October 16, 2026 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report
Fall is absolutely in the air this morning! Crisp nights and long sleeve day temps are on the horizon. Brown trout are starting to move around and showing up in different places. Read on below for an update on how things are looking out there.
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Fishing Report - Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions
First off - sorry for not getting a report out recently. I've been busy on the river and getting a long honey-do list knocked out. Between fishing and building fences, some irrigation work and a litany of other things I feel like the past month has been a whirlwind. And as one of my favorite regulars clients pointed out this week - I've been slacking on my fishing reports!
The river is in pretty good shape, but is lower than I'd like to see it. The water is startlingly clear right now, but another couple feet wouldn't hurt my feelings at all. Beaver Lake is currently sitting at 1112.6, just about 8 feet below the top of flood pool. The tailwater elevation is 916.3. SWPA has been giving some small releases of an hour or two in the late afternoons, but the mornings and most of the day has been a story of very low water. I'd expect this trend to continue until we get some meaningful rain, or major temperature changes. From a navigation standpoint, you can get right up to Spider Creek, but not any further in a jet. Even down low, there is a lot more gravel showing and you need to pay attention to the shallow spots and shoals.
Beaver Tailwater Rainbow Healthy Beaver Tailwater Rainbow Rick pulling on a Beaver Tailwater Rainbow First Fly Rod Fish!
What's Working
In a pattern that feels very familiar for Beaver on low water, midges have been the name of the game. I'm having the most consistent success with Ruby and Rootbeer midges in size 18 or 20. Further downriver, I'm sizing them up to a 16 in deeper stretches. I'm hanging the midge behind a variety of different nymphs and seeing success on a little bit of everything. Eggs are starting to get bit a little, but they are still functioning more as an attactor than a food source imitation. In deeper water, I'm fishing my midges behind small jig style buggers or micro jigs, and in water less than 3 feet I'm generally running a Sunday Special or Walt's worm as a point fly. I'd say I'm seeing 75% of my fish on midges right now though, regardless of water depth. In super skinny water, I've been fishing two midges under a small Palsa indicator and finding lots of success there.
Small streamers have been spotty for me, but have been catching a few fish. I haven't had the opportunity to fish the afternoon rise much, but I'd bet it would be a solid way to target some browns.
All in all, we are keeping rods bent and catching quite a few fish every day. It's a great time to get out there and enjoy some of this fall weather. My calendar is getting pretty full, so if you want to hop on the boat before winter sets in, get something booked up soon!
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.
Ruby Midge Zebra Midge WD-40 Midge
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