Digging into the Mud at Beaver Lake
How new dirty water has treated Luke Dunkin and Buddy Gross
After two days of practice for the FLW Tour event presented by General Tire at Beaver Lake, it’s apparent that the muddy water in the upper parts of the lake will be a major story line come tournament day. In typical years, War Eagle Creek and the upper reaches of the White River have dirtier water than the rest of the lake, but that’s been taken to the max this year.
Most of the smaller creeks running into Beaver are flowing pretty clear now, but the big rains that caused the lake to rise so quickly over the weekend brought nothing but mud into the lake’s major feeders.
In 2016, more of the lake than usual had some stain to it, and that produced some of the best fishing on Beaver in recent memory. Now, thanks to low water over the winter, the majority of the lake is quite clear, but where the water is muddy, it’s very muddy. Running up the White River, the first really noticeable mud on Monday was at Horseshoe Bend, a major swing of the lake about 8 miles by water from the Prairie Creek takeoff site, and as you approach the split of the White and War Eagle, the water is all a chalky red.
Two pros who have plied the mud a little so far are Buddy Gross and Luke Dunkin, and neither of them has found a lot of success.
“It’s tough. I can get a few bites, but they’re all small and there’s not many of them,” says Gross of his adventures in the mud. “That’s where I did so good last year, but I just can’t get to where I need to be fish-wise.”
Gross says that on the first day of practice he rolled up to War Eagle Creek and couldn’t even access it. Half a mile of floating debris kept him out. The wind has since pushed the debris to the bank, and the Georgia pro has ventured far up the War Eagle looking for clean water.
“I went way back there. I passed Tonto and the Lone Ranger canoeing,” says Gross. “I didn’t find any clean water. I went four or five miles back past where I’d ever been. The trash is out toward the mouth, but the water is that chalky red mud all the way.”
One factor that could be hurting the fishing is the water temperature. According to Gross, the incoming water must have been cold. When he launched on day one his Lowrance read 61 degrees at the pass-through at Horseshoe Bend. It read 55 to 57 degrees up by War Eagle in the mud.
Like Gross, Dunkin has struggled a bit in the muddier water.
“To be honest, today it wasn’t very good, but that’s not to say that it won’t be,” says Dunkin. “I feel like the mud is too new. The color doesn’t bug me at all, but in my experience, when these fish are used to that clear water, it takes them a few days to get settled in to the mud. Then you add in the fact that it’s rising.
“I feel like somebody could end up really catching them up there, but I didn’t see that today. I saw a lot of baitfish up there today, so I know it’s going down somewhere.”
The feeling that it’s “going down” somewhere up in the muddy water is likely shared by quite a few pros, especially because the upper reaches of Beaver have a history of cranking out a few top-10 finishes every year. Scott Canterbury won the whole thing up the river in 2016, so the fish to do well are certainly there. Even so, that might not be the case this time.
“I can tell you right now that it is a whole lot easier to find a place to fish up there than it is down here [below Horseshow Bend],” says Gross. “Nobody is fishing up there.”
Tournament details
Format: All pros and co-anglers will compete for two days. The co-angler champion will be crowned on day two, and the field will be cut to the top 20 pros on day three and the top 10 pros on day four. The winners will be determined by total cumulative weight.
Takeoff Time: 6:30 a.m. CT
Takeoff Location: Prairie Creek Recreation Area, 9300 North Park Road, Rogers, AR
Weigh-In Time: 3 p.m. CT on days one and two; 4 p.m. CT on days three and four
Weigh-In Location: Prairie Creek all days
Check out the FLW Expo and Evinrude Test Rides
Test rides – Evinrude will be hosting test rides for its popular E-TEC G2 motors at Prairie Creek Recreation Area on Saturday, April 29, from 7 to 11 a.m. All participants will receive a free Evinrude hat. Come demo Evinrude’s most powerful and fuel-efficient two-stroke motor in history.
Expo – The FLW Expo will take place at Prairie Creek on Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30, from 12 to 4 p.m. Kids’ activities include a Ranger Boat simulator, casting pond and more. Concessions will be available, along with vendors selling tackle and other outdoor gear.