Pictured is Mary from Texarkana with this very nice rainbow trout, caught with Busch Mountain Fishing Guide Service.
Beaver Tailwaters:
Welcome to 2026! I hope you all had wonderful holidays!
The weather has been bipolar lately, with some wild temperature swings. That kind of inconsistency can definitely make the bite a little tricky at times. On top of that, we’ve seen river levels steadily recede over the past month, changing up a lot of familiar water.
Even with all that, the bite has stayed fairly consistent.
Most fish are being caught on Pautzke Fire Worms, Fire Bait, and eggs. Those have been the most reliable producers day in and day out.
We’ve also seen a few walleye mixed in, especially for those jigging or trolling.
If you’re planning to fish from a boat, make sure you know the river well. We’ve already seen several boats find gravel bars and hidden obstructions as the water drops, so caution is key.
We’ve still got a bit of winter left, so slowing your presentations down is going to be important. Keep things methodical, stay patient, and you should be able to stay on the bite.
Austin Kennedy, Busch Mountain Fishing Guide Service
Beaver Lake:
Key to the winter striper bite is finding the bait, using your graph to locate big bait balls close to a channel swing where a flat meets. Windy points will hold a good amount of bait, and the stripers will be close by. Work these, they’re holding fish and don’t be afraid to move to the next channel swing.
These stripers are moving fast and will only give you a couple passes. Live bait has been working good when they are placed just above feeding fish. Water temps are holding between 47° and 51°. Crappie are holding on brush piles and docks on flats 15 – 20 feet of water. Roaming crappie are present when there’s bail on those flats.
Juan Granados, Hooked on Fishing
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