MarkG52

Great report BilletHead! Thanks for volunteering to be a "River Buddy" and helping out with Reel Recovery. I was heavy involved down here in Arkansas for many years. Great organization!

I caught a keeper on a black/blue chatterbait last Saturday. Way up White River arm past 412. We were trying to get out of the wind. We initially went to Elmdale due to BassCat tourney and wind forecast. Got to the EDale ramp about 6:45 and told my buddy we'd swamp the boat just trying to launch. We almost totally aborted but decided to drive out to 412 bridge, launched at the old ramp 7:45. Headed up river and found a bank and started fishing. Caught the crappie and buddy got 2.5 LM, also on chatterbait. We threw crappie jigs for a little bit with no luck. Caught one more little spot on a WillowVibe. Lots of crappie guys out and several of the BassCat folks had made the long run up the river. Every semi-protected pocket had a couple of crappie boats in it and even a boat or two looking like they were bassin. It was an exploratory journey for us having never been on that part of the lake.

I'm curious as well. Weather, Easter, and Razorback football have kept me off the last couple of weekends. Chompin at the bit to go. Might end up on Quillback's part of the pond. I'm sure from Horseshoe on up stream it's gonna be a mud pit/log jam by this coming weekend with more rain coming midweek.

Beaver Dam Interim Risk Reduction Measures increase the time the lake is at or near the top of conservation pool at 1,120 feet above sea level, which many people consider a normal lake level. Water will be released more quickly to reduce the time the lake is at or near 1,130 feet above sea level, which is the top of flood pool. The measures reduce the chance the lake could rise high enough that floodwater could flow over the dam's spillway gates, causing major flooding downstream. Releasing water more quickly means the lake will spend more time at conservation pool and less time at flood pool, according to a news release from the Corps' Little Rock District. A drop-in public workshop will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Rogers City Hall community room for people to get information and ask questions about the Beaver Dam Interim Risk Reduction Measures. A corps website devoted to the measures can be viewed at www.beaverlakedam-irrm.com and has information and a seven-minute audio-visual presentation.

ROGERS, Ark. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District is announcing interim risk reduction measures for Beaver Dam that will begin on Jan. 1, 2022. The new measures will allow engineers to lower the water levels behind Beaver Dam more efficiently following a significant rainfall event. Additionally, if conditions allow, the measures will also reduce the amount of time engineers have to regulate the White River at 12 feet near Newport, Arkansas. These changes are required because of the increased frequency of high-water events the White River Basin has experienced over the past two decades and the growing population downstream of Beaver Dam. Corps officials want the public to know that the dam is not at risk of imminent catastrophic failure, however, the increase of precipitation has regularly increased the amount of time Beaver Lake stays in flood pool, which increases the risks to the population living downstream of Beaver Dam. These increased risks were identified during routine periodic inspections and risk assessments of Beaver Dam. Engineers want to ensure any increase of risks to the downstream population are minimized. The interim risk reduction measures are a series of actions put in place to reduce the risk of a catastrophic event below Beaver Dam. The risk reduction measures are considered interim because they may or may not be part of the long-term solution once the risks are further analyzed and more potential solutions are evaluated. Beaver Lake is part of a system of lakes on the White River. Engineers started implementing interim risk reduction measures immediately following the 2016 periodic inspection and risk assessment. One of the first measures put in place was the doubling of the minimum flow releases for power generation. This measure allows engineers to lower the lake levels faster and get from flood pool to conservation pool. When the lake has storage in the flood pool, this measure allows engineers to double the minimum flow release, from 950 cubic feet per second to 1,900 c.f.s in most circumstances except when certain high flood conditions exist downstream (when Table Rock is below its pool elevation of 917 feet and the system storage of Beaver, Table Rock and Bull Shoals is less than 50% full). By implementing these new interim risk reduction measures, Beaver Lake is expected to spend more time near the top of the conservation pool instead of the top of the flood pool, greatly reducing risk to the population downstream. The lake levels are not expected to change much during the winter months, but engineers expect to see a reduction in the amount of time Beaver Lake is in flood pool during the late spring, summer, and fall. Because of these changes, the Little Rock District will schedule meetings this fall throughout Northwest Arkansas, Southwest Missouri, and Eastern Arkansas to discuss the Interim Risk Reduction Measures. More information about the White River Basin and the Little Rock District can be found on the Internet at www.swl.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/littlerockusace, and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usacelittlerock.

