There's no use trying to catch your limit of white bass at Beaver Lake. Don't even try.
That's because there is no limit on white bass at Beaver or its tributaries. These are the only waterways in Arkansas where there is no daily limit on these hard-fighting fish.
Great on a plate
White bass are fine table fare, provided they’re cleaned properly.
Filet white bass just like any other fish, but remove the strip of red meat from the center of the filet. This red meat has a strong taste most people don’t like.
Stripers and hybrid stripers also have this strip of red meat.
— Staff report
The white bass spawning run in March and April brings some of the most exciting fishing of the year. Reports from the water indicate the run is just starting.
Anglers can catch fish after fish if their timing is right, and keep all they care to clean. During the spawn, white bass stack up in the White and War Eagle rivers, the two main tributaries at Beaver Lake. Fishing is also good in the White River below Beaver Dam, where white bass migrate upstream from Table Rock Lake.
Longer days and warming water get the white bass run started, said Jon Stein, area fisheries biologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.
The high number of white bass in Beaver Lake is the reason for no-limit fishing.
"They're the most abundant sport fish in the lake," Stein said.
Male white bass migrate up the tributaries first. Larger female white bass follow. The best fishing is in April when white bass of 2-3 pounds are caught in high numbers.
This spring could bring some excellent white bass fishing.
The number of white bass exploded during 2011, Stein said. The water was high and conditions were ideal during the white bass spawn. Those fish are now 1 to 3 pounds, the size that anglers seek.
"The white bass we're seeing this year that are 12 to 14 inches long are from that 2011 spawn," Stein said. "This size dominated our gill-net studies this year."
White bass roundup
All styles of fishing work for white bass. Anglers can sit on shore and fish a minnow under bobber or a crawdad on the bottom. They can cast lures or flies.
Tomek Siwiec of Rogers prefers flies over all else during white bass time. His favorite fly is a Clouser minnow. Use a white/chartreuese fly in stained water or white/gray in clear water, he advised.
Siwiec said he fished at twin bridges access on the White River last weekend. The place was crowded with anglers, but he saw only a few small white bass caught.
In the lure category, small crank baits, in-line spinners and small Alabama rigs are favorite choices of area white bass chasers, said Larry Aggus, owner of Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville. Crawdads are the top live bait, with minnows second.
"Whatever you use the key is to get it on the bottom," Aggus said.
Good spots to fish are eddies and quiet water out of the current, he added.
"We're on the front end of the spawn and that's when the best fishing is," Aggus said. "That's when the bigger female fish are caught. And it'll happen so fast if you stay home it's easy to miss out."
The water level at Beaver Lake affects the fishing. When the lake is high, white bass migrate farther up the tributaries than at low levels. The lake is rising and about perfect now, Aggus said. He expects to hear glowing reports once the spawning run really gets going.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAFlip
Sports on 03/26/2015