Beaver Tailwaters
Trout fishing the White River waters as we go into December can be chilly, but cold weather fishing has lots of advantages, not the least of which is feeling like you’ve got the river to yourself. You might not see another angler for hours, but you’ll always see some rainbows and very likely a brown or two.
Try adding some garlic scented Fire egg patterns to your bait mix. Can’t find it? Just include some minced garlic in a jar or package of artificial bait (doesn’t even have to be egg patterns) and let it steep for a day or so. We’ve had some success this week with orange and brown flashy baits: maribou jigs, quarter-ounce during the higher water times, gold/orange Cleos, and Blue Foxes with an orange/red bell.
Sculpin colors are always a must for browns, but we’ve also seen some biting on minnow colors this week.
When planning your winter fishing trip and checking the weather, study the nighttime lows as well as the daytime highs. Figure that your day will start at the lowest temperature from the night before, and it may even be several degrees colder on the water. Layer up and you’ll enjoy your trip a whole lot more. We’re looking forward to a healthy, safe Christmas season!
Hooked on Fishing Guide Service Beaver Lake report
Freddy, Juan and Ryan got stripers and you can, too!
For striped bass the bite was good to excellent this week. Fish are still suspended offshore in deep open water, long points, offshore humps, islands, channel swings, end of mud flats. Some are shallow eating big gizzards. Slow trolling shad and minnows with lightweight or weightless have been producing daily. Top water is present some days and not others. We should see more surfacing activities as the water temp drops.
Want crappie? Docks, treetops, brush piles, mudflats and channel swings are holding fish. Livescoping, spider riggers, flipping docks, bobber and minnows in standing timber are producing. Match your jig head with depth fish are holding. Lighter jigs for fish higher in the water column or shallower fish and heavier jigs for deeper fish. I prefer purple chartreuse or money milk colors but they’re not very picky right now.
I’m seeing very large bass in clear shallow (less than 2 feet of water) water chasing big gizzards.
Trolling crankbaits in 10 – 20 feet of water on main lake and secondary points are catching a few walleye.
Bottom fishing and jugs are producing catfish hanging around big mudflats with channel swings. Cut bait was the most productive. In 5 – 20 feet of water.
The bites been a little tougher with cooler mornings, but mid-afternoon bream bite is consistent from shore.
Water level is 1118.01, water temperature: 55.1° – 61.8°
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