Beaver's new pool policy has had the gates open off and on recently. I can assure you shad are still way back in the creek arms/pockets/coves.

How was the water color around Big M Jeff? A buddy went out of Prairie Creek on Beaver for a while yesterday afternoon and the visibility was 4'+ there. Temps of 55-56.

Launched at Hickory after church yesterday afternoon. Lots of folks decided that was a good time to get the pleasure boats out for a check ride. Took us probably 30 minutes in line till our turn to launch. Anyway, water at HC was IFR conditions. We hit one of our main lake points and flat and moved on pretty quickly. WT in the muck was 56 degrees. Moved down to a creek arm and found some 2 foot visibility and temps of 54-55. Picked up one small LM on a bluff wall towards the mouth and trolled pretty fast towards the back. We had marked a lot of bait idling into the mouth and started marking more bait at the back. Changed over from MB 110+1 to a 110, in Ozark Shad color, and got on em real good. Depth was 3 to 8 feet where we were. Bait in the area was key. All LM. After the bite died in that arm we ran to the back of the main arm of this holler. Picked a few off here and there and about 6:00 we were working out from the back and started marking a lot more bait and noticed some fish busting the top. For the next hour or so it was on in a big way. I had taken my underspin off of one my rods and tied on a prerigged swimbait, not sure what brand about 2.5 inch, maybe 3/8oz, and caught one first cast. We chased the schoolies around, me throwing swimbait and buddy changed over to a MB Trick Darter that he had shaved off part of the bill. Depth here was around 7-9 feet. He snagged a couple of the shad they were chasing, and we had matched the hatch pretty good. Bite tailed off about 7:00 and we hammered down back to the ramp. All told we finished with about 40 boated, most right around 1.5 to 2 pound chunks, a few smaller and several 2.5 to almost 3. All were LM. Best 5 would've gone 12-13. All in all it was a great afternoon! Keys for us were, stained not dirty water, bait in the backs of fairly big coves/arms, depths from 3-12 feet, match the hatch.

Nice! Water looks a whole lot better there than Hickory area.

Not quite like the fly in the ear or trebles in any body part, but this was my last fly/lure impalement. RR during winter C&R last year. Reaching into net to unhook trout when fly came unpinned. Glad I tied it on a barbless hook.

Thanks for sharing the link Jeff and thanks techo for taking him fishing!

It was at the Redcrest expo over in Tulsa.

You didn't miss much Jeff. I boated four keepers Saturday. 3 on 110+1 and 1 on RK55. Mid lake and up towards Hickory was pretty nuts. I waited till around 8 to launch at PC because I knew the NWATT was blasting off at 7. Seemed like every place that looked fishy had a boat sitting in it from Ventris down to Hickory. Good visibility, 5-6', in Coose and Ventris, maybe 2' in Monte Ne, Nelson, and main lake at HC. Temps from 48 to bumping 52 late afternoon. Tons of moss in a big pocket across the lake from Ventris. Must be some sort of algae bloom. If you threw treble hook lure near the bank or a dock you were certainly bringing some back. That is where I got one on the RK though. There were also so many bait balls in there you were very likely to snag a few of them on the jerkbait. Saw zero fish chasing the balls, unbelievable. Between the funky green hue of the water and all the bait balls it was kinda cool. I didn't load up until after 5:00, took for ever for the weigh in to get done, so I went way up PC and worked my way back towards the ramp. Unsuccessfully I might add.

Got to hang out with our favorite MLF pro yesterday at Redcrest expo! In this picture he had me follow him over to the Mercury booth for a hat and meet some of the other Mercury pros there at that time, Dylan Hays and Roy Hawk. Had a great time although we left before concert and champion awarding. Just now noticed the KVD photobomb!)

