Polar Bear

[Basfis]

41 minutes ago, Quillback said:

Good thing they cancelled, going to be really cold.  After a few boats launched the ramp would turn into a sheet of ice.  

Saw a leg snap at PB2 slipping on ice before takeoff. On the walk ramp down from the store to the dock.  The sight and sound of that left a mark for onlookers too. Guy handled it better than I would, no recollection of an expletive.  I’d have some nc17 words if my foot was 90 degrees from proper  

Not nearly as cold as projected for this weekend. 

[Dan the fisherman]

On 12/25/2017 at 12:25 AM, Champ188 said:

I’ve apparently even taught myself enough to catch fish on Beaver. Nah, it’s like I said to start with, the old pond is on the rebound. 

It really is though.  I’ve caught a lot of big LMB and spots this year

[Stump bumper]

Well 2017 has had a lot of bad spots in it for me but fishing on Beaver has never been one, even when fishing is bad it is better than anything else I waste my time doing.

Happy New year to everyone even though we may have to wait for the first fish of 2018 for a while, there is no such thing as a bad fish or a bad day fishing.

 

[Champ188]

3 hours ago, Dan the fisherman said:

It really is though.  I’ve caught a lot of big LMB and spots this year

Really great to see those nice spots. Obviously the catch-and-cut crowd hasn’t hurt them too badly. 

[Quillback]

Champ, I can't believe you posted a pic with the secret color Ned-Head.  

[Champ188]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

Champ, I can't believe you posted a pic with the secret color Ned-Head.  

Pretty sure it makes more difference to me than the fish. Have to admit that it's just plumb purty. 

[Sore Thumbs]

Nice!

[J-Doc]

Here is a comparison of what I referenced about skinny fish. Both of these were caught in same spot.  One fat, one skinny.  Probably nothing of concern, I just find it odd.  I've seen this in most species except bass.  I've left the bass alone this year for the most part. Focused on crappie more and now stripers since it's cooled off. 

 

I'm disappointed that the weather is going to be so cold.  I was actually going to bass fish and see if I could catch a limit for once.  I think I could have gotten 10lbs by myself.  To some, that's nothing. To me, it's an accomplishment.  😁

[Notropis]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 11:08 AM, J-Doc said:

I for one am looking forward to a good shad kill.  The lake has had a buffet feedback on long enough.  Looking forward to hungry fish in the spring. There is no reason fish should be long and lean this year but most I have seen in the past year from bass, walleye, and recently stripers are all long and lean.  Caught two stripers from same area last week and one was a hipster wearing skinny jeans and another had been choking Little Debbies like a hoarder.   Any correlation or explanation? Not sure. Maybe one ran from the dam and the other was a resident.

I've caught a few skinny stripers this Fall, mostly in the 25-30 inch, but a few of other lengths. I think it takes the stripers and walleye a little longer to get the benefits of a high water year since their habitat gets squeezed (water quality wise) during the warm water temperatures of summer.  The young threadfin shad groups were plentiful this Fall but most that I saw were very small about 1.5 inches. It's hard for the larger stripers to do well on such small forage, especially when the water is warm enough for the shad to swim fast.  I think the stripers (and hopefully the walleye too) will do better this winter when they take advantage of the slow moving threadfin shad as the water temps get into the 40's.

PS. Be careful what you wish for regarding shad kill, a little is ok but bad ones can really hurt the lake.  Some of the worst years, fish population wise, I ever saw on Beaver Lake were after severe winter shad kills.  The fishing can be real good for a little while, but you pay a price down the road.  

    

[J-Doc]

Good info.  True, I'd rather see the fishery continue to improve over any of my own quirks or preferences.  All species.