Reading the Water at Beaver Lake

On November 8th, I went to Beaver Lake with a fishing buddy.  The WDFW had closed their public access on the lake, but we accessed the lake from a city park across the lake from the WDFW access.  [The city park road is about 50 yards from the lake, so one needs a dolly or be able to carry the boat that distance.]  The fishing was slow for the first hour or so.  We trolled around the lake and caught nothing but the bottom.

Mid morning the WDFW truck arrived and dumped a load of nice fish into the lake.  For those who have difficulty reading the water, that is a good sign.  Shortly, everyone was catching fish.  The problem for most was that the limit could only contain two fish greater than 15” in length; and the new fish were all larger than 15 inches.  We didn’t have a problem because of catch and release can be done with artificial lures/flies.  After about an hour, the fishing started to slow, but another truck arrived and the fishing became exciting again.  Shortly after noon, we decided we’d caught enough fish and left to get lunch.

— Dave Nielson, Club Member