Blll

Since we are being self depreciating, anyone want to fess up how many rods they have just dropped/kicked overboard? I've fished a long time and can notch 3 overboard. My worst one was a terrific bait caster I made on a Loomis blank. But I've also snagged up at least 4. So I guess I'm ahead.

I hear you Yak. In my few years on Beaver, I've found the most frustrating thing is "what worked today may not work tomorrow". I try to adapt for weather wind etc, but each day seems like a new adventure. I've had plenty of great days but rarely back to back. That makes it more special when you do figure it out. Go Cubs!

I hear ya Stump! We used to have many more posters 4 years ago when I started. Learned what I know about Beaver from them. I got out on Friday. Had most of the lake to myself. Spent way too much time in Joe's creek. The back half of the creek, several acres, was alive with surface feeding. I finally downsized my bait to find it was 4"-6" spots. Thousands of them. I kept hoping to find mama or something under them. No luck. After about 15 of them, even on U/L tackle, it was enough. wt still 76. Spent some time at a crappie spot, caught a few keepers for lunch. Pair of osprey kept me company.

Dave may have them listed on ebay now too.

I think that's right on. It's the Arkansas river that has plenty of gizzards to net but also the silver carp and zebras.

From what I understand, the issue is the netting of wild shad from other waters may include silver carp which are almost impossible to eradicate once established. Buying shad has not been the issue. I don't know what the source of shad will be in the future. I've been told that Lake Norfork has had this regulation in effect already.

I heard the the Bait Regulation passed. After October of next year, only bait caught from Beaver can be used on Beaver or purchased from a recognized, certified bait farm. I don't know where any of those farms are. I'm assuming that brooders & minnows from HLS will be good. Interesting.

Out at 7am on Friday near 12 bridge. 1st fish at 7:15 was a beautiful smallie at just past 17". Hammered a spook in 12' fow. 1 more miss on topwater. Caught 6 more spots 10"-13" on a minus1 crank. All caught in shaded brush areas 4-6 fow. In at 9:30. Every cast would get 1" bait jumping. wt 77.

Really swell looking boat. See ya on the water!

First time out for way too long. Light breeze at 7:30 am. Fished Ventris for crappies. Caught enough nice ones for dinner and several shorts. 5-10 fow on White roadrunner. Switched to ned and caught two keeper bass and several more shorts. Then the green sunfish invaded. In at 10:30. 3 hours-15 fish. Best weather since May. WT 76-18.

Hey Dan! Great to hear any report and a successful one even better. I really need to master the drop shot and spoon techniques. Goin' 'at em hard next week.

Haven't been out myself for a couple weeks. I attended the Striper club meeting this past Tuesday. Quite a few reports of pretty good fishing if effort made. Several guys reported a decent spoon bite in 20-25 fow on main lake points for walleyes and spots.. Several stripers being caught from points 3 down to 1 on deep running baits. Plan on eating them because they won't survive the fight in warm water. A few reports about bass on Neds earlier in the day. Pretty positive daytime action being reported. Nothing astounding and I'm sorry for the 3rd party reports but I thought our forum should have some activity.

Welcome, glad you're here.

While I personally hate the thought of killing gamefish,( no cpr with a spear in ya) If these guys buy their license and follow the law, they can enjoy their sport too. I don't hunt, and shooting an animal (no cpr there either) is not my thing but I certainly have no problem with those that do it. Yea I wish the spear fisherman would stick to rough fish, the law may not agree. JMO

After last year, my 3rd fishing Beaver, I actually thought I was starting to get the hang of it. This season has slapped me stupid. Beautiful evening tonight. Fished from 6 till 10pm. 1 suicidal 12" spot to show for it. Any one else finding it tough this year?

We got a downpour near the 12 boat ramp. Rutted my driveway pretty good. Zero this morning.

RPS, I must be fishing too deep for Beaver Lake eyes. In your experience, is 10 fow oddly shallow for eyes in 85 degree water?

No need to debate trailer vs slip. They both have pros and cons. Each guy has his own good reasons for one or the other option. Personally I trailered for 30 years and have had a slip for the last 10. No doubt in my mind I use my boat 3-4x more having a slip. The silver lining that I see is that the COE has put this 10 years in the future. Lots can change by then. Plus community or individual docks can start putting aside a small amount of $$$ each year for this. Also the technology will be much better than it is today. Costs may actually be less. Light weight lithium batteries may be more affordable. This spring, our dock was without power for about 75 days in the best fishing times. Really sucked! If we had solar power, there would have been zero down time. With the ozark style of floating docks, being tethered to the shore for electricity may not be the best system. JMO

I went to PC last year during the tourney as Evinrude was supposed to be giving test runs with the new smaller(150-175) G2 motors. Of course it started pouring and they didn't show. Wound up under a roof with Bill, the head guy and we swapped some Viet Nam stories. He said that the weather really put a damper on the turn out for their events, weigh-ins etc. Seemed like just fishing luck but he may have been considering walking even then. I have seen no Walmart info about them dropping their involvement but then they don't always consult me.

Spinnerbait or jig: Just used up my last Uncle Josh frog. What are you guys using as a trailer these days? Hard to change after 50 years. LOL

Just saw news: 2018 FLW Schedule does not include Beaver Lake. Good for the fish but tough on Rogers and surrounding area. Lots of $$$ gone. Anybody know why?

Stump I'm pretty sure that co-pilot is just the ability to run the motor with a handheld remote. There is no GPS function so the features you want are not there. IPILOT has the GPS and the features you mentioned. There is a higher level, IPILOT Link that will follow certain models of hummingbird depth finder. If buying the IPILOT as an add-on accessory, be sure the model year of the motor works with that particular IPILOT. That's about as far as I can go. I used to work at Bass Pro and sold loads of trolling motors but I have not kept up with the newest models. In the past, 80# was the most thrust on a 24 volt set up. Hope that helped.

Welcome back Dan. Several trips last week. Nothing spectacular. Mixed bag, no stripers. Top water, buzz baits in the early am. Crawler harness' trolled about 1mph worked on several days. Flicker shad caught some crappies. Water pretty murky all the way to Rocky branch. emerald green and clear past point 5. I would work evenings into the dark if I was serious. WT holding around 81. Saturday was boating day, nuts busy. My back will take a couple days to recover. Saw bigger boats this weekend than the previous 4 summers. I think cheaper gas may bring out more cruisers. I also think it is less busy up from the rt 12 bridge. Most boats still can't/won't go under it. Good luck.

Best of both worlds.

Thanks Lance. I need to "lighten up"