First time Going out to beaver

[Tehmilz4]

I will be heading to beaver lake Saturday morning. This will be my first time on the lake. I'm a Missouri resident so do I just need to get an out of state license? Also I'll be taking my boat. Anything special I need to do for it? And my last question, I'll be staying at 8369 campground circle rogers arkansas. What's my best bet for catching a striper 

[rps]

The White River Border permit does NOT apply to Beaver since none of that lake extends into Missouri. Therefore you will need a non resident license good for the time you will be there.

I am not positive, but I believe the boat requirements for Missouri and Aekansas are very similar and if anything, Mo. requires more? Other forum members who know more may chime in here. When I have been checked by Mo. officers (I am an Arkansas resident and my boat is registered there) I have passed.

As for stripers, pm Quillback (Jeff). He recently had some luck on those fish on Beaver. Perhaps he will share a location.

Good luck and have a great time.

[Stump bumper]

Best bet for catching stripers you may not want to hear, but night fishing with large bait between points 1 and 5. Most of the big fish have moved to the North end of the lake. Early morning right at sunrise and sunset you will see top water but it does not last long. I see guides fishing alone when on the lake at 2am, that is not a time that most people want to hit the lake and it will result in one or no fish more often than a limit this time of year. But if you listen closely you can hear the big fish hitting top then move on top of them and wait.

The best bet is to hire a guide for your first trip and try to get out as early as possible, if you find a guide for a night trip even better. Large shad are all most impossible to find this time of year and they are illegal to sell in Arkansas so hiring a guide is the only way I can tell you to find the right bait for getting a big one.

Pulling cranks and watching for top water may result in a good morning but it is really hit and miss and if the wind comes up then you will need to be right on top of them to see or hear where they are coming up.

Good luck, the fishing is good but you are picking a hard time of year for stripers.

[Tehmilz4]

41 minutes ago, Stump bumper said:

Best bet for catching stripers you may not want to hear, but night fishing with large bait between points 1 and 5. Most of the big fish have moved to the North end of the lake. Early morning right at sunrise and sunset you will see top water but it does not last long. I see guides fishing alone when on the lake at 2am, that is not a time that most people want to hit the lake and it will result in one or no fish more often than a limit this time of year. But if you listen closely you can hear the big fish hitting top then move on top of them and wait.

The best bet is to hire a guide for your first trip and try to get out as early as possible, if you find a guide for a night trip even better. Large shad are all most impossible to find this time of year and they are illegal to sell in Arkansas so hiring a guide is the only way I can tell you to find the right bait for getting a big one.

Pulling cranks and watching for top water may result in a good morning but it is really hit and miss and if the wind comes up then you will need to be right on top of them to see or hear where they are coming up.

Good luck, the fishing is good but you are picking a hard time of year for stripers.

What kind of cranks are best to troll? I'm not just going for striper but if I get one it'll be a first. I'm good with any fish as long as they are edible haha. What's the bite looking like for bass or crappie right now? I'm not wanting to hire a guide as it's just a quick two day trip. We are seeing if we like the lake and if we do we plan on a week long trip soon then I wouldn't be against a guide 

[Quillback]

There's stripers in the Clifty arms and in the main channel around point 5.  If you want top water action you need to be there at daylight.  Calm morning helps as you can see the top water activity from a distance.  Would not hurt to bring some binoculars.  Try and be stealthy, don't use the big motor to closely approach active fish, use the TM.  Long casts help considerably even though there are times they will get close to the boat if you are quiet.  Use poppers or spitters that you can toss for distance.  When you see one on top within casting distance, get your lure on them as fast as you can.  Spoons probably will work also, cast to the activity, let it sink for half a second then rip it a few feet, pause again, repeat. 

Another lure to consider is a Storm Wildeye shad, 3 inches or so.  My neighbor and his son caught about 30 stripers last May doing nothing but targeting early AM active stripers and rolling those Storm baits through them. 

Clifty area is a bit of a run from Rogers, you might want to trailer over to Rocky branch and launch there. 

[Tehmilz4]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

There's stripers in the Clifty arms and in the main channel around point 5.  If you want top water action you need to be there at daylight.  Calm morning helps as you can see the top water activity from a distance.  Would not hurt to bring some binoculars.  Try and be stealthy, don't use the big motor to closely approach active fish, use the TM.  Long casts help considerably even though there are times they will get close to the boat if you are quiet.  Use poppers or spitters that you can toss for distance.  When you see one on top within casting distance, get your lure on them as fast as you can.  Spoons probably will work also, cast to the activity, let it sink for half a second then rip it a few feet, pause again, repeat. 

Another lure to consider is a Storm Wildeye shad, 3 inches or so.  My neighbor and his son caught about 30 stripers last May doing nothing but targeting early AM active stripers and rolling those Storm baits through them. 

Clifty area is a bit of a run from Rogers, you might want to trailer over to Rocky branch and launch there. 

Where I'll be camping looks to be near the  Hobbs state park. How long of a boat ride would you think to Clifty area running approx 35mph

[Quillback]

Depends where you launch your boat.  West side of Hobbs is near the Rogers area, if you launched there, might take 30 minutes.  If you went out of Rocky Branch which is near the northeast side of Hobbs it is 10-15 minutes.  You might want to get a map of the lake, I don't know off the top of my head where you can get a map, but the local Walmart used to carry them at the counter in the outdoors area, Hook, Line and Sinker in Rogers may have a map also.  Keep an eye out for floating wood as there is some floating around here and there. 

[Quillback]

Well went back to Clifty today and it stunk.  Didn't see any top water activity anywhere.  Even the black bass were hard to find.  Saw some striper boats around point 5 and scattered around the channel in that area so maybe that is where the stripey ones are.  Surface temp was 79-80 so maybe that has something to do with it.

[Tehmilz4]

Thanks for the heads up! Let me know if you run across them anytime before Saturday and Sunday if you would.