Notropis

It's easy to get them mixed up especially this time of year when the males are darkened up. The best way to tell them apart is by the vertical pigment bars and (if you have the fish in hand) counting the dorsal fin spines, 7 or more = black crappie, 6 or less = white.

Looks like a good day fishing! Not to be argumentative, but I believe the fish is a white crappie (probably a male since they darken up during the spawn). Look at the vertical pigment bars on it's side, a characteristic of white crappie. A beautiful fish either way and a good day on the lake!

The 10 inch minimum length limit seems to be doing a good job protecting the younger crappie from harvest without causing any reduction in individual fish, growth rates. Crappie in Beaver lake take between 2-3 years to reach 10 inches, reaching legal size quicker than the largemouth bass do (3-4 years). The crappie length limit has been the most successful length limit on the lake, in my opinion, protecting the younger fish but allowing for significant harvest to keep the numbers of crappie at a level that contributes to good growth rates of individual fish.

As several members have posted, this is a dangerous time for boaters on the lake. There will be lots of floating debris, logs, etc. Everyone please be careful running the lake, especially at night.

http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx How about this site? Generation schedules for area dams from Southwest Power Administrations.

Good graph regarding lake levels provided by Fins & Feathers. I have it in my favorites on computer. "Yep, other than last year (14) it's been what I would consider "hi water years" for the last 4yrs at least. If I recall correctly, 2007 was a hi water year also. So that's 5 years in the last 7 and this year is still unfolding." I see your point J-Doc. the last few years have had high water levels but most of them didn't stay up for long. The most beneficial years are when the level stays up thru most of the summer (like 2011, see graph). High water in the Spring will usually produce good spawns but if the water level doesn't stay up thru the summer, most of the submerged terrestrial vegetation (flooded brush and grasses) is left high and dry. Fingerlings are left with little cover to hide and forage in resulting in a lot of the spawn being recycled back into the food chain (eaten by intermediate and adult fish). Some fingerling species are more adept at hiding in the rocks (spotted bass, smallmouth, walleye) and these fish are not as severely affected by the lack of submerged terrestrial cover, while others that depend on it (largemouth, other sunfish) are heavily affected. This is why the best year classes of largemouth bass come from years like 2011. Sorry about the long winded reply, I enjoy these kinds of discussions and am happy to contribute to them!

The AGFC has documented walleye spawns in Beaver Lake by treating all stocked walleye fingerlings with a chemical indicator that shows up for several years in each fish. Yearling walleye captured in fish population samples were tested for the chemical and over 50% had no trace of the chemical. The yearlings without the chemical indicator are believed to be naturally spawned fish. Judging by that information, walleye are beginning to spawn successfully in Beaver Lake.

The lake could use a good high water year. Beaver spawns a lot of fish during high water and if the level stays up during the summer, the flooded shoreline cover helps the fry and fingerlings survive. The high level of nutrients that are swept into the lake during high water years help create excellent levels of zooplankton which fry of all species need to grow into fingerlings. Threadfin shad levels also increase due to high levels of zooplankton (which is their primary forage). The flip side is that fishing can be tougher than normal years. The abundance of cover scatters the fish and the increased forage levels reduces the effort needed by game fish species to find forage. High water years are good for future fishing because of the large year classes of fingerlings they produce but can make fishing more difficult at the present time. The timing of the high water years is also very important to the lake. Several high water years in a row can create too much competition between year classes, slowing down individual fish growth rates. The best scenario is a high water year every three to four years which creates strong year classes but spaces them out, time wise, reducing competition and keeping growth rates and condition factors of the fish at a good level.

I look forward to reading your paper when you post it, F&F. I've learned quite a bit about striped bass through the years and always look forward to new information and fresh perspectives.

Good point John, Sequoyah is a big silt trap and it's getting shallower each year but it's probably a good thing that the stripers don't successfully spawn. It would raise the possibility of too many of them in the lake which could reduce their growth rates and create too much competition for forage with the other game fish species in Beaver. Lake Texoma is a good example of what can happen if stripers have successful spawns of stripers, lots of small stripers but not a high percentage of trophy sized fish. The current situation allows the AGFC to maintain the striper population at a moderate level which helps insure good growth rates of individual fish and increases the possibility of catching trophy fish (like the ones Feathers&Fins has been catching this winter), while helping to minimize the stripers effect on the other game fish species.

That should be some good eating! I was just curious about the age. It's a sure sign that spawning season is getting closer when the testes of the males start getting swollen like you described. Congrats again on catching another trophy striper, you've had a great winter!

Good suggestions but one thing to keep in mind. The COE doesn't make the decisions regarding what fish are stocked. That's determined by the area District Fisheries Biologist for the AGFC (Jon Stein). In most cases trout stocking is incompatible with lakes that have good striper populations since they are forced to occupy the same areas of the lake during the summer (cool water below the thermocline) and striped bass have a feeding preference for fish without dorsal spines (trout and shad).

Wow, Fin, at 40 plus pounds, that has to be the biggest male I've ever seen! I've heard you mention pulling otoliths from fish in past posts. Did you get the otoliths from this fish? I bet it's well over 10 years old, maybe 12-14! John52, the stripers in Beaver do go thru the spawning process by traveling up the river tributaries but typically they can't get up the rivers far enough for successful egg hatching. The fertilized eggs need enough current to keep them from settling to the bottom for several days before hatching. Usually fertilized striper eggs from the Beaver Lake tributaries reach the lake within a few hours, settle to the bottom and fungus over. That's why the AGFC has to stock them to maintain the population.

Yeah, I remember (when I was compiling them) some reports that didn't seem to change for months which made them suspect (in my mind). Looks like you have a good handle on the process. Keep up the good work!

