There are plenty of largemouth bass in this lake to target, but with the clear water, some anglers have a tough time fishing for them on this lake. If you are targeting largemouth bass in the part of the lake closer to the dam, you’re going to be fishing in clearer water. The key is to fish deeper and with lighter line, if you want to catch some of these bass up in this part of the lake. For many anglers that want to target largemouth bass, they head up river from the highway 12 bridge and they target the creeks off of the river. They can find murkier water here, which makes it easier to find active largemouth bass in shallower water.
Use Lighter Line
Beaver Lake is known for its clear, deep waters. While the waters can definitely get murky in some areas of this lake after a heavy rain, this lake has very clear water for most of the year. Using lighter line is key to getting more bites in clear water, especially in the middle of the day when the sun is out. Use 6 to 8 pound test line and you’ll get a lot more bites and still have enough strength to get some of the bigger fish into the boat. Fluorocarbon line or at the very least, a fluorocarbon leader will help get more bites too. If you don’t want to fish the clearer waters located closer to the dam, head towards the river part of the lake where you can find some murkier water to target some bass that aren’t as smart.
Deep Water Fishing
Beaver Lake is a very deep lake which can make fishing quite challenging for many anglers. The super clear water doesn’t help anglers since the fish can easily see your presentations and at times, they can be quite skittish. Whether you’re fishing open water or along the shorelines you’re most likely going to be fishing a little bit deeper than you would on lakes that are not as clear. From summer through fall, you will find lots of fish suspending 15 to 25 feet down out over deeper water.
Fish at Night
Night fishing is fairly popular here among bass anglers, especially during the summer months. In the clearer part of the lake, it is easier to fool a lot more largemouth bass at night than during the day once summer rolls around. Don’t rule out some of the shallower water up against the banks and topwater lures worked slowly along the surface can be very effective for largemouth bass.
Fish the Creeks
There are so many large creek arms located on Beaver Lake and in these creek arms, there are smaller creeks that are connected to these larger creek arms as well. Spring is the best time to fish in these areas due to lots of largemouth bass moving into these areas for the spawn. You have lots of spots that have a variety of cover such as big and small rocks, laydowns, full trees in the water and bushes along the shorelines.
Once summer pattern set in, the creek arms with deeper water will usually be more productive and the creek arms that are closer to the main lake will usually be good spots to look for larger schools of fish. In the fall, good numbers of baitfish push back into these creeks and you will see a variety of bass following them too. The spring bite tends to be better, but in the fall you can have some really good fishing also.
Fish the Docks
While Beaver Lake isn’t loaded with docks, there are still plenty of docks throughout the lake if you want to fish this pattern. Some areas have a lot more docks than others, so it definitely depends what part of the lake you are launching your boat if you want to fish this pattern. The spring dock bite is the best time to target largemouth bass around the docks. You may still catch plenty of largemouth bass around the docks in the summer and fall, but the spring bite can be very good.
Fish the Main Lake
The main Lake offers some really good fishing opportunities from summer through winter. In the spring, a lot of fish move back into the creek arms to spawn and a lot of fish will stay in those creek arms until water temperatures heat up in the summer. This lake has deep water literally everywhere so these fish don’t have to go back out to the main lake to find deep water, but a lot of fish will transition out onto the main lake to follow schools of baitfish around the thermocline.
Fish the Points
Beaver Lake has so many points that you can easily fish this pattern and never run out of spots to fish on your day on the water. The points that have quick access to deep water and some type of cover will usually hold more fish. Whether you’re fishing around larger rocks or wood, finding cover will definitely make a difference in how good each point will be for largemouth bass. Points will hold fish from spring through fall.
Fish the Rocks
Beaver Lake is full of rocks, so plan on fishing rocky bottoms wherever you’re at in the lake. Whether you’re fishing shorelines with smaller rocks, larger rocks or some of the cliffs that have some awesome ledges with deep water, you’re going to be fishing lots of rocks on Beaver Lake.
Fish the Shorelines
Because Beaver Lake has so much deep water, a lot of anglers will just pick a shoreline and start casting. Most of the shorelines offer quick access to deeper water, so you can usually find a variety of different species of fish either up against the shorelines or just off the shorelines. To target largemouth bass, you’ll usually find more of these fish if there is some good cover around such as large rocks or a variety of wood. In the summer and fall, you will find a lot of fish suspending out over deeper water further away from the shorelines. For the most part though, there are plenty of good shorelines to fish where you can expect to catch some fish from spring through fall.
Fish the Wood
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission does a great job of placing fish attractors in a bunch of lakes throughout Arkansas. On Beaver Lake, they have files you can download that gives you access to the GPS coordinates so you can find these fish attractors much easier. The fish attractors will hold all types of fish, but most anglers like to fish these areas for largemouth bass and other species too.
There are plenty of trees in the lake, lay downs and bushes to fish along the shorelines depending on what creek arm you are in. When the bass move into the shallows to spawn, you’re going to find a lot of largemouth bass around the wood.
Learn More About Largemouth Bass
Our largemouth bass section is huge with information on the best live baits, lures, where to catch them and how to catch them. Visit our largemouth bass page to learn more.
