July 25, 2025 Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report

The weather has been scorching hot this week, but the fishing has been too!

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Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions

The tailwater elevation is still dropping but as Table Rock Lake has reached the top of flood pool, I would expect the elevation to begin to taper off and hover close to the 916' level. Beaver Lake is sitting right at 1,127.4', or about 6 feet above target conservation pool. The Corp of Engineers has been releasing 1 unit, or 3,750 cfs of water fairly consistently in the early afternoon for 5-6 hours. Click here to see the predicted generation schedule.

The wading opportunities continue to improve. On Tuesday I saw quite a few people at the Parker Bottoms area and up near the dam.

From a boating perspective, if you have a jet drive the river is still pretty open, but with a prop you may have trouble in a few spots at Parker Bottoms and above. The water has been clean, clear and cold...perfect trout habitat.

The fish sure did enjoy all the added food that was in the river during the high water of spring and early summer, and it shows in the condition that they are in. Most of the fish we are catching are fat and happy with big protruding bellies.

What's Working

Similar to last week, we had a lot of success suspending 1/124 oz. and 1/80 oz. micro jigs in olive or black 4-6 feet deep under indicators. Further upriver where the water is crystal clear the olive seems to get the nod, but below Spider Creek I found better success on black. The Purple Haze Sowbug and the Ruby Midge continue to be consistent producers for me. In the afternoons when the water comes up a variety of streamers have been working for me. I had the best luck fishing just on the edge of the rising water with a smaller Laser Legal in Olive/White and in the full rise of water with Double Deceivers in Olive/White and Olive/Yellow. When not fishing streamers, double nymph rigs have been great on the high water. The two fly rig allows us to fish two different styles of fly at the same time. I will normally have a bright fly such Y2K or San Juan Worm that functions to get the fish's attention and get them looking in the area of your flies in all the added turbulence and water that comes when the dam turns on. The second fly in that rig is generally something more natural such as a sowbug or midge. With all the bright sun, the Purple Haze Sowbug stayed in my rig all week. Rick, pictured above had a big numbers day this week drifting this two fly rig, and all of the fish we caught in high water ate the sowbug.

Guide Insights

Another week of shallower water has sure been a welcome change! With that lower water and sunshine, sight fishing and targeting specific fish has been fun. All the hot weather and bright sun prompted me to think about a piece of gear that is often overlooked for many people, polarized sunglasses. I recently put up a video filmed at the trout hatchery on the Little Red River down in Heber Springs, AR. The video does a great job of showing how important it is to have a good pair of polarized glasses to help you see through the water and understand what's going on below.

The weather this coming week looks to be brutally hot, so make sure you stay hydrated and safe.