Tailwater · Limestone · Arkansas

Beaver Tailwater

Calm White River in Arkansas at dawn, with mist rising off the water and wooded Ozark hills along the far bank.

The Beaver tailwater is northwest Arkansas's home trout water — a short, cold tailwater below Beaver Dam that gives the Fayetteville, Springdale and Bentonville crowd a real trout river without the drive to the White.

Good · Brown Trout
Sulphur Comparadun · 16-18
Goodlive now
A proper day on the water
Low and clear — careful approach country. Stay small, stay accurate.
75% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelLiveTrend only — level not reported
  • Water temp9.3°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
SC
Sulphur Comparadun16-18
High-confidence seasonal pick
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
Live
Trend only — level not reported
Water temp9.3°C
ClarityClear
Weather26°C
WindS 9 km/h
Pressure1014 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.2 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Cool — slow
9.3°Cideal 1016°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 2 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
ModelledModerate confidence

Modelled from regional ecology — no survey or occurrence data for this water yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
SulphurHatch
2
3
2
Trico (Eastern)Hatch
2
3
3
2
Eastern Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Eastern Summer BWO (Drunella)Hatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Open all year
  • AGFC 2026 changes (effective 1 Feb 2026) affect the Beaver Tailwater — verify current rules against AGFC
  • Arkansas trout permit/licence applies.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 2
Gallery · 2
  1. Calm White River in Arkansas at dawn, with mist rising off the water and wooded Ozark hills along the far bank.
    Morning on the White River
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Beaver tailwater is northwest Arkansas's home trout water — a short, cold tailwater below Beaver Dam that gives the Fayetteville, Springdale and Bentonville crowd a real trout river without the drive to the White. It's a stocked-rainbow numbers fishery first, with a quieter brown-trout undercurrent for those who put in the time. Like every Ozark tailwater it lives and dies by generation: low water opens up the wading and the technical midge-and-scud fishing, while a release turns it into drift water. It's smaller and gentler than the White, which makes it a good place to learn the generation game without the big river's consequences — but the principle is the same. Check what the dam is doing first.

  • Limestone
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 77 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature87 × 28%24.4
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity62 × 12%7.4
Conditions total= 77
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Trout1 January31 December
Related guides
Booking & contacts