kjackson

If the weather continues very long, though...

What's a big smallie in Beaver? I'm thinking I need a reasonable goal this year, and catching a new personal-best smallmouth might do it. Having said that, I realize that I stand a better chance of doing so elsewhere. If I were super serious, I'd learn to throw a cast net and head for Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee or spend more time on Erie or pack up and fish the Columbia for the season. But I'd rather do it on Beaver... So what is a reasonable big fish on the lake?

A side note on the Wiggle Wart-- way back in the day, I complained to the company spokesperson about the hooks on the Wart series. The hooks were smaller than what were used on comparable baits by a fair margin. They also had an extreme beak on the point--that is the points curved in. I asked why, and her response was tha the hooks Storm used were that way so, "they will come through wood better." Given that I was using the Wart family for salmon and steelhead, I changed hooks...

Yeah, what ST said. To lighten the jersey debate, look up "The Pro Staffer" on youtube.

Well, there's at least some life left. WALMART ANNOUNCES 2015 FLW ANGLING TEAM MINNEAPOLIS (Jan. 9, 2015) – Walmart announced the members of its professional angling team that will hit the water in 2015. The Walmart team will be comprised of pros Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, and co-angler Nicole Jacobs of New Brighton, Minnesota. Rose, a 16-year veteran of the Walmart FLW Tour, wrapped up his 2014 season with a fifth-place finish in the Angler of the Year standings. He qualified for the ninth Forrest Wood Cup appearance of his career and earned more than $100,000 throughout the season. The Arkansas native has 40 career top-10 finishes and six career victories. “When I represent a title sponsor, it needs to be something that I believe in and can really endorse whole heartedly,” Rose said. “Walmart helps me, and millions of other people, save money and live better every day. In today’s times, that means a lot, so it’s easy to represent a company like Walmart.” No stranger to quality and performance, 18-year FLW Tour veteran David Dudley will compete in FLW competition in a Walmart-wrapped Ranger boat for the first time this season. A three-time FLW Tour Angler of the Year winner, Dudley has 39 career top-10 finishes and seven career wins in FLW competition, giving him career earnings of more than $3.3 million dollars – the highest total in FLW history. “With a family of five children to support, we definitely do a lot of our shopping at Walmart,” Dudley said. “I believe in the company, and that’s extremely important to me in a title sponsor. I look forward to representing the Walmart brand in 2015.” Newcomer Nicole Jacobs will represent Walmart in the FLW Tour co-angler ranks during her first season on the FLW Tour. A well-respected angler in the Midwest, Jacobs is looking to take the next step in her professional angling career and is excited to represent Walmart around the country. “It’s an honor to have been selected to represent Walmart,” Jacobs said. “I am going to do my best to be a positive role model for all anglers – men, women and children.” Walmart began its relationship with FLW in 1997, as title sponsor of the FLW Tour then added title sponsorship of the Bass Fishing League (BFL) in 2001. The partnership offers both companies a wide variety of marketing and promotional opportunities including Walmart in-store promotions and retailtainment linked to FLW tournaments.

I can't speculate as to causes, but I do know that this is the time of year when contracts tend to end. For instance, PRADCO/lurenet lost Dudley, almost dumped Bill Dance (he only promotes Rebel now) and lost both of the Lee brothers. Strike King added Cody Meyer and the Lees. Clent Davis signed with Mister Twister. It's a rare day when I don't hear about one or more pros signing with different companies. Will Morris pull Ranger out of FLW when the agreement ends? Maybe he knows, but I don't.

It may be case sensitive... try Ned Rig

Demi-glace. Killer for any kind of soup/liquid-based food. Takes a while to make, but it is really worth the effort. I mean really worth it.

