perchjerker

A Rookie Question... What are parr marks?? Thanks in advance to any answers.

Now that I have the little details, I'll be down in a few weeks to catch that "Little Piggy". Hope to see you there .

Nice fish Leonard.How about a little details? Fly or spincast, and the exact location

Finally a break in the weather and brother Deadrift and I headed down to Taney for some good ole winter trout fishing. Fished all 3 days from top of Lookout to Fall Creek. Lots of things worked from mini white jigs to Little Jakes in chrome and Gold. 95% of the time was spent with Fly rods.Tried alot of combos but the number 1 combination hands down was a red sanwaun worm #14 with a grey or tan #14 scud.Many fish to hand with the scud getting the lions share of hookups.No browns were caught all three days. Average sizes were 13' to 16' with many above that and 4 over 18".Also caught two limits for the frying pan below Fall Creek.Went fishing Saturday night around 8pm. Fished for about 2 hours. Best luck was by the cable throwing white wooly bugers and large tan scuds.Saw only 2 other people out. Thought it was Leonard but after yelling at them we agreed we didn't smell cigar smoke or pickled coffee. Just a warning how it can happen so fast. At the bottom of lookout is a log and with 3 generators going we still didn't clear it with the motor down. I ended up in the 43 degree water before I even knew what happen.Very lucky to get back in the boat and in dry clothes quickly. Be careful out there !!Thanks to Lilleys Landing for selection of flies and boat stall.

Nice fish but was Scott fishing Walleye in Carlye lake or in the river ?

Thank you Michael not only for the help you gave me picking out equipment in the shop, but also taking the time to show me night fishing on Taney. You did it just because your love of teaching and helping a novice. Wherever you go I know there will be some rookie that you will show how to enjoy fishing more.Good luck to you and your family. The Old Perchjerker Jim Smith.

Was down this weekend with Deaddrift, We ran the boat all the way up to outlet #1 from Lilley's. casting a 1/8th ounce white jig. All flood gates were open a water was blasting down the river. Caught some above but did better in lookout hole to fall creek. Finally got tired of fighting fast water and Fished from top of monkey island to Bass Pro.Fishing drift rigs down the middle not only lots of fish but if you were there in about 4 hours you can have 2 limits of 14" rainbows.The BBQ grill is going to get a workout next week. As always we kept the boat at Lilley's, and thanks to Phil, Curtis, and all his Staff for running a top notch organization. Our stay is always taken to the next level by his group.I thought I saw old white lip at the top part of the fish ladder dead on the bottom against the wall. What big old gal.

Trolling gold little jake lures in Jan. & Feb. is great around Monkey Island and Short Creek.Troll them till you catch a few in the same place then just start casting them. Deaddrift and I do this and there have been times where you can catch a fish every cast for about 15 to 20 cast. There are usally no gaints this way but plenty of action. Lures in the past which seem to come and go are; Little Cleos (gold & orange), Small Rooster Tails (brown & gold or black & silver), Rebels Wee Crawdad (light brown & cream color) and a #5 Rattalin Rapp by Rappala (natural fish color).But in thirty nine years of fishing nothing beats a white power egg with 1/2 an inflated night crawler on lower Tayney for numbers and size.

Hey Troutgnat, good idea on the hook. Iwent to a #6 bait hook because with a nightcrawler & 1 powerbait (usally white) in front of it that blocked to much of the #8 hook.I think I'll try some of the three way swivels also.Ibrought some last year but never tried them.Thanks for some very helpful hints. You are also spot on about Lilley's Landing & Phil.At times I have stayed there and other times a just rent a boat slip.Everything he does is nothing but first class at a reasonable price.

After 2 years of trying everones & every kind of line I use Trilene XL 6# clear(to old to see the green)with a swivel no larger than a #14.My rigs are tied with low vis green Xl.Here's a hint, don't tie a wieght on till you are on the water.3-4 generators use a 3/8 . 1-2 gens use a 3/16 oz. and 1/4 is the standard.2nd hint, I was down the weekend of 9/26 and caught alot of nice rainbow on Walmart cooked & deveined shrimp.

