Help With Family Trip

[Duke 59]

My wife and I visited Beaver Lake for the first time last summer and fell in love with the area. We probably will relocate to the lake from our Texas home in two years. We have planned a family vacation to the lake June 4-10 and will have several families from Kentucky and Indiana meeting us there.

Here is where I need help. This will be the first time I have had my boat on the lake and our family likes to fish....but don't know what to expect this time of the year. We will be renting a couple houses in the Lost Bridges area. One of the houses has a private dock that I can keep my boat at. The lake I fish here in Texas is good for white bass, but no hybrids or stripers. My family from Indiana primarily fish for panfish, crappie.....willing to try anything. What should we expect the first week of June?

I will also have some grandkids there.....what might the water temps be.....do you think it would be good swimming off the dock?

Any help planning this trip for the family is appreciated. Will report back what we do.

Thanks,

Greg

[Feathers and Fins]

Water temp Saturday was 67.8 at 6am and 73.4 at 2pm when I pulled off the lake.... By June you are looking at 70 in the morning and 76ish by noon depending on where you are it could be a little more or less.

Lost Bridge in June can be good for Bass and a few Stripers showing up some Walleye off points and Rocks and Crappie suspended over timber. If your boat can make the run from Lost Bridge to Rocky Branch that is where I would go. Water temp in the back of RB will be warmer as its a flat so the kids will enjoy it more and the fishing will be better there with Striper, Walleye, Whites Crappie much more accessible.

By about 1 or 2 pm the lake will be very very busy so keep that in mind.

[J-Doc]

For me at least, panfish is tough on this lake because anything you catch is so small it's not worth keeping. Small sunfish about 6-8" long are the usually cricket and worm grabber. You also have to get the bait up close and personal with any cover. They won't venture out away from safety to take a bite. You have to make accurate casts to cover (within a few feet) and as soon as the bobber hits the water its a matter of seconds before you need to get them away from cover to prevent them from hanging your hook in the cover. It's for an experienced angler, not for kids.

For crappie, they typically roam around and suspend on flats. Trolling works best unless you venture past the Hwy 12 bridge and go way up river. Since you're on the opposite end of the lake, that's not really an option. For whites, look for them on main lake points near the Rocky Branch area as stated above. A white or silver Rooster Tail works great when they are schooling and it's a "do nothing" type bait. Cast as far as you can, steady retrieve. It helps if you twitch it a bit every few turns of the handle.

Good luck and enjoy your visit to Beaver!

[JohnF52]

The water in early June is usually too cool for comfortable swimming. It warms up a lot between the first and third week of June.

[Duke 59]

Thanks for the info.

Looking at the map, I may not want to travel all the way to Rocky Branch from where we are staying....it would be about 11 miles. What is it about Rocky Branch that makes it better....is it the flats and shallow water or is it that this is the area that the normal migration runs hold fish in early June?

If I don't go the Rocky Branch, would you rather stay in the creeks and points around Lost Bridge or would it be any good to go way up Clifty Creek (which would only be about 3-4 miles away)? With my family group, they would be better at fishing for Whites or Crappie.

Thoughts?

[J-Doc]

Way up Cliffty. Typically a goiod area.

[Feathers and Fins]

Combination of several things, Migrating fish from up-river will hit Rocky Branch area about that time combined with it did not suffer a shad kill as bad as areas closer to the river area did so its holding threadfins and gizzards.

You could also try around Starky and Fish-trap its much closer but I don't think the whites and stripers will be in any numbers there, you may find a few smallmouth and perhaps a walleye ore two. If you are really wanting a fun experience for the kids, trailer your boat to Houseman access below the dam and let them catch trout on the river for a while.

[vuekid]

where's rocky branch?

[J-Doc]

Google Rocky Branch Marina Rogers AR

http://goo.gl/maps/UdgJh

[Duke 59]

I know where Starky is...it's actually straight across from where our rental houses are....but I don't know what Fish-trap is. I am looking at a pretty good map I bought, but don't know what I am looking for?