With the cool down in our weather this past week, generation patterns had changed a bit on Lake Taneycomo. Dam operators were only running water in the afternoon for a couple of hours and then less than a full unit. And then the weather changed again. With warmer temperatures, they ran all four units on Wednesday late afternoon for three hours. That really was a good thing because it cleaned out the upper end of the lake of floating dead algae which has built up over the past week. What they are going to do now with generation is anyone's guess.
Water temperature is holding at 49-50 degrees, up just slightly from a month ago. Water clarity is more than 12 feet, very clear, which is normal for this time of year.
Trout fishing has been very good all summer. We've witnessed no periods of slow fishing, which we normally see at some point in the summer. The average size of rainbows stocked by the Missouri Department of Conservation has been very good, too.
I'm going to run through the obvious techniques that are working right now, and have been working all summer. Of course, the number one choice is the pink Powerworm on a small jig head, two-pound line fished under a float five- to eight-feet deep. Also doing well is the a jig-and-float using a 1/100th-ounce jig, two-pound line under a float from four- to six-feet deep. Colors: Best is the sculpin or brown with an orange head, but other earth colors are working okay, such as black, olive and ginger.
If you watch One Cast, you know the sculpin/ginger 1/32nd- or the 1/16th-ounce jig with a brown head, two-pound line is catching trout like crazy. The black/olive and plain sculpin are also producing, too, but not as much as the sculpin/ginger jig.
If dam operators do start heavy generation again, go for big browns by throwing stick baits! If you didn't see Duane's article, read how throwing these "bass baits" can land you a trophy brown trout. Here's another article by Ryan Miloshewski.
Fly fishing: Some say it's not a "fly," but the 1/100th-ounce jig under a float with a fly rod is a lot of fun. I've been taking advantage of the low water to fish with it. I found a lot of rainbows on the bluff channel side of the lake from Fall Creek's dock down to Short Creek Tuesday morning this week. They also took a #16 red Zebra Midge under a float five-feet deep using 6x tippet.
No dry fly action to report, but a few people have ventured out at night to fly fish below the dam, wading and throwing leaches and streamers. Angler have also skated mice across the surface below the dam and below Lookout Island along the bluff down to Fall Creek.
I've been fishing some in the trophy are below Lookout Island and doing okay on the Zebra Midge but better on the 1/100th-ounce brown jig with an orange head. Scuds are working fine. Try a brown or tan, #14 or #16 if the water is off and larger if the water is running. If you find a chop on the surface, strip an olive or brown wooly bugger, a 56'er, a crackleback or a soft hackle.
Bait fishing off the dock has also been pretty consistently good this summer. Night crawlers have been good, but Powerbait has been a bit better with pink and orange the best colors. And an old favorite has made a comeback... Pautzsky's Balls of Fire salmon eggs are doing very well, plain and gold label with gold glitter. Again, two -pound line is best for catching more fish.
I've mentioned a couple of things in my report that are important if you want to catch more trout. First, our water is very clear right now and, second, use two-pound line. Every year about this time, our water becomes gin clear and the trout can see our lines, especially when there's no water running and the lure or bait is just sitting there motionless. That's why two-pound line catches more fish.
Here's a Tip: When you catch a small rainbow and the hook is deep in its mouth, if your intention is to release it, simply hold the fish up by the line and cut the line close to the fish's mouth, letting it drop back in the water. DO NOT touch the fish, especially with a dry rag or hand. DO NOT carry it around out of the water. If you do, hold your breath the entire time because that's what the fish is doing. DO NOT try to dig the hook out of its mouth . . it will die.
RELEASING A FISH YOU KNOW WILL DIE DUE TO BLEEDING AND/OR MISHANDLING IS CALLED "WANT AND WASTE" AND IS A VIOLATION OF THE WILDLIFE CODE. IT'S ALSO UNETHICAL.
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