nathanhooper

Well guys, I might have just ran across the holy grail of maps. I went out last night with a friend who informed me that he had in his possession a "book" of maps of Beaver Lake. He said it was the old army corps survey map they did when they built the lake. Road beds, foundations, maybe even has where they clearcut and such. He said it was made up of a bunch of small prints that were then bound together in a book format, maybe 1" thick or so. It was too late when we got back for me to take a look, but I am excited to actually be able to see something of this nature. It might not be anything more than what you can get on those chips or apps, but the way he described it was a detailed "blue print" of the lake. We shall see.

Thanks for the report. It does make a guy who has not got to fish for a while feel like he is fishing anyways. I am hoping (depending on how long it rains) to get out with a friend tomorrow night and do some night light fishing. I'll for sure post a report when its said and done.

So what does a stunned shad do? Do they float to the top and wiggle around?

Nice! Wish I could get out there this week, does not look like it though. Were they generating when you caught it?

Full moon eh... CC pencil popper? Larger the better?

So I take it shore fishing is not the ticket here?

Doc, there is a ton of info on them online. I have yet to seriously try them as they seem to be a bottom bouncer or some other weighted rig set up required. I am pretty sure you have to use them in 'clean' area's because they are prone to snags if not. Just a couple of hooks about 2" apart, then some beads, and then a large spinner blade on a clevis and another bead or two on top. Hook the worm at the end with the upper hook then stretch it out and hook again. Pretty simple, but I bet it would take some getting use to in order to fish it correctly. I might be wrong. I am starting to get a feel for the lake and have a few spots I might try some on in the future that I think are pretty clean.

I remember when walleye were talked about being caught just upstream from beaver long before I had ever seen one in the lake myself. I wonder if it was from stocking, or from them coming from Table Rock? Makes me also wonder if the walleye stocked there stay there, go upstream, or down into Table Rock.

Jim, if you told folks where the best place...I mean...where the most troubled place is on the river, I am sure you would have a lot of guys willing to lend a hand at the control of these trout snatchers. I know I would.

My unit is a GPS unit, but I do not have the external antennae for it. Wish I did, but man those things are expensive. I shouldn't complain as I got the unit for almost a steal. One of these day's I might come across one. I have used my phone for the most part, and it helps with keeping me on the points when they jet off in a dog leg direction. I doubt I would use it for much more than that. I was speaking of the paper maps in the original post. But on my phone would not be a bad thing also. Just wondered what all they had on them as I have never seen one before.

Right now I have been using the old cabellas app. Before you had to pay for it. It shows some rough contour lines, enough for the moment. Just looking for something more. Does that app track your position and give you the ability to zoom and such?

Ive always wondered, and I just read an article that mentioned them, but has anyone found that the makers of these "fishing hot spots" maps have a good map of Beaver? I've got a topo map of it, so I'm just wondering if it has some other super secrete knowledge of the lake. That also makes me wonder if they are printing these than anyone who buys them is fishing those spots. So then it would seem pointless. Anyone get one before?

Oh yea, well I left the windows down in two different vehicles. Acted like I was going to paint the house too.

I'd be game, cooler weather would be nice. I'm good at catching bluegill...

I guess trout would survive all year round in the lake? Or would there not be enough oxygen for them down in the cooler water durring the summer? I remember a time when I was very young. Maybe 10? I went to the lake for a family outing. My dad didn't fish, but I liked to(when I got the chance). I swear I was fishing a bluff line, dropping my bait(I have to idea what I was using) down deep in the water, and I was catching rainbow trout. It might not have been, but that memory sticks with me. This would have been late 80's?

F&F ain't the only one out there draining the lake. Lol. I know a guy I work with who is the same way. Here is one interesting thing I can spot right off hand. They both just fish. Doesn't matter what gets pulled up, they just fish. I think sometimes I go with the mentality that I am out for a specific species and weight. That's what gets me in trouble I think. I don't fish, I am hunting at that point, I need to start fishing instead.

