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Beaver Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The first White River lake: striper mornings, spotted bass depths and Ozark clarity near Bentonville.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Flow
14 cfs
Air / High
99 / 100 F
Wind
SSE 8 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 07049000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Beaver Lake stays in its summer rhythm: early magic, midday siesta, evening reprieve. The river is running 14 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 8 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 100. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassFair

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Fair

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassSlow

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 100 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from War Eagle Creek near Hindsville, AR.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 07049000.

18253214 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp99 F
High / Low100 / 72 F
WindSSE 8-9 mph
Pressure1011.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain19% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:49 / 19:39
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 100/72 F, wind 10 mph, rain 0%

Slow. 100 F: be on the water at dawn and off by mid-morning, or fish after dark.

Species guide

The species that matter on Beaver Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Beaver Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Beaver Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Arkansas requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Striper: 20-inch minimum, 3/day. Black bass 15-inch/6 combined. Confirm with AGFC.

Access

Prairie Creek, Hickory Creek, Horseshoe Bend, Dam Site ramps; marinas at Rogers and the islands.

About this water

28,370 acres on the White River, Benton/Carroll counties, AR. Corps, impounded 1966.

Fishing Beaver Lake: the full guide

Top of the chain

Beaver starts the White River chain: 28,000 clear acres where stripers roam open water (the dawn topwater in June is special), spotted bass stack on 30-ft points, and War Eagle and the other creek arms load with spring crappie and whites. Northwest Arkansas' boom has filled the ramps: weekday dawns still feel like the old Ozarks.

The striper loop

Beaver's stripers run a yearly circuit: White River arm in winter, mid-lake points in spring, the deep channel from Point 5 to the dam all summer at 25-45 ft on downlined shad. Guides run it hard, but a gray-light topwater in June is democratic magic anyone can cast.

Finesse first

This is the Ozarks' clearest big lake: 8 lb line, shaky heads, drop shots and long casts define the spotted-bass game on bluff ends and gravel. Float-n-fly wins winter, the Ned rig wins whenever: power fishing gets brief spring windows in the dirty creeks and little else.

Common questions

Where do Beaver's stripers hold in summer?

Suspended 25-45 ft over the old channel between Point 5 and the dam: graph the bait, set downlines, watch the rod tips. Winter moves the schools (and the birds) up the White River arm.

The table-rock of the Ozark whites

Beaver's clear-water program mirrors its downstream siblings with its own accents: suspended spotted bass over 100-ft timber (video-game fishing on forward sonar), a spring walleye run up the White River arm that locals guard, and striper trolling the mid-lake bait balls. The White River trout tailwater below the dam adds the bonus round: four fisheries in one Ozark address.

Is fishing good at Beaver Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Table Rock Lake36 miLake Taneycomo48 miMulberry River51 miGrand Lake o the Cherokees55 miIllinois River55 miBull Shoals Lake57 mi
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