# Beaver Pond Experiences



## ChukarCountry (Feb 26, 2011)

For as long as I can remember I have loved fishing Beaver Ponds. To me it was one of the most challenging and rewading types of trout fishing. It seems every time that we go out we have a new experience of some kind. Whether it be running into a big bull moose, seeing how beavers behave in there enviroment or being chased out of a pond by a muskrat. Or even catching that trout that defies traditional thought of what a beaver pond can produce. What are some of you experiences? 

Thanks


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I remember one place in central Idaho we used to go every year for the opener. Timber Creek - at the head of the Pashimori Valley. The place was one beaver pond after another. Cuts and brookies. Most in the 8-10 inch range. Back in those days, I fished either small mepps spinners, or bait. The water in the ponds would be so clear, you could see the fish all across the pond as they chased the spinners. Then you could hesitate the retrieve, then a real hard spin on the old Mitchell 300 reel and they'd slam it. Great times. Looking back, how I wish I would have know fly fishing back then. But it was on these ponds I learned catch and release - out of necessity more than anything. If you didn't release most of what you caught, you'd have your limit of 6 fish before the first hour of fishing. 

And like you mentioned, every year we'd do our best to stay clear of the moose. Something about beaver ponds that attract moose like bugs to a light. I must have been about 12 or 13, and my Dad and I fished together and spent the morning trying to leap-frog our way around a cow moose and her calf. We tried staying a pond or two ahead of them, because once they came through the pond, the fishing was done until the silt and mud settled again. We got chased out of two ponds that day and my Dad left his old jean jacket on the dam of one of the ponds where we sat and ate our lunch. Great memories brother. Great memories.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Beaver ponds are special indeed. They are a mini eco-system of their own. When new and nutrient rich, they can surprise an angler with an exceptiponally large brookie or cutt. But eventionally they silt in and become sterile and the fish quality decreases. But soon, either upstream or down, the beavers do their work and the process begins again.
My memory takes me back about 35 years to a beaver pond on the headwaters of Otter Creek in Danel's Canyon above Koosharem Res. The pond was a couple miles up the canyon and the longest it took from the worm hitting the water to a bite was 35 seconds. Of coarse the fish were small, but as a kid, it was paradise.


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## HighmtnFish (Jun 3, 2010)

I have had some good times fishing beaver ponds as well. As a kid I spent many summer days fishing beaver dams up Fairview canyon. I would wade in mud up to my knees trying to sneak up on big cutts. It it some of the most exciting fishing a guy can have to sneak up on a nice fish then watch t come barreling after your lure. I would usually get so excited the first couple of ponds that I would jerk the lure out of the fish's mouth and usually get it tangled in some willows. It felt more like hunting than fishing. 
The best beaver pond I ever found was along the Sevier river. There was some springs along the river and the beavers dammed it up and some how a few browns got trapped in the beaver dam with some bait fish. These browns were big, some over 24 inches long. the first couple times we fished it we would spook them and that would be the end of it. So I got smart one spring day and belly crawled to the edge of the pond and flicked a jig in the general location of the deeper channel. As soon as the jig hit the water it sounded like an alligator hit it and "SNAP" my line was instantly severed. With shaking hands I tied on a new jig, and this time I loosened my drag way down. Cast out and WAM!!, that fish stripped off 30 yards of line in less than a second. It raced back and forth across that beaver dam stirring up mud and jumping 3 feet out of the water, finally after about 15 minutes of extreme combat I was holding a 23 inch brown. My family and I have had some good times in that beaver pond, caught some wall hangers, missed some too. 3 or 4 years ago the dam was breached and now it's no more than a stinky mud pit.


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## trout bum (Oct 5, 2010)

Gotta love'em. There is a certain drainage on the north slope of the Uintas that I have been frequenting ever since I was little. It is a long dirt road to get to our favorite camp site and the area is very wet with small spring fed streams trickling down off the mountain. Along one stretch of the road, one of these streams is dammed off with a little beaver dam and it sits back 30 or 40 yards from the road. Regretfully I never stopped to investigate being too anxious to get to my destination and start my weekend. However I always wondered if the pond was as deserted as it seemed and since I had never seen anyone fishing it, wondering was as far as I ever got. One day last summer I finally decided to stop and check it out and to my ultimate surprise the little pond was full of the most vibrant colored brookies I have seen and a small population of cutts. I ran back to the truck, grabbed my fly rod and within minutes I had one of those brookies on a tiny cinnamon ant. The place was like a dream. I now take every precaution I can too keep the fragile little pond(or at least the fact that there are fish in it) a secret by sneaking in and sneaking out and releasing everything I catch so that next summer I can return and re-live it. I have since learned from my mistake of ignoring the pond or any other beaver pond I come across for that matter. Beaver ponds are jewels.


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## ChukarCountry (Feb 26, 2011)

brookieguy1 said:


> They are a mini eco-system of their own. When new and nutrient rich, they can surprise an angler with an exceptionally large brookie or cutt. But eventionally they silt in and become sterile and the fish quality decreases.


I have read a few studies stating this same thing. But every year for the last 60 years we have a family reunion on the South Slope. The Beaver Ponds at this location have been there longer then that and they have been producing fish consistently every year. Until 10 years ago at the height of the production of those ponds the DWR blew up the dams (this dams were huge some reaching 10 feet high). Just in the last few years the beavers rebuilt the ponds big enough to start sustaining trout again. Though there has been a lack of good fishing there the last decade it has been fun to watch the beavers rebuild there eco-system.

I grew up fishing these ponds. Now, with the invention of Google earth I find myself in the winter scouting drainage looking for hidden ponds.

