odemizzou

Lot of fighting about the specifics of this trip, but I can tell you all that the general advice is right... DON'T USE BEAVER FEVER! I've used 3 diff guides over the past decade. One of them (Joe Farkas) I've used a couple times, and our boat has caught 8 and 10 stripers. Another I used because Joe was booked up the whole weekend and he recommended him, and the guy got us 6 (I just can't remember his name). The first guide I ever used was Beaver Fever, and whoo boy, they were freaking terrible. We got Timmy. I've learned since that Timmy has spent some time in jail since our trip. We used bluegill as bait, because Timmy didn't have any shad. Timmy also took us out at 2pm (I was new to Beaver, I didn't know this was terrible, I assumed if a guide said it was a good time to go, then I should believe him). Timmy smoked pot the whole time out of a one-hitter that looked like a cigarette (I think he thought we didn't know what it was). Timmy also stopped the fishing twice so that he could jump in the water to cool off. We caught one fish, a juvenile, about 6 pounds. Not all guides are the same. Stay the heck away from Beaver Fever.

As mentioned, Riverview resort has them. They're a little further down the road from the Dam Store (take 187 north to 62, then it's like a half mile west, right on the river). When I first got my place in the area, my retired neighbor who has lived there for years told me to always go to Riverview instead of the Dam Store because they were a lot more hardy and would last longer. I've tried both, and he's been completely right. The only caveat is that Riverview changed owners a couple of years back, and I actually haven't picked up any minnows in that time, so I'm not totally sure the quality control has kept up.