dpitt

After a rain over the weekend, we're seeing an increase of flow from Table Rock here on Lake Taneycomo.  The release rate was a half unit or about 3,400 cubic feet per second, but it has increased to two full units at 7,000 c.f.s. flow.  Beaver Lake rose about a foot while Table Rock only rose about nine inches.
We are looking at a pretty big rain moving through today and Thursday  with a possible rain amount of three to four inches over the whole watershed.  That would add as much as three feet of rise to both lakes above us and increase our flow to four full turbines for a couple of weeks.  We will have to see how close the forecast is for the White River Watershed. 
We have to remind ourselves that it is spring time and rains like this are common.  I think we've been fortunate so far, not getting these rain events that just sit on us for days.  We are thankful.

Trout fishing has stayed pretty consistent the last couple of weeks with a lot of rainbows in the upper lake right now.  We've seen lots of what we call  stocker rainbow that average about 12 inches long.  You can distinguish a stocker from a rainbow that's been in the lake for some time by its dull coloring.  Rainbows that have been in the lake are clear, colorful and usually pretty plump.

We're still finding these stockers in the creeks in downtown Branson.  Turkey Creek has been the hottest with Coon and Roark  close behind.  Fish something, almost anything under a float about five-feet deep and the trout will nab it.  The Berkley pink worm is good, but so is a Mega Worm in white or pink.  Use a small jig head and put a piece of night crawler on it, or a Gulp egg.  Four-pound line is fine as far as line but two-pound is better, especially if the creek gets really clear.
Yesterday's One Cast features Blake concentrating on the Cooper Creek flats.  They found quite a few hungry trout.
The moss is getting pretty thick on the bottom of the lake and it's a pain when trying to drift something like Power Bait or night crawlers.  I took out some friends from Mount Valley, Kansas over the weekend and we drifted night crawlers from the mouth of Fall Creek down to our place, Lilleys' Landing.  I rigged their lines with 4-pound line, a #8 short shank bronze hook and a small split shot about 24 inches above the hook.  The trick was using a size B shot which is pretty light, but heavy enough to get the worm to the bottom.  Then if we didn't get bit, we'd reel in and check for moss after a couple of minutes.  It didn't take long for the moss to accumulate.  We caught plenty of rainbows.  The best stretch though was from Trout Hollow down to our dock.
Captain Bill Babler reported catching some real nice rainbows using a Mop Fly (sometimes called a Mega Fly) from Lookout to the Narrows.  He's using it under an indicator 6 feet deep.  The best color is white but he said pink is working too.  For line or tippet he's using 5x or 4-pound line.
 

January is almost half gone, and we've yet to see any down water on Lake Taneycomo.  Table Rock Lake had lowered to 913 feet, two feet below powerpool, but after a couple of rains, it has jumped up to over 916 feet.  Beaver Lake is in better shape at only one foot over pool, but water is running at Beaver Dam 24/7 which is adding to Table Rock's volume.
Today, Table Rock's flow bumped up from two to three units, 6,000 to 9,600 cubic feet of water per second.  Table Rock has crested and is starting to fall just a bit.  I would guess we'll see this flow for about a week, then a dropping in volume until Table Rock is back down to 913 feet.  Whether or not we'll see any periods when the water is all shut off remains to be seen.


We hosted a private trout tournament Saturday in which 47 two-man teams competed for cash prizes and plaques.  The generation was about 6,000 c.f.s. of flow all day.  The trophy area and feeder creeks were all off limits, but live bait was allowed.  The weigh in was eye-opening.  Big trout after big trout were brought up for weighing.  At least 10 trout topped 20 inches, including two brown trout, and many rainbows weighed over two pounds.  We've never hosted a tournament in 30+ years with these kind of weights.
There are a couple of things to take away from this display:  Catch and Release works!  And the Missouri Department of Conservation management plan is growing big trophy trout on Lake Taneycomo.  In 2020, we had 531 trophy trout (20-inches and longer) registered as caught and released.  That's an incredible number.  And in 2018, M.D.C. reduced the number of rainbows stocked from about 720,000 to 560,000.  Reducing the number of mouths to feed in the upper lake gives trout more to eat, and they are growing bigger.
Most of these nice rainbows and the two keeper browns were released, although anglers were not required to do so.  A few of them were either kept or the fish not survive.

As far as I can tell, these trout were caught in various parts of the lake in a numbers of ways.  I think most were caught on artificial lures and some on bait.  I heard jerk baits were very productive, either throwing and jerking them back or dragging them on the bottom.  Jigs were good.  Black and brown colors were mentioned by several people.  And even spoons down by the Branson Landing netted some good fish.  I just think it was a good fishing day -- the fish were biting!  And there were a lot of hooks out there for the offering.
With this present flow, I'd be more apt to drag something on the bottom rather than working a jig or spoon, at least on the upper lake including the Trophy Area.  Getting your offering on the bottom will take a bit more weight, but that's where it needs to be.  For flies and lures, scuds, eggs and San Juan worms versus a medium-size, suspending stick bait should work best.  And I'd consider dragging these not just from the dam to Short Creek but on down past Cooper Creek.
If you're going to throw marabou jigs, go with an 1/8th-ounce and work the banks.  White is still a good color, but I'd also try black/brown and other earth colors.

It happened!  Generation at Table Rock Dam on Lake Taneycomo was shut down this morning at midnight and it was left off for 11 hours.  That means we had no generation this morning and I found trout fishing pretty good.  I believe this is going to be our new generation pattern at least for this week.  And as Table Rock and helpfully temperatures drop, this slow down will keep going the right way.
Table Rock is now below 917 feet, only 2 feet above it's seasonal power pool but Beaver Lake is 4 feet high and it's dropping very slowly.
I got out and fished early this morning.  Boated to the Narrows and found the water level about what it should be with no generation.  And there was just a little bit of current, just like I like it.  But the trout weren't too interested in taking much of what I was offering.  I did catch a few nice rainbows but nothing like I believe it will be in a day or two.
It usually takes our trout a day or so to get used to a "new normal" in regards to changing generation patterns.  They have to find their nitch, and when they do they'll start feeding normally.
I did catch rainbows on a #14 tan scud (Hunt's perfect scud) as well as a #16 primrose & pearl (P&P), both under a float about 3-4 feet deep.  I saw other guides doing much better than me using a white thread jig under a float.  I did throw a jig but had no success.
I visited with someone today who said fishing for his party off the Lazy Valley dock has been exceptional this year, catching quality rainbows on night crawlers.  That's been the best bait by far - worms.  And now that the water isn't running in the mornings, it's very important to inject a little air in the worm to make them float off the bottom.
Our water is still very clear but I think using 4-pound line for most things is still ok.  But later in the fall, we usually start going to lighter line and tippet... just not yet.
I was excited to report dry fly fishing was very good in the mornings with 1-2 units running but that's changed.  I will continues to try different dries and see if I can establish a new pattern.  We'll see.
The rest of my report would only be speculative.  I would think fishing a pink worm under a float would work in the mornings but that remains to be seen.

The days of no generation may be over for now.  We've seen the dam operators moving some water the last few days from lake to lake, even though the White River at Augusta, Arkansas is still at flood stage.  With no rain in the foreseeable future, we may see more and more water running through Lake Taneycomo.
We've been seeing about 6,000 cubic feet per second of flow for most of the day lately with a bump up to 12,000 late in the afternoon.  That's 2 units to 4 units worth of water.  There's really no way to know if this pattern will continue but for now it seems reasonable to think it will.
Trout fishing has been just ok.  There are days though it has been real stinky!  Early and late, of course, is the best times to fish.  Most of our guides are on the water by 5:30 am and the bite is good for a couple of hours.  Then they have to work for fish.
Most of the guides are either drifting a Berkley pink powerworm just on a hook on the bottom or on a small jig head under a float.  The pink worm is actually catching some big trout.  This little gal caught a trophy brown trout using her kid pink fishing rod.

Anglers are catching mainly rainbows drifting night crawlers and power eggs.  And we've heard all colors are good except red or pink, which makes no sense because the pink worm is working better than power eggs.  It must not be the color.  Best area to drift is Lilleys' Landing down through the bridges.  Stay in the middle when drifting because there's a lot of old, sunken dead trees on the edges of the lake.
Right now there's a ton of stocker rainbows in the Branson Landing area.  They're being caught on the Berkley pink worm on a small jig head under a float 5-7 feet deep.
I personally haven't tried drifting minnows lately and we haven't sold many but I would think drifting them on the bottom should catch trout, especially brown trout, seeing all the browns being caught right now.
 