As soon as I heal and you get over your bug, I'm ready. as for jigs, I've got a few...but I'm thinking of going back to my old roots as well. Can't wait to get back in the Man Cave, not to mention on the water... As for the seal remark, I was fishing with Son Number Two, and I think it was our first trip on Beaver...just after we moved here from the West Coast. I saw a swirl out of the corner of my eye, and my reaction was: "Geez, that's a big seal!" It impressed the heck out of me.

I'll chime in to echo some of the same things you've already read. Bear with me as I'm typing with a busted wing , and my editing is going to be a bit lax, My wife and I moved to the area a little over two years ago. I applaud your choice as this area is a great one to live in, and the folks on the forum are especially helpful. I've received no end of help here,from a tour--thanks, Jason!-- to spot-on info. We moved to Eureka Springs because of my wife's job, and in some ways it's a bit better than the Rogers area as I can be at Beaver at the dam end in 20 minutes and the upper end of Table Rock in 15 or so. i'm also closer to the downstream reservoirs as well, but I've not fished those yet. Having said that, if I were moving here again, I'd probably pick the Highway 12 bridge area, and I would keep my boat on the trailer even if I bought a lake house. There's just too much opportunity to fish one lake. And as a side note-- there also is some pretty good trout fishing nearby. Beaver is a tough lake, but it also can be a very rewarding one to fish. I tend to fish the dam end as I can have my boat in the water in 20 minutes. My end of the lake is extremely clear for Arkansas-- there's usually 10 feet or more of visibility. While certain folks avoid the dam end, I've found it harbors j legions of smallmouth. While most of what I've caught are dinks, I did catch my PB smallie on a topwater this past year. I've also had a seal-size striper blow up on bait within a short cast of my boat. The potential for the dam end is high, I think.

That was a great day even if I was "Biced" by the guy on the front deck. The best part was meeting and fishing with Jason in person, and the second best was seeing more of the lake. I've been locked into the dam end and upper Table Rock, so the change in scenery was invigorating as was the breeze running at 50 mph. That Ranger is a sweet setup, and the way Jason has the electronics working is great, even if the driver occasionally runs into buoys while watching the game show on his Lowrance. Thanks, Jason!

You're on, although I wasn't asking for a ride. Say when and where we meet. I even have a striper net... And I'll take any advice on gear you wish to give. I do have ideas myself, but...

Bring extra bait and look for the guy in a blue boat...

No secret and no weights, Bill--just 150 feet of 10-pound fluoro and 2.3 mph (as slow as my 50hp will go). A few times I kicked the speed up over deeper water--about 3.0 to 3.2-- and "felt" like I was hitting 35 feet. But it would take a bit of testing to really say that. One thing I noticed about all three of Strike King's deep-running walleye baits: While the shapes are similar to other popular crankbaits, the bills are larger. To me, a larger diving surface means a deeper dive if everything is working well.

The line was Berkley Pro Grade 10-pound fluoro...The action is wide--much the same as a Rapala Tail Dancer. It has surprised me how much spots like this style of lure. I'm going to try casting it once I get back on bass. However, I think that casting it will be a trial. At one point, while I kicked the motor up to cover ground a bit faster--to 3.4 mph--it was ticking somewhere around 35 feet deep. The other two "walleye crankbaits" by Strike King look similar to others on the market, but they look like they'll run deeper. I didn't get to play with them today but will soon just to see what they'll do.

Launched a bit late at Prairie Creek and followed some top secret info on where the fish were. However, the bait I was expecting to find was absent or scattered except for one clump near the marina. Landed two spots, and then went to chasing whites near Beaver Shores. Again--all the bait I could see was scattered in small schools and usually in water at least 30 deep--which seemed to be where I marked the most fish. Cause and effect, perhaps? Put the gear down on the downriver side of the bridge where I started seeing fish, and doubled on whites almost immediately. However, circling back did no good, and after some time trying to find biters, I worked the channel edge. Caught one small striper doing that. Didn't see F&F's stripers busting bait on the surface but did see gulls resting in midchannel. When I went under the bridge, I noticed a bass boat out in the main channel in deeper water. I thought about checking out what he was doing but didn't want to crowd him. I also got to test one of Strike King's new walleye baits--the Banana Shad. With 150 feet of line out, it will dig the bottom at 30 at 2.3 mph. Kick up the speed, and it will run deeper. This lure in "violet alewife" caught all the fish but one today. The Flicker Shad, even with two ounces in front, didn't score. Water temp was 49 degrees. When the occasional snowflake turned into rain, I decided I had somewhere else to be.

