bferg

Lived here almost 7 years now- I have never been checked on Beaver- that includes while fishing and a lot of days on my evil "wake boat". Actually- I have never been checked anywhere in this entire state.

Was there last Fri-Sun. Lake is up about 8 feet over conservation pool. When I left Sunday there was a lot of debris up the river arm. I'm not too familiar with the lake but we were staying near Bolivar Landing. Water was chocolate milk down to around Pt 9 I believe. Started to clear quite a bit some there. We had a rough weekend- only a few dinks but the water came up REALLY quickly Friday night/sat Am. Be careful when running- some big logs in the water.

Every lake in the chain is over full pull- gotta start draining at the end and work your way up. Bull Shoals is also pretty high so their ability to just dump water out of TR is probably a little limited.

So- I will out myself here- grew up wake boarding and water skiing and have owned "wake boats". Blaming the boat is like blaming a gun for murder. Wake boats do give out a larger wake - relative to the size of the boat- but not necessarily larger than a large boat. I don't see how you could outlaw the size of the wake a boat produces- even a Ranger bass boat going 10mph but not on plane produces a sizable wake capable of swamping a small boat. A Cobalt A25 throws a pretty huge wake at 20 mph as well... The issue isn't the boats- it is the unqualified people who operate them and get too close to other people. That being said: I won't try to defend the loud music...drives me crazy when I am fishing. But at the end of the day they have just as much right to be on the water as we do. I think one reason they often get close to people is they are only going about 20 mph when pulling someone vs going 35-45 when pulling a skier. But I have seen more than one accident from non-"wake boats" where the driver was turned around looking at the person behind the boat and not watching where they were going. Scary stuff.. The point is: It doesn't matter what kind of boat you have- if you are irresponsible it puts yourself and others at risk. And if you are not courteous it ruins other people's fun. For all of you who complain about Beaver- take your life in your hands and go up to Lake of the Ozarks for a weekend. I know there are plenty of idiots and not enough law enforcement here- but believe it or not I think Beaver is much better than average.

So, this is a difficult lake to just pull up to have have consistent success. The upper end of the lake could be chocolate milk with all the rain. The water is HIGH... I think you have a good shot of finding some bass in shallow water around buckbrush. This morning we caught a few throwing Kai Techs shallow... But the best bass fishing in this lake is usually deep/off shore. Stripers/Whites were busting the top a little this AM so I would keep an eye out...if you can find bait at this like you can find something to catch- shallow or deep.

If I was going to night fish for Stripers I would use the following: - pencil pop'r - Kai Tech - Redfin/wake baits - A- Rig Keep in mind, I don't really use live bait- that is probably always the best option... Some other areas I would try- that I think statistically you would almost have to run into some fish at some point and not have to paddle too far: 12 Bridge/Beaver Shores area- but this is pretty high traffic as stated above...I would be careful. Some safer options might be: Back of PC by the dirt ramp Back of Rocky Branch by the ramp out to the main lake White Bass Cove by the dam All of those areas would require pretty minimal paddling- as soon as you are in the water you could be fishing.

Nice fish! Not to jack your report but I was able to get a couple hours on the water before work this AM...Trying to get on the top water striper bite but I can't really find it. Fished from 5-7 around PC. Caught 1 striper by the island - marked fish in 20' of water as well. Never did catch a top water fish. Caught this guy on a swim bait which I had been slow rolling but he hit it when I started burning it. Went to the back of PC for a bit before I put the boat on the trailer...little topwater action back there- but scattered at best. Never hooked up and only got hit once. But the sunrise was beautiful! At work by 8! That's good livin!

Sweet rig!

Yeah, that was you I saw. Sweet looking rig you have! I wanted to fish where Blaylock was too...I saw him catch one there. I was actually coming back around and kinda went in-between you and that deep-V- wind was killing me in my aluminum boat. I will join your quest for deep water artificial that they bite with minimal trolling motor use! I hate riding that motor in the wind all day.

J-Doc- Nice bag! Awesome smallies! Were you behind the islands in front of PC at about 8:00 Saturday? I was running around (getting blown around) in my little Lowe Roughneck. I had my boss and his son with me. They have minimal fishing experience and were struggling in the wind some so we ended up trolling around with no luck- off the water by 9:30. Here is my question- what type of shad type bait do you use to target fish in 20-30 feet of water? I throw the kaitechs but usually with a very light weight? Even with 1/4 oz it seems hard to keep it in the zone that deep.... My goal for the year is to improve my deep/offshore fishing. I guess a drop shot would work? But I like to wind and grind....I need a deep swimbait suggestion.

Don't be afraid to keep throwing that KaiTech even when it gets beat up! The glue is the key- keeps a torn bait on but IMO they only work better when they get a little torn up.

