johndarin

The last few days have been great on Table Rock. On Monday I fished the Kimberling City area and had a great day. My dad and I both caught fish on a smoke/copper flake grub on a 1/4oz jig. Most of the fish on this came in 10-25 feet of water. We did best where there were trees but also did good on bare gravel banks. We also fished a 3/8oz Pigsticker Pig Rig with an orange craw up shallow in 1-10 feet of water. Most of the fish we caught around Kimberling were largemouth. Yesterday I fished the dam area most of the day. I caught 90% of my fish on a PB&J grub. I kept the boat in 30-35 feet of water and fished toward the bank. Most of the hook ups were in about 15 feet of water but there were some toads up shallow. I also used the Pig Rig again and caught a few on that. Most of the fish were smallmouth and kentucky. I fished the banks that had the tree line in about 25-30 feet of water, it didn't seem to matter if it was chink rock or gravel, I caught fish on both as long as there was a tree line.

I didn't think there was but i had someone tell me there used to be a lot of them in there. Wanted to see if it was true or not.

Are there still alligator gar in bull shoals?

I went up in Beaver Creek a couple days and got my first whites on the fly rod. I went as far up the creek as I could and there were a bunch of whites spawning up there. I have never seen that before. They were over on the shallow side in about 6 inches of water. It seemed there were always about 6 or more males following 1 big fat female. After watching that for a little bit I moved down a little bit where the water was about 6 foot deep and kept the boat about 40 feet from the bank. The fish were stacked up along the drop off. I was using an 8wt Sage Launch with Rio's 24 foot 300 grain sink tip line. A white double bunny with lead eyes was the fly. I would let it sink all the way to the bottom and then drag it slowly back to the boat. The white would pick it right up and the fight was on. My dad was using a ultra light spinning rod with a white Rapala X-Rap #8 and was getting hammered by the whites. I also managed to catch my first carp on the fly rod. At first i thought i probably snagged it but I was wrong the fly was right in the corner of the mouth. The only thing I didn't like too much was the amount of people up there. It was very crowded.

nascar fishing, I want in!

Bittle, The tm needs to be close to the bottom within a foot or so unless it is too deep to do that. The deepest is set mine at is about six foot. You also MUST have fluorocarbon tippet. I use Rio Fluoroflex 5x or 6x, you can use just regular fluorocarbon line but use 2lb or less. The Rio tippet is a smaller diameter line than regular line. My colors I use are pink, salmon fix, cotton candy, and sassy. If you have any other questions just ask!

Bill, we kept 9 and released a few

I got out yesterday and did a little crappie fishing. I fished a couple places between the long creek ramp and where long creek and yocum creek meet. The best place was where the two creeks met. Most of the fish hit a pink swimming minnow and a few on purple. The fish were not schooled up real tight they were spread out. They were in 10-12 foot of water on the bottom. I was slow rolling the minnow along the bottom and they would not hit it hard they would just pick it up and it would feel heavy. They were not around much cover just out in open water.

Thanks

soft swimbaits

Are swimbaits good this time of year? What color of jerk baits are best and where do I fish them?

We had a great time staying and fishing at Lillys Monday, Tuesday and Wed. The water was not flowing the first two days, but flowed on wed. We used Rapal and Rebel crank baits trolling around the Branson Landing, catching & releasing numerous nice fish. Floating air injected worms worked around the fall creek entrance,My buddy picked up a 18"brown. We'd we fly fished, using some new Temple Fork Fly RodsIn front on Point Royal. Caught & released several fish using small jigs & flies. The staff at Lillys was very helpful in fishing advice and rigging the new fly rods. This is a great winter get away to beat cabin fever. Thanks for the great time and remember, Life is short, better go fishing! David Reynolds

I finally got out fishing some this week. The weather was not perfect for me but good for fishing. It was just a little chilly about 45 degrees, just a little rain and overcast all day. The rain was very light so it didn’t get us very wet just damp but it made the run to the fishing spot very cold. The Southwestern Power Administration posted the night before that they were going to run about half a generator and that is what they did. It was around 25 MW for most of the time we were fishing. This is perfect water for fishing Rapala stick baits. This is also great water for drifting pretty much anything you want. The first hour or two my Dad and I both were using a Rapala X-Rap #8 Gold on our medium action spinning rods with six or eight pound test line. The majority of the fish we caught on these came from Lookout just below the island on the bluff side. The strikes are hard and fast and they pretty much hook themselves most of the time. This only works if the power generators are on if the water is still they won’t touch it. We also tried the jig and float set up. This worked great for my Dad. He was using a 1/50th ounce brown and orange with an orange head jig. We were throwing these on two pound S.O.S. line made by Lelands’ Lures who also make Trout Magnents. This worked perfect. The majority of the bluff below Lookout was loaded with fish that were about fifteen feet off the bank. The takes were quick and sometimes very light just barely moving the float. After seeing my dad catching them on this I switched to just a straight 1/8oz jig. I used a sculpin and ginger with a brown head. I caught a few but still not as many as my Dad and his jig and float so I finally switched to that with a black jig and was keeping up with him. I have heard some stories about crappie being caught here on Taney so I had to find out for myself. We ventured down to where I heard they were at and spent an hour there and caught one crappie along with some trout. I think they have moved to a different spot!