Trophy brown trout are still being caught at various areas of the lake on bait and lures.  I've been asked why does it seem all of a sudden we're seeing so many big browns being caught.  The short answer is I don't know.  But it does coincide with an increase of trophy rainbows which I believe is a result of constant flow of water from Table Rock over the past 2+ years.  The food base in Taneycomo (plankton, scuds, midges, sculpins, small forage fish) stays much healthier when the water is running verses when there's long periods of no generation.
We've had reports of browns being caught on the pink worm, night crawlers, marabou jigs (white, sculpin/ginger and sculpin/peach), Doty's custom painted jerk baits, MegaBass 110+ jerk baits and other jerk baits, and smaller jerk baits drifted on the bottom, mainly in the trophy area.
Trophy rainbows are also being caught, mainly in the trophy area though.  They being caught on scuds drifted on the bottom, jerk baits and marabou jigs (same colors).  Last count, we were up to 55 - 20-inch trout or bigger registered as catch and release trophies for the month of June but I know Blake caught a 24-inch brown last night close to Lookout Island.
https://lilleyslanding.com/trophy-catch-release/
Drifting scuds on the bottom is just ok... there's a lot of algae on the bottom and cakes up the fly.  You need to reel in and check it pretty often.
 

Note:  This report will be current for as long as the gates are open, which may be for most of the month of June.
We've gone from very little generation to a torrent.  But this was predicted.  It was easy to see coming.  When the lakes filled up, they would have to release.  And they are... at the tune of 17,800 cubic feet per second.  This might sound like a big release, it isn't.  Four full units is about 15,000 c.f.s. so this is just a little more.  They are releasing 12,300 through their turbines and 5,500 over 5 spill gates presently.  More fun facts -- the water temperature of the lake water coming through the turbines is 49.5 and the water coming over the gates is 62 degrees.
Table Rock Lake's level just dipped below its flood pool level.  It's at 930.90 feet, dropping a whopping 0.1 feet in the last 12 hours.  Beaver is still releasing about 7,300 c.f.s. of water and its level is a full foot below flood pool at 1128.96 feet.  This flow from Table Rock Dam probably won't decrease for many weeks, seeing it needs to drop more than 16 feet and Beaver needs to drop about 10 feet. 
At this time, there is no measurable rain in the 7-day forecast which is a good thing.  I'm sure that will change, and any precipitation will only lengthen the period of time of water release at our dams.  As I reported in my last fishing reports and our conversations on One Cast, enjoy the low water we had the last couple of weeks because it would be the last for the duration of the summer.
Heavy flows are here to stay for this summer season.
Fishing from the bank or dock will be tough on the upper end of the lake.  There's a few spots around the hatchery outlets below the dam where you can catch fish but it is in the trophy area so you're limited to flies and lures -- no soft plastics and nothing that smells.  And yes, night crawlers smell!  We've had a rash of poachers fishing below the dam with bait and keeping all kinds of fish, most illegal trout.  And now we'll see people fishing above the cable at the dam which is also illegal -- and dangerous.  But our agents aren't too busy with deer or turkeys now so they have a lot of time to check these areas.  And know this -- there are a lot us who have cell phones with camera, and the number to our local agents.  A picture of a license plate and the poachers go a long way to prosecute, even if they are "caught red handed" at the scene.
Here are their phone numbers.  Best to text them.  My experience with texting them is that I rarely get a response, and that's ok with me.  They may not be on duty or able to drive to the location at that time.  But they will respond if they are able to.
Quinten 417-294-5543
Chris 417-546-0833
Operation Game Theft 800-392-1111
With any amount of generation, there are some things that you should not do safety wise.  Don't use anchors in fast current.  Don't drift into trees or docks - watch where you're going and plan ahead when drifting in current.  Watch out for kayakers and other boats.  WATCH YOUR WAKE!!  We've seen some big boats on the lake lately.  I think they call them wake boats.  Unlike Table Rock, Taneycomo is small and narrow.  Plus we have alot of smaller boats that can be swamped with one big wake.  Over the weekend, we had one report of a smaller v-bottom boat pulling up to the cable below the dam and dropped an anchor.  When the anchor caught the bottom it almost throw one person out of the boat.  They had to cut the anchor rope so that the boat wouldn't be swamped.  Think!!!  It's also not worth it fishing wise either.  There is slower water close to the bank one can anchor in but be very smart about it.  Drag chains - same thing.  If they catch on the bottom while the boat is drifting at 6 m.p.h. the jolt will send everybody to the deck and/or the side of the boat.
Fishing...  scuds are king once again.

These are scuds (freshwater shrimp) from the bellies of 3 rainbows caught yesterday by clients of Tony Weldele.  They were drifting from Fall Creek down using scuds and doing quite well.  We've been seeing large schools of scuds along our banks and in the pond weed beds before heavy generation started this weekend.  And in high water events in the past, we've seen this happen where scuds I guess are dislodged from their environment and are eaten by trout.  So we are drifting using scud flies and do extremely well.
Using 4-pound line, we are drifting #12 scuds either on a drift rig or carolina rig.  Use a quarter-ounce weight when drifting from the dam down to Lilleys' Landing and a 3/16-ounce weight from Lilleys' Landing down lake.  The water slows down enough to warrant less weight from Lilley's down.  If you use too much weight, you'll get snagged on the bottom a lot.  But one thing is for sure -- you have to have the fly on the bottom to get bit.  Scud colors make somewhat of a difference.  Of course gray is their natural color but as you can see from the image, they are a brownish/olive color too so we use those colors too.
I used a scud yesterday dubbed with a material called rainbow scud dubbing and did pretty well, especially below Fall Creek.  I was having a hard time staying on the bottom.  What I should have done is add a small split shot to the line just above the bell weight.  This is an easy and quick way to adjust your weight.
Drifting night crawlers and minnows on the bottom from Lilley's down lake is catching some trophy browns lately too.  We used a #6 or #8 hook, 3/16-ounce weight and 4-pound line.  No need to inject air in the worm... it will stay off the bottom with this much current running.
Orange PowerEggs have been the hot PowerBait lately.  Drifting in the Monkey Island area down through Branson Landing is producing some nice limits of rainbows.  Also throwing Cleos and other small spoons... but let them drop down a bit before reeling.  Vary the speed of retrieve too.  Freshly stocked rainbows are prone to chase and the stocking boat has been out stocking rainbows quite a bit lately down in the Branson Landing area.
In the trophy area, I've already covered drifting scuds on the bottom.  Some of our guides are also using San Juan Worms, shad flies and egg flies along with the scuds.  You can use a double rig, tying on 2 flies about 12 inches apart.  The only bad thing is if you snag and lose your rig, you lose 2 flies instead of one.   When drifting more than one drift, pick different paths each time you drift down, especially if you're not catching very many.  Also, I pay attention to my running path up lake.  I don't like to run over the same water I'll be drifting down.  And of course, try to be curious to those who are fishing when running.

Drifting small jerk baits I believe will become more and more effective as this flood gate event goes on.  More and more shad will enter the lake and these small lures are just the thing to catch some big trout.  Use a floating jerk bait about 2.5 to 3 inches long in shad colors.  Any brand will do.  Less expensive is better because you will lose some lures.  Rig them using a drift rig or carolina rig.  Start with an 1/8-ounce weight and add weight if needed.  Four-pound line is fine, even 6-pound isn't too heavy.
Throw a suspending jerk bait for big trout.  Early and late in the day are the best times.  Anywhere from Rockaway Beach to Table Rock Dam is the best place, and not even against a bank like we usually fish.  We've been seeing big trout come from the middle of the lake.  The trophy area has been hot, as well as the Cooper Creek Flats.
Baits - Suspending Rouges, MegaBass 110+, Duane's Custom Baits, Smithwick Stick Baits... all will work.  Make sure they dive more than 8 feet deep and are suspending.  Use a snap swivel for best action (make sure it's a strong swivel and not a cheap one... they do break).

With the spill gates open, there are warm water species of fish coming in to Taneycomo from Table Rock.  Seeing a lot of smallmouth bass and white bass caught.  This is pretty much at random but they are hitting white jigs along the bank in the slower water.

Images cutesy of Becky and Seth Garrison who enjoyed a week fishing Lake Taneycomo.  Scud image cutesy of Captain Tony Weldele, Rainbow Chasers Guide Service.
 

