier. Points on the down current side in 12 to 16 maybe even 20ft of water and if there is a brush pile on the down current side In that water depth I will be all over it. But the pattern will hold also for striper and walleye so it could be a nice combo trip and bet I will have a Zara Spook tied on they have been killing it lately if shad are present.

Hate to say it but the man died because of refusal to seek treatment if that article is right.

truthfully I wouldn't change my tactics one bit, just move around points till I found the water depth they were in especially with the gates open. If I had to bet I would say 12 to 16ft on the down-current sides.

Terry it was tricky to find last year, I was dropping my thermometer a lot to verify temps at different depths. If you want to go see the "Nursery for walleye" I can take you to it and make you smile all day seeing them, If the waters clear I will drop the camera and you can see them without even hurting them.

There goes the trout fishing and striper stocking

Im with you but im one of those guys who use to chase them... wont do it now because of all the people doing it, that stupid movie done screwed it up good.

I wasn't in my boat just went to look and see how the ramp looked as I thought about going tonight if the storms miss us

Only reason they slowed down is the figured out they were not going to fit under 12 bridge

Oh I got a video a bit ago, they aint slowing down.

12 bridge ramp 30 minutes ago

12 bridge ramp is under water so are the first set of parking spots at it. estimating 2ft to 2.5 from bottom girder on the bridge

Beaver was at 1128.62 at 5:30 this morning when I got up. Just looked at the real time NWS site for her elevation and she is now at 1129.03 so 4 inches in 4 hours if that continues she will hit 1130 by 9pm tonight. 1130.00 they will have minor flooding occurring and gates should open. More rain tonight heavy at times expected and the bull's-eye area looks to be the Fayetteville are which will continue to feed the lake. THIS COULD be another Gates open situation like a few years ago. And more rain all week doesn't look good for the WR Lakes

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=tsa

If they are for Beaver it would be Rocky Branch, LBS and Dam Site, those are the only three I could think of that would take on water. But even at that I don't see them shutting down the entire facility they didn't in any of the flood years past, just simply had to shut down certain camp sites in them due to flooding,

Hey leave my pets alone!

Its just a weird year on the lake. Its rising like a fat boy from a table to get a refill at a buffet. That makes it tough and that’s all it is. The walleye have been a pain in my butt to find the last couple months but now I feel I found the pattern and should be able to reproduce it based on the conditions and where I found them. Stripers have been great from Dec to May but with the heavy jump in water elevation have scattered all over and are tougher to get but still can be had. Crappie were great in January and April but then have gone deep you find them you can catch them but it takes time. Bass has been GREAT on top water and im even molesting a few of them with cranks. I do not see it as a pressure issue but paying attention to conditions and figuring out the new patterns with the new lake conditions, some things though have held true with this season as with past season. Where pressure does come in is on weekends with multiple tournaments and recreational angling pressure. I do see more and more people midweek and some very rude people. When someone is on a spot, trolling or running the bank people should give them a respectful distance to me that’s at least 100 yards. I believe some of that behavior is more what people are talking about and confusing it with pressure. Beaver is almost 30,000 acres and I cant see it getting pressure especially after growing up in SoCal on lakes that were only a couple thousand acres. Now certainly well known spots get a lot of attention and if many people are on that area people will call it pressure and it is for that spot but not for the entire lake. It’s all in the eyes of the beholder.

Im guessing 1128.00 by the end of the day and well upwards of 1129 by tomorrow if the rain keeps coming down. 1130 is flood stage for the lake. They open the gates I will be making the run down to the dam despite how much I don't like to but the stripers and walleye will be going nuts and all the points between will be on fire.

Look out below the dam, they may open her up without warning.

Im talking more about the lakes environment to the over-all-health of a fishery. High Water years produce great year class where low water years crappy class. If the biologist are doing their jobs monitoring the lake then they can adjust creel and slots. Angler harvest is trickier for certain but they still can get a idea of the quality and quantity of the fish and adjust based of those estimates. I worry far more about the environmental factors then legal angler take. Illegal take that majorly concerns me I have read way to many papers about illegal gill nets trot lines etc and those give me great concern.

Enjoy yourself, sorry im not there but im not going in till 3pm today

Environmental factors pay and even larger role but that is an entirely different subject.

I don't know where anyone would be thinking that, I wont post my numbers for this year but it has been my best year ever for fish over 20, 30 and 40lbs and have personally seen several over 50 caught by other anglers. I will say this much as its on the board but I was targeting those big fish AT WILL from Dec to Early May with no issue finding or catching them in fact I took out several members of this site and put them on them. They have got tougher to find the last couple of weeks but I attribute that to the water rise.

Bella Vista has an Archery shop and range and a good inventory of fishing gear. Rogers does not have an archery section but has a larger selection of fishing gear and supplies. If you are just looking to check them out I would say go to both, remember if you are wanting something special it can be ordered for you as well.