April 25, 2026 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report
- Ryan Burks
- Apr 25
- 4 min read
I want to start out saying sorry I'm a day late! I've been busy this week and traveling over to the White below Bull Shoals dam chasing the caddis hatch and rising fish. If you have any interest in heading over there and getting in on that action let me know, as the next month is prime time! I'll be adding those trips to the website in the next few days.
Now....on to Beaver Tailwater -- Finally some much needed rain! With the rain comes some challenges around muddy water, but it's a short term pain for a long term gain. Don't let a little color in the water slow you down though - fish are still eating and we are having some great days.
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Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions
We got around an inch and a half of rain Thursday night into Friday morning and the lake has jumped up another foot or so. The lake is at 1118.77 right now and still sits about 2 feet below power pool but is continuing to rise. With the big influx of rain the water got pretty dirty below Spider Creek, but we are still catching fish. Above Spider Creek there was definitely still some stain, but it was very fishable. The rain pushed the level up in the river and I was able to access some areas that I haven't been able to recently with the couple extra inches of water level. There is a lot of floating debris though, so watch out for that if you are out in a boat.
With our generators still down, there hasn't been any water releases from the dam, and hopefully that changes soon...but for now, we are enjoying the low flow and it is great for wading.
The walleye are dropping further and further down out of the river every day and are done spawning and heading back toward the lake. White bass have still been hit and miss, but this rain could be what brought a big push of them up into the upper river. As soon as this water clears up a bit I'll be looking for them and can report back.
A quick note about the White over below Bull Shoals dam - The caddis are popping off pretty good when the sun is out, and fish are starting to get on the bugs. The water is low, and the fishing has been great. Don't hesitate if you want to try to get in on it.
If you've ever wanted to get on the caddis bite over on the White below Bull Shoals dam, reach out to me and let's make it happen! The hatch should be going strong for several more weeks this year and the fishing can be great! Click here and get your trip booked!
What's Working
Beaver is starting to shape up into spring conditions and the fishing is real good right now. After rains and when fishing in stained water, we're having lots of luck running double nymph rigs under indicators. My best bugs have been hot pink San Juan worms with a Beaver Blowtorch under it. The brightly colored worm is getting attention and getting fish to look our way, but the smaller Beaver Blowtorch is what is getting eaten the most. As an alternate option, we've still been catching lots of fish on black micro jigs and leach patterns in the stained water. A black girdle bug has also been working well as a lead fly in the dirty water. We are having to slow down a bit and pick the water apart but fish don't stop eating just because the water is dirty.
When the water has been clean - the Rootbeer and Ruby midge have been our go-to bugs and always seem to get eaten well. There have been a few more fish looking up and starting to eat bugs on top, and we are going to have some good dry fly fishing as soon as this water clears up a bit more. Don't be afraid to throw a small hopper or caddis right now in shallow flats. I'll have a dry rod rigged up today and hope to get some eats on top.
Over on the White below Bull Shoals, I've been catching fish on caddis with a Rootbeer midge dropped off it. The fish are still a bit spotty day to day on how eager they are to eat dries, but fishing caddis pupae shallow under and indicator is getting the job done consistently. The Sunday Special and Walts Worm variations are staples and are getting eaten well. Swinging soft hackles has also been very productive and is one of my favorite was to fish the caddis hatch. It seems most folks have forgotten about it and are fishing either indicator rigs or dry, and the soft hackle can be a great change up to show the fish something different. Soft Hackle Hare's Ears and the Red Ass are my favorites for doing this.
Check out the store portion of our website for flies, and if you need something you don't see there...don't hesitate to reach out! I can make it happen.
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