Fishing Buddy Report

[Phil Lilley]

Ron and Susan Bland We arrived at Lilley's Friday afternoon, December 12th, and two units were running. We unpacked and I drove to the dam to check out the water level. With two units running I hesitated to try fishing because of the limited wading. I finally decided to give it a try and fished below the boat ramp for about half an hour just before dark. I had a couple strikes on a micro jig and a Crackleback, and hooked and lost a nice-sized fish.

On Saturday I woke up to two units running again. With my wife along and knowing wading was going to be tough, I volunteered to take her to the outlet malls because I knew she wanted to go, and I thought it would be good time to get it out of the way. I thought it would only take a couple of hours max (I should know by now!). Anyway, about 3:00 she agreed to let me go back to our room to retrieve my fishing equipment and then drop her off again at the outlets (mall) while I fished. Long story short, I got to Taneycomo about with two units still running. I walked down below the boat ramp a ways and fished along the bank. I really wasn't set up like I should have been for the heavier current, and didn't have a lot of time to fine tune things. I hooked a nice fish on a black/yellow micro-jig and fought it for quite awhile before the hook popped out as I prepared to land it. One more fish was hooked that gave me a short fight before escaping. I was on a quick-release roll. Finally, as it was getting dark I noticed a few midge rises close to the bank, and the current appeared to have let up a tad. As I prepared to change to a midge pattern, I realized that the light was too dim to see to tie on a fly with my prescription sun glasses, and my regular glasses weren't with me. (I made a mental note of that situation for future reference!) Anyway, I finished off with the micro-jig without any other strikes, and the current seemed to pick up again. As I was leaving I made a decision that if the water releases were high again, I may try to hit either Crane Creek or Roaring River. Up to this point although conditions had not been ideal for wading and my fishing times had been short, I was pretty sure that it wouldn't be too hard to exceed the low bar of fishing performance I set so far.

Sunday I stayed on Taneycomo and was able to fish for about six hours. One unit of water was supposedly running so fishing was easier for me than the previous couple days, although there was still quite a bit of current. I fished again downstream from the boat ramp and caught several fish this time. I didn't really hammer them, but had enough action to make things interesting and caught fish on a variety of flies. That was part of the problem because I never could really narrow it down to one fly they were really hitting (most likely a personal problem). I would catch a couple fish on a particular pattern/color, and that would be it. I caught fish on zebra midges, micro jigs, soft hackles, and a nymph. The fish I caught were all rainbows that were all pretty normal-sized for the trophy area. A couple fought like wild trout, making long runs and jumps. It was one of those days that makes fishing so fascinating to me. I always leave the water trying to figure out what I can do to improve things the next time out. No day fishing ever quite reaches perfection and some days make me wonder how much I really know about the sport. Fishing is not like some sports where you can determine pretty quickly are going to require skills that you were not blessed with and will never achieve. Fishing can participated in and enjoyed at a multitude of levels as a life-long sport for just about anyone. (A little off the subject there.)

Monday morning Taneycomo was running four units, and the wind was howling. I decided it might finally be a good day to try Crane Creek. I didn't arrive at Crane until after , and not being familiar with the area, it took me a while to get my bearings about the lay of the land and access points. I ended up fishing maybe three hours, and caught a handful of trout. The trout weren't big but fought very hard, and were beautiful. It was a fun afternoon, a little like a combination of hunting and fishing. Casting was tough with the brush and the wind, but I somehow managed to get back with all of my flies. Crane Creek is definitely a place I would like to fish again when I get the chance. One of the things I have heard mentioned in reference to Crane Creek is that is a snaky place. I will have to say, at least in the area I fished, it looked like that could be the case at the right time of the year. Maybe that helps keep people away.