What a week makes in time.  This week on Lake Taneycomo, the water is off, no generation.  And even my good friends and fishing guides are asking, "why???".  It's pretty simple really.  Everything downstream is flooded and there's no place to move the water to without adding to the flood waters.
There are 2 reasons why the dam operators would start moving serious water through the White River System:
Rainfall runoff would take all 3 lakes to their flood pool levels or The flood waters on the White River at Newport, Arkansas drop to safe levels. Here's some links to sites that are worth watching:
https://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/bulsdam.htm
https://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/newport.htm
https://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/reports/remote/white.htm
This one shows, among other things, the percentage of storage for each lake.  We normally go by lake level (feet) but when managing the lakes, the Corps goes by percentages.
Beaver - 86% Table Rock - 56% Bull Shoals - 88% As you can see, Table Rock Lake has the most room for runoff.  Of course, Taneycomo is just a pass-through lake.
At the Newport (Ar) gage, you can see it is at 24 and flood stage is 26 feet.  Regulating stage is 12 and the 5-year average is 19 feet.  As this drops, Bull Shoals will be allowed to release water from its dam and thus starting the chain reaction at the other days... moving water through the system.  But this won't happen until the White drops out through the Mississippi River.
We're hoping for a dry spell all through the White River Basin.
For now, we're seeing either no generation or just a little generation during the afternoon this week.  This is a nice change of pace for those who like to fish slower water, or those of us who live to fly fish, we can get out and wade.  And yes, fly fishing has been excellent.
I've been boating up to the Narrows and Lookout Island, getting out of the boat and wading those areas and fishing a scud, namely a Perfect Scud we carry in the shop made by Jeremy Hunt.

I'm fishing a #14 gray using 4x tippet and a small hard foam indicator about 2 to 4 feet deep.  The fly is weights and I really don't need a split shot, especially if the water isn't running.  There are lots of great quality rainbows at the Narrows right now, as you can see in this video I shot the other day.
Watching this on your phone won't give you the full value of this video.  The best way to get the most out of it is to go home and watch it on a big screen TV and turn off all the lights.  You'll see rainbows beating the gravel for scuds and sow bugs, you'll see them pick them off as they drift down... you'll even see one fish chomp on some rocks and when he spits them out, a small scud comes out of its mouth too.
Yes I did run my scud in front of the camera... that was the point of the video.  And I did catch a couple in the first 3 minutes.  But I got so much more out of just filming the actions of the rainbows as they went about their business rooting out bugs from the moss and gravel.
I did catch a lot of rainbows, no browns, on the #14 Perfect Scud both Monday and Tuesday.  But I think any other scud pattern will work.
In this video, I shot scuds that were trapped in a pool of water.  Note the orange in the body.  I think it wouldn't hurt to tie a little orange in the body of your fly.
I also caught rainbows on a #14 root beer Zebra Midge under an indicator fished any where from 3 to 5 feet deep, 6x tippet.  But I had fun stripping a yellow #14 soft hackle on Monday.  it was pretty windy and the chop on the water was perfect for stripping anything.  I bet a wooly would have worked too.
The slow water has put the kabosh on the big brown trout party.  Blake has been going out and throwing a jerk bait but it isn't as hot as it has been.  Duane's client have been throwing it early with a little success but most of the brown they're seeing are chasing and not hitting and the ones that are hitting and hooked are lost.  The best bite is the first and last 60 minutes of daylight.
The brown jig with an orange head is reportedly one of the best colors this week, along with the black jig.  The trophy area is doing pretty good and so is the Short Creek area.  If the water is off, throw a 1/16th-ounce using either 2- or 4-pound or throw a 1/32nd-ounce jig with 2-pound line.
Night crawlers has been good for some and poo for others.  I personally have a love-hate relationship with them.  They bite them but I can't get a good hook set of them.  But there's been nice trout caught this week so far on them.  Tubby Johnson from Oklahoma caught this nice 22-inch brown on a worm one evening this week fishing with his grandson, Hunter.

Power Eggs are working when the water is running.  An orange/white combination did well for those drifting from Cooper Creek down to Monkey Island.
The Berkley Pink PowerWorm on a small jig head fished under a float 5 to 6 feet deep down around the bridges and the Branson Landing has been "gold" for most of the fishing guides.  Duane's clients the other day landed 22 "doubles".  That's when both clients have fish on at the same time.  Use 2-pound line for best results but 4-pound is probably ok.

This report is pretty photo heavy, short on text fishing report for Lake Taneycomo.  You'll see why.
As of Monday morning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was running 5,000 cubic feet per second of water over five spill gates and about 10,000 c.f.s. of water through three turbines.  This is a reduction of 5,000 c.f.s. of water because Table Rock's lake level dropped below 920 feet.  Beaver Lake is still more than eight feet above its seasonal power pool, but officials are running water through their turbine, and it is dropping but very slowly.  Bull Shoals has risen more than 20 feet since the rains started over a month ago, but operators there are now running between 17,000 and 21,000 c.f.s. of water so may be they'll drop it to decent levels by summer time.
The lack of boats on our lakes is so very strange.  Marsha and I were on Table Rock around Clevenger last evening and watched one single sail boat out to enjoy the lake alone.  I'm sure they were amazed, too.  No wakes, just smooth water.  Some days here on Taney, we don't see a boat go up lake until mid morning.  So you'd think we wouldn't have much to talk about or to refer to for reports.  But that's not the case.  We have lots to report.
Last week when the Corps opened five gates three feet wide to accommodate divers diving on the lake side of the dam to make repairs, it sent a lot of shad into our lake.  Some were stunned and floating down, but there were a lot that came over live.  We believe these huge schools of shad made their way down lake while our trout ambushed them as they swam by.  There are a few guides out and other anglers, as well as Blake and Duane targeting these fish, drifting a variety of shad flies, jigs and lures in areas that we don't usually fish.  And the results are eye-opening.












Almost every day, it seems, someone sends us an image of a trophy brown or rainbow -- and that's with very few anglers actually fishing the lake.  I'm not sure we've seen this many big browns caught in one week, let alone within 24-36 hours.
The only other thing I can report is that the fish some guides are cleaning, coming from below Fall Creek, have been packed full of scuds.  Now we've tried drifting scuds and San Juan worms and haven't done that well, but with the slower flow we might start having more success with them.
While we are sure missing our spring anglers, we appreciate everyone taking the needed safeguards to curtail the virus so that everyone can  enjoy health -- and some great fishing memories in the future.
Credit Captain Steve Dickey for images.  https://www.facebook.com/www.anglersadvantage.net/

I have written fishing reports on the internet for Lake Taneycomo for the past 25 years . . .   but this report feels very eerie.  Why?  Because I'm not really writing for anyone who's coming to fish the lake anytime soon.  For that reason, I have to write it coming from a different perspective.  May be it will look the same. . . I don't know.

The whole White River basin received a big rain on Friday, one that was not forecast.  Most of the area received four inches of rain while some netted six inches or more.  Beaver Lake jumped up past its flood pool of 1,130 feet so officials have been dumping more than 16,000 cubic feet of water per second since Saturday morning.  That lake is now below 1,129 feet, falling fairly rapidly.  But this, in turn, is adding to Table Rock Lake.  Last time this happened, officials cut back on the release when Beaver hit the 1,128.5 feet mark which will be today.  We'll see what they do.

Table Rock has come up over six feet since Friday and is still rising about four inches a day.  Dam operators are running 20,000 cubic feet of water per second through Table Rock Dam presently and will continue for at least a week.  This is while the weathermen are forecasting more rain this week -- up to two inches in some places.  Table Rock's level is up over 923 feet.
 I think our flood gates at Table Rock Dam have been opened more in the past year than any other year in its history.  Now I don't have statistics to back that up, but since they were open quite a lot in October through December and then again in February and now March, I'd say I'm safe with that assumption.  Besides a good run last March and a few here and there  other times, we've haven't seen threadfin shad coming over the top.  Not until this week.
Starting Tuesday of last week, shad started pouring over the spill gates in Lake Taneycomo, delighting those fishing that day.  But the shad continued into Wednesday, and Thursday, and our trout quickly stomached their fill of shad flies and white jigs.  Fishing got tough, at times.  But then we started to see periods of no shad and the bite started again.

This past weekend, the bite was on most of the time, although in the middle of the day it slowed down.  It could have been because of the influx of boat traffic up close to the dam.  Sometimes that drives the fish down, and they don't bite.  But still, most people were catching big, fat rainbows and loving it.
When it slowed, the trick was to keep the white 1/8th-ounce jig or the shad fly on the bottom where the fish were holding.  During feeding times, it seemed like you didn't have to do anything special except drop the jig or fly into the lake.

