Notropis

I think the answer to that depends on how clear the water is. I remember reading a study done by a professor in Missouri who found a correlation between water visibility and depth of spawning nest. It indicated that the species he was studying (crappie) were cueing in on sunlight penetration to determine how deep they would spawn. In extreme muddy water the fish would spawn in just a few feet of water, in clear water the depth would be much deeper. My guess is that the fish instinctively choose a depth that will favor the right water temperature for hatching success after the eggs are deposited. As I've mentioned before, the fish are adaptable to changing water conditions and will abandon poor spawning depths for shallower or deeper levels to spawn in depending on conditions. I agree with you regarding the drop in water temperatures delaying the spawn until conditions are more favorable, I've seen spotted bass on the nest in late May and even early June during unusually cold Springs.

Kind of out of my usual territory here since I usually stick to the Beaver Lake forum but I might be able to answer a few of your questions. The high water should be a boon for the spawn due to increased nutrient input for zooplankton production (essential for fish larvae survival) and available nursery habitat that will provide a lot of cover for the larvae to utilize. I'm not sure about eggs requiring sunlight to hatch, I think hatching is affected primarily by temperature and clean substrate (not silted in). As far as the water level changing the depth of the nests, unless they are so deep that the water temp remains too cool for good hatching success, I don't think it will be a problem. Another factor is that fish are fairly adaptable when spawning in changing water levels. If a nest becomes too deep due to rising water levels, the fish will often abandon it and adjust there efforts to shallower water. These are generalizations but usually hold true under these circumstances. Typically these types of high water years produce the strongest spawns with better chances of recruitment (surviving the first year) of the fingerlings. Hope this was helpful

Very true, bferg, these guys aren't amateurs and lightening is more dangerous statistically but the floating stuff is dangerous too, especially when you have a lot boat traffic in narrow parts of the lake, river arms etc. I've had my share of encounters with floating logs when I worked on the lake, some of which I'll never forget! TrophyFishR, as far as the spawn goes, the timing of the high water couldn't hardly be better. Most species of fish are in the process of spawning or will be in the next few weeks so the high water will provide good nursery areas and increased zooplankton production for good survival and growth of larvae fish. The bad news is, fishing is probably going to be a lot tougher for bass and similar species the next few weeks as the fish spread out to occupy all the additional cover the high water will provide. The open water species (stripers, whites etc.) will get pushed around by the incoming muddy water and the stripers will probably start heading down lake in front of the mud line. I guess, we'll see how much rain we continue to get, if the forecasts are accurate we could see the lake filled to capacity and possible floodgate openings next week.

I'm very concerned regarding the safety of the FLW participates and anyone else traveling at high speeds on the lake this week. There's already a ton of floating debris on the lake and it will only get worse as the lake continues to rise. I hope the FLW organizers warn the participates of the danger!

Good video, Jeremy! Looks like you guys have refined the technique to make it more easily mastered than previous instructions that I've reviewed. The only thing I would add, is too emphasize that this technique helps fish suffering from barotrauma but may not help fish caught in shallow water that are simply stressed from other conditions (thermal shock, gill injury and low O2 in livewell etc.) that mimic the symptoms of "the bends" by not being able to leave the surface or right themselves. Keep up the good work!

"Cool deal. A 30-40+ is on my bucket list. Sadly, there are not that many big ones remaining. I read it takes like 30yrs to get them that big and bigger. Way too many guides keeping fish these days." Your statement brought me out of hiding, J-Doc. I haven't been on the forum much the last year due to travel and spending a lot of time with my aging parents and I've only been back on the forum for a couple of days. The stripers in Beaver Lake are growing a lot faster than you think, especially when forage is abundant. Most of the 30 pound stripers I aged, when I worked on the lake, ranged between 7-9 years old. The really big ones, 40-50 pounds, ranged between 10-14 years old. Don't give up on catching one over 30 pounds, J-Doc. There are more out there than you think, of course hooking one is not the same as landing it (as I found out last winter).

I don't usually comment on the Table Rock forum (mostly Beaver Lake since I'm more familiar with it) but I'm pretty sure the red color your seeing is a form of single celled ,mobile algae in the Diatom group (I think). It shows up on Beaver this time of year also and is usually thick in areas where the wind pushes it and it's usually associated with the surface. There's a simple test you can use to tell if it's a mobile algae. A microscope examination will reveal the individual cells to be moving, usually in small circles and are attracted to light. Since most people don't have a microscope, you can scoop some of the diatoms in a clear glass and set it in a dark area with a light source on one side of the glass. Wait a few minutes and you'll notice them moving to the side of the glass where the light source is, confirming it's identity. If it doesn't show those characteristics, it's probably something else. Hope this was helpful?