That may be true if one is driving from Rogers...I have to cross the 12 bridge to get to the park. I'm all in favor of the docks, though. My problem is focus-- as in what do I want to catch and what do I want to fish for? I want it all on the same trip, and that tends to screw things up. I want crappies and walleye for the table, and I'd like to get started on stripers. However, I also really want some chunky white bass to smoke as I think I can use them to replace salmon...you can see how my mind works--it's like a squirrel in a wheel with a greased hub at times. Ah, well, one day and one fish at a time. And thanks everyone for the help and suggestions.

Wrong end of the lake? I did see enough fish-like arches as I was pulling out of the bay to make me want to go back there and see if I could get something to cooperate. However, I'm being evicted from the house for a knitting group on Tuesday, and the Highway 12 bridge launch beckons. It will be the first day of the latest cool-down, so all the biters will have lockjaw, but it's better than listening to knit-purl...

That (the fish report) is good to know. May have to head that way later this week. Sorry about the delay in the mount. That has to be frustrating...new graph in the box and having to wait to deploy it. I'd probably screw the mount that came with the unit to a piece of plywood and use that temporary fix until then, but that's just me.

Glen-- The answers to that question are: A) avoiding work and looking for bait balls. (I've been led astray by Scott and J-Doc in this regard.) I shot these as I was moving across a cove on my way out. I'm still learning this Arkansas fishing stuff and need interpretation/help. I did see this just as I put the last of my gear away for my run back: I think I know what those big marks are...

What fisherman winterizes his boat here? Drain the water out of the lower unit--yes, but winterize?

Launched at the dam late in the morning, and headed cross lake to Indian Creek, thinking that the stripers and whites might be there. I did see what I took to be bait, but it was all deep-- I mean really deep--some schools topped out at 120 feet. All of the deep bait, or whatever it was, was associated with the bottom. I ran about halfway back into the creek and didn't see any schools of anything that weren't stuck to the bottom. I did find a few small schools of fish in 60 to 80 feet and dropped a spoon on them. I had one hit and pulled up on one fish that was snagged for a bit (or it was a limb or root that felt good). Since I wasn't prepared to fish that deep, I headed up lake to check out the mouths of coves and around the islands and places where I thought there might be some fish. The one boat I did see was slow trolling off the mouth of Indian Creek, and I left it alone rather than crowd in on whatever it found. I ran uplake on the west side, FWIW. With time growing short, I checked one bay that I've not fished before on my way back down the lake, and this is what I found: It kind of followed the Christmas-tree theme I'd been seeing as I edged back into the bay. I'm guessing I'm looking at trees, and the trees have some bait or possibly fish in them. I did see other items of interest, such as this: And this image is why I'm going to have either a CHIRP sonar or down-imaging unit on the new boat. I'm pretty sure there are fish mixed in here, but I didn't have time to find out (or lose more spoons). That will come with the next trip. Besides noting that I need to clean the screen, I'm open for suggestions on what the marks mean. I have thoughts, but I'm not an expert... So, the short report is no fish hooked or landed. It was a nice day on the water, and the surface temp was 50-51 degrees everywhere I went. A side note is that the lake is quite low, and there are spots and wood you don't normally see that are within prop range...

Good report; thanks.

Very nice indeed. Hope to find something like that tomorrow down by the dam.

+1. Glad you had a good time and enjoyed Eureka. RPS says it very well.