"100% honest" are they fishermen? Sorry I couldn't resist! Glad you took no offense F&F because none was intended. Probably should have used more tact and explained that I wasn't referring to your report. Just relating my past experiences and chuckles with fishing reports. Certainly the organizer of the reports and the sources make a big difference. Having been on both sides of fishing reports, I know how hard it is to get good information and present it in an organized fashion. I did observe a fair amount of marketing optimism from some sources but it's hard to blame them when their livelihood depends on attracting customers. Cheers

Excellent newsletter, Jeremy and Paul! One complaint, need to get a more recent photo of someone other than Mark operating the habitat barge, ha ha ha! Just kidding, great stuff with the side and down scan images of the habitat! Spring is getting close, so you guys be careful and stay safe during your night work. Retired Ron

While managing a marina back in the 70's, I learned a lot about the source of fishing reports. A reporter (writer) would call once week to get the latest fishing report. The first time I answered the phone, I was completely honest, fishing was very slow and I indicated that to the person calling. However, our mechanic overheard the conversation and literally took the phone out of my hand and quickly changed the direction of the report, saying that fishing was fair, with certain lures (the ones we had the most of, and needed to sell). I learned quickly that fishing reports tend to be overly optimistic. The last thing an outfitter, bait shop owner or marina manager wants to tell you is that fishing is bad (except for a few totally honest ones). Fishing reports can be a good source of information but keep in mind some of them are a little "optimistic" An old common joke regarding fishing reports and the way to interpret them goes something like this: If the report says fishing is "fair" it usually means fishing is terrible. If the report says "good" it usually means you can catch a few if you fish hard. "Excellent" indicates that fishing is good and anglers are having decent luck, but the best indication of great fishing is "no report" which means the marina, bait shop owner are out fishing and didn't have time to submit a report. I know, it's an old joke but I figured a lot of new anglers haven't heard it. Cheers

Good job finally identifying the fish species as an Ozark Bass. We used to get quite a few in fish population samples on Lake Norfork, particularly in the lower end of the lake. They're common in the rivers of Northwest and North Central Arkansas ( as Al said, Upper White River) . The only rivers in NW Arkansas that don't have them are the Illinois River and Spavinaw Creek which have shadow bass. I'm fairly certain, Arkansas has not stocked any of the three rock bass species (at least in stocking records the past 30 years). Cheers

You must hang out with a better class of ladies than I, bfishn. Never was able to impress too many women with my knowledge of fish taxonomy but I did meet a women who thought a paddlefish sounded kind of kinky. Thanks for the invite, rps, I might take you up on that offer when I get caught up with my current projects.

Ha Ha, I thought it was funny when I was assigned the "bleeding shiner" handle especially since I had used the minnow genus, Notropis as my sign-in name. You must have some knowledge of fish classification to catch that! I used the image of a bleeding shiner to fit my handle. Cheers!

Can't go wrong with the Xpress boats. ciRe. I've owned several aluminum boats, all of them pretty good boats, but the Xpress is by far the best. Match it up with a good 4-stroke (I prefer Yamaha but there are other good brands), depth finder and trolling motor and enjoy!

I've been extremely pleased with my 17' Xpress aluminum bass boat with 70hp Yamaha 4-stroke. I wanted the 18' with a 90 hp but it wouldn't fit in my garage. I agree with other posters, you have to be careful on windy days. If trolling is your primary technique, get a larger boat, maybe semi-v. Fiberglass is smoother in rough water but you will need a larger motor to make them perform well. I highly recommend the 4-stroke motors, they're quieter, idle better, use significantly less gas and don't smoke as much. I agree with the other members, don't under power the boat, get a motor that matches the HP rating of the boat (or close to it). A smaller motor will work ok but will be very sluggish when your boat is fully loaded. I would also recommend spending the money to get a decent combo depth finder (GPS included) instead of the low end models, it helps a lot when locating structure, fish and waypoint productive spots. As many of the other members have said, spend time checking out the different brands and compare before you buy. Researching the market is half the fun.

Thanks for the welcome, guys! Joe, I haven't heard of the information you're talking about but it doesn't surprise me to hear of a large predator fish having a 12-14 inch fish in it's belly regardless of the species. Sometimes small and medium sized predators will be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get eaten by a "granddaddy". In my experience, the biggest effect fish predators have on each other is competition for available forage species and predation of fingerling fish by a previous year's spawn. Cheers!

After checking this forum out for a couple months and reading the comments and discussions, I've decided to join the group. Over the past three decades, my job and expertise has been the study of fish and fish populations. I finally retired last April and I am ready to enjoy the remainder of my years enjoying the fisheries resources of NW Arkansas. I have been impressed by the members and discussions on this forum. Looks like a good group of anglers sharing information, experiences and the occasional humorous story (I have a few to tell myself). I have a new boat, 17 ft Xpress aluminum bass boat with mid-sized motor and a decent depth finder and trolling motor. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time using it. Most of my fishing will be on Beaver Lake and the Beaver Tailwaters but I'm sure I'll fish other area lakes as well. I'm particularly interested in improving my methods for catching walleye but love to enjoy all types of fishing including bass, crappie, trout and even sunfish. I'm impressed by the level of experience and knowledge demonstrated by the members of this group and am certainly willing to share any knowledge I have with other members. Ron

In regards to releasing striped bass...it depends on water and air temperature, the size of the fish, as well as how long the fish has been hooked (stressed). Since they are cool water fish, they survive release better when the water and air temps are below 70, particularly the larger fish. Younger, smaller fish (below 20 inches) can tolerate warmer water catch and release better than the adults. Generally speaking, don't release the adults in the summer season, particularly if they have been caught deep, which is usually the case. Sub twenty inchers can be released during the summer and have a good chance of surviving as long as they are not kept in the live well for long.