So just about anything white was hot.   We're using white jigs and white shad flies but then we're using combination of colors with white and something else like blue, gray, olive or pink.  We're also dragging small stick baits on the bottom, too.  They're not hitting scuds or San Juan worms anymore -- not right now and I really not sure why.  Usually the San Juan does well in high water after a big rain.
There was so many shad that came over the dam that Blake Wilson from our staff saw some all the way down at the lower dam on Taneycomo -- Powersite Dam.  They'd drifted all 22 miles of the lake.  Since fish throughout the lake were fed some threadfins this week, there's nothing wrong with throwing that white jig throughout the lake, not just in the trophy area.
We're pulling the boat up in slack water different places and working the white jig in both the seam, where the fast and slow water meet, and in the slower, eddy water and doing very well.  Here's a One Cast video where I did just that.
Captain Rick Lisek had his clients drift shad flies from the mouth of Fall Creek down to Trout Hollow on Sunday, catching their limits of nice rainbows.  That's not surprising at all knowing our trout have seen these shad throughout the lake now.
Nathan Bolerjack of our staff fished with me Monday and, while doing One Cast, took some pictures of rainbows we caught using my Photarium, a plexi-glass tank made for holding and photographing fish in.  Although the catching was slow, we managed a few pretty rainbows to photograph.  I've sprinkled the report with the pics.
 

And here's a walleye we float alive but floating below the dam.  Took a pic and put her back.  She swam away - hopefully it survived the 200 foot fall... it was pretty shook up.

Updated 9/27/2020 ~~
The fall 2020 fishing season looks to be one of the best in many years.  Why?  Simply because we're seeing a lot of down water -- no generation.  This opens up the whole upper end of the lake to wading and fly fishing.  Compare this to years past when we've had to contend with high water and limited wading access to the lake.
On top of great water conditions, we're seeing lots and lots of brown trout moving up close to the dam to go through their spawning moves.  We're also seeing an early run of rainbows brushing out spawning beds.
Add to all of it the fact that our trout fishery is in the best shape it's been in since the 70's.  Big rainbows and brown abound, not just in the trophy area but throughout the lake.
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Lake Taneycomo is a tailwater fishery.  When Table Rock Dam is not generating, the water below the dam is stable and easy to read.  I will, in this article, describe each area and how to fish for trout with a fly rod.
I going to assume you are wading.  The water below the dam isn’t very deep.  In most areas, the water won’t be over your waders.  There aren’t any holes or drop offs except directly around the boulders placed by the Missouri Department of Conservation for fish habitat.  The deepest water is up close to the cable, marking the boundary line in which not to fish above.  The water up close to the cable is deeper and wading is difficult.
Most of the bottom of the lake is gravel but there is larger chunk rock as well as bed rock.
There’s steady, slow current from the cable down to the Rebar Hole.  Moving down close to the top of Rebar, the water does pick up speed. 
**Rebar was named for pieces of rebar sticking up out of the gravel, left by workers who constructed the dam back in the late 50's.  But the flow of water has changed over the past couple of years (2019-2020).  Instead of forming a chute and crossing over to the south side of the lake, it basically runs through a wide chute almost down the middle of the lake.  There's no real deep spots to hold big fish... but the run does deepen eventually, and that's where you'll find big bruisers cruising around.
The lake opens up below Rebar to a big pool we call Big Hole.  What used to be a deep hole has filled in with gravel over the years but is still 4-5 feet deep.  The water, again, moves slowly down to the Rocking Chair area.
The Rocking Chair is marked by an access from the south side of the lake, where a person could walk down from a parking area to the lake and sit a rocking chair on the level bank there.  Here you’ll find more chunk and bed rock bottom.
Just before you get to the MDC boat ramp access (north side of the lake), the lake gets deeper and narrower, hugging the north bank.  Some of the bottom is gravel as well as clay with a big gravel bar on the south side.
At the bottom of this stretch, the lake again changes sides creating a long chute with a gravel bottom.  This chute is much longer and wider than Rebar, emptying into a stretch called Trophy Run.
Trophy Run is a development on the south side of the lake marked by a community building.  The lake is very deep here, more than 8 feet in spots, and is not really wadeable.  At the bottom of this run is Lookout Island.
At Lookout, and lake becomes very shallow again but wide.  There’s some current here but I wouldn’t call it a chute at all.  At the island, the water starts to deepen, dumping into Lookout Hole.  The bottom is all gravel through the shallow areas but turns into bed rock below the island.
Flies
Emergers:  Soft Hackles, Cracklebacks, RS2, WD40, Parachute Midge — any fly they settles just below the surface.
Soft hackle color and styles:  Bodies can be thread with wire wrap, red, black, green, yellow, orange.  Wire wrap only with copper, gold or silver.  Flash or another type of mylar material, pearl, pearl red or pearl green.  Sizes range from #14 to #20.  I usually stay with #16’s and #18’s.
Cracklebacks are tied with furnace hackle with various colors bodies.  Peacock herl is the preferred material in natural green, yellow, orange and red.  Size is usually a #14.
RS2, Parachute Midge & WD40 – olive, cream and natural brown.  Size #18 - #22.
Dries:  Blue Olive Dun, black ant, beetle, Adams, Humpy, Elk Hair Caddis, Royal Wolfe, hoppers, Griffin’s Gnat, Stimulator and cidada.   Sizes #8’s and #22’s.
Mice are fished mainly at night, skipped across the surface below the dam and down through most of the Trophy Area.
Wet Flies:  Scuds, Prince Nymph, Pheasant Tail, Squirrel Tail, sow bugs, various emerger patterns, San Juan Worm, Mega Worm, Miracle Fly, egg patterns and small bead head nymphs.  Sizes vary from #14’s to #22’s.


Scuds, or freshwater shrimp, are tied with many types of dubbing material — rabbit, squirrel, mink, possum, kangaroo, dog or cat, synthetics like rayon, and combinations of all of the above.  They’re tied on either a TMC #2487, #2457, #3769, #3761 or a #200R hook, depending on your preference.  They can be weighted or not.  Some are tied with a shell back.  Scuds in the natural can be varied shades of gray, olive, tan or brown.  When they die they turn orange.  They can be fished in sizes ranging from #12 to #24 but the average size is #14 to #20.

Streamers:  Woolies, Wooly Buggers, Sculpins, Pine Squirrel, PMS, Hibernator, Mo Hair Leach.  Woolies and Buggers run from #10’s to #16’s in white, olive, purple, black, brown and pink.  Sculpins usually are fished in size #8 or #10.  Good colors are gray, ginger, olive, orange, brown or white.  Pine Squirrel, PMS, Hibernators and Leeches are fished in the same sizes, adding black, blood red, purple and white to the color selection.
Big Ugly Streamers:  For the big ones, throw anything you want but Taneycomo isn’t known as a big streamer fishery, unlike its kin, the White River.  They’re thrown at night if the water is off or during the day but the water should be running for best results.
Fly Fishing Tactics

Outlet #1 is a small stream that flows out a pipe, down a chute, then across a gravel bar in to the lake.  The stream is very small and really doesn’t hold fish itself.  There’s a dropoff at the end where it meets the lake.  Trout will hold on this drop and will take a variety of flies, mostly nymphs and worms under an indicator.
The lake from the cable down about 150 yards is wide with some current.  This water is good for stripping flies and dead drifting nymphs and midges.  This is one of the best places to strip sculpins along the bottom although the bottom is rocky and tends to catch heavy flies.  But that’s the reason sculpin flies are good – there’s sculpins that live in the rocks.
As the lake narrows and gets a little shallower, the current picks up.  The trout can be more active in this area, picking up midge larva as well as scuds and sow bugs because the bottom is mostly gravel.  Fish are apt to take surface and/or film flies like small dries, midges, soft hackles and cracklebacks.

Outlet #2 enters the lake as a waterfall and doesn’t run very far before hitting the lake.  Trout are attracted to this outlet more than any other because of the volume of water and the frequent run of trout food escaping from the hatchery raceways.
Fish take many kinds of flies here, mainly dead drifting.  The number one fly is a scud with egg flies and San Juan worms close behind.  Because the water is faster here, you can get away with using a little heavier tippet.
When the trout are fed in the hatchery, pellets escape and are washed in to the lake at the outlets.  You may try a pellet fly, a small brown, round dry fly.
The pool below outlet #2 is good for stripping small and medium size streamers, film flies and dead drifting midges.  Also strip sculpins along the bottom here.

