kjackson Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 What's a big smallie in Beaver? I'm thinking I need a reasonable goal this year, and catching a new personal-best smallmouth might do it. Having said that, I realize that I stand a better chance of doing so elsewhere. If I were super serious, I'd learn to throw a cast net and head for Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee or spend more time on Erie or pack up and fish the Columbia for the season. But I'd rather do it on Beaver... So what is a reasonable big fish on the lake?
Members Coach CaL Posted January 11, 2015 Members Posted January 11, 2015 My PB on beaver was and 18 inch Smallie. Not a monster by any means but she sure did RIP some drag! pics on another thread
Quillback Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 Saw my buddy Jeb catch one that was 3.5, and I've seen several weigh-ins and have never seen one over 4 at those weigh-ins. I've heard stories of bigger ones, but that's about it. Any Beaver smallie over 3 lbs. is one to be proud of IMO.
Feathers and Fins Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 4.5 at the Maxi big bass this year. its on the fb page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beaver-Lake-Arkansas-Fishing-Report/745541178798856
Gavin Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 Anything over 18" is a big smallmouth....over 20" a fish you catch rarely. 22"+ Fantasy Land for me.
Mike jones Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 Had one pushing 5 this past spring. Ran me all around the boat! And of course, it wasn't in a tournament!!
bluebasser86 Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 My buddy caught his PB at Beaver, don't remember the length but it weighed 4.51 pounds (he's 6' 4" and around 300, give or take a cheeseburger or two, so the fish may appear smaller than it actually was). Caught it in the PC area on an A rig in the same area we had just caught several stripers, including my PB. Champ188 1
kjackson Posted January 12, 2015 Author Posted January 12, 2015 My goal is to catch a seven, and I do believe it's possible in Beaver. I may have to go to livebait to do so, but since my current PB smallie (a six) was caught on a live shad below Wheeler Dam on the Tennessee, I'm fine with that. It will be fun regardless. Thanks for the replies, they support my thinking that there is strong potential for the lake.
Champ188 Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 This article might shed a little light on the smallmouth potential for Beaver Lake: Lake Smallmouth Could Be Lake Record OKLAHOMAN LANDS 5.8-POUND LUNKER AT PRO-AM (March 2006) By Flip Putthoff THE MORNING NEWS • FPUTTHOFF@NWAONLINE.NET The new fish on the block are packing one heck of a wallop at Beaver Lake. A 5.8-pound smallmouth bass that Ira Carrell of Broken Arrow, Okla., wrestled from Beaver on Sunday (editors note: reprinted from March 2006) may be the largest smallmouth caught at the lake yet. Carrell was fishing in the Central Pro-Am Association tournament when he hooked the lunker while working a 4-inch salt-and-pepper grub 12 to 15 feet deep in front of a dock. Carrell competed in the amateur division and was casting from the back of the boat with pro-division angler J.R. Beehler of Bella Vista. Carrell was working the lure along a gravel bank with some fist-sized rock and using a bait-casting rod with 12-pound fluorocarbon line. Since the tournament was only Carrell’s second visit to Beaver Lake, he doesn’t know exactly where he caught the fish. “I wish I knew so I could go back,” he said. “All I know is it was a feeder creek into one of the creek arms.” At Sunday’s weigh-in, Beehler said the pair fished between Point 6 and Moulder Hollow on the downsteam half of the lake. Carrell and the smallmouth waged hand to fin combat for three minutes. “He hit it on a run and kept on going. It pulled my rod tip into the water,” he said. “After I got it into the boat I sat there and trembled for about three minutes. “We were catching some scattered fish. On the lure’s way down I got a hit and missed. I was going to reel in when J.R. said no, but to lower the grub right back to the fish. That’s when it hit again. I thought it was a striper at first.” The jig head Carrell used might be the key to the catch. Carrell threaded the grub on a Roadrunner-style head that features a small silver blade to show the fish some flash. That helped the lure imitate a threadfin shad. “That creek arm was loaded with shad. You could see them on the depth finder and they were swimming beside the boat.” The smallmouth may be a lake record, albeit an unofficial one since the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission doesn’t keep lake records. Jackie Rogers of the Larue community has seen tons of bass over the years as weigh-master at Beaver Lake Supercasters tournaments. He’s never seen such a smallmouth. “We’ve had some close to five and I’ve heard of people catching them close to five,” he said. “I’m sure it’s probably a lake record.” Like Rogers, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologist Stephen Brown has seen thousands of bass during electrofishing research at Beaver Lake. He’s never seen a smallmouth the size of Carrell’s 5.8-pounder. “Nothing even close,” Brown said. “In our electrofishing there have been some threes and fours, but nothing approaching that size.” Roger Harp, who runs the Beaver Bass Casters team and solo circuits, hasn’t seen a smallmouth that big. Several 4-pounders have been weighed and at least one 5-pounder. “There was one tournament in our winter series that was won with smallmouths,” Harp said. “A guy had five smallmouths and the biggest weighed 5 pounds.” Smallmouths are fairly new at Beaver Lake. They now thrive after the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission began an effort to establish them. Smallmouth bass were first raised at the Beaver Lake nursery pond in 1988, according to biologist Brown. Fish raised at the facility along the lake shore near Horseshoe Bend park are released directly into the reservoir through a discharge pipe. “We stocked them for seven years in a row, from 1988 through 1994,” he said. Toward the end of the project, Game and Fish biologist Ralph Fourt, now retired, worried the effort wasn’t working. But smallmouths finally took off. Now they reproduce naturally in good numbers and thrive in the lake. Harp said fishermen catch smallmouths from one end of the lake to the other. About 25 percent of black bass brought to Beaver Bass Casters weigh-ins are smallmouths, he added. “It depends on the time of year. The winter months, early spring and late fall are the best times for catching them,” he said. Small baits, from grubs to finesse worms, are good for catching them. “Most of the ones they catch aren’t on the bank. They’re suspended and chasing shad and they’re just getting to the bank,” Harp said. The state record smallmouth is a 7-pound, 5-ounce brute caught at Bull Shoals Lake on April 1, 1969 by Acie Dickerson of Lakeview. The world record is a 10-pound, 14-ounce smallmouth caught at Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee. Carrerll’s 5.8-pounder is evidence that the smallmouths at Beaver Lake are growing into world-class fighters.
zarraspook Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 kjackson-- If you know some who has the Jan/Feb issue of Bassmaster Mag. There is an article on " 8 WAYS to NOT CATCH A TROPHY SMALLMOUTH" With a good topo map and the advice from this forum ; you should be able to get into the BIG'UMs.... "Look up OPTIMIST in the dictionary - there is a picture of a fishing boat being launched"
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now