July 31, 2025 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report
- Ryan Burks
- Jul 30, 2025
- 3 min read
Another brutally hot weather week, but some welcome relief is on the horizon. The heat didn't seem to bother the fish at all, though! Want to get this report in your inbox each week? Sign up here!
Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions
This past week the tailwater has been hovering right around 916.75 msl between bouts of generation from the dam. The lake level above the dam has been coming down slowly and is should be right at 1126.4 msl when this report is published. With all the heat, the dam has been releasing a little more water this week. We've been seeing 1 unit, or about 3750 cfs of water turing on about 8:30-9:00 and running until 9:00 pm.
If we get the welcome break in the heat that's forecasted, we will have to wait and see if this pattern holds as demand for electricity decreases. Click here to see the predicted generation schedule. Always check the schedule before you head out, especially if wading. Don't take the schedule as gospel, as it is subject to change, and you don't want to get caught in a bad place when the water rises suddenly.
The wading opportunities are about the same as last week, with some access up around the dam and at Parker Bottoms when the water is off.
From a boating perspective, if you have a jet drive the river is still wide open when the dam is releasing water. As long as you are familiar with the river, the jet gets you everywhere you need to go, even on low water. If you have a prop, you may want to stay downstream from the Bertrand Access, as there are a few places that can give you trouble if you aren't familiar with the river.
What's Working
During the lower water in the mornings, the usual suspects have been getting lots of attention from the fish. 1/124 oz. and 1/80 oz. micro jigs in olive or black continue to produce great numbers when set about 4-6 feet down under a small indicator. Alternatively, we had lots of success fishing double midge rigs.
When fishing a double midge set up, I tend to fish two different styles of midge to show the fish two different things. I like one of the midges to have a bead and be a little flashier. This serves two purposes - to sink the small flies, and to serve as a bit of an attractor. I like the other fly to be something smaller and more muted and natural. Generally, I find that in slower water the smaller, dull fly gets eaten and in riffles the larger, flashier fly wins out. Specifically, we had the most luck with the Ruby Midge in a size 16 as the heavier and bright fly and the olive WD-40 in a size 18 as the trailer.
During the higher flows, we had the most luck fishing a double nymph rig. The streamer bite wasn't really on fire this week, probably due to the clear and cloudless skies. Fish are still eating when the water is up, you just have to adjust. The Y2K trailed by a Purple Haze Sowbug or Sunday Special kept our rods bent all day. Fishing this heavy rig is best done with a 6-wt rod. I will adjust my depth and weight quite a bit depending on the section of river I'm fishing, but about 7' from indicator to a size BB or AAA split shot is a good starting point. From there about another 20" to your first fly and another 18" to your second fly. It's cumbersome and not pretty to cast, but it sure works great!
I'm hoping that our hopper bite gets a bit more consistent with us having more generation during the day, and hopefully I'll have some good news on that front to report on next week.
Guide Insights
I'm not sure about you, but I am anxiously awaiting the cool-down that is coming!
Mornings in the upper 60's and daytime highs in the mid 80's sound great after these last couple weeks of upper 90's.
Fishing can often be great on the day that a cool front moves through, and brown trout in particular will be more aggressive during cloudy days and with rain and frontal systems moving through.
But bright sun and hot temps didn't keep this brown trout from biting. So, get out there and get after them!
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