Where the lake picks up speed again close to the Rebar Chute, you’re back to drifting scuds, midges, eggs and worms.  In the chute, use all of the above but add more weight so that the fly gets to the bottom quickly.
Most anglers use a strike indicator or float when dead drifting but some do not.  Either is fine.  Do what is most comfortable.
The short stretch below the chute has changed over the years.  It’s not as deep as it used to be but it’s still a very area for fishing a small dry or small midges.
Swinging and stripping flies in the Big Hole, especially when there’s a chop on the water or at night, can be excellent fishing.  Also dead drifting midges under an indicator.  This big area is where you can start fishing a jig under a float–micro and small marabou jigs under a float in various earth colors, black, brown and sculpin being the best.

At Rocking Chair, drift scuds, sow bugs, worms and egg flies in the slow current.  Strip film flies if there’s a chop on the water.  Throw small dries if the trout are rising to midges.
Back too a jig and float at the boat ramp since the water is much deeper.  Also beaded flies under a float at various depths.  Using sink tip line, throw sculpins in this deeper water because there’s a very good population of sculpins here.

The big chute is a great place to dead drift all kinds of flies close to the bottom and for stripping and swinging streamers and film flies.  Work the end of the chute, where it opens out and slows, with those streamers and film flies.
You’re jig and float will work very well through the long, deep water at Trophy Run.  Pay attention to the depth of the jig because the water here can be as deep as 10 feet.  Find where the trout are — start at 4 feet deep and work down.
When the water starts to shallow up, go back to dead drifting nymphs and midges.  As the current picks up, swing and strip film flies.  Then, after the water gets deeper, fish all of the above — jigs, scuds, midges, eggs and worms.  Also strip sculpins in this area.
Notes and Techniques
When using a fly or jig under an indicator in deeper water like from the cable down below outlet #1, Big Hole, MDC boat ramp or Trophy Run, a double fly rig is useful, pairing a heavier fly with a small fly.  Use the heavier fly (jig may be) being on top and the smaller fly (zebra midge, scud or even soft hackle) on the bottom.  We use this rig down lake in deeper water with a fly or spinning rod.  Tippet recommendation:  6x – 7x.
Use a dry fly as an indicator.  There are times our trout will readily take a dry even though there’s no hatches occurring.  Use a big enough dry to float your nymphs or midges.  Keep your leader greased well so that your line doesn’t drag your dry under the water. Any of the dry flies I mentioned are good to use.  Tippet recommendation:  6x – 7x.
In areas where there’s fairly good current, and you’re dead drifting a nymph under an indicator, add a soft hackle below the nymph.  At the end of the drift, let the flies swing up.  This is good action for the soft hackle and chances are you’ll get bit at the very end of the drift.  Tippet recommendation:  6x – 7x.
Sight Fishing – Even with the water off, no generation, water level on tailwaters is constantly changing, most times by only inches.  Fish are keenly aware of this and will work the edges of the water for bugs moving in and out with the water.  When bugs (scuds, sow bugs) are on the move they are easy to pick off.  Therefore, the edges of the shore is the best place to sight fish.
When targeting these fish, use something they’re looking for — scuds, sow bugs, midges and worms.  Don’t back down from using large imitations, especially where there’s schools of trout working a bank.  Competition spawns aggressiveness and aggressiveness promotes eating flies that don’t look anything like natural food.  Tippet recommendation:  5x – 6x.
Case in point:  The White Mega Worm.  This big, fluffy yarn worm, sometimes tied on a very small jig head, is more than an attractor fly.  Big trout are known to attack this fly in very shallow water.  It also works in deeper water.  If the fly disappears, it’s probably in a fish’s mouth — set the hook!  I suggest using 4 or even 3x tippet.  You’ll find yourself getting excited seeing the fish take the fly and setting the hook too hard can be a problem.  Plus using a big fly like this, you can get away with heavier tippet.
Midge flies are a fly fisherman’s staple on most tailwaters.  Taneycomo is no different.  We have midge hatches every day, sometimes all day and even at night.  Without going into details like a midge’s life cycle, I just want to convey what midges to use in certain conditions.
I’ve caught more trout using a simple rig where I use a zebra midge under a palsa float than any other technique.  Depth is important.  If trout are actively taking flies off the surface or in the film, set the indicator only 6 to 12-inches from the first fly.  If there’s little or no activity, set it deeper and keep adjusting until you start getting bit.  Tippet recommendation:  6x – 7x.
Soft hackles and Cracklebacks are what I call film flies.  Both can be skimmed across the surface or just under the surface in the film.  Use long leaders and make long casts.  There are many ways to retrieve this fly from short, fast to long, slow strips.  If there’s current, letting the fly just drift and swing will draw a strike.  Tippet recommendation:  5x – 6x.
Streamers are worked in and same way except the fly is further under the surface.

Sculpins are fished with heavy tippet.  Most sculpin flies are weighted enough you shouldn’t need to use sink tip leaders.  This fly is worked across the bottom so you should use it in gravel areas mainly.  Sculpin move quickly from spot to spot, coming to a complete stop when they’re not moving.  Your retrieve should mimic this action.  Tippet recommendation:  2x – 3x.

Tips
Keep in mind trout in shallow water spook easily so stay on dry ground when ever possible.  Rainbows will cruise the edges of the shore in very shallow water looking for scuds which travel along the banks.  Don’t just arbitrarily wade out to the middle of the lake — you’ll miss some of your best fishing opportunities.
Try to land your fly line as gently on the water as possible when casting.  It is true our rainbows are used to anglers casting and wading in the upper lake but you’re chances improve greatly the more stealth you are in your presence.
Proper mending of line is a must when dead drifting, swinging and even stripping flies.  Pay attention closely and make adjustments where needed.
Change.  I suggest never casting and retrieving the same way more than a few times.  Cover water like you’re painting a wall.  Vary your strip patterns till you find what the fish like and then if they get off that pattern, change again.  Same with flies.  Change color and sizes will you find something that will work.  Never assume they’re not feeding — they’re just not interested in what you’re throwing and/or how you’re offering it.
Your indicator should be as small as possible to float and/or pull the fly through the water you’re fishing.  If you’re dragging a fly across the bottom, like a scud, your indicator needs to big a little bigger so that the fly, when it catches the bottom, doesn’t stop, pulling the indicator under.  This especially works in #2 outlet and the Rebar Chute.
Dead drifting:  Always set the hook downstream, into the fish’s mouth.  Keep the rod tip low when possible and use the water to add tension to the line set.  It will be a quicker hookset as well as keep your lone/fly from ending up in the trees behind you.
Film flies:  Soft hackles and cracklebacks.  On the take, trout will almost always hook themselves.  Setting the hook will break your line more times than naught.

Read Water Conditions and Adapt
Fish will almost always feed better under a choppy surface verses a calm, slight surface.  Current does make up for no wind but still, a slight breeze does wonders for the bite.
Couple of things to consider when reading the water.  Darker skies and broken water — fly size can be bigger and so can your tippet size.  Bright sunshine and slick surface conditions mean the fish won’t be as active and can see everything more clearer.  Drop in tippet size and go to smaller flies.
** Added/Edited September 27, 2020

After the floodgates opened, I decided to come down and fish Saturday. It was tough in the morning, but once the sun went down it was lights out.
Morning: started out throwing a 110+1 in Elegy Bone from Lookout to the Narrows. Had two fish on, one being a really big brown. Came out and swiped at the bait but only got hooked slightly and spit it in one head shake. So it goes. The other was a 15-inch rainbow. Tried dragging Bomber Fat Free Fingerling in Pearl White but got nothing. 
Afternoon: After talking with Blake at Lilleys, he told me from Andy's through the Narrows he did really well dragging scuds and San Juans. So, I tandem-rigged a 14 tan scud and a big cerise San Juan. It was on. The key was to hit the very inside edge of the bank, as well as the seam before the drop off on the bluff side. I caught mostly small rainbows, but had two fish break me off that I know were nice fish. Never saw them, though.
Sunday: Fished with Blake and Mark Konecnik from the cable through the Narrows. We were using Duane's signature series jerkbaits--the very small ones. 639 size. We had them on drift rigs and we caught quite a few. Blake boated a 20.5-inch brown in the early morning with Duane on a trip Mark hired him for. Just sitting and talking with Duane makes you realize just how in-tune he is with the trout. Pretty sure he sleeps with them. Well worth it to hire him just to get his baits, too! Everything else I normally use was not working, but the DDSS were rockin.
Overall a good weekend, but I think it shows how the pressure and water conditions has changed the tactics and presentations needed to consistently catch nice fish. Adapt, improvise, overcome.


Photos courtesy of Mark Konecnik. 

