November 7, 2025 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report
- Ryan Burks
- Nov 7
- 3 min read
It sure is feeling like fall out there, with the leaves on fire and the fishing following suite. Fish are solidly into fall patterns and the bite has been pretty steady. The temps are dipping down at night and our first big cold front is coming later on this weekend. If you haven't already, its time to drag out those fleeces, hats and gloves from last winter!
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Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions
Beaver Lake is sitting at 1119.62 feet right now, a slight dip from last week, but not much of a change at all. The generation schedule has been a bit unpredictable. On Halloween, we saw a small release of about 475 cfs for a few hours. This week, Monday and Tuesday both saw releases that were not on the SWPA schedule. Tuesday saw a peak up around 4100 cfs and then shut down around noon. There has been no generation since then. The flows were a welcome change of pace, but the rising water picked up several weeks worth of leaves and pushed them down the river. As a result the fishing was a bit tough due to all the debris in the water. The fish were still eating, but the challenge can be to not get leaves on your flies every cast. The leaves are also making it the only time of year I dislike having a jet motor, as you have to stop every so often and get the leaves out of the intake. I suspect the leaf situation may be wrapping up soon, with below freezing temps and wind forecast for this weekend.
The dissolved oxygen in the river has rebounded nicely and has been staying well into the "good" zone the last several days and the fishing has reflected that. Water temps have been good, holding in the low 50's. Good water temps and oxygen = happy, hungry trout.
Right now, the water has been very clear above Bertrand, and a little bit of stain below. Don't let that discourage you, I've been doing very well downriver. Just because the water has a bit of color doesn't mean the fish stop eating, and they have no trouble finding small flies.
Who knows what the generation schedule for this coming week will look like. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some more water coming from the dam as the temperatures dip and demand on the electric grid increase. Be sure to check the schedule before heading out!
What's Working
Similar to last week the egg bite has been very good, and was great in the increased flows we saw midweek. When water is being released from the dam my go to rig was the Y2K with a Purple Haze Sowbug below it. I also had good luck with a large pink San Juan Worm instead of the Y2K. When we have a lot of orange and yellow leaves falling from the trees and being stirred up by generation, I tend to lean into something with pink rather than my typical oranges and yellows for attractor flies. It could be all in my head, but it seems like it stands out as something different than all the other orange and yellow in the water from the leaves.
In lower water, you can't go wrong with an egg and midge combo. Any number of midges have been working well for me. On sunny days, I tend to fish flashier flies and on duller days I like to fish bugs without much flash. As always, the 1/124 oz micro jig is tough to beat for putting fish in the boat. I am fishing olive in the upper river where the water is more clear, and black in the lower river where there is a bit of stain. Stripping small buggers is catching lots of fish right now as well. In the upper part of the river, I really like putting a small soft hackle about 18-20" behind the bugger.
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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