September 05, 2025 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report

The lake is finally getting down to the target pool level from this spring's floods and fish are beginning to move into fall patterns and haunts. The weather has been great and the extended forecast looks like great weather for getting out and taking advantage of some early fall/late summer fishing.

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Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions

As of the time I am writing this we have still been getting consistent late morning or midday releases of 3770 cfs from the dam and lasting for right around 12 hours....but change is likely on the horizon. Beaver Lake is currently at 1121.74 feet, and the target is 1121.43 until the end of the month. Beginning October 1, the target will change to 1120.43 to allow a little more room for winter rains. What does all this mean for the generation schedule? When the lake level reaches the target level, control of generation switches over from the Corps of Engineers to Southwestern Power Administration and releases will be made for the sole purpose of generating electricity rather than flood control. We don't really know what will happen, but I would guess that within the next few days the lake will reach the target pool and we will see decreased generation to meet power demand. With the weather moderating and less demand for electricity there will likely be low and wadeable water for much larger portions of the day and generation starting up in late afternoon during the hottest part of the day. The only way to know for sure is to check the generation schedule before you go. It is posted around 4:00 pm for the next 24 hours, but on Friday they will publish the weekend schedule through Monday.

Click here to see the predicted generation schedule.

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What's Working

Not much has changed from last week with what's been working for me. During generation, a Y2K with either a Tailwater Sowbug (during times with clouds) or a Purple Haze (during brighter sunlight) as the dropper. Stripping small streamers has been very productive as well. I'm starting to catch more and more smaller male brown trout as they begin their early push into spawning areas. They are very aggressive right now and will readily hunt down streamers. It's a lot of fun and very visual, as you get to see the eats.

During low water in the early mornings, its still real hard to beat a  1/124 oz. and 1/80 oz. micro jig if there is any wind and chop on the water. When there is no wind, or when fishing in skinnier water a double midge rig has produced well. The Rootbeer Midge with an olive WD-40 was the winning combo again for me.

Guide Insights

We are getting closer and closer to fall every day, and I am starting to see some fall colors in the fish and the leaves won't be far behind. I am sure looking forward to some crisp mornings on the river. I'm not sure what the water levels will look like in the coming week, but that's all part of the game. I'm working on some cool new flies geared for lower water and should have them up on the website next week.