A little late with my report from last Saturday. Me and a buddy literally drove down to HC ramp about 10:00 Friday to check the viz and flipped a coin to decide if we were going to the OA outing at Eagle Rock or Hickory. Launched at HC around 7:00. Air temp was a bit chilly and water was around 48. Headed up to a small secondary point near some spawning flats and had no bites. Moved up to a more substantial main lake point and I got on em pretty good. Mostly smallish male spots. My buddy was striking out. Moved down a bit to a pretty good holler and picked up a few. Several boats in and out and some dudes parked at where we like to start drop-shottin. Not sure if the got any but they sure had staked a claim on that spot. Made a run up towards point 12 and hit another pocket and I picked up a couple and my buddy finally got on the board with a small K and a small white bass. We had about 3 other boats join or try to join us in this little pocket. A couple of derby's were were going on. We then were gonna head down lake and the wind had come up pretty good. Got as far as Monte Ne and took a left to find a spot out of the wind. We did and I was on em again pretty good. This little cove had a few docks but nothing else that would really make you think it was stacked with fish. I wasn't having any luck with the wacky rig around the docks so pick the jerker back up and got 10 or so. The biggest fish of the day, in fact probably 3 of the biggest, came from this nondescript little pocket. No real goodun's. My best 5 would've gone a little over 10 pounds. We stayed on the water till 4:00. I boated around 30 and my back o the boat only 3. He was about ready to toss all his gear into the lake. I honestly try my hardest not to back of the boat anyone that fishes with me, it was just one of those days. Visibility ranged from 12-18" to maybe 3'. WT upper 40's to real low 50's ish. Every fish I caught came on MB110+1 and buddy's on a jerk as well. Predominantly caught K's with a few LM and one white. Good day for me. Planning to launch at Prairie tomorrow. My regular BOTB buddy fished there yesterday afternoon and had a good report for me last night. I think he's gonna meet me there tomorrow , with his boat! If any of you Beaver area folks wanna go, I'm gonna have an empty seat it looks like.

Me and my back o da boat buddy may show up. We're still bouncing around hitting our regular spots on Beaver or exploring new water to us, at Eagle Rock. I shoot you a text Jeff, later this evening, if we're coming up that way.

Hula grubs are my go to for creek smallies. I've left a bucket full of em in SWMO streams getting them hung(actually the jig heads) up in rocks. My wife even caught her first brown bass on one on Beaver last year. They sure tear up easy though.

Atta kid Jeff!

Nice job Jeff!

Launched at HC around 6:45 Saturday morning. 2nd trailer in the lot, 3rd in the water(I was by myself so I pulled up and let the boat behind me launch since there were two guys in that boat). Anyway, fished till about 12:30 or so. Put 5 in the boat, 1 LM the other 4 K's. Had a couple of short strikes on my jerkbait so slowed retrieve and got em to stick. Lost two other fish, one of which felt really good but came unpinned before I saw it. Visibility ranged from 6-9" in the main lake areas I fished to 18"+ in the holler that all the bites/catches came in. WT was 44.5 in said holler. Found almost 48 degree water on main lake upstream from HC. MB110+1 is the only thing I had a bite on. Vertical bluff wall, fish were right on to just off the rocks. Sat maybe 10 feet of the bank and paralleled. Depth was from about 30 feet to around 12 in the area moving from front towards the back. Might have shoulda fished it on back in the shallower water but I could here the wind really picking up in the trees above. This arm of the holler was pretty sheltered from the wind. Pulled out of it and went to a few other spots but the wind was a little too much. Not sure what the rain is gonna do for the visibility around Hickory. Hope some of the main lake areas I like clear up a little pretty soon. I don't see water warming up much from the forecast for this week. Might have to go back down lake to Quillback's water!

How was the water clarity where you were? A couple weeks ago we ran up past 412 and it was about three inches of viz. Got back to Hickory and it was 2-3 feet. A buddy was out Monday and said that muddy water was now at Hickory, Monte Ne, Horseshoe, etc. SWPA has been steadily pulling water out, probably about matching the inflow, so I'm hoping that by this Saturday its cleared up considerably at Hickory.

Mine mysteriously started having trolling motor interference as well. When I was in water deeper than 20-25 feet, every time I'd hit the troller the screen would fill up with vertical lines. I put chokes on the power cable to the Helix and to my Ultrex too, maybe helped a little. Then one day I got to messing with the settings and turned the noise filter setting DOWN. I had it set on 4 I think, and just dropping it down to 3 made a huge difference. Might be something to check.

Well me and my buddy skunked. It was awesome to meet Jeff out on the water.! That part of the lake is like a whole different world compared to the areas we normally fish, i.e., Prairie and Hickory. I marked a whole bunch of spots for future trips. Beautiful, clear water. Very quiet and peaceful. I pulled up that same grass in a spot way away from where Jeff told me he pulled some up. It could be becoming invasive on that end. I think some sort of vegetation in Beaver might be beneficial.

Nice job! I was gonna go after church Sunday but been battling the Green Snot Monster. My buddy ended up going to PC. He got one line burner and a fat dink. He was supposed to go to Hickory yesterday afternoon but I haven't heard from him yet today.

Excellent!