Phil Lilley

Son! Is that better? It was cool. Fortunate to land him. He kept flipping around and hitting his tail on my line. Just the power of it should have broken my line, not to mention flipping the jig out of its mouth. Nothing I could do about that. Thanks!

I'd start with #12's. Move smaller from there.

https://youtu.be/v9zbA2v33mo

RAIN COULD PROMPT LARGE RELEASES FROM WHITE RIVER BASIN LAKESLITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The Army Corps of Engineers is advising people in flood plains downstream of Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals and Norfork dams in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri to maintain awareness and monitor lake levels and weather. These lakes remain nearly full from spring rains, and more rain is forecast in the coming days.In the last 180 days, between 25-50 inches of rain has fallen across the White River Basin. The average is between 20-25 inches. During May and June much of the rainfall fell in areas that are not controlled by the White River dams. The uncontrolled runoff from those rains have kept the river high at Newport and Georgetown reducing our ability to lower lake levels without impacting farmers during their crucial planting time.So what does this all mean?"Our water control manual dictates how and when we can release water from our White River dams and we have been making maximum allowable releases from our lakes this spring although they have been holding more and more water," said Col. Robert Dixon, Little Rock District commander. "Our lakes are performing as intended but they have limitations and cannot prevent all flooding."Once a lake is full, it has reduced capacity to lower downstream flood crests. Water still flowing into the lake must be released from the dam because there is no storage space left. This is sometimes referred to as "passing inflow." When passing inflow, a dam does not make conditions downstream any worse than what the natural condition the river would be without the dam in place. It is just that the dam is unable to do as much to reduce downstream flooding under those conditions. "The reservoirs have limitations that Mother Nature can exceed, and sometimes she does," said Dixon. "If the National Weather Service's forecast for the next seven days holds true, we may need to make releases from Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes." People in at-risk areas should stay in contact with local emergency officials. If larger than normal releases are required from a dam, warnings will go out through local emergency management channels.

Our weather has tamed down this last week here in the Lake Taneycomo area. The upper White River watershed has received less than an inch of rain which brought Table Rock Lake up inches and Beaver Lake about a foot. Beaver Lake is now about 9 inches from topping their flood pool, 1130 feet. If ti goes over, anything that runs into Beaver Lake gets released, no matter how much water that is. There's some rain in the forecast but not much. We'll see what happens. Generation here on Taneycomo has been fairly consistent. There's no generation mornings during the week with 2 to 3 units in the afternoons but on weekends they're running 2 units around the clock. Not sure if this pattern will continue. Our water is very clear, temperature is running about 45 degrees. When they are generating, we're seeing quite a bit of green algae flowing down the lake. Most of this is coming from Table Rock Lake but some is breaking loose from the bottom of our lake. Algae doesn't hurt the fish -- they actually eat some of it. It does muck up our bait, lures and flies when fishing though. Our trout have been a little fickle this past week, biting some days and not others. Even when fishing conditions are good (cloudy, a little wind), they aren't bitting like they should. That's my take anyhow. Early and late in the day is the best fishing, and stay in the shade as much as possible when fishing on bright, sunny days. If the trout are really getting fussy, I suggest tying on a 2-3 foot section of 2-pound line or better yet, spool an extra spool with 2-pound line. I'm going to almost exclusively 2-pound line when throwing small jigs when the water is off because I'm having much better luck doing so. I'm throwing 1/32nd and 1/16th-ounce jigs when there's no generation and working them fairly deep. Best colors are sculpin/ginger or peach, olive, brown and brown/orange. When the water is off and you're bait fishing, I'd definitely suggest using 2-pound line, especially if you're not having much luck. Under these clear-water conditions, fish will see your line when it's stationary and not bite because of it. If you're fishing a jig or fly under a float and it's stationary, again, fish will see the line and not bite. Two-pound fluorocarbon is the best thing to use when fishing anything stationary (not moving). But if you're catching fish on 4-pound line, don't change. Just keep the 2-pound line in mind. If fishing is tough, change. Change locations, change lures, change colors, change flies, change line or tippet. Don't just expect the trout to suddenly change their mood and bite your line. Drifting scuds, eggs and San Juan Worms is still doing pretty good. But we're having to drop to #14's in some cases to get bit. Best to drift from Lookout Island down to Short Creek and either stay in the middle of the lake or on the inside bend. Use as little weight as possible to keep it off the bottom and out of the algae. Best scuds colors have been different shades of gray, olive, tan and brown. Best egg, is peach and best S.J.W. is red or pink. The pink Powerworm is still working most days but when it gets sunny, you have to fish it deep under a float. Duane was fishing theirs 8-9 feet deep the other day and doing pretty good. Think about using 2-pound line on this rig too. View full article

August - Silvers and Rainbows September - Some Silvers and Big Rainbows October - the Biggest Rainbows! Check out both places. Send Jim an email and see what he can do for you, especially if you have a group, even a small group. This might be your year! http://www.naknekrivercamp.com/

When we floated the Kelly 10 years ago, Bill and I mailed our stuff up there a month before but had to leave some of it at the hanger because the plane only carried so many pounds and we were over. Once on the river, the rafts will carry whatever we take so that's no issue. I want to take more video cameras, batteries and SD cards on this trip. Probably new camera mounts... will try to be creative.

Babler and I are floating the Holitna River central Alaska in August. Haven’t been told what our weight limit is yet but I’m looking for things like a sleeping mat, bag and cooking equipment. Bill has a lot of it but I want to consider upgrading some of it. Also I need solar chargers for cameras.

Cool.... thanks. I'll take a look. Square things...

Going to do some float camping... flying in so need to keep it light. Any recommendations for equipment... sleeping mats, cooking stuff. We have a tent. Also, solar charging devices for cameras.

Paul, Duane and I started heading up lake this morning at 4:30. Yes it was dark but the fog wasn't too bad. No generation. Duane was driving... he treated us to his world famous stick bait guide trips using his custom painted baits. Boated to just above Fall Creek and made our way up through the Narrows. Caught a few rainbows but it was slow. Boated up to Lookout and trolled past the flats to Trophy Run. Fished that area with little success. Back down to the Narrows - still slow. On down to Short Creek. My shoulder was getting pretty sore so I switched to a jig. Caught this nice rainbow on a 1/16th oz sculpin/ginger jig. No browns. May be a dozen rainbows on the stick bait. Slow morning according to our guide.

I'll have to try fishing down there, Travis. May be picking your brain soon.