May 15, 2026 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report
- Ryan Burks
- May 15
- 3 min read
We've finally gotten some much needed water in the river! The generators are still down, but we are seeing a combination of conduit and flood gate releases. Read on below to get some updates on how this will affect the river and the fishing.
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Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions
Beaver Lake is currently at 1121.59 msl, slightly above the target top of flood pool of 1121.43. With our generators still down and the lake rising, we have seen some releases of water coming from the conduit and flood gates at the dam. The conduit pulls water from below the surface of the lake and is colder than surface water. The downside to conduit water is that it does not have a very high dissolved oxygen content. To combat that problem, they also let a little water through the flood gates at the top of the dam. Hopefully this combination will help cool the river down, add some flow and increase the dissolved oxygen. We'd still much rather see water coming through the generators which would be cold and highly oxygenated, but that isn't in the cards until the generators are back online. For now, it should provide some relief and help out the river in a big way.
I was on the water guiding Wednesday when the releases started late in the afternoon. It has been a couple months since we've seen generation, and there has been lots of sediment, leaves, moss, etc build up in the river since then. The resulting rise was the dirtiest that I've ever seen (picture below). The river went from crystal clear to coffee with creamer in a matter of seconds. It sure put the kabosh on the fishing right then, but overall I was super happy to see it.
White bass have largely been a no-show in the upper river this year. Maybe this influx of water will help it out, but I am afraid it has come and gone and that the brief flash of them I saw a month or so ago will be what our run was this year. Walleye are back down in the lake, but the gar have made their push up the river and we are seeing them all over the place.
Trout are generally playing really nice and we are having great catch rates. This influx of water will surely help things out if we continue to get releases. These releases are not showing up in the generation forecast though -- so check the real time data before you go!
What's Working
We've been having great days on several flies lately. My go to nymphing rig has been a Beaver Blowtorch in a 14 trailed by either a Rootbeer or Ruby midge in 18. This bread and butter rig will get the job done most days for you. Play around with colors, as some days the Rootbeer wins, and some days the brighter Ruby gets more attention.
As always, olive micro jigs will get bit and there is always a rod in my boat rigged with one. We've also had great luck on various leech patterns both below indicators and stripped back slowly. Some days the fish seem to prefer a more active retrieve and others they want it suspended and slowly twitched.
As the weather warms up and terrestrial insects like grasshoppers and beetles become more active our topwater bit should be picking up. I've had a few fish come up to eat a small hopper recently and am excited for that trend to continue. Don't hesitate to hang a small beadhead like a Perdigon under your hopper.
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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