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Freshwater Shooting Live inland, away from the ocean? Tell us about freshwater hunting here.

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Old 08-01-2022, 03:19 PM   #1
geofri
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2022 - Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Hey All. Been way too long since I was active on the forums..

Popping in here as I have left the gulf of mexico, and traded it for some freshwater. I've moved out to northwest Arkansas for a work project.


Crazy small world, was a bit surreal to realize only after moving to the area that I ended up 20 mins from the lake where OutdoorCatholic died while diving. I vividly remember following along as the incident developed, this was when I still lived up north in Pennsylvania and was in my early 20's. Didn't remember what lake and where it happened.. just "somewhere out west".. A little sobering, and a great safety reminder every time I drop down through the thermocline.


I relocated here late may, and in June I shot my first striper off the kayak.




I also managed to meet a new buddy to dive with through a local fishing group on facebook(SB handle: Kalvinc )
He's been generous enough to take me out on his pontoon many times to chase striper on the lake. He hadn't done too much diving in Beaver lake before we met, and so we've been learning a lot together and we're starting to try to be selective and go for the larger fish.

Current bests for me and Kalvin are 42"/29lbs and 41.5"/27lbs.




If you dive in the area, hit me up. Would love to get to know more locals.
Kalvin and I have been mulling over the idea of organizing a get together/fun shoot in the near future. Maybe just a spear & grill day at the lake?

Sure wish more folks would ditch IG/facebook and come back to spearboard.
Has been such a vital component to my spearfishing journey, and I miss posting and lurking here!

Last edited by geofri; 08-01-2022 at 04:35 PM.
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Old 08-01-2022, 04:58 PM   #2
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

You say your striper was bigger.... but the picture tells a different story

It has been really fun learning how to hunt striper in freshwater. I can't wait for one of us to pass that 30 pound threshold. Then it will be the 40 pound mark....
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Old 08-02-2022, 08:34 AM   #3
Les Sage
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Congratulations on getting some freshwater Stripers!

You guys are enjoying what I have been doing for many years at Beaver. The more time you spend underwater, the more likely a huge one will swim by you. Several years ago, I held the IUSA world record for a Striper from that lake.

Glad to see some new spearos getting to shoot some of these beautiful fish. Pretty good eating also.

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Old 08-02-2022, 09:26 AM   #4
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Hey Kalvin glad to see you on here, it was nice meeting you while you were traveling through Colorado and Utah!
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Old 08-02-2022, 12:13 PM   #5
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Hey Spence! Man that was a fun trip, and quite the adventure. Next time I'm delivering some cabinets I'll have to see about diving with you guys again.
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Old 09-11-2022, 11:44 AM   #6
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Struggling to break that 30lb barrier, but I have seen some nice bass, and taken a few more.

With the water and air temps dropping( 79f during last dive), it seems like the fish are more active. Every school seems to be on the move, then a dive or two later nowhere to be seen. On drops when I get schooled, they seem to be swimming a lot faster than during the hotter summer months.

Early morning fish last week.


Late afternoon fish earlier this week.

Last edited by geofri; 09-11-2022 at 11:53 AM.
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Old 10-31-2022, 02:30 PM   #7
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Threw some clips together from this summers diving.

https://youtu.be/PXTqH4p5rjg
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Old 10-31-2022, 10:36 PM   #8
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

You guys are killing it! Nice fish!
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Old 11-01-2022, 08:10 AM   #9
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Those are nice. How would you describe the taste of stripers?
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Old 11-02-2022, 06:09 AM   #10
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyson Brown View Post
Those are nice. How would you describe the taste of stripers?
Better yet, has anyone tasted both ocean striper and landlocked striper? how do they compare?
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Old 11-14-2022, 09:27 PM   #11
geofri
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

Quote:
Originally Posted by North Star View Post
You guys are killing it! Nice fish!
Thanks! It's really amazing that this place is so under the radar. Part of me wants to keep it a secret, the other part wants to share this gold mine with others!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyson Brown View Post
Those are nice. How would you describe the taste of stripers?
I'm always bad at trying to describe fish.
I will admit, I've never liked large mouth or smallmouth bass. Just kinda "meh".. not bad, nothing wrong, not fishy or strong.. just sorta boring and like wet carboard(?). Maybe that's too far.. I know some love bass.

It's been a long learning curve with Stripers. My Go-to fish prep is simple. Butter, frying pan, & minimum spices(salt pepper and maybe a dash of Tony's creole). When I did striper this way it ended up soggy and quite disappointing.

I've since tried a number of methods..

Ceviche: excellent!
Grilled over charcoal: Quite good.
Beer battered and deep fried: Great!(but fried fish in general is just too greasy and heavy for me to do very often)

..realizing I have yet to describe how the fish actually is.. maybe someone can chime in and help me? I hve been spoiled over the past decade eating mostly snapper, grouper, mahi, wahoo.. and other saltwater species.

It's been a while... so someone call me out if this is ridiculous, But I might compare Striped Bass with Amberjack... maybe I'm crazy but it kinda matches up if my memory serves.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nilsonov View Post
Better yet, has anyone tasted both ocean striper and landlocked striper? how do they compare?
I'm VERY curious to know how it measures up.. Wish I had the chance to try side by side for comparison! Never tasted a saltwater striper.
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Old 11-15-2022, 08:04 AM   #12
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

interesting!
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Old 11-15-2022, 12:51 PM   #13
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Re: Shooting Stripers - Beaver Lake, AR.

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Originally Posted by Tyson Brown View Post
Those are nice. How would you describe the taste of stripers?
It does not taste much different however once you hit 25 pounds and up the quality goes down in my opinion atleast on the freshwater side. Fish that size are better for fish cakes and chowders. Just my .02
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