This shallow 130 acre lake is located about seven miles north of North Bend on the west side of the railroad tracks. Access is either by dirt road running along the tracks (access restricted) or through the sand dunes to the west shore of the lake. In the last decade, Beale has almost completely dried up and is just starting to produce fair numbers of decent-sized largemouth bass. It seems tha the low water years shrunk the bluegill and crappie populations and the brown bullheads and warmouths have never been numberous.. The smaller section along the tracks usually offers the poorest fishing, but handled the most recent drought better than the other sections of the lake.
The middle and west sections of Beale usually offer the best fishing and all the fish species are capable of reaching good size regarding their species. Small boats that can be carried are a real plus here. The afternoon wind is almost always a major problem for any fishermen. As of the fall of 2009, the numbers of bass weighing three or more pound seems to have increaseed to pre-drought levels, but the fishing pressure is still lower than it was before the drought years.
P Heley