There were quite a few Bronz Ninjas weighed in today. Had a video of a guy catching one by the swimbeach at PC. Impressive last day from Arey- they showed an awesome video of him catching his biggest fish of the week at the side of his boat- fish came out from a dock and followed his swim bait all the way to the boat. He was out of line so he ducked down and gave it a figure 8 type move similar to what Muskie guys use. Fish ate it and he flipped it right into the boat. Awesome video. Winning back to back here says a lot about a guy. And he fished a lot differently than he did last year. Pretty incredible versatility and ability to fish the conditions.

From the FLW Twitter- from this morning- Vic Vatalareo caught 2 from the most popular spot on Beaver Lake...local knowledge!! Paper said he threw top water all day yesterday.

I was fishing around the islands in front of PC this morning and saw a guy pull up on point and catch at least one. I tried not to get too close so I couldn't see who it was. Saw another guy catch a fish on a point right across from the ramp at the hwy 12 bridge. It was blowing pretty good today.

I think the reason more guys don't fosh offshore is because most of these guys aren't comfortable with that style of fishing. Most of these guys are from fhe south- shallow and/or stained water is their comfort zone. And most lakes the FLW visits sets up well for that. I have always thought this lake would set up well for a swimbait guy to win but that hasent been the case for whatever reason. I think the other thing is how inconsistent finding the shad COULD be at lest if you are not familiar with Beaver- you could spend a good chunk of your day just looking for Shad balls.... These guys are always looking for a "pattern" that can hold up for 4 days. That is what makes Beaver a challenge- finding a pattern that works 4 consecutive days is tough on this lake.

Beaver is what it is for these guys. It certainly isn't they the type of bass fishery they typically fish (Tohoe, Falcon, Kentucky). We all know that. But these guys are the best fisherman in the world (and Jimmy Houston). Look at the history- it always takes 59-60ish lbs to win here. I think it is pretty dang inpressive that these guys can come here whenever the FLW tells them to and no matter the weather catch a limit 4 days in a row- almost always around 60 lbs. The sacks might not be as big as other lakes- the fact that they do it every year is impressive.

If you are there on the weekend I wouldn't worry too much. I think only 20 boats fish on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. Friday might be a little crazy but they start weigh ins at 3 so it shuts down pretty early.

Ran way up the War Eagle yesterday from 1-5. Ran as far up as we could go- almost to the mill. From sidewalk hole up river the water got more and more stained. Bigger issue was the fish at the top were paired up and very actively spawning and not interested in eating. We worked hard to get 4 in a couple hours. All on red clousers. Saw another group that had fished pretty hard to catch 6 on conventional gear. If the water was more clear I think you could get on the pre-spawners but I don't see that happening anytime soon based on the weather. This white bass run has been strange...of course the weather/water conditions have been in conflict with my schedule. Also, FWIW: Heard a few old dudes talking crappie at the ramp. Sounded like they were fishing between Sidewalk and point 12. Said it was slow but everything they caught was coming on red and chartreuse shiny hiny's. They also said they were only catching male crappie. Water temp around Sidewalk was right at 62ish.

Never seen a fish finder in a drift boat before- that's a sick set up you got Green

Fished up River from Twin this AM from 6 to 10.30. We did ok- not great- appeared it was pretty slow for most people. We caught a bunch of decent males- have the DNA evidence in my boat and on my waders to prove it. Ran down to walkers bluff for but and quickly ran back up River. Saw a dude hook up a big spoonbill by Walkers. There were a lot of spoonbill in that area. Water was more muddy than I expected. Was nice to meet you cpriest!

Thanks for the report- that is a little discouraging. Think they are already locked up on tbe spawn?

Hit up the back of prairie creek this morning for a couple hours before work looking for Stripers and or whites. Marked a lot of fish between the gravel ramp in back and the swimming area- but could not get bit. Fished from 5:30 to 7:15. Mainly trolling flicker shads and throwing Kai Techs. If they won't bite either of those then what will they bite?? There were 6 dead carp in the bank - had been shot with a bow. Seriously? If you want to bow fish can you at least do something with your "catch" besides dumping them at the ramp? I get that it isn't a striper or large mouth but hate to see the lack of respect both for the lake/fish and other people.

I have a trolling motor in about 80 ft of water at the mouth of Cedar Creek- if anyone finds that let me know;)

Awesome fish! And nice hat too..,

So- I started trolling some last year and just kinda made a couple of trolling set ups out of some older rods/reels I had laying around.... I find myself trolling a bit more and need to get s proper set up. I pretty much ONLY troll flicker shads and flicker minnows...mainly targeting Stripers and walleye- whites if they are around. I don't do lead core line or bottom bouncers or anything like that...keep it pretty basic. With that in mind any of you guys have Rod reccomendations? Looking less for a specific brand/model than length, weight, action.... But any/all advice is welcome.