What is the biggest fish you have caught out of a beaver pond?

I have caught a legitimate 20" Brook Trout in May of 2009.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Most of my experiences with beaver ponds have ended in my getting soaked to the bone.

When I was 13, I went with a friend for a weekend of fishing in the mountains between Scofield and Strawberry. We hit those streams hard. Lots of pretty cutts. But the biggest event of the trip was when I broke through a beaver dam and went in to my waist. 

A couple years ago Bax* and I went up Big Cottonwood canyon to fish for a few hours while the wives went to a baby shower. It was July, but the water was still running kinda high. We figured we could wet-wade it (learned later its against the watershed rules). We had fun catching a few small browns and brookies on the flyrod, and were ready to leave. We only covered 100 yds or so, and since we started downstream from where we parked, we figured we could walk straight back across through the willows to the truck. BIG mistake. We ended up in mud and water up to our yodels. Soaked and muddy to our waists, we drove home.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

ChukarCountry said:


> brookieguy1 said:
> 
> 
> > They are a mini eco-system of their own. When new and nutrient rich, they can surprise an angler with an exceptionally large brookie or cutt. But eventionally they silt in and become sterile and the fish quality decreases.
> ...


Probably a 16" cutt. A 20" brook from a beaver pond is a fine accomplishment. If he had any girth to speak of, it had to be one of a low population pond. P.M. sent.


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## ChukarCountry (Feb 26, 2011)

Is this all that we have? If so I would suggest that this summer some of you guys who haven't fished a beaver pond get some wadders and try. Take it slow and watch where you cast. It is one of the funnest things to fish.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

I agree completely. Beaver ponds have always been a treat since I got back into fishing. There are some fine ponds along the Strawberry River, below the Soldier Creek dam about a half mile and further. Those were some of my first, along with a couple of tiny ones along the Provo near Upper Falls. There were some pretty good fish in those. I have a few areas in mind for some beaver pond exploration this year.

My favorite one silted in last year. It was on Daniel's Creek along HWY 40. It was rough getting to it, regardless of its proximity to the road.

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The usual catch were small cutthroats or browns but I caught a couple of decent fish from there, including a gorgeous rainbow.

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What haunts me most is the big one that teased me and gave me a really good glimpse. I was tossing my blue fox right up to the next dam in the only deep spot underneath it. My lure was visible the whole time, so it seemed like the beast came from nowhere, coming into view about 6 feet out.

A huge spawn colored male brown barreled toward the hook and actually frightened me into jumping a little. Perhaps that is what took his attention off my lure because he immediately broke his course for the the spinner, slowed down and calmly swam by me. I got a really good look at him and was shocked by the deep color and sheer size.

I'm not exaggerating when I say his head was at least 3 inches wide and my best guess on length would be around 25". Especially since I tend to underestimate their size until I get them out of the water and into my hands. It was massive.

Unfortunately, that was the last look I ever got of it. Many repeat visits followed and a bit of an obsession bad enough that I'd chip 2 holes through the ice with a rock when it froze, just to get skunked.

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It was about 3 inches thick. My right hand was useless for a week because of that.

Nowadays, the pond is very shallow and silted in. It's hard to get anything to bite, let alone the lunker. So sad.

I've got some beaver ponds in Wayne, Sanpete, Utah, and Carbon Counties to check out this year. Looking forward to it!


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## ChukarCountry (Feb 26, 2011)

Loah, that is awesome! I have never thought about chipping ice with a rock to get at the one that got away. Also, great pics.


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

The occasssional beaver pond is okay. I think they can provide the deeper water needed to sustain larger fish on some very small streams. But, I have also seen beaver ruin a whole length of stream. The dams do silt in and the silt can become so thick that it covers the spawning gravel and also affects the types of bug populations on the streams. One particular stream has been ruined with consecutive beaver dams. It is nothing more than a series of ponds end to end. I think a stream needs areas of riffle and runs and pockets to provide a diversity of habitat. The giant stoneflies that used to hatch in this area are all gone and while there are some big trout, I think the biggest ones have become snake like because the bigger insects and food items are now gone. This is a sad deal. The DWR spend money to go in and restructure thei area with riffles, runs, pockets and pools only to have the beaver ruin it all. So yes, the occassional beaver dam is okay, but those varmints can also ruin good habitat. I say trap some of them out and blow the dams up.


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## ChukarCountry (Feb 26, 2011)

HighNDry said:


> The occasssional beaver pond is okay. I think they can provide the deeper water needed to sustain larger fish on some very small streams. But, I have also seen beaver ruin a whole length of stream. The dams do silt in and the silt can become so thick that it covers the spawning gravel and also affects the types of bug populations on the streams. One particular stream has been ruined with consecutive beaver dams. It is nothing more than a series of ponds end to end. I think a stream needs areas of riffle and runs and pockets to provide a diversity of habitat. The giant stoneflies that used to hatch in this area are all gone and while there are some big trout, I think the biggest ones have become snake like because the bigger insects and food items are now gone. This is a sad deal. The DWR spend money to go in and restructure thei area with riffles, runs, pockets and pools only to have the beaver ruin it all. So yes, the occassional beaver dam is okay, but those varmints can also ruin good habitat. I say trap some of them out and blow the dams up.


I guess what they say is true "Everything in moderation" I don't think anyone here would take 100% beaver ponds versus 100% streams. I do know of several beaver ponds that have been productive for serveral decades that provide an important ecosystem and I know of streams that I wouldn't trade for almost anything.

I guess my thought is as long as a body of water is productive it is worth something to someone.


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