Need advice on where to move

[EzFishN]

On 8/18/2020 at 4:40 PM, sfiser said:

Mountain home is by far the best area for fishing in our state as far as trout and bull shoals/Norfolk for bass and stripers.  Trout fishing on the white cannot compare to beaver tail waters.  The white is a world class fishery, beaver tailwaters cannot hold a candle to it (although it’s close and has decent fishing).  You can also Spey cast and fish the white, not very possible at beaver tailwater.  The northwest arkansas area is nicer than mountain home and has more to do but as far as fishing, it has nw Arkansas beat.  Both good areas and both have pro’s and con’s.

I'm confused by this, can you elaborate "The white is a world class fishery, beaver tailwaters cannot hold a candle to it"; the tailwaters of beaver are the white river. It's where it originates from and feeds beaver, then goes up stream to Chain O Lakes, table rock, bull shoals, etc, and if I'm not mistaken two of the largest records have came from the beaver tailwaters for striper and trout. 

Anyways, if considering the Bentonville area, it's roughly 45 minutes drive to the dam of Beaver Lake. Currently table rock has been backed up so the river has a lot of current and depth to it. You will probably need to go up past 62 hwy on Missouri side to fish from the bank. 

[tjm]

32 minutes ago, EzFishN said:

I'm confused by this,

I'll give interpretation a shot; the gulf of Mexico is down stream of Beaver Lake but isn't the tail waters of it, Taneycomo is downstream from Beaver but isn't the tail water. Bull Shoals Lake is part of the White River but isn't considered a river. Typically when anglers talk about the "White River" they refer to the part down stream from Bull Shoals Dam, when I think of the Beaver Lake tail waters, it is the stretch between Beaver Dam and 62, but I guess it could include the part on down to Houseman- anyway, I think what is meant is that the part of the White that flows below Bull Shoals  is a better trout fishery than the part of the White that flows directly  below Beaver. It is certainly a bigger and better known fishery. To me, personally, the Beaver Lake tail water is barely distinguishable from Table Rock Lake or recognizable as a river. Certainly people see such things differently from one another. I'm not aware of record fish taken between Beaver Dam and Houseman but there may have been several?

[EzFishN]

I guess it depends where you are from; hear in the NWA Arkansas area talks about white river as in down south, around 412 hwy bridge. 

I was trying to find the report, but came up empty handed, it use to be posted on beaverlake.com but now a 404 error, but if I recall, both these records were below the dam of beaver. 

I guess the main thing to point out, there is great fisheries around Bentonville area if you are need of more amenities, hospitals, airports, etc than Mountain View, although if you like the country, views, and smaller towns, I think Mountain view or surrounding areas would be a good pick. The Razor back green way follows the sugar creeks, although I haven't had any good success, I haven't tried much either, but always see brook/brown trouts. 

Swepco lake is close for power plant lake if you want to explore something else, and Grand lake is 50 minutes or so. Lake Fayetteville and Lake Sequoya are also nearby. 

Also between OK, and AR, is Spring Valley Club which has private land (membership club) and trout feeds that is closer to Bentonville side, there are other creeks over that way as well. 

You might look at Bella Vista, AR as well, it's north of Bentonville by 15 minutes and you live in the Ozark Plateaus/Mountains with having high speed internet, amenities, etc.  The only pain is the POA if you can do deal with, private lakes, golf clubs, etc. https://bellavistapoa.com/

https://www.arkansas.com/things-to-do/sports-recreation/hunting-fishing/fishing/fishing-by-species/trout

Bass, Striped

64 lbs., 8 oz.

Beaver Lake Tailwater

04/28/2000

Jeff Fletcher, Golden, Mo.

Trout, Rainbow

19 lbs., 1 oz.

White River

03/14/1981

Jim Miller, Memphis, Tenn.

[sfiser]

36 minutes ago, EzFishN said:

I'm confused by this, can you elaborate "The white is a world class fishery, beaver tailwaters cannot hold a candle to it"; the tailwaters of beaver are the white river. It's where it originates from and feeds beaver, then goes up stream to Chain O Lakes, table rock, bull shoals, etc, and if I'm not mistaken two of the largest records have came from the beaver tailwaters for striper and trout. 

Anyways, if considering the Bentonville area, it's roughly 45 minutes drive to the dam of Beaver Lake. Currently table rock has been backed up so the river has a lot of current and depth to it. You will probably need to go up past 62 hwy on Missouri side to fish from the bank. 

most people who and most locals who refer to the "white river" are talking about the water below bull shoals dam.  Yes, technically beaver tailwaters is part of the white river but it is not the fishery that the river below bull shoals dam is or even the stretch below table rock.  There has not been any record trout come from below beaver dam, all have come from below bull shoals, below norfork dam, or below greers ferry dam (where a long standing world record brown trout was caught).  The 8 mile stretch of trout water below beaver dam does not have the habitat to support many large fish, it is mostly a put and take fishery with a few larger browns here and there.  There is not enough current in the river (with on generation) to support a lot of natural reproduction for the brown trout.  Compare that to the river below bull shoals with ample current and habitat and you have a world class fishery with a lot of naturally reproducing brown trout and water flow that supports rapid growth rates.

 

not saying the stretch below beaver is not a good river, you just cant accurately compare it to the white river that flows from below bull shoals lake.  As far as tailwaters on the white river chain, beaver is probably the worst fishery of them all and I don't think its close.  Again, this isn't saying beaver tailwaters isn't a good fishery, the others are just that good.  People come from all over the country to fish the white below bull shoals and the norfork river below norfork dam.  They are absolutely 2 of the best trout rivers in the US.  Taneycomo below Table Rock dam is also an incredible fishery as is the Little red river below Greers ferry dam.  The white below beaver just lacks the current flow when there is no generation and habitat to make it a fishery of their caliber, still a great place to go catch some rainbows and go fish for a day.  There is usually ample wade fishing there when beaver lake is at its normal pool level, which is great for fishing but really is a detriment to the tailwater because they will leave the water off for several days at a time or even a week.

 

hopefully this didn't just confuse you more. 

[Devan S.]

Out of curiosity....I thought Jeff's catch of the Striper was below houseman? If so did it just get labeled Beaver Tailwater to avoid the perception of tons of striper in TRL.

Anybody that fished Beaver TW will tell you there are striper there but unless you like headaches and heartbreaks, then I wouldn't base a single decision about where I live on that fishery alone. 

Sure a nice by catch but nothing to write home or make a special trip over. Honestly the same with the trout.

[tjm]

17 minutes ago, EzFishN said:

there is great fisheries around Bentonville

Wading river type fisheries or haul a boat to the lake fisheries?

Quote

Are there good rivers to fish near bentonville or is it mostly lakes?

I prefer rivers with some current so I can swing a fly. Watching a strike indicator is still water puts me to sleep

 

[EzFishN]

The story I read said it was from the tail waters, it must have came over the dam when they had the spill ways open. Article says by highway 62 bridge which is close enough to tail waters in my book. 

http://big1sstriperguide.com/state-record/

https://oklahoman.com/article/2696600/record-64-pounder-hooked-in-arkansas

[EzFishN]

14 minutes ago, tjm said:

Wading river type fisheries or haul a boat to the lake fisheries?

 

Both types. but i spend most of my time in boats but know more of them. I have some friends that do the fly fishing thing that tell me about creeks on the west side of bentonville but have never tried. The Razor back greenway that goes through town, follows sugar creek and has deep pools in it (40 miles or so) I wouldn't count on anything sizable in those creeks other than fun. https://www.springvalleyanglers.com/  has a private ranch with the public creeks that flow into. I don't much about it honestly other than people I know that have a membership there. It's 45min west of bentonville. 

When I want to go wading or bank fishing, Beaver Lake tailwaters is where I go when i want to put dinner on the plate with Rainbows and Browns and have guaranteed success. It just depends on how much water they are letting out of the dam to determine how far north you go. Several easy access areas and walk able areas to get to. Definitely my type of fishing in late fall/winter. We get nice sunny days and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it. 

I also forgot to mention, one of the POA lakes, I think it's Lake Brettany, they stock trout in the Winter, and they die off by May, but has a very nice walkable and handicap area with docks. 

 

Lake Brittany is unique in that it houses the association’s first trout fishery. Trout stocking began in December 2007 to create a winter fishery, providing members with enjoyable cold-weather fishing while the warm-water species lay dormant.

 

https://bellavistapoa.com/thingstodo/lakes/#lakeann

 

They also have a heated dock for crappie winter fishing on Lake Avalon. 

 

[tjm]

 Sugar Creek? "Most recent instantaneous value: 53.4 08-25-2020   10:15 CDT" That is down stream as far as you can go before the confluence with the Elk and at 54CFS it is a bit higher than normal still.  Not a "river" by most people's definition and it has never had trout in it unless they were escapees from the POA bass feeding program in your "lakes" or the old trout pens in old Bella Vista. Can't be even in both Bentonville and Bella more than about 4-5 miles total and the pools are what 3' deep? Never 40 miles.

White River "down south" (near Fayetteville) - "Discharge, cubic feet per second: Most recent instantaneous value: 11.6 08-25-2020   11:00 CDT"  That is less than 12CFS not a river. No trout there either. At Elkins the White is only 4CFS.

For comparison the Clackamas River  is currently at ~800CFS, White River below Bull is ~17,000CFS