Drink enough of Leonard's coffee, and you don't feel the rain. (or hear it ,or see it )

Is he giving the class from 9pm to 4am ?

Im thinking if we can have triploid squids in Taney, why not triploid trout ? The only drawback would be casting a 3 lb. triploid scud on my 5 wt. WHAT A GIANT FISH !!!!!

Phil, had a great time last night at your class for Gone Fishing. Deaddrift and I were glad to also meet Bill B. & Vince E.When we were walking in we met a gentleman that was going to Taney for his first time today.I think he now has a good start on his trip being sucessful as he said he learned alot of the where ,whens, and hows.Not to mention just getting out and talking about fishing seemed to make the 5 degree temp this morning a little more bearable. See you all on the water soon. Hey Deaddrift thanks for the Church Bug Flies (O no another secret fly)LOL

Good fish we'll see you at Queeny tommorrow with brother Deaddrift.

Just goes to show you that a site like this can make or break a trip. Brother Skip (Deaddrift) was fishing yesterday trying to locate fish in the muddy area below Fall Creek and then down by Turkey Creek. He called me at work to let me know fiishing was bad. I got on OAF read reports of catching fish at Lookout and down.Told him to stop by Lilley's get dark colored jigs (1/16,3/32) olive & brown,use 4# line and cast ultra lights with the boat in 3-4' of water casting to 7' like Phil's video showed. They started catching fish right away any turned a bad day to a fantastic day of fishing.If you see a large green Lund boat in that area today tell Deaddrift and an old fishing buddy Vinnie I said Hi..Thanks to everyone on this site for thier comments and input in helping so many fisherman better at what they do best , FISH. Happy New Year to All. Hope to see you on the water soon.

Hey Phil just watched the video and the next time I'm down I'll give it a try. Looks like I've been drifting the boat where you have been fishing.I will have to go over to that 3 or 4 feet of water to get dailed in in this area.Everyone can't make perfect video quality, but yours got the point over quite well. Thanks for the info and demostration. See you soon for a slip rental and maybe even a cabin....

Sorry to take so long to get this report going for last weekend. Brother Skip(Deaddrift) and I did some hard fishing last weekend the 31st to the 2nd.We would start in the morning about 9am and boat up to the top of lookout.After the storm on Fri. we were able to dail them in on a 1/32 sculpin colored jig (from Lilley's of course) to get a grey & red thread sow bug down to them. Our best luck was in 4ft of water but I think that was because it got to that depth the best.We were picking up about 8 every time we drifted down to the shallows @ Fall Creek. Almost all rainbows and I had a real nice 2lb largemouth.What a fight he gave me on a 5 wt. rod. We would stop fishing around 3pm,get some food and sleep and would head for the dam @ 9pm. Met Leonard and had some killer coffee,then had the privilege of fishing the PMS fly and later the PMS jig and Rapalas on ultra lights.Needless to say water flow was the big issue on where and how to fish.We learned so much in those 2 nights we'll have to come down for a week just to try them all.Many fish were caught,nothing big just quality fish,thanks to Leonards schooling.Don't worry Leonard, we'll keep your secret of snagging that 31/2 ft. Gar on the fly rod. What a fighter in swift water he was!! We would fish till 3am then repeat the schedule all over again .Fish,Eat,& Sleep.Needless to say we did not bring the wives down with us on this trip.Deaddrift's fatherinlaw needed some trout for pan frying so on Sunday we used nightcrawler drift rigs down at Monkey Island. It wasn't to long that we had enough good trout to take home for the frying pan. As you can see we fished about every way possible and caught fish.I Love This Lake.Kudos again to Leonand from Perchjerker & Deaddrift.

Awsome fish,keep those reports and info coming. It's good to hear that fish are being caught somewhere besides the outlets.DEATH TO ALL TANEY GIANT SQUIDS...

I have drift fished from my Bass Tracker many a time. Whenever I tried 2 rods either I was loosing drift rigs and bait a whole lot faster than I wanted to, or it was a circus with multiple trout on and the boat moving. After some time on Taney you will see that you will catch more fish with 1 rod than 2, unless you are anchored or tied up with a slow moving current.Good Luck and maybe we'll see you on the water.