October 17, 2025 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report
- Ryan Burks
- Oct 17, 2025
- 4 min read
Our run of beautiful fall weather has continued and the extended forecast looks great overall. Beaver tailwater has been fishing wonderfully as the fish are really starting to move into fall transitional patterns more and more. Read on below for more details and information on the new regulation changes in effect for the next 120 days.
Want to get this report in your inbox each week? Sign up here!
Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions
Beaver Lake is currently holding steady at 1119.89 feet. This puts it below power pool and generation is only occurring to meet power demand. With our mild temperatures and a cool front moving through this weekend, I would expect minimal generation through the weekend and next week. The last push of water we got ended on Wednesday evening and there was no generation Thursday, and none scheduled for today. The river should be very accessible for wade fishing.
This week, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission enacted some emergency trout regulations for all the trout waters in our neck of the woods. This comes on the heels of a fish kill in the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. From what I understand, the fish kill was caused by low dissolved oxygen (D.O.)levels in Norfork Lake, where the hatchery pulls water from. The low D.O. was caused by a number of factors, including the lake "turning over". The lake turn over happens every year in the fall when the surface water begins to cool and become more dense. This water then sinks to the bottom of the lake and causes a drop in dissolved oxygen. The lake turnover this year was doubly difficult due to all the debris that was washed into the lake during the spring floods. The debris breaking down also contributes to lower oxygen levels.
How does all this effect Beaver Tailwater? The new regulations will call for the daily limit to be reduced to two trout that must be under 14". We will have to wait and see as to what the long term effects to the fishing will be, but for the immediate future I don't see much of an impact on how we fish. The amount of trout stocked will undoubtedly be reduced greatly over the next months, and I envision this meaning we will begin to see some more educated fish over the winter. On the bright side, fewer fish being harvested will hopefully give some of our fish the chance to grow a bit and may help out in the long run.
One of my concerns is the number of fish that will still end up dying to do bad catch and release practices. Bait fishing - powerbait, nightcrawlers, etc. - is particularly hard on fish. They tend to swallow it deeply, and every time I'm out on the river I catch or see at least one fish with line from a bait fisherman hanging out of either its mouth or the other end of it's digestion. I'm no expert, but I'd be highly surprised if a fish can survive that long term. I also want to point out that I'm no elitist and that I hold no grudge against anyone wanting to fish the way they see fit as long as it is within the law. Personally, I would love to see regulation that requires people to stop fishing with baits that trout often inhale (powerbait, dough baits, corn, worms, etc.) once they've reached the legal limit. I fear that over the winter I'm going to see a lot of fish that these emergency regulations are designed to protect for the future of our fishery dead on the bottom of the river after being "released" with a hook deep in them.
But for right now - the water is low, the weather is great, fish are moving and eating well. I hope we can all take this regulation change seriously and use it to reflect on how precious a resource we have and how delicate it can be.
What's Working
Enough with the serious talk above - let's get to what's keeping our rods bent right now. With the drop in water releases, the streamer bit is not completely gone, but is absolutely changing. I've had success by downsizing everything. Rather than running 4-6" flies, I'm finding success on micro sized streamers in the 1-2" range. Think wolly buggers and leech type flies. Rather than 8 weight rods, sinking lines and 12 pound leaders, I'm throwing these on 5 or 6 weight rods, light sink tips and 3x or 4x tippets. While I typically fish them under an indicator, stripping 1/124 oz micro jigs has been producing fish as well, and can be a welcome change of pace from watching the indicator.
From a nymphing standpoint, many of the staple flies are continuing to produce well. Size 18 or 20 Perdigons below a Tailwater Sowbug are still one of my favorite rigs. I'm beginning to see more success by trading out the sowbug for an egg and I expect the egg bite to get better every day for the next month. The 1/124 oz micro jig in olive or black has continued to shine. If you find yourself in choppy water that the wind has kicked up, this should be the first thing you grab.
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.
Thanks for putting some attention on the regs and safe handling on top of the always helpful report.