Quillback

I watch the Royals and having lived in Massachusetts and Washington I also keep an eye on the Red Sox and Mariners. Missouri side of my family were Cards fans, they'd drive up to St. Louis from Kennett once a year to take in a game. KC should do well this year and have a shot at the playoffs. They have an overabundance of starting pitching. They are in a competitive division, Detroit looks to have put together a decent team.

Had a good bite for about 45 minutes this morning and then it became the Dead Sea. Cove full of shad, they were chasing them early and then just stopped. I caught a 12 lb. striper, 4 bass, 3 were keepers, before it was over. Fished a few places, got nothing, so packed it in at 9 AM. I kept the striper. You can see how fat it is, combination of eggs and a bellyful of 2 inch shad. 3.3 Keitech on a 1/4 oz head. Air was filled with smoke this morning from Garfield all the way to the lake. Must be some controlled burns going on. WT 49

Very nice! Same thing is going on around where I fish on Beaver except that it is mostly smallmouth.

That's some great fishing from the bank. The secret trout bait is slaying them!

You whacked them!

Fished daylight until noon. Found some fish that were chasing shad on top. Many of the were smallmouth over deep water. When I could get around them, they'd bite. Hard part was staying with them. A few good spots mixed in and I caught one largemouth. Had a hit and run with something big, I suspect a striper. Had one keeper sized smallmouth that spit out a bunch of shad at the boat, I counted eleven of them. That fish also had another 3 in its mouth. They aren't big shad, look to be about 2 inches long. 3.3 Keitech on a 1/4 oz head was working for me. Caught 18 bass, 8 were keepers, all in the 16-18 inch range. 1st cast The 3 amigos:

I'll warn the fish you are on the way. 😄

Forecast shows we may get some rain next week. I hope so.

Beaver Lake Gill Net Sampling Yielded Some Big White Bass! AGFC recently conducted small mesh gill net sampling on Beaver Lake, focusing on White Bass, Walleye, and Striped Bass to assess population health and future fishing outlook. Data collected on fish age and growth supports sustainable management. The effort yielded 293 White Bass in just nine sets, indicating a booming population. A high number of successful age-1 fish resulted from last spring's natural spawn, likely due to high water. Additionally, 10 White Bass over three pounds were caught. The 2026 White Bass spawn looks very promising, especially if sufficient rain ensures good flow before the end of March. Large White Bass Sampled from Beaver Lake Large White Bass Sampled from Beaver Lake Biologists Pulling Fish from Gill Net

There's always a few that escape the gauntlet. I catch a random rainbow once or twice a year on Table Rock when the water is cold. They are always quality fish, fat and very silvery colored.

The perils of trout stocking. Ham was telling me that the average life expectancy of a stocked rainbow on the White below Bull Shoals is something like 2 weeks. They are easy to catch when they are right out of the truck and people will hammer them.

Beaver has never been as good as Table Rock when it comes to bass fishing. There are some good bags caught in tournaments, but no easy feat for sure. The BPT is coming to Beaver in April, it will be interesting to see how they do. Lots of live coverage to watch.

Love those green perch, tough little buggers. Wished they grew to about 3 lbs. If you are close to AR in your travels, give me a shout, we could pan fish one of the Bella Vista lakes, might have a shot at a big red ear. We've got a lake with trout too, and there is always Beaver Lake.

There are several trails in the park. The Fire Tower trail head is on the north side of road F, there is nowhere on that trail where you can see the river, you can see the valley where the river is, but not the water itself. There's a trail that parallels part of the river, and I believe there is another one that starts by the spring and goes up a big hill. I want to walk that one by the spring, sounds like some good views from it plus it would be a good uphill work out. I'm back into the diet and exercise thing, gotta lose some weight.

Found this, no 2025 yet. Beaver Lake_popular_2024.pdf - Google Drive

2024 Beaver lake survey report, latest available. In Beaver, it takes 7 years for a spotted bass to reach 15". Beaver Lake_popular_2024.pdf - Google Drive

Some interesting walleye info: Walleye fishing should be good in 2026. Areas around the dam, and the upper reaches of the Kings River Arm, the James River Arm, and the upper White River Arm can all provide good spring walleye fishing. Walleye typically move up the river arms to spawn around the first part of March and are often caught in the same areas as spawning white bass. However, recent studies indicate that walleye may migrate back to the main portions of the lake in the summer months and can be caught fishing or trolling near deep points and channel swings during this time. Electrofishing surveys conducted in the James River in March 2025 showed good numbers of keeper sized (> 18”) walleye present. In this area, 100% of walleye were > 15” and 56% were > 20”. Spawning conditions were ideal for walleye in the springs of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023 resulting in good natural reproduction throughout the lake. The Missouri Department of Conservation also stocked surplus walleye in the James River Arm in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2025 which will greatly supplement this fishery.

From the MDC website (Table Rock): Annual Prospects Report Fishing for black bass should be excellent in 2026. Largemouth bass are plentiful throughout the lake as a result of the high lake levels in past years. Fall 2025 electrofishing surveys revealed good numbers of largemouth bass in the 15”-18” range. These surveys also revealed an abundance of spotted bass in the 11”-14” range, with just three percent of the spotted bass captured in the fall 2025 surveys exceeding 15”. Due to the high abundance and slow growth rates of spotted bass in Table Rock Lake, the minimum length limit is planned to be reduced to 12” in 2026. Anglers are encouraged to harvest spotted bass to help reduce overcrowding and improve growth. Smallmouth bass fishing should be good in 2026 with good numbers of keeper size fish available. Largemouth and spotted bass comprise the majority of the black bass population in the river arms, while smallmouth bass comprise a substantial segment of the black bass population in the main lake from the Highway 86 bridge to Campbell Point. Anglers need to fish a variety of water depths and types to find bass. Outside of the spring spawning period and in the fall, bass are often found in deeper, offshore water. Extended main lake points, humps, and bluffs are productive areas. Jigs, spoons, and drop-shot rigs are effective during summer months in the 10-25 foot range or deeper, depending upon the depth of the thermocline. Largemouth and smallmouth bass can typically be caught fishing on the bottom while spotted bass are commonly found suspended over deep water following schools of baitfish. Good electronics can greatly increase your chances of finding suspended schools of spotted bass.