Happy New Year to you all. About all the catching I’ve heard about these last 2 weeks has been for stripers and trout, so I put in a 20-year old pic from when my wife and granddaughter, Courtney Dawn from Berryville, were holding some stripers in the good old days. Check out that $600 old boat, even cut the front seat out for a 50-gal. homemade bait tank and slept on the floor chasing those fish many times.
Well, this year started the first day with a bang tearing down walls and getting ready for giving this town a much-needed bait shop that should be open by March. We might be starting small but we will have big live bait for stripers and small bait for trout along with a few lures and tackle to help you catch what you’re after along with a guide service of me and other guides available to get you on the water for trout, walleye, bass, crappie and of course, those big stripers.
We will be in the lower part of the Market Place which will be between Eureka and the dam and we’ll have coffee for the early birds. As we get closer to our opening date you will know more, but for now on with your report.
The striped bass on Beaver Lake have been pretty easy to catch if you know how to look. They might be busting the top one minute, then suspending close to 30 feet down the next minute. Best to have some lines out with no weight, and some with weights, with brood shiners on the hook. Keep a jig or spoon tied on one rod and a big top water plug on another.
You can still catch them on this end of the lake, but from Prairie Creek to Monte Ne will hold more bait and fish from now to March. Look on the main channel all the way back into the major creeks.
Here at Holiday Island look for crappie close to 20 feet deep in the mouth of the creeks and the main channel holding tight to the trees. Drop down a minnow or a jig and just move slow.
Look for bass to be close to the same location with the best technique being a spoon worked from the bottom up to 12 ft. deep. You could even wind up catching a walleye, but if not, start trolling the edge of the flats between the Island and Beavertown with some crankbaits that will run from 12 to 20 ft. deep.
Who knows, you might even catch a trout, but if trout is what you want then troll on upriver or find a nice spot below the dam to work a small jig, spoon or a blackback countdown Rapala. If they’re not generating, it’s pretty relaxing to just sit on the bank absorbing some sun with a power bait and worm combo floating off the bottom.
Remember, trout are a coldwater fish that feed heavy all winter. Also remember you need a trout permit along with your Arkansas Fishing License.
Well, I guess I better get to work now putting up some walls. You all stay warm and if you get out near the water, dress warm with some handwarmers in your pocket.