I had a couple inexperienced trout anglers who wanted to get out on the boat and find success, so I got to play guide for a full morning. I've shore-fished twice at Beaver since the April stock and had some success, but could see all the fish rolling in the middle of the lake I couldn't reach with my cast. So, I was happy to finally hit Beaver in my boat.

I started out with an orange rooster tail lure on one rod and flashers with a wedding ring on another and worked on tying the third rod up while we trolled down the lake. Just before reaching the north end of the lake the rooster tail hit hard and the youngster in the boat reeled in our 1st of the day.

I threw a spoon on the third rod and we trolled for awhile with no action. Fish were surfacing everywhere on the lake all day, it was pretty unreal. Finally, the spoon got a few more fish in the boat. I eventually switched out all 3 rods to spoons and that proved to be a good idea. The hot spoon that day was a nickel/chartreuse Dick Nite. The thing was on fire.

We ended up with our limits by about noon and I was quite pleased to have such a successful trip with beginners on board.

Just about had a heart attack when bringing the boat in, though, as another angler was coming in they saw our big (but very legal) haul of trout and he says, "you guys know there's a size limit, right? 15 inches." I thought he was trolling me as I'm well aware of the regs for Beaver Lake and he says, "yeah, there's a 15" limit - at least there was last year." So, I start to panic and download the pamphlet quickly on my phone and scan through. Seeing as it's rather clearly a statewide rules lake, I feel relieved. He must have mis-read last year's 15" or larger 2 trout limit from last year's reg book. That guy has been throwing back everything under 15" for over a year, I think!!! No wonder there were so many surfacing that day! :)

Great day on the lake. I'm sure I'll head back for some fun catch & release action in the near future.