Bearplane04

Got a chance to go back to Beaver on Saturday. There were lots of boats out, but we caught a break and never really dealt with any traffic. Caught 30, with 28 of them smallies. No big ones but we had a great time. WT 66.5 in the morning to 69 when we left around 12:30. Caught a couple nicer ones (2.2-2.4lbs) that had not spawned yet. Ned and the short jerk bait. Tried top water and kept an eye out for top water action all morning to no avail. Had them push/slap a top water a few times but never hooked up. I’d say 9-10ft was our shallow water for the day, out to 16-18. Didn’t seem to have much luck shallower or deeper. Before the trip, got the house/cranking battery replaced. Ended up going with a Millertech 190ah lithium. Replacing the charger turned into another unforeseen project, as the 3-bank Millertech charger is literally 1/4” too tall to fit on the reinforced plate where the factory charger is installed on the Phoenix. It’s a big ole charger. I measured before I bought, but didn’t think about the dimensions of the actual mounting geometry. So, I had to fab up some 1/4” aluminum stock to give me good mounting surface. Of course the 12 year old dewalt battery drill bit the dust during that…I only mention this because I know there’s somebody else out there like me!! Thanks for the great fishing reports here - you guys are helping me make fun memories with my boys out there.

Got a late start this Saturday morning after waiting for the thunderstorms and rain to clear out. Launched at about 9:45 and fished till 5:00. Fished the north end - not sure what to call it - mouth of Indian Creek and Lost Bridge area mostly around the main lake. Still knocking the rust off as yesterday was my first time to launch the boat in 2026 (cue sad music) and we dodged the wind by staying close to the bank up in Indian. Only caught 8 with 1 keeper so my son and I tried something different today since the wind was decent. Did much better staying closer to big water. Ended up catching 24 bass and 2 hybrids that we like to call wipers. Mostly smallmouth with a couple largemouth. 10-20ft seemed to be the target depth. Caught a few smallmouth with bloody tails, but just about everything had fat little bellies. Ned, RKs, and a short jerk bait - we were all over the place today. Largest LM went 3.8. Worst part of the day was learning that I need a new cranking/house battery. I guess 3 years on a ProGuide AGM is okay? Public service bulletin to carry those jumper cables - they came in handy at the end of the day! WT 62.5-63.5. God bless.

I had a good trip on the north end this past Saturday thanks to Quillback as well. It was an interesting bite. Caught around 15 with 5 over 15”, and I only felt one fish actually take the ned. SM, LM, and spots. Most hook ups came because I either saw my line moving or when picking up slack my line wasn’t where it was supposed to be. …also…couldn’t get bit at all on the 2.8 Saturday.

Launched at ER around 6:30 this morning. 36 degree air and something like 58 degree WT. Couldn’t decide where to go first, but the thick fog sorta set my plans for me. Mostly idled up to Roaring River and ended up bouncing around slowly making my way back and ended up staying there the whole trip. I threw the whole tackle box at them this morning and never locked into a pattern. My best three keepers were 2 LM and a good spot on a tube on the bluffs that came bam bam bam. The tube was a fun bite and I wish I could have done more with it. Caught three more on a flat side in the shallows. Caught one on a jig, one on rock crawler, and one on Texas rig sinko. First time I’ve ever zeroed with Ned. Had one on that absolutely obliterated a z-man but lost it. Lost a couple more on the crawler which was weird too. Headed back around 1:00ish with WT around 61. Lots of people in there trolling and scoping. Probably should have run up the lake but oh well. 9 with 3 keepers not the worst day.

Was looking forward to Friday 3/7 for at least a month with a vacation day blocked off on the calendar. But the wind…meh. Decided to hold off till afternoon hoping the wind would back off a little. I launch at eagle rock and usually fish from there up to the James. Ended up going all the way to the James trying to catch some relief from the wind. Lots of dying 2” shad everywhere so as much as I wanted to throw damiki style I couldn’t manage it in the wind. Surprisingly caught 7 on a rock crawler in 10-14 ft on a small flat. 3 keepers were 2 spots and a LM. WT late in the day got up to 51.4 there. Maybe spring is finally almost here.

Thanks for the good report. We got to go yesterday afternoon in the big M area and managed 9 on Ned in 25-35. 7 spots, 1 SM, 1 LM. Caught 18 spots on Ned last Friday but couldn’t report that behind the 90+ report!

I sincerely appreciate the information posted by Mr. Babler and others like Mr. Quillback, Mr. Dutch, and others who have contributed their experience to my benefit. Their information has opened up TR (and surprisingly Beaver) to my little boy and me, allowing us to have fun transitioning to highlands fishing, whereas I was really frustrated going it alone before finding this site. I would presume that my experience and benefit from their generous sharing of information is exactly what this site’s creators envisioned, and I would bet there are many other silent members out there with the same message. Never got a lick of benefit out of a single “that’s not how you catch fish” post. Too bad that last message will likely be lost on the intended audience.

We caught one in the Mont Ne area last spring.