One big rain and we're back to big generation here on Lake Taneycomo.  Beaver Lake jumped 4 feet to 1125 feet while Table Rock rose to 919.9 feet.  Both lakes were almost down to their seasonal power pool.
Right now, they are releasing a little bit of water from Beaver and releasing water at Table Rock to the tune of 15,000 cubic feet per second.  That's a little more than if they were running 4 full units but they are only running 3 turbines along with 5 flood gates opened 1-foot each.  At Beaver, my app says there's one gate open one foot at 970 c.f.s..
We are going to see this flow from Table Rock all this week and probably into the weekend with more continuing at 3 units when they get Table Rock down a little.  If they do the same thing as previously, we're going to see 3-unit-water for several weeks.
Fishing was tough over the weekend because the upper lake was still feeling the affects of Friday night's rain.  The lake Saturday was pretty dirty, and when the cloudiness cleared up, anglers had to still deal with leaves and sticks flowing in from feeder creeks.  By Monday, the lake was free of stuff and very fishable.
There's only really one thing you must do to catch a trout now and that is to be on the bottom.  That's where the fish are holding up.  That and in eddies along the bank.
And they are biting and can be caught.  Guide Steve Dickey put 2 of his clients on big trout already.

Randy from St. Louis landed this 28” 10.5lb. drifting a Bomber on the bottom in the trophy area.

Steve from St. Louis Caught this beautiful 26 inch brown on a #14 gray scud using 6x tippet.
Yeah!  Both browns!  All of a sudden they're showing up which is cool.
So whether you're fishing a gray scud, cerise San Juan worm, a stick bait, a Bomber, night crawler, minnow or PowerBait, get it on the bottom and drift away.

Generation has stayed the same all week so there's no change in my report for Lake Taneycomo as far as water release.  Beaver has dropped a couple of feet but weekend rains have kept it from dropping even more.  Table Rock's level has risen a bit but they will all start going down as run off water slows down.  We should see this flow at least through this week.
One of the hot lures is the small jerk baits Duane and Blake have been demonstrating on One Cast.  There's a variety of baits you can use just as long as they are floating and anywhere from 4 to 5.5 inches long.  Duane, and now Blake, custom paint their baits to look like shad, rainbows or sculpin but there again, there are baits out there that you can buy that look pretty close to what they're making.
Here's a video Duane did explaining how he fishes them.
We have some knock-off baits in our shop for sale and I've ordered several hundred due to come in next week.  As Duane says, you lose a lot of these baits due to snagging on the bottom so don't go out and spend a lot of money on them.  But they have been working very well!
I got out the other day and drifted some PowerEggs with the grandkids down close to Monkey Island.  Ended up catching a half dozen rainbows in the short time we were out.  You have to use pretty small weights, even with the 3 units running, if you're fishing down lake because the current is pretty slow.  I was using a #4 split shot but a 1/8th ounce bell weight would be fine.
I've also heard there's a lot of rainbows to be caught doing the same thing from Scotty's Trout Dock down through the Branson Landing area.  You just have to be careful of the wind in that area.
 

The Eleven Point River is one of the most diverse and beautiful fisheries in Missouri.  The Eleven Point is Missouri's only National Scenic and Wild Riverway and runs in large part through the Mark Twain National Forest.  Fed by numerous springs, the river abounds with wildlife not only below the water's surface but also along its banks.  The forested banks of the Eleven Point along with the many bluffs and some caves all make the Eleven Point probably the most pristine of the Missouri Ozark float streams.  By being a little off the beaten path, the Eleven Point does not get nearly the traffic as the other famous float rivers in Missouri.
As for fishing, the Eleven Point offers quality rainbow trout fishing for about 20 miles and boasts one of the only reproducing populations.  Other species of note are smallmouth bass, goggle-eye, chain pickerel, and walleye.
Trout fishing starts at the confluence of the Greer Spring branch and the river.  Greer is the world's 10th largest spring and doubles the size of the river while turning it into a cold water fishery.  This is the beginning of the blue ribbon trout section and it extends about six miles to Turner Mill Spring.  Flies and artificial lures are only are allowed (soft plastic and baits are prohibited); the limit is one fish at 18 inches or longer.  There is a strong population in this section of river.  The trout have taken hold and are very healthy.  The average trout caught are 12-14 inches, and there are plenty of trophy-sized fish that are just a lot tougher to catch.
The Eleven Point is deeper than most Ozarks trout streams and is difficult to wade for long stretches between shoals.  Therefore, watercraft is advisable.  You must be willing to go a little deeper for fish than in most rivers in this region.  Dry fly fishing is a rarity on the Eleven Point.  A 9-foot, 5- to 6-weight fly rod works best on this river.  The following is a list of recommended flies:
-Don's Crawdad --This is one of the most productive patterns on the Eleven Point.  There are tons of crawdads in the river and they are a major food source.  Fish this small crawdad under a strike indicator and look for takes on the dead drift and the swing.  As with most things you fish here, you need to get it to the bottom for the best results.
-M.O.A.T. (mother of all tungsten)- This is a stonefly like pattern with three tungsten beads, peacock dubbing, and rubber legs.  It really gets down and catches fish.  Use it as a lead fly and attach different smaller droppers.
bh peasant tail soft hackle peasant tail hare's ear  in tan, olive and black in-cased caddis (mostly green pupae, but do have some cream-colored ones) bh crackle back egg in fall through December midge pupae copper johns (variety of colors) san Juan worms, especially after a rain stone flies in black or brown will work most of the year, although use gold from late August through the first part of November leech patterns --Mohair and bunny leeches work well in tan, olive and black wooly buggers (variety of sizes and colors) sculpins and other streamer patterns, something to imitate a little rainbow trout The 14 miles below Turner Mill to Riverton (Hwy 160 bridge) is stocked regularly and is designated as white ribbon.  The limit is four trout per day of any size and  any lures and baits are allowed.  All of the above flies and lures still apply to this area.  In addition many spin fishermen report good luck using little rubber grubs, minnows, worms and Power Bait.

Eleven Point River Trip - Fall 2015 from Focal Imaging LLC on Vimeo.
Floating the Elevenpoint River
To the experienced canoeist, the Eleven Point is a relatively easy river (Class I and Class II on the International Scale) requiring intermediate experience. Snags, trees and root wads still remain the most dangerous of all obstacles and, on occasion, may require scouting from shore. Although canoes are the time-tested means of travel through fast water, flat bottom jon boats are used on the river, primarily for fishing trips. You may encounter some boats with motors. Motor boats are restricted to a 25-horsepower limit.
Canoeists should learn to read the water ahead. Whitewater riffles mean that rocks lie very close to the water surface, and you are about to enter a "chute" where water flows faster. The safest course to follow is the smooth water, shaped like a "V" pointing downstream. Watch out for root wads! Water rushes under and through the exposed roots of fallen trees and creates  hazardous conditions. Learn to avoid obstructions. Back paddle as to change positions or use "draw" or "pry" strokes to move laterally.
From OA Forum by Bob Steffen:
Short 2 Day, trout intensive trek - Greer to Whitten 11.5 mi:
Camp night before at Greer Access (NE intersection of MO-19 @ River).  Allow 1 hour to visit Greer Spring (drive to the Spring Trail, S of river, W of MO-19 - then hike 1 mile down plus one mile back up).  Or, allow 1 more hour to drive up to see the old mill at Falling Spring.  Fish under the MO-19 bridge, upstream, and wherever you can cast to the south bank.  Turn in early and get a good night sleep. See Eleven Point Canoe Rental for canoe and logistics.  Get latest fishing conditions from Brian.  Get on the river as early as possible. Spend lots of time fishing the side waters of the 1st island and below.  Be heavy, get down, get deep.  Stop and fish a lot.  Great spots consecutively appear. Stop immediately below Mary Decker shoals and throw heavy stuff at the pigs that live beneath those boulders. Stop at Turner Mill north access and hike up to see the old mill wheel and the spring. Camp at Stinking Pond (5 mi and not smelly in the springtime) or Horseshoe Bend (9 mi) Forest Service Float camps.  (Fish channel immediately upstream and waters across river from either Float camp).  Stay up late.  Enjoy the solitude.  Watch the eagles and bats hunt.  Keep an eye out for bears. Leisurely morning.  Fish to Whitten.  This is only 5 miles from Stinking Pond and even closer to Horseshoe Bend.  More great fishing, so take your time and enjoy.  All the way, you will need a strategy to keep the river from pulling you downstream faster than you want/need to go. Take out at Whitten Long 2 Day, fishing/exploration trek - Greer to Riverton 19 mi:
All of the above, plus: Start catching 50-50 rainbows and smallmouth below Horseshoe Bend.  Don's crawdad fly and Rebel Craw lure are hard to beat. Camp at Horseshoe Bend (9 mi), Barnhollow (10 mi), Whites Creek (12 mi), or Greenbriar (14 mi).  Note:  Each of these float camps is a short distance up an inlet/feeder creek.  Some are not marked well.  They all have flat tent space, fire rings, nice latrines, and decent fishing nearby; making them good campsite options. Be sure to check out the Boze Mill Spring on right, about 2 miles upstream from Riverton.  Throw something meaty and deep downstream of the spring outlet, north shore. Take out at Riverton, US-160.  If early, fish west side of river bank. Long 3 Day, trout & smallmouth trek - Greer to The Narrows 30 miles:
It doesn't get any better than this, unless you've got all week. 90% smallmouth downstream of US-160.  Rooster tail spinners (slower retrieve than trout). River Levels

