September 19, 2025 | Beaver Tailwater Fishing Report

Low water, it seems is here to stay for a while. We are easing into some great fall weather in the upcoming weeks and leaves are starting to get a little color in them. Brown trout are on the move, and our rainbows are getting colored up and as pretty as ever. It's a great time to get out on the water and enjoy some of my favorite season in Northwest Arkansas.

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Beaver Tailwater Levels & Conditions

Our generation pattern appears to have settled into around 4 - 6 hours of late afternoon generation every day starting around 2:00. I suspect this may taper off in the next week or two as temperatures moderate and power demand decreases. The water is still pretty clear, but we may see that change a bit as Beaver Lake above the dam turns over. The tailwater level has fallen to around 916.3. This is starting to expose some new structure and making it very important to know where you are and where obstacles are when motoring upriver, particularly above Spider Creek. This lower level is also starting to expose some mid-river structure in the deeper stretches below Highway 62, making for some great opportunities in the lower river.

Click here to see the predicted generation schedule.

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What's Working

Fly choice has changed drastically for me over the last month with the changing water levels. With more extended low water times, midges have been my bread and butter, particularly in shallow water upstream of Spider Creek. The staples like Ruby or  Rootbeer Midges are always great, but there have been some new bugs easing into my regular rotation. Yesterday we had a 50+ fish day on a small, size 20 Perdigon below a WD-40. I have these in all sorts of colors on the website, but the UV Sand color was the ticket. The Perdigon style of fly originated in Spain with tightline nymphing tactics, but they work just as well under an indicator in our slower water flows. What I've been really liking about them is that since they are heavy for their size (tungsten bead) and have a slim profile, the sink very quickly. This makes it easy to make small depth adjustments and really dial in to suspending your fly a few inches above the bottom. When you get that depth perfect...the fish will let you know.

I also wanted to highlight a few other things unique to low, clear water. It's important to use an indicator that is as small and light as you can get away with. I prefer the small adhesive Palsa indicators when I know I'll be fishing the same depth for a while, or the New Zealand yarn style indicators if I know I'll be making several adjustments. I also lengthen my leader out to somewhere around 12'. It really helps to keep that extra distance between your fly line and the fish on flat calm days in low water.

When fishing in a little deeper water, or anytime there is some wind chop the 1/124 oz. and 1/80 oz. micro jig is always a great bet. Tailwater Sowbug (during times with clouds) or a Purple Haze (during brighter sunlight) are also great when in the same deeper scenarios.

Eggs have not quite come into the daily rotation, but that time is coming soon.

Guide Insights

Fall is coming and brown trout will soon be spawning. While I recognize that if you are fishing in the fall and winter, you will be around spawning fish, please do the river a favor and leave fish actively spawning on redds alone. We need them to do their thing to make more babies, and spawning is hard work on them already. Fish behind the redds, to fish actively eating the eggs that naturally become disloged.

Watch your feet too, and don't walk through redds. It pretty much crushes and kills those eggs and eliminates alot of future brown trout.

Just say no to fishing redds.