Beaver Lake Striper / Walleye Report

BAILEY'S BEAVER LAKE GUIDE SERVICE(479)366-8664 Striper fishing has been slow. It is time to start checking the flats on sunny day's.

Water temps are the lowest they will be for the year and are in the range of 37.5-39.9. 

The approach will be free lines or balloons this week with 3 or 4 inch baits.

Bait can still be found in the backs of coves looking for warm water springs flowing in.

Stripers can also be taken with #9 rapala original's or Husky jerks and/or rogues 3-5inches long flat line trolled, use planer boards in order to spread your lines giving you the ability to fish more rods but also allowing you to cover shallow water near the bank as you troll.  Move rapalas at a speed of about 1.5-2 mph.

You can not mix different baits such as live and rapala in your trolling spread due to the different actions required for the proper presentation of each.


Know your species and make sure you identify any fish you keep. There is no limit on white bass, there is a 3 fish limit on striper/hybrid and a 20 inch minimum length on striper. You may not keep more than 3 striper and hybrid in combination.

Fish location is greatly influenced by lake level and current flow, current in the lake from generation will generally position fish on upstream or down stream edges of structure.....check the daily lake level and flow data link on my web site.


Live Gizzard shad as always on Beaver Lake when fishing for Trophy Stripers is the go to approach. Stripers are hitting smaller shad in the 3-4 inch range.


The following area's will be holding striper at different times during the day.

On the mid and lower sections check out these area's. Water surface temps are in the low 40s.

Indian creek- Striper caught using balloons and rapala spreads.

Big Clifty arm- Striper being caught near the mouth on balloons and rapala spreads.

Rocky Branch-A lot of bird activity in this area and there are a lot of large schools of shad. Look in the cove for larue boat ramp and check the Van Hollow and Rambo creek arms for shad and run free lines.

Copper mine-


Upper section-

Prairie creek-  Look in the back of prairie creek and run free lines. Also check the flats off the islands, pay close attention to the flats located adjacent to the main river channel.

Coose Hollow-Look in the back of Blackburn for large schools of shad and free line the cove for striper.

Blackburn creek-Look in the back of Blackburn for large schools of shad and free line the cove for striper.

Beaver shores-

Horseshoe bend-

Montne- Look in the back of Montne for large schools of shad and free line the cove for striper.

Hickory creek-Expect to see some fish activity as the water temp's warm this week.

War Eagle- Start looking for walleye on shallow flats early morning and evenings.

War eagle/White river junction-  Expect to see some activity as the water temp's warm this week.

Blue springs area- 



WALLEYE
  Look for the walleye to start moving into position to begin spawning activity. They will be staging up near the inlets.

Most walleye will be about 20-30ft deep, fish are being taken off the points and on mid stream humps. Check upstream and down stream edges of humps and points.

3 way rigs fished with crawlers or rapalas are producing. Use a 14inch dropper to your sinker. And a 4ft leader to your bait.  

If you are familiar with lead core or wire lines then now is the time to use them in conjunction with a rapala or rogue.

Chart/orange color variations for your crawler harnesses and rapalas in natural blue or black back combos are also producing. Try rogues in clown flash also.

Troll crawlers and rapalas at about 1/4 to 1/2 mph moving just fast enough to keep your lure from hanging up. Pull the lure forward in 2-3ft sweeps as you go just to give it action, the bite will occur on the drop back.


Try drifting jigs bouncing along the bottom baited with minnows with a slow lift drop, move very slowly slipping down current or try back trolling, orange-chart color combos should produce. Remember to use the lightest jig possible while still maintaining bottom contact. You can also slowly drift rapala shad raps across shallow flats in the river.


TIGHT LINES!