Elevenpoint River Levels near Ravenden Springs, AR

Elevenpoint River Levels near Bardley, MO
 
Access and Campsites-
Thomasville at SH 99 Bridge at 0.0 miles (this section down to SH 19 not recommended in low-water) Cane Bluff Access and picnic area at 9.3 miles SH 19 bridge at 16.6 miles (campsites and put-in with trail to Greer Spring about a mile up the hill) USFS boat ramp in Greer Springs Campground on river right at about 16.7 miles Turner's Mill North (river left) and Turner's Mill South (river right) at about 21.5 miles Stinking Pond Float Camp on river left at 22.3 miles Horseshoe Bend Float Camp on river left at 26.5 miles Barn Hollow Float Camp on river left at 27.0 miles White Creek Float Camp on river left at 28.5 miles Greenbriar Float Camp on river left at 31.0 miles Bozeman Float Camp on river left at 33.5 miles Riverton / SH 160 bridge on east side at 35.7 miles Morgan Creek Float Camp at 44.0 miles SH 142 Bridge on river left at about 44.3 miles MDC Myrtle Access on river right at 48.0 miles Missouri-Arkansas state line at 49.0 miles Fishing Regulations
Trout:
5.5 miles Oregon County Greer Spring Branch junction to Turner Mill Access At least 18 inches Daily Limit 1
Artificial lures and flies only No Red Ribbon Area on the Eleven Point 14.2 miles Oregon County Downstream from Turner Mill Access Rainbow trout - none.
Brown trout - at least 15 inches. Daily limit- 4 trout. No bait restrictions *Limits: 4 trout daily. 8 possession. (no size restriction)
*Brown trout state-wide limit is 15 inches.
 
Eleven Point River Special Bass Management Area Map (pdf, 208 KB) Eleven Point River Blue Ribbon Trout Map (pdf, 184 KB) Eleven Point River White Ribbon Trout Map (pdf, 165 KB) Smallmouth Bass: They are found throughout the system.  Statewide season on bass in rivers and streams is open from the 4th Saturday of May till the last day in February annually.
From Thomasville Access to the Arkansas line:
Goggle-eye—8 inch minimum length limit.  15 daily. 30 possession.
Smallmouth bass—15 inch minimum length limit. The daily limit of 6 black bass may include only 1 smallmouth bass.
Walleye and Sauger: These fish are found closer to the Arkansas border. The better walleye fishing is in Arkansas.
4 daily, 8 possession. 18-inch minimum length.
Chain Pickerel: 6 daily, 12 possession
Fishing Licenses -
Residents - those fishing of the ages of 16 and older and 65 are required to have on their person a valid Missouri fishing license. Those 65 and older do not need a fishing license.
Proof of residency - Valid Missouri Drivers License.
Non-residents - those fishing of the ages of 16 and older are required to have on their person a valid Missouri fishing license.
A Missouri TROUT STAMP is required for ANYONE who fishes the trophy or Blue Ribbon area on the Current River, regardless if the angler is keeping or releasing their catch. (New March 1, 2005)
Cost- (prior to 3/31/20)
Resident - $12 annual (March 1 thru last day of February)
Border Permit - $10
Non-Resident - $42 annual (March 1 thru last day of February)
Daily Permit - $7 (midnight to midnight)
Buy Missouri Fishing Licenses Online!
Report Violations - Poachers
In cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Operation Game Theft works to stop the illegal taking of fish and wildlife that includes trophy animals and rare and endangered species.
 
 

Another week and --  another high water event on Lake Taneycomo.  Yes, operators are running spill gates at the dam again.  We had three days of intermittent rain, which in total equaled about three inches of rain for much of our watershed. That brought Beaver Lake up above its flood pool of 1,130 feet and triggered flood gates at Beaver Dam.  About the same time, Table Rock Dam opened five gates at a foot each while running three turbines. That equals a release of 14,000 cubic feet per second of water.
Presently, Beaver Lake has dropped to 1,129.17 feet, dropping about three inches per day.  Table Rock Lake crested yesterday at 918.14 feet and is dropping ever so slightly.
There is one turbine not working at the Table Rock facility, either because of scheduled maintenance or a problem, I don’t know which.  That’s the reason operators are running water over the dam.  The flow would equal four full turbines.
Taneycomo’s water temperature continues to drop,  now at 53.6 degrees.  The water’s also looking more and more clear from Table Rock’s turnover.
The key to catching trout right now on Taneycomo is to get your fly, lure or bait to the bottom and keep it there while drifting.  You could try anchoring in an eddy or along the bank where the current is much less, but most people are going to drift with the current.  Stay towards the middle of the lake, not on the side, where there’s a lot of downed trees and snags.
Drifting scuds (freshwater shrimp) is still the best thing to fish with, even below Fall Creek.  It wouldn’t hurt to use a little bigger scud with so much water running, like a #10 or even a #8.  Gray is still the best color, but you could try brown, olive or tan.  On a sunny day, try one with ultraviolet material (flash) mixed in to the dubbing.
With the heavy generation, we’re running crank baits on the bottom again for bigger trout.  If you can find them (they’re out of production we understand), the Bomber, Fat Free Fingerling in Tennessee Shad, Shadtreuse or white shad color is what our guys use.  Also Flicker Shad in shad colors will work pretty well, too.
Guide Bill Babler will drift with a small floating stick bait using a drift rig.  He tends to use the cheaper baits because anglers will lose them fairly often.  He drifts them mainly below the dam, but they’ll work anywhere.
For drifting anything on the bottom, we’ve gone to either 3/16- or ¼-ounce bell weights.  You really need to feel the weight ticking on the bottom or you won’t get bit.
Night crawlers has been the best live bait below Fall Creek.  The better fishing has been from Scotty’s Trout Dock down through the Branson Landing.
We’re also starting to see some crappie schooling up around the structure in front of the Landing and close to the Fish House.  We tend to see some big crappie during the winter months.  They can be caught on a minnow or jig under a float or casting a swimming minnow or jig.
Below the dam, we’re drifting scuds and shad flies and doing pretty well.  No sight of any shad  through the gates, and the trout aren’t going really crazy on white jigs.  Seems like there’s no way to guess when threadfin shad will come through the open gates, but we are always hopeful and will try the white jig every time we’re up there.
Other jigs are working, though.  The 1/8th ounce sculpin/peach with an orange head has been pretty hot, and I’ve done okay using a black/yellow combination.
The best stretch to drift a scud on the bottom is from Lookout to Short Creek.  Right in the middle is Fall Creek. If you start there, you can keep any size rainbows you catch.  If you fish above Fall Creek, you have to throw

