Guessing what the US Army Corps of Engineers is going to do with lake levels has been tough the last couple of weeks. I actually emailed and asked someone at the Corps a couple of weeks ago and didn't get an answer. I asked about Beaver Lake's level and if they were going to start dropping it, seeing it was so high. I got my answer a week ago - they started running water at Beaver Dam and now Beaver's level has dropped considerably. At the same time, they bumped up the flow from Table Rock so we're seeing 100 megawatts of water running this week, not the 40 mw of water we've been seeing. Beaver is now just under 1124 feet so it has a few feet to go before they're down to winter power pool. We should see generation for another couple of weeks, then we may see more periods of no generation here on Taneycomo.
Depending on the flows, we're still throwing jigs at the trout and doing pretty well. Most of the time they're 1/8th ounce jigs, especially with this heavier flow, but we're also throwing the 3/32nd ounce jig seeing we're using 2-pound line most of the time. Lighter line allows the jig to drop quicker in the water than using 4-pound line thus we can use the small jigs even with 100 mw of water running. Of course, as you get further from the dam, the water is much slower and you can get away with smaller jigs.
Colors, well, white is still a color you should throw but the trout have already forgotten about the shad and are on darker colors like sculpin, black, olive and brown. Of course the combo colors like sculpin/ginger and brown/orange are working too. I was doing extremely well using a 3/32nd ounce mottled brown jig with an orange head last week. Wore the orange paint off one jig.
The trophy area has been fishing very well but some areas are better than others. Big Hole down to the MDC boat ramp has been hot as well as the stretch from the Narrows to Fall Creek. We've had several reports of anglers using spoons and doing well.
The other day last week when they were running 30 mw of water, I boated to Lookout about 1:30 pm and got out with only my Muck boots on -- no waders. Fished the back side using a #14 hot pink Copper John under a float and caught a half dozen rainbows. Tied on a #14 ice gray scud and it was on. Brought 14 more rainbows to hand.
Walked up to the top of the island where the water splits and started throwing the scud there. Fishing in less than 12 inches of water, caught a dozen small "silver bullets". Got bored and really wanted to throw a black woolly bugger so I switched. Still working the fast, shallow water at the top, those trout were slamming at the fly, mostly out of the water. I had to hold it still just so they could try for it 2 or 3 times before getting a hold of it.
It was a bite every cast and 20+ more rainbows to hand. I could have stayed there the rest of the day and caught them. Crazy. The deeper I'd throw out and worked down, the bigger the rainbows.
Back to the boat, I motored to the top of the backside of the island and threw a small anchor out. Stayed close to the mud bank and worked the pockets as I drifted down slowly. This is where I caught the good rainbows- several in the 17 inch range. I threw a 3/32nd oz mottled brown jig, orange head, 2-pound line.
Wanted to get out and fish a couple more banks but only got to one. At the Narrows, there's about 130 feet of gravel bank on the channel side. I got out and fished the gray scud under a float with quite a bit of weight. Caught another 10 rainbows there, mostly 14+ inchers.
There are a ton of small rainbows in the lake right now--we call them "silver bullets" and they're probably stock from the federal hatchery at Neosho, Missouri. We get a load of them in the winter months and they are generally smaller than state rainbows, averaging 10 inches long. These trout will grow up to be pretty rainbows if given the chance. Most anglers will release these small fish to go for bigger fryers but in doing so, if not handled and released properly, they will only sink to the bottom of the lake to become food for big browns.
Here's the best way to handle and release a trout: If you have to touch the fish, handle with a wet hand or cloth. If the hook is down in the mouth or throat, cut the line close to the fish's mouth and release. The hook will either work out or dissolve, providing it bronze and not gold.
Below Fall Creek, drifting night crawlers is catching bigger trout, bigger fish than using Powerbait. They're eating minnows pretty good too, especially brown trout. We're still seeing small browns that look a lot like rainbows but be very observant of the spots of the tail. Spots -- it's a rainbow. No spots -- it's probably a brown.
Picture courtesy of guide Rick Lisek.
When drifting, stay in the middle of the lake. If you see a big disturbance in the water while drifting and you're going to drift directly over it, pull in your line and wait till you're by it until throwing back out. This will save you some drift rigs!
Trolling with Shad Raps from the first bridge down way past the Branson Landing is producing good trout, especially browns. But be careful of all those sharp treble hooks!!! We've had several anglers making trips to Urgent Care the last couple of weeks!!
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now