No, you're not confused Stump bumper, most of your points seem valid to me. Getting reliable crayfish population estimates would be difficult because of the physical properties of the lake. I suppose you could sample the lake with crayfish traps using randomly picked locations but it would take a huge and expensive effort over several years to get baseline information that would be required to detect changes in the population. If you could detect changes, it would be even more difficult to attribute it to any one species of fish in the lake since several of them forage on crayfish routinely. The effects of water level fluctuations on the crayfish population would also complicate the evaluation. It sounds like, from Bill's post, that crayfish were one of several points Jon was using to explain the decision to suspend hybrid stockings. I think the main point is their ability to forage in shallow areas at a time of the year (warmer water temps) when other large, open water species (stripers and walleye) can't. As I mentioned in my first post, I think a lot of this is an attempt by the Fisheries Biologists and staff, to promote better methods of justifying and evaluating fish stockings, not just doing it because "it's a routine stocking". Cheers! I

Very interesting discussion! I visited with Jon a week or so ago and he mentioned discontinuing the hybrid stocking and the reasons behind it. There has been a change in the upper level of the fish management staff, in the last two years, with a new Chief of Fisheries and two new Regional Supervisors ( a newly created position). I could tell by talking with Jon that the new staff wants to get away from yearly routine stockings that are not backed up by current data. This is a move that makes good sense to me. Fish populations are extremely dynamic, sometimes changing radically from year to year (as evidenced by the difference in fish production between high water years and normal water levels). In the past, some management biologists would routinely request fish stockings simply because it was what they had done in the past without current data justifying the stockings. This led to some problems in some cases. The emphasis now from the upper level staff is requiring the management biologists to have current, scientific, data to back up a request for stocking. From a scientific standpoint I believe this is a good policy. There will be some growing pains as some stockings will be halted until the biologists can justify them but in the long run in will be a better policy. Regarding Jon's statement about the success of the recent walleye spawns and the "self-sustaining" status of the walleye population, it's very possible that the walleye population has reached level that would diminish the need for yearly stockings (especially when the lake is experiencing high water in recent years). Jon's preliminary data on walleye netting this winter has demonstrated a slight reduction in condition factors (WR's) from almost 100% a couple of years a go to 90% this winter. While 90% is still good condition, it is a reduction and could indicate competition for forage within the walleye population is increasing or the possibility of high stress during the warm water temperatures of summer or a combination of the two. There were several discussions this summer and fall about "skinny walleye" and the possible reasons for it, especially since other species seemed to be in good condition. Jon is staying ahead of the game with the monitoring of the walleye and I feel confident he will adjust his management strategy accordingly if his data indicates a significant change.

Some good information on this thread regarding the COE's flood control plan and their reasoning behind it. Another factor is power generation within the White River Lakes. Since Beaver is the highest power generation lake on the chain, they hold the water as much as possible to store the potential energy of the higher elevation water. Water over the floodgates is wasted in regards to generating electricity. Water stored in Beaver can produce hydroelectric power several times as it makes it's way down the White River Lakes and the dams that impound them.

There will be small pockets of clearer water in the very backs of some of the bigger creek arms because of clear inflow. Sometimes these small pockets can hold an amazing amount of fish especially bass. In muddy years during some of our Spring electrofishing samples, it wasn't unusual to find 20-40 bass in an clear water area the size of a small room at the very back of creek arms. Don't know if we'll see green stain this time of year since algae production is lower in the winter but it could happen, especially if we get a couple of warm spells with lots of sunshine. Unfortunately the muddy water limits light penetration and reduces algae production, so we'll see. The backs of the river tributaries will definitely be clearer as the new, clear water pushes the muddy stuff down-lake. Might be some good crappie fishing for anglers willing to go pretty far up the river arms. Not sure how this will effect the walleye spawn since a lot of things can change before early March. Lots of water does help the walleye travel up the rivers but again it's too early to tell. J-Doc and Champ, you guys are funny! here's my theory: The lake is still experiencing residual turbulence from summer wake board boats. That's something we can all rail against!

Yep! We may see some clearing as the larger particles (silt) settle but the clay particles will take a while.