Generation here on Lake Taneycomo has been very consistent the last four or five days now, and with the lakes above us well above season pool levels, we're going to continue to see this flow for quite some time.
Typically, our lakes have been drawn down to at least power pool, ready for the winter season and spring rains to follow.  But unseasonably wet weather has kept the lakes in what I would call the caution zone (not the danger zone.) Beaver Lake is still above 1,128 feet, less than two feet from its flood pool, and Table Rock is hovering at 917 feet, variably two feet over winter power pool.  The area got a two-inch rain late last week, and more rain is expected this week.
Table Rock Dam has been running three units round the clock.  Now I don't know for sure, but I think one unit at the Table Rock facility is under seasonal maintenance, so all operators can run is three units.  Any additional water has to come over the spill gates, as it did about 10 days ago.  So we're going to see this flow until both Table Rock and Beaver drop to seasonal power pool levels, and that might not happen until after the first of the year.
Table Rock Lake did turn over, and the water that's flowing from the dam is high in oxygen but just a bit turbid.  Visibility isn't all the bad though --- better than most seasonal turnover events.  And best of all, it's not affecting trout fishing, as far as we can tell.  The trout we're catching are full of fight and in great shape.
Our lake water temperature is about 55 degrees, down more than six degrees since the lake started to turn over.  The cooler temps are helping trout activity, too.
As for "catching," there's really not much that is not working right now.  Bank and dock fishing isn't the greatest, but surprisingly it isn't not too bad either.  People off our dock are catching some pretty nice rainbows on Power Eggs mainly, using heavy weights to drop the bait to the bottom.  The one thing that's different than, say, a few months ago in the summer, is that's there's no algae flowing down in the current. Taneycomo  is pretty clear of "stuff."
Drifting night crawlers and Power Bait on the bottom below Fall Creek is catching fish.  Picking the right amount of weight is important.  Use enough to drop the bait to the bottom.  You should feel your weight ticking the bottom consistently.  If you don't, you probably won't get bit.
I drifted a #12 gray scud on the bottom from Fall Creek down to the River Pointe Estates boat ramp on Sunday and caught four rainbows on one drift.  I stayed in the middle of the lake and made sure I was in contact with the bottom.
Drifting scuds in the trophy area has been "lights out,"  according to fishing guides Duane Doty and Steve Dickey.  Again, stay in the middle of the lake and make sure the fly is on the bottom.  Also drifting shad flies on the bottom from the dam down to Trophy Run has picked up good numbers of rainbows.
We've been also throwing a variety of colors of jigs and doing pretty well.  I'm not sure what color has been best, though, because they're all doing about the same.  Sculpin, black, black/yellow, sculpin/peach/orange head --- all have been working very well.  We still haven't seen any really big trout caught with the flood gates open and the water improving in quality.  That has surprised  me.  But the overall quality of rainbows has been impressive.
If you want to fly fish, tie on a #12 gray scud with a split shot under an indicator and fish anywhere from eight to 10 feet  deep. Anglers have caught trout from the cable down past Fall Creek with this rig.
I haven't heard anything about the guide-favorite Berkley's Pink Worm lately but I'd think it would work from Cooper Creek and down lake through Monkey Island, the bridges and past the Landing.  The water from Cooper Creek down is much more conducive to this technique because the current is slower and less turbulent.  And remember, rainbows are normally stocked from the Branson Landing up and just past Monkey Island so there's usually fresh stocked trout in this area.
The fishing forecast for December looks very good, although with the lakes as high as they, we may see more heavy flows including spill gates.  But spill gate releases means more shad flowing in to our lake for our waiting, hungry trout, as well as more warmwater species of fish for us to play with!

Shane Bush, Missouri Department of Conservation Fisheries Biologist for Table Rock and Taneycomo, sent me this PDF file of a presentation given last week by Gabe Knight.  Gabe works for the Little Rock Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  It has some good straight forward information on how and why releases are made, encompassing all of the White River Water Basin.
Water Management Overview Knight_2019.pdf

Generation patterns on Lake Taneycomo have changed since my last fishing report.  Spill gates have shut down and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has gone back to running generators for much of the day and some nights.  Oxygen levels remain decent and water temperatures steady at about 57 degrees.  Water clarity has dropped, though, which is good for us anglers.  We talked about using two-pound line for months because our water was so clear -- but not anymore.  Four-pound line is fine for almost all applications.
Flows have been pretty consistent, running 6,500 and 8,600 cubic feet per second of water, or the equivalent of 1.5 to two units of water.  Table Rock is 916.8 feet above sea level and dropping slightly.  With the current flow, it's just keeping up with inflows caused by rains and some water from Beaver Lake which is a little high at 1,126 feet. 
As fate has it, they shut the water down today but I'm afraid it's going to short-lived.  Quite a bit of rain is forecasted for the next 4-5 days which, if we get it, will bring the lakes up and more generation.
At these medium flows, wading below the dam is very limited, mainly at the outlets and along the bank in some areas.  I've seen some guys wading below outlet #3 at deep depths, going out in current to their waist which, in my opinion, is unnecessary and dangerous.  No fish is worth getting swept downstream, putting you and may be someone else trying to help rescue you at risk.  Be wise.
Drifting #12 gray, brown and orange scuds from the cable down to Trout Hollow has been pretty successful this week, along with egg flies and San Juan worms.  Fish them under a float or using a drift rig or just a split shot; either is fine.
We're still doing pretty well throwing white jigs in and below the trophy area.  Sculpin jigs and black jigs are producing well, too.
Drifting night crawlers below Fall Creek is netting some really nice rainbows, according to Guide Bill Babler.  The stretch between Fall Creek and Short Creek has been the best.
Guide Steve Dickey has been doing well using the pink PowerWorm under a float six- to nine-feet deep from above Monkey Island through the bridges.
The wind has made drifting and fishing pretty tough in general the last few days but that should change shortly.

Summer has stuck around late this fall (yes it has officially been autumn for a week now despite the 90-plus degree weather.) But we know the splendor of fall colors is just weeks away!  It looks like we're in for a cool change this week.
We've received a little heavy generation already this week, I assume because of the hot weather.  It sure was nice, though, moving a lot of loose pond weed and other floating scum out of our area of the lake.  That's one nice thing about being on a tail water -- we get new water every time operators run water at the dam.
They're still running that minimum flow 24/7 as they have been since September 1st.  No word of any changes on the horizon.  Dissolved oxygen levels have been holding up pretty well, and water temperatures are about 57 degrees.  When they do switch modes and start leaving the water off, I think we'll see no generation for most of the time and little generation until cold weather dominates our days and nights.

The San Juan worm continues to be the hot item this week, mentioned on social media many times as the go-to fly.  The best colors are pink and red in the micro version, which is basically a small diameter chenille tied on a #14 or #16 hook.  The material is called micro chenille . . . go figure.
Most fly fishers are using the micro San Juan in a double fly rig under an indicator.  They're using a heavier fly up from the San Juan about 18- to 24-inches from, say, a weighted scud or a beaded midge.  But you could use a beaded version of a San Juan by itself since the bead would take the fly down where it needs to be.
You want to fish the worm, and scuds for that matter, on the bottom when drifting along in the current, so set the indicator at a depth where the flies rake across the bottom.  If your flies are coming back with Taneycomo slime, move the indicator so that you're not fishing as deep.  But you'll drift across shallow and deep areas, holes and flats, and will need to pick a good average depth to cover as much water as possible.

Our dockhand Blake Wilson has been fly fishing quite a bit, scoring really well using a double scud rig.  He's fishing a peppy scud (medium gray), two sizes under a float and drifting from the cable below the dam down to Trophy Run.  He ties the smaller scud, usually a #16 or #18, as the bottom fly and a larger #14 on top, separating them by about 18 inches.  He's using 6x fluorocarbon tippet.

As far as where to fish either of these rigs, any fairly shallow gravel flats are best, and you'll find those areas from the dam down to Trout Hollow Resort.  From Fall Creek to Trout Hollow, stay towards the inside of the bend.
Drifting real worms is still the best way to catch trout below the trophy area.  These two things will help you catch more fish.
First, your weight.  Your weight needs to match the flow of generation.  When you throw the rig out, how long does it take to hit the bottom?  If it goes right to the bottom, and you feel it catch and pull, you're using too much weight.  Depending on the depth of water, of course, it should take a few seconds to reach the bottom, and you should feel a slight touch every once in a while.  When this happens, you know your bait is skimming across the bottom like a natural worm would.  Plus when a fish picks it up, you'll feel it immediately.
With the present generation, all you really need is a small split shot to get your bait to the bottom.  And less is better.  Even if your bait isn't on the bottom all the time, it will get eaten. With too much weight you will only catch, snag and grow frustrated.
The second thing is how you present your worm.  Don't use the whole worm.  No need to thread it, although that’s not a bad option -- it just takes too much time and is unnecessary.  Pinch the worm in two.  Take the piece and run your hook through the middle, letting it hang off each side.  No need to hide the hook.  I use a #8 short shank bronze hook by the way.  And four-pound line is fine when drifting.

I took the boat to Rim Shoals this morning and ran to an area that is somewhat protected from the heavy flows we are having (14k cfs). Got out of the boat and I could see 4 or 5 trout holding in a run just below a couple of big rocks. First cast I hooked a nice rainbow on a Y2K but it broke off on the 7x tippet. I retied and caught another 5 rainbows and 1 cutthroat in the same run. Once that spot slowed down I moved downstream and picked up another dozen rainbows on the Y2K/pheasant tail dropper combo. When it was time to quit I walked back to the boat and made a cast in the run where I lost the rainbow earlier. The indicator went down and I had another nice rainbow on. I finally got her in and when I went to remove the hook I saw my Y2K that I lost earlier stuck in her jaw along with the Y2K on my rig.
Guess she really liked Y2k's. Here's a couple of pics...