We just wrapped up REDCREST in the heart of the Ozarks on Table Rock Lake, and now we’re getting ready to almost go right back to the same place when we go to Yuengling Light Lager Stage 5 Presented by YETI on Beaver Lake, just one lake up on the White River.
I’m looking forward to going back and seeing the lake again, since it’s been about 10 years since I’ve been there, and I used to go nearly every year when I fished the FLW Tour.
Beaver Lake was a staple for our schedule back then. I know I’ve been there 15 or 16 times, maybe even more. I’m interested to see how the fishing is, but I’m also glad we just wrapped up Table Rock, because I think we’ll see a lot of the same things happening.
Back to Beaver
After going to Beaver Lake for so long, it will be pretty fun to be back. I can’t think of any big tournaments that have been back there since then, so the fishing will also be a mystery for most of us.
We only have two days to practice, and it’s a big lake, like Table Rock. So, it will be a challenge to dial it in quickly. When we went with the FLW Tour, we had some early events in February and some later ones in May, but it seemed like almost all of them were around the same time in April.
Every year, it seemed like the fish were on a different type of cover. Beaver has a lot more visible timber than Table Rock. Some years, it’d be all about the pole timber; then one year, it could be the cedars; and some years, it was the old oak timber. That’s another thing we’ll have to figure out right away.
Our two days of practice won’t be enough time to run history and check out everything I’ve fished in the past from one end to the other, but one thing we never had back then was forward-facing sonar. Having my Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 will speed up the process a bit and help me check whether they’re in the trees.
Sticking to Ozark staples
I had a solid event at REDCREST, finishing 13th, and that will be a good primer as we start practice for Beaver. One thing that always plays in the Ozarks this time of year is rock transitions, and that’s what I was fishing on Table Rock.
I’m always looking for the gravel mix – maybe it’s where gravel and chunk rock come together or some other rock transition. That’s always a big deal on these lakes, but it does depend on what stage of the spawn they are in.
It should be very similar to what we saw on Table Rock, because Beaver Lake is usually a little behind. With our event right around a full moon, there’s a chance that we could see a full-blown spawning event. That could make the spawning bite the winning pattern, especially since our minimum weight for a scorable bass on Beaver Lake is lower, at 1 pound, 8 ounces, which could put a lot more of those spawning spotted bass in play.
Another staple in the Ozarks this time of year is a crawfish crankbait, and we saw some of that on Table Rock. It will be an even bigger factor next week. Beaver Lake is a notorious wiggle-wart-style crankbait lake on those rock transitions.
Beaver has so many crawfish in it, and some of the biggest ones I’ve ever seen in my life – they look like baby lobsters. They were as big as the tips of your fingers to your wrist. You’d also catch a big largemouth and see those pinchers sticking out of their throat sometimes, so I’m thinking a crawfish-colored crankbait will again be a great way to catch them.
It’s been a long time since we’ve been to Beaver Lake, but it should bring back some good memories for all of us who fished the FLW Tour back in the day.