BEECH FORK
(720 Acres In Wayne County)
Two other good hybrid lakes are located to the west of R.D. Bailey and Bluestone. Beech Fork is one of them.

"Beech Fork is one of our more shallow lakes," said Zack Brown, the regional fisheries biologist responsible for the management of Beech Fork Lake. "It doesn't have a really deep channel in it. The maximum depth is about 35 feet. It covers about 720 acres. As far as shoreline features, there are two main arms that come together near the dam. There's the Beech Fork Arm, which is longer and more winding, and there is the Millers Fork Arm, which is pretty straight forward, pretty much a straight shot. It still has some decent standing timber in it."

Brown noted that last season Beech Fork had some significant levels of submergent vegetation present. Weed growth will vary from year to year, dependent on the amount of rainfall and type of weather. Dry, warm weather that equates to clear and stable water conditions benefits weed growth.

"Currently Beech Fork is going through an interesting time," Brown said. "Someone has introduced white bass into Beech Fork. They were not there before. They have taken off and are reproducing like gangbusters. We are evaluating things. We are going to have to change our regulations. Basically, our regulations prohibit the harvest of white bass. We feel that they (white bass) probably compete with hybrid stripers in their early life stage. I am concerned about that. It can also be difficult to identify between the two."

Perhaps not the best place to go to target numbers of hybrid stripers, but for someone willing to work to catch a large fish or two, it may be worth the effort.

"I wouldn't say Beech Fork is a particularly strong hybrid striper fishery right now, but it certainly does have some large individual fish," Brown said. "Several fish in the 5- to 8-pound range showed up in our netting surveys done last fall. They seem to be in excellent condition, but I am not sure how numerous they are. We have had several past years where we didn't do very well with hatchery production. There are some trophy hybrids out there, it's just going to take a little longer to find them."

Brown noted that stocking was good on Beech Fork the past two years, so a couple of good year-classes should make their way into the fishery in a year or two.

Again, the primary food source in Beech Fork is gizzard shad. Shad numbers have been up of late, which should bode well for the hybrid striper fishery.

"Gizzard shad have been very abundant the past three years," Brown noted. "We have seen very good shad production. I'm hopeful that this means the hybrids will have plenty to feed on."