Fishing Buddy Report: Managed another fishing trip this winter and again took advantage of the fishing buddy special offered by Lilley’s Landing. Thanks to everyone for another good time. I continue to be impressed every stay at the professionalism displayed by each and every employee, and the family atmosphere that always makes us feel more than just welcome. Brought three friends and we were put up in condo #9, which was perfect for us. We all just wanted to get away from the City for a relaxing fishing trip and we accomplished our task. Arrived Sunday afternoon and all fished from different locations on the dock. Stayed all day Monday, and left early Tuesday morning. We fished exclusively from the dock this trip and had a good time with all of us taking a limit of trout home. The weather was perfect for this time of year, combination of sun and clouds but no rain and not very windy. I believe one unit was running Sunday and the fishing was steady from the dock, catching and releasing a number of fish. Not many big fish, but many good eating size. Monday no units running and the fishing was a little slower. Both days we fished with a combination of gulp eggs, power bait and worms. By far the majority of fish were caught on inflated worms, but we did catch a few on the power bait and eggs. Chartreuse power bait caught the most, with power eggs coming in last. Used combination of white/orange and white/green eggs. We were all using 2# Maxima moss colored line with a small slip sinker secured by a BB split shot about 18” from the hook, just letting it lay or drift on the bottom. Thanks again to the Lilley’s Landing crew for a great trip. Written by Steve Mayes

My dad and I got out and fished for about 4 hours and did very well. The generators were running about 30 MW which was perfect for drifting from the boat. We mainly fished between outlet 3 and the conservation boat ramp. We both fished the Miracle Fly, on a fly rod,and caught a few fish. The best color was Oregon Cheese under a Plasa just off the bottom. We also used a 1/50 sculpin and orange just under a float, on a spinning rod, about 4 foot deep in the same area. We next moved down to the narrows and lookout and fished the sculpin and orange jig under a float and also a 1/8oz sculpin and ginger jig without a float. We did better on the 1/8oz jig here along the bluff. Most of the fish were right up close to the bank. I was trying some new line and it worked great, it was Leland’s Lure’s S.O.S. 2lb line, which we have in the shop here at Lilleys’. We did try a pink and salmon fix Trout Magnet under a float just above Lilleys’ and caught a few fish but I was getting cold so we did stay there long. I have always done well with those two colors using Phantom 7x tippet under a float. That has been the best set up for me with the Trout Magnets on a spinning rod.

I use Rio 24 foot sink tip line. 150 grain and I use it where the generators are running and I love it. u must fish from a boat though to get the right presentation. I also have 300 grain on an 8wt.

I have only started the drop shot this year but I love the VMC Spinshot hooks. They have a swivel built in and it is quick and easy to rig up.

My dad and I got out a few days ago and caught some good cats and bass. We put in at State Park and fished the dam area . We fished the points in 25-40 foot of water with a nightcrawler on a drop shot and thats where we caught the cats and k's. After we did that for a while we moved up shallow and caught smallies and a couple of largemouth on a Pigsticker in 2-15 foot of water. When fishing u[ shallow the fish are more spread out so you have to cover a lot of water.

Salmo, from the Latin, salio, "to leap" trutta, from the Latin "trout" Got this from http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/fish/salmotru.html

The pic with the smallmouth has a pigsticker in the pic too

Got out and fished for a few hours yesterday afternoon and caught a few good ones. I fished the dam area with a Pigsticker up shallow. I also caught a couple on topwater in about 10 fow. Most of the fish hit the jig as soon as it hit the water.

I catch some around Branson Landing on unweighted plastic worms.

Got out for most of the day yesterday and it was a little tough for me and my dad. Fished the dam area and we still caught fish but not as many as usual. We threw square bill and Pigstickers. Nothing on the square bills though. Pigstickers are still working great up shallow for us in PB&J 1-15 fow. We had about 20 between both of us with only 5 keeps. Mostly smallies with a couple of K's in there too.

My dad and I got out and fished a few hours this afternoon and did great. We put in at state park and ran down to where long creek and cricket creek meet. I threw square bills, and my dad threw a wiggle wart but only got one small largemouth. After about and hour we ran clear back to the main lake just across from the Chateau to one of my favorite spots and immediately started catching fish on a drop shot. I changed to a Pigsticker 3/8oz football jig and still caught them. In about an hour we ended up with about 12 fish mostly smallmouth with 2 keepers. The drop shot fish were about 20 foot deep and the jig fish were around 5-10 fow.

Here is a pic!!