Yea, F&F does it to us weak willed folks(actually just ADD is all he preys on). I joined the forum because I was in hot pursuit of walleye and someone pointed me here. Then I read his article on stripers and think "I can do that"... Gar would be a nice break, but I'm still holding off for now. But I sure am glad for the write up of it because I have always wondered what I'd do if I hooked into one, now I know. I had never even contemplated fishing for them. I don't watch tv much so never seen it done or heard of it.

I saw that too. Makes you wonder the survival rate(not counting people catching and releasing to the live well). I know a lot will get eaten by other fish. Makes me happy. I have not kept up in the past, but how often do they stock the lake?

Well, you know the spot I was at. Island. I was thinking walleye too, kind of why I put on the flicker to see if I could snag one or a white. It was one of those gut feelings, should have followed it. I think I was running the ball too deep now also. Knocking them all in the head. Mitch, that's pretty much what I'm talking about. I really think its just a matter of knowing how to put all the data together. Just a step for a good programmer. I am kind of wishing I would have put 10lb test on my poles instead of 20. Then I could follow the dive charts for the flickers. I have tried searching for dive charts for 20 lb test but can't find any for the 7cm flickers. Don't know when I'll get out again, but I figure I'll hit the spot again with a slow presentation to see if those are walleye. I'll be sure to record again. One of these days I'll be able to post the sonar image and the accompanying fish along with it.

Actually, its called an "emulator". It looks just like your looking at your sonar on your boat. Just pushing the buttons with your mouse instead of your fingers. Pretty neat.

Good calls. Couple of things I can point out. 3rd down would be fish going up, not down, if they are fish. Sonar reads from right to left so it was picking them up low at first then higher if that makes sense. Last picture was interesting when I played it back this morning. I am almost absolutely sure that's a rock, but I could be wrong. I think I have a better picture of it, or of another one by it. Ah, I just went back over the recording. That first picture is the same area as the last picture, I had just crossed at a different angle. I know that I had picked up that boulder(s) early in my trip and then again at the end. Maybe it is a brush pile and my settings on the sonar are just too high and showing up as a rock. I'll take a picture of it next time I am out. So then my thoughts wonder about how high I should have my sensitivity set and everything like that? Ah ha! I just figured out how to run my recorded chart on the LMS-322c demo sonar you can get. Its supposed to be so you can work the settings on the unit just like you would on the boat. Its showing somewhat the same picture, but I don't have the time to try and tweak the settings, plus it has the updated software on the simulator and I have the old software on the unit itself. Oh well. Its interesting to see anyways. After looking back, I may have been dragging my stuff too deep. Go figure, that would explain a lot.

Oh, I do. I know on my other thread I sound a little frustrated, and I would be lying to say that I don't get that way. But I do enjoy the time out there and I do learn each time I go out. I do need to stop worrying, maybe focus it on interpretation of my surroundings. I sure would not have minded catching some whites. And the a-rig I was pulling should have been the ticket for that if it was coming close to them. I know I sat there and watch a guy slay the whites earlier this year with that same rig set up and trolling manner. May have been too far, or they may have not been in the mood at the time.

I wonder if those pictures of the thermocline and that junk could be large gizzard shad or something? They look like very distinct arches, but I have pulled through them before and never got a bite off anything I pulled. Compared with some of the other arches they are small, but could be 8" or so fish like shad can get to huh?

You don't know how I chuckled when I had originally wrote it. I had to change the wording a few times till it was a little more 'pleasant' to read. lol

Yea, yea. There could be some bad insinuation associated with that statement, but its true none the less. They blow back 7' at that speed. I'm sure the deeper or shallower I go would effect that also, but I bet its pretty close for the range I will run them in normally. That helps though, because when your running them by yourself its hard to set them in motion. I can set them while still and then know when I get underway where they will run. One of them does not have a line counter(they are homemade) so I have to use my sonar. I can come close without it, but it helps.