Mr. Ed

I don't get to fish Beaver nearly as much as I'd like but I think a body of water that has both a healthy striper and walleye population is a great combo... keep stocking both!

I'm all for keeping drunks off the road and off the water but I think a lot of these checks and blitz's are just going to far. With a crappy economy the police have been out in force country wide on ticket writing brigades making up for their lacking budgets. We had one on the private lake I have a place on in KS last weekend. This one was nothing more the a dozen cops writing tickets and collecting fines for literally anything they could. It was ridiculous and ruined the weekend of many people who really weren't doing any harm. For the record... I didn't get a ticket.

When I was a kid I made a trip with my Aunt and Uncle and their kids up to WI. My cousin had been trying to catch a muskie at this lake for years with zero success. He kept telling me they were the "fish of 10,000 casts". I caught a nice one my second day there. He was as mad as Billy when I did it

Bugle lips

Dang!!! Nice fish. My fishing buddies wanted to get down there about now but we decided to wait... bad idea I guess. Good to see the great conditions though!

He does all that back reeling so he can stay on camera with the fish longer

Never been to Wilson but have been wanting to give it a try... maybe this spring I'll head down there for some of their striper action.

Clearly, (pardon the pun... or lack of) TR and Beaver are very different lakes but like Walleye said... that water is a funky brown looking. I live and fish and boat in Kansas where there isn't a clear body of water in the whole state and they all look better then what I witnessed the other day. Not hating on the Ozarks... just commenting that its a shame it got that bad. Hopefully long term action will start being taken to correct it. In the meantime you can count my group out as visitors.

If water conditions allow, my favorite way to fish Taney in a boat is to arm my fly rod with a 100th oz jig about 6' below one of the floats described above (carrot float)... use 4# tippet. Its a blast and can be very productive. If the water is cranking though forget about it... just doesn't work.

I've haven't been to LOZ for years but was there yesterday looking at a boat for sale. Compared to Beaver or Table Rock that water just flat out looks dirty. I can't imagine having a place there and this all comes out... what a shame for everyone connected to that lake. The peoples who's boat I was looking at are selling everything and moving out of state. You might see a whole lot of that over the next decade.

Find a good taxidermist and have them paint like a LMB.

I've never fished Taney at night but I did spend a winter down there and can concur to the drivers when they get some ice or snow... good lord look out!!!

That's a heck of a fish on top water.

Great catch! Makes me wonder how many power bait rigs bounced by that fish untouched over the years.

I had an otter grab my stringer as I pulled it out of the water one night. He was was sitting on the foam/dock stringer under the dock decking. Those things are STRONG!!!! Felt like I was in a tug of war with my 75# Labrador retriever.

You can argue that these fish should have their own classification but I wouldn't call it "cheating". They're not classified separate and these guys are catching them... plain and simple. If I had that fishery to fish I'd be all over those things and I'd bet you would too.

Daaang! Where do I get more information on this action???

Not a problem... and thanks. I caught that fish the first time I went out with those guys. I'm not big on guided trips because I prefer to do everything myself... it kind of seems like cheating but you have to learn somehow. The good thing about these guys is the anglers do much of the work. You set the lines and are responsible for making the strike and getting them to the boat. They get you set up and hopefully put you on some fish... after that your success and failure are pretty much on you. I think a guided trip to Beaver for you FIL would be great way to experience the lake and fishery. I've fished it on my own but not with nearly the success. BTW... I'm from the KC area as well. Good luck and post how it goes.

I've gone out with these guys a few times http://www.beaverfeverguides.com/index.cfm If you book them try to get boat #1. They have several boat/guides. The #1 boat is the owner and he always seams to get the best spots. They run nice big boats and catch fish pretty much year round... check out their photo gallery. I wouldn't recommend to early in the spring though. We went in Feb and had a slow day. The one in my avitar was caught in Aug... 31#. I didn't know Oct was good... I'd like to give that a try.

Why wold the stop stocking them??? Let er rip!

I'm not sure you could beat good striper fishing combined with good walleye fishing.

The guide I've used at Beaver catches all their shad at Grand Lake in OK. They told me its pretty tough to catch bait at Beaver... much easier at Grand.

I’ve only had the pleasure to make a handful of trips to Beaver but in that limited time have absolutely fell in love with the lake and striper fishing. I’m a want to be saltwater guy stuck in Kansas and Striper fishing is about as close I can get… 4 hours away and MUCH cheaper. Anyway… enough with the back ground. My question is… can you have much success trolling hard baits or swimming baits with your primary motor. We do that up here and catch some nice hybrids/wiper. I wasn’t sure if Stripers were just too boat/motor shy. Sure is nice to be able to cover water faster when your time is limited... and no need to catch/buy and keep bait. Just wondering if this is a technique worth even trying or if I should stick with slow trolling live bait. I also saw a guy pulling a deep water dredge (maybe the wrong term... spreader bar on a down rigger) down there last summer... whats the word with that method? Thanks for your help... look forward to getting back to Beaver!!!

Nice job. It's not easy going down there having not been and catching some stripers right off the bat. Believe me... I know.

We rented a couple boats on our last visit to Taneycomo. The first thing they said during instructions was… “DO NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE ANCHOR!!!” A hooked up anchor and strong current is not a good combination. Also… make sure your motor fires up quick. Have fun!