YAKFM

You wouldn't be safe with your rod and reel either.

Thank you for the feedback, Jon. Its great to get some insight into how AGFC manages the fishery.

Thanks for sharing, Jon. At the end of the write-up there was a short paragraph that stated the following: "We completed the walleye spawning project on the Kings River and Beaver Tailwater this spring". Does this mean that AGFC collected brood fish from these areas for the hatchery?

Nice work Mr Anderson. That is a good looking limit of eyes.

I hadn't even considered the switch from dry to wet for Benton County, but this year does seem worse than any of the prior years I have fished Beaver. Let me know if you need a "boat tag spotter" to accompany you before you transition over to blasting tasty feathered creatures.

I agree Scott. That would have been bad news from me or any other small water craft. The kayak is going to stay dry for a while. Too many incidents on the lake recently and it isn't worth the risk. I am hoping that after labor day things will quiet down and the lake will go back to being mostly inhabited by fisherman.

Dang Fins. Terrible to see that you were injured. The reckless boating is getting out of hand on Beaver.

Excellent haul Kyle. Send me a PM if you want some tips on how to maximize your rod carrying capacity in your kayak. Depending on the type and size of kayak you have, there may be a few mods that will make this possible. I spider rig with 3-9 foot rods out of mine.

Nice mess of fish. Couple of slabs at the bottom of the table.

I think I will hold off going out again until next week when the daytime highs are projected to be in the low to mid 80's.

By 3 I was done. I think I consumed a gallon of water/gatorade today.

Yep, I think I was tuning/testing some new cranks around that time. I paddled south not long after. Did you fish today?

Left the flag, landing net and my lunch on the back of my other car and didn't realize it until I got to the ramp. What time did you see me? It was relatively quiet on the water today.

Location: 12 Bridge Area Water Temp: 82-83 Air Temp: 90 Depth: 25-35 FOW Lures: 1/2 oz jigging spoon, #6 Flicker Shad, and Crawler Harness 13 Total Fish: 6 White Bass to 18", 5 Crappie-3 legal 12-14", 1-15" walleye, and 1-14" Spot Put in at 11 am and fished until 3 pm. Caught 13 fish and missed at least that many on the jigging spoon and crankbaits on the ends of long points. I used the cranks as a search tool and when I located fish I dropped the jigging spoon down. I caught the spot on a crawler harness. The fish I was targeting were suspended over and around brush piles in 25-35 FOW. I think I BBQ'd my brain today. It was some hot paddling.

Wow, that's horrible. I was paddling towards 12 bridge at 130 this afternoon when the ambulance drove over the bridge towards RB. A few seconds later the life flight chopper appeared over the trees flying towards RB too. Prayers for those involved.

Thanks for posting Fins. I am curious how LE apply the law, particularly for #'s 2 and 3. For example, if law enforcement had witnessed the boat wake that washed over the back of your boat a few weeks ago I wonder how many of them would have tracked down the offender and written a ticket. #2 and 3 seem difficult to enforce unless there is an injury that results from the incident.

One of these days we will run into each other at LBN and I will show you the setup (dad lives in LBV). The strangest looks I get are when I am spider rigging 3-9 foot rods.

So true. In fact, most days there were two GWs working together and I only fished TB during the week to avoid the big crowds.

Yes

Interesting to read the accounts of many who have never been checked or only a few times in a decade. I have been checked/stopped by LE 7 times this year alone, although 4 of those stops were at the TB boat ramp by AGFC during the Spring walleye/white bass run. The 4 times I was checked at TB they were checking everyone coming off the water. Another stop was by a Sheriff patrol that was checking out my trolling setup because he thought it looked cool. He even snapped a photo to show his wife. The other two times were in the days leading up to Memorial and 4th of July Holidays by AGFC GWs on jet skis. AGFC advised me to avoid the lake during the Holiday weekends for safety purposes. Of course, I followed their advice.

I agree with you on the need to take preventative safety measures while operating small water craft. I've been using a bright orange flag on my kayak for a while now. Unfortunately, it seems the flag had the opposite effect I was hoping for, like attracting bugs to a light. I kayaked Beaver heavily up until 2004 and I don't recall having this many issues on the water. Of course, as Nathan pointed out, NW Arkansas has grown quite a bit since then. I am sure there are many lakes that are statistically more dangerous than Beaver, but I have had more near misses this year than in the prior 14 years of owning my kayak combined. This issue goes way beyond kayak visibility, I believe. Even F&F and I were repeatedly waked by pleasure craft 2 weeks ago and he is running a 20 ft boat. From February to Memorial Day I had no issues with boaters, likely owed to the fact that most boaters I encountered up to Memorial Day were fisherman. Unfortunately, many in the pleasure craft crowd don't respect the law and generally demonstrate a lack of respect for fellow boaters. I am sure alcohol has been involved in a number of the incidents too.

I believe it was, but I'm not certain. He went by me so fast that I don't think I could have caught his boat numbers even if I had thought to do so. If I see him again and he is operating as recklessly as he was on Sunday then the Sheriff will get a call. Thank goodness there wasn't a child tubing or skiing in the area as he rounded the corner the way he did.

J-Doc, I actually thought about getting his hull ID after the fact, but as you stated, I was caught up in the moment trying to get out of his path and get his attention. I will definitely do as you suggest if it happens again.

I had a cigarette boat come within 30 yards of me going wide open. This is a 35+ footer that you would typically see off the coast of Florida. And its not like I was in the middle of the lake. I was paralleling the shoreline maybe 50 yards out and he rounded a blind corner like he was trying to outrun the DEA on a drug run. Another guy was heading straight for me in his pontoon (again, not far from shore) and veered off at the last minute as I frantically waved my paddle in the air. As far as I could tell he was talking with the people sitting behind him and not paying attention to the water ahead. To him it was no big deal. Like I was a piece of drift wood he narrowly missed hitting. He never cut back on the throttle as he came close enough for me to ID the brand of beer he had in his hand. I agree with you and showmebass regarding fishing early in the day this time of year.

Water Temp: 81-82 Depth: 25-35 FOW Location: 12 Bridge Area Lures: Crawler Harness and Flicker Shad 10 Fish Total: 4 legal Crappie to 13", 2 Spots to 15", 2 White Bass, 1 Short Striper, and 1 small Catfish Put in at 12 bridge at 4 pm and paddled for a few miles to fish brush piles in 30+ FOW at the end of a long point. When I first arrived at the location I had planned to fish I quickly realized that I may not make it off the lake in one piece if I remained, so I moved on to fish a few scattered brush piles in 25 FOW in the mouth of an adjacent cove. Unfortunately, I didn't find fish on the shallower brush, so I drowned my crawlers until the traffic died down. Once the traffic lightened up I moved back to fish the deeper structure . All but 2 of the fish came slow trolling a crawler harness and were caught in a short window between 6-730 pm. I had enough fish to eat by 730 so I called it a day. I am looking forward to the relative peace and lighter traffic of Fall fishing. Hope everyone stays safe on the water.