Pictured are Juan Granados and Xieng Chanthavong with Hooked on Fishing LLC, scouting for their next trip.
Beaver Tailwaters Fishing Update:
Rain and cooler air are slipping back into the Ozarks, and Beaver Tailwaters is starting to show that late-fall personality. Even with warmer mornings, the bite has stayed reliable, especially once the sun gets over the bluffs and warms the water a bit. With mild afternoons returning early in the week and temps climbing into the mid-60s and even low 70s by Tuesday, trout should stay active through the warmer stretches of each day. Midweek brings clouds and some rain chances, followed by a calm, cooler weekend.
Light tackle continues to be the name of the game on the Tailwaters. Pautzke Fire Bait, PowerBait, and small spoons are still producing steady numbers. If you’re running artificials, downsizing has been making a big difference — small jerkbaits and Rooster Tails fished slow with deliberate pauses are triggering most of the strikes. Those brief pauses are key when the water cools and fish don’t want to chase far.
Early mornings have been on the slower side, but the bite consistently ramps up once the sun hits the water. Midday into the afternoon remains the prime window. Trout are still active enough to provide solid numbers throughout the day as long as you keep your presentation subtle and deliberate.
With the week starting cooler and ending mild, the plan is simple:
- Start deep and slow early in the week and during cool, cloudy stretches.
- As temperatures rise midweek and the sun returns, shift a bit shallower and slightly increase your retrieve speed.
- Stick with natural colors in the mornings and on overcast days, but as the water warms with those 60–70° highs, a little flash can help pull fish in.
Beaver Tailwaters should fish well all week as long as you adjust with the weather swings — slow and subtle on the cold mornings, a touch faster and brighter when the afternoons warm up.
Austin Kennedy, Busch Mountain Fishing Guide Service
Hooked on Fishing Guide Service, Beaver Lake report:
Striper fishing has been on a day-by-day basis, the fish are moving a lot and not staying put. They are spread out from the north end all the way up the rivers. The main thing is to find a good concentration of bait and the stripers will be close by.
Right now, you can find fish in open water and some are going shallow on flats to feed. Trust your graphs and keep moving until you find them. Live bait has been working best, and you’ll have the best luck if you match the hatch.
Crappie fishing is good around docks and brush piles on flats 15 – 20 ft. of water with some fish going shallower chasing bait on mud flats.
Juan Granados, Hooked on Fishing
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