I doubt the water is going to clear up anytime soon in the mid-lake area. The main process for clearing water involves clumping together of the small silt and clay particles to a size where they become big enough to settle out (flocculation). Clay particles, in particular resist clumping due to their negative charge (like charges repel each other). Flocculation typically happens in warmer water temperatures when natural organic compounds form and help the clay particles clump together and settle out. Unfortunately, we may be looking at muddy water for several months until the water starts warming up.

There is an area you can try if you're desperate to get on the lake and fish for the open water species. The mudline is close to the Larue Peninsula but water starts clearing just to the east of Larue. I found bait balls and suspended fish in that area and even managed to catch a couple of nice sized white bass in a couple hours of fishing Friday morning before the cold front. Nothing to write home about but did see a fair amount of fish on the graph. I'll probably try it again late in the week after the worst of the cold spell is over.

"So to those who are fishing it this year……….I bid you good luck. I will be out later that day possibly. But only to play with the new iPilot trolling motor. LOL!" You're going to love the Ipilot, J-dock, I used mine a couple times before the flood and I'm amazed how much easier it is to fish, especially slow drifting and trolling. You fish more and steer less, it's great! For all you brave souls fishing the tournament, BE CAREFUL, There's a hugh amount of debris in the lake currently.

Good discussion going on here on a fish species that is often overlooked. Beaver is not as good a bluegill lake as the smaller lakes in this area but there are some good "bream" to be caught if you get away from the bank and try out the brush piles in deeper water. I've targeted them before many times when I wanted some eating fish and done pretty well, late summer through mid-fall. You guys are pretty good amateur biologists! Fish populations are density dependent, generally speaking the higher the numbers of fish the smaller the average size. The best trophy fishing is typically found in fish populations with low density and less competition for forage. Beaver is not a great bream fishery because of several factors. Bluegill are primarily insect eaters, either aquatic (nymphs and naiads) or terrestrial (grasshoppers etc.) Beaver is not blessed with a lot of aquatic insects because of lack of shallow habitat (except in high water years) and large areas of the lake are too deep. Some studies have shown that lakes with a lot of threadfin shad usually don't have good bluegill populations, something to do with competition between the fish larva for zooplankton. The lack of shoreline cover for the fish, during normal water levels, is also a factor. I think the bigger bluegill in Beaver, learn to eat larva shad and other small fish as well as the aquatic insects near deep brush piles. I've caught some pretty big ones mixed in with schools of small white bass that were chasing small shad near the surface and some good ones trolling with small crankbaits near deep brushpiles.

This situation is a great example of one of the reasons I retired from the AGFC. Politically appointed Commissioners with an agenda getting into egotistical urination matches (trying to keep it clean here). I've worked with some great commissioners who respected the biologists and listened to them before making decisions but I've dealt with some who had an agenda and totally ignored the recommendations of the biologists. It's interesting in the articles that the biologists managing the different lakes are not quoted. Chris Racey, Chief of Fisheries, did a pretty good job of describing the situation in a non-biased way including his recommendation not to stock striped bass in Table Rock (which I agree with) but it sounds like one of the Commissioners didn't want to hear it and showed his animosity to the Chief and some of the other Commissioners. I miss working with the Fisheries staff and all the dedicated biologists and technicians that did their best gather good data and make sound biological decisions but I don't miss the politicks and egotism of some of the Commissioners.

"Low oxygen pockets could explain it I guess." Just my best guess J-Doc, but it makes sense. The thermal refuge (area below the thermocline with adequate oxygen) is very small during high water years. in the summer, sometimes only an area that's within a mile or two of the dam. Stripers and walleye that don't make it to the thermal refuge are forced to stay right at the thermocline since there is not enough dissolved oxygen below it. Water temperature at the thermocline, during the summer, isn't cool enough for them to do well and the continued stress from the warm water has it's effect on them. Again, just my best guess.

It is a little perplexing to see the skinny fish considering the amount of forage that seems to be in the lake. Like all animals, fish must take in more calories than they are metabolizing to gain weight and it's hard to image they're having too expend much energy with all the shad I'm seeing currently. I've caught some really fat fish but some have been a little thin. A lot of interesting theories on this thread. It sounds like the species that are being effected most are the walleye and stripers which happen to be the two least tolerant to warm water and low oxygen. High water years are known for bringing in a lot of nutrients which create areas of low oxygen. Table Rock had some fish kills this year that were probably caused by pockets of low oxygen. We might be seeing fish that were caught in some stressful conditions during the summer and haven't recovered yet. Some years, the best feeding times for the stripers and walleye (and some species like crappie) happen when the water becomes cold enough to slow down the threadfin shad. They usually start getting stressed when the water temps get into the forties and start dying when the water temps get into the thirties. They're easy picking for the predators then. It seems like the water temps are a little higher than normal for this time of the year, probably because of the warm weather we've had the past month. Hopefully the fish will get a little fatter when the threadfin become more vulnerable.

J-Doc, I just bought a new Terrova with I-pilot and would be happy to meet you at the ramp if you want to check it out.

I've been doing a lot of traveling and spending time with the family the last couple of months, so I haven't been on the Forum lately. Johnf52 sent me a message wanting information regarding his new pond and when I replied, I realized I hadn't been on the forum in a while. It looks like a lot has changed on the lake since I last checked in, pretty good Fall fishing according to some posts with the usual tough days after cold fronts mixed in. I'm looking forward to getting back on the lake and chasing a few fish. There doesn't appear to be much of a walleye bite going on but I'm going to try some bottom bouncers in the next few weeks and see if I can locate a few, maybe even use some bass or brooder minnows since the fish should be getting after the threadfins. We'll see!

Yah, they're a pain, heavy traffic, big lines at restaurants, etc, but they do bring in a lot of revenue to the area, so it's a good thing for local businesses. If you're thinking of launching your boat at RB this weekend, think again, Hwy 12 will be backed up.

Welcome to NW Arkansas, steadyt. Your timing is good concerning Beaver Lake. Because of the extreme high water this year, fishing for almost all game fish will be pretty good the next few years. My best advice is to turn your back on the bank and learn to fish deeper structure. Fishing shallow is usually only good for a few months out of the year, the rest of the time it's better to look for deep brush piles, creek channels, extended points etc. There's a lot of good anglers on this forum who are ready to share information that's helpful. As Champ188 points out, bass fishing on Beaver is not as consistently good as some of the other lakes within driving distance (something he and I agree on but for different reasons). But occasionally it can be pretty good especially two or three years after a high water year. Open water fish do very well in Beaver Lake resulting in good populations of white bass, striped bass and in the last decade, walleye. If your willing to be a multi-species angler, you can have some great times on Beaver Lake. Also, keep in mind the other fishing opportunities in this area. There are several small public lakes that have good fishing. If you really want an interesting bass fishing experience, try SWEPCO Lake in western Benton county near the town of Gentry. It's a cooling lake for the warm water discharge of a power plant and has it's best bass fishing in the dead middle of winter, including a good amount of trophy bass. There some great smallmouth bass fishing in some of the rivers in this area, especially the Kings River in Madison and Carroll Counties. If you like trout fishing the White River below Beaver dam is pretty good for rainbow and brown trout and has a pretty good walleye run in early Spring. And as Champ points out, there are several other good lakes within an hour or two drive, check them out, but make sure you have the correct out of state license. Good Luck and welcome to the forum!

" I questioned the skinny walleye back in the spring and Notropis said it was due to post spawn. Seems they have not fattened up yet. Literally, all other species (especially the spots) are putting on weight. " That was my best guess at the time. I certainly don't have all the answers regarding yearly changes in the fish populations. I agree with both Champ188 and Stump bumper, there are a lot of shad currently in the lake and the other species are looking very plump. I think Stump bumper is on to something, the walleye are not good shad chasers and summer is their most stressful time, being cool water fish. I think they do a lot better when the water temps are colder and the shad are sluggish and easily caught. I believe a lot of these skinny walleye are ones that had to stay close to the thermocline during the summer, restricting their ability to roam for forage. As Stump bumper indicated, they are bottom oriented most of the time, further restricting their ability to chase shad through the upper water levels, especially when the surface temps are close to 90. Jon Stein, current District Fisheries Biologist, does his condition factor studies on walleye during the winter and the Relative Weights (condition factor) were all close to 100% which is very good. I suspect if he did them in the summer, the percentage would be lower. Again, just my best guess! I don't think there is a major problem with the walleye condition factors currently, especially with the high forage levels present in the lake. Lets see if they improve during the winter.

Should be good survival this year due to the large amount of submerged terrestrial vegetation providing nursery habitat. Walleye fingerlings have an advantage over the other fingerling species because of their early start and larger size. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the walleye fingerlings stocked this year are already 9-10 inches, with some being even larger.