Mike Ohls, Sr., from Garfield, Ark., did some serious jerking on April 15, opening day of our 8-week snagging season below Beaver Dam to get this 72-pound spoonbill.
Spoonbill, also known as paddlefish, swim up rivers as far as they can go to lay their eggs. These fish can top over 100 pounds and are the only other fish I know of besides sturgeon that have the black eggs known as caviar.
They have no bones and can give you some nice fish steaks to fill your freezer. So far I have been to the river three times this week without one to bring home yet, but I’m not giving up. Just had to get a bigger pole, so now I’m watching the generation of water they need to get to the dam. They have been shutting them down at night so I’m hoping for more rain so the water will flow a bit longer without opening the floodgates. Most the ones that have been caught have been after the water has been running a few hours.
If the water’s not right and you find you’re working too hard, switch to some lighter tackle and try for some trout or go across to the lakeside and try for some white bass, throwing some lures off the bank.
All our waters are warming up to that 60° range now after that cold front hit. They kind of turned off a bit but they’re all back wanting to spawn. Except the walleye that have already laid their eggs.
Don’t worry, they’re still catchable more after then during the spawn. Look for them still hanging around the white bass where the bait is. I find trolling baits like the flicker shad a good way to locate them, then switch to throwing a jig, rooster tail or a minnow on a float.
If you’re not catching good enough, move closer to the buckbrush for some crappie and bass. Remember the creeks are warming faster than water being released from the dam, so that makes fishing out of Holiday Island and the Beavertown area both good.
Beaver Lake striped bass fishing is hot now and being caught with no weights on both big shad and brood shiners, with the best fishing now between the Prairie Creek all the way up the White and War Eagle arms depending on the midline. Get above or below it and you should find some fish. We do have a few up on our end.
Best places to look now are the day use side of the dam and up in Indian Creek, along with the white bass.
Well, that’s it for this week. Get out if you can, pretty easy to keep social distance and let your mind take it all in even if you just sit and enjoy the peace of mind these Ozarks can give you. Stay safe and keep the rest of us safe, too.