Water temps on Beaver Lake have dropped to around that 57° mark, and a lot of stripers and bait have moved to their winter feeding grounds, the last of the deep open water where they pretty well feed up and stay until they make their run upriver in March to spawn.
I love these two islands and have caught more fish in this area than any other part of the lake in November and December. As you can see, south of the islands and the Hwy. 12 bridge, the lake narrows and the water gets shallower. It also cools down faster, so they stack up.
The wind has a lot to do with where you will find them. They can be between the islands on either side or run all the way into the back of any of the creeks. I have pulled them as shallow as 4 feet of water this time of year. No cold, long boat rides, just a warm ride in your vehicle where you can launch in at Ventris out of Garfield, at the Hwy. 12 bridge, or my favorite, Prairie Creek with heated bathrooms.
If you want crappie or bass, they also feed up good now but you need to get down a little deeper with weights below 8 feet, whereas with stripers, it’s time to drop the weight. Freeline live bait or throw top water baits.
Watch for big schools busting the top, birds feeding on bait they’re chasing to the top, and big balls of bait on your graph.
If you want to stay closer to home, we do have some residential stripers on this end of the lake that are being caught, but most bait has moved south and I’m following them. If you do go look on this end I would start in Indian Creek, and if you don’t see any bait on your graph, or surface activity, move and look around Point 1 Island and Honey Creek.
We have some warmer weather coming next week and I’m going south. I’m wide open and selling 10 gift certificates for two people for $200. Good for now or the 2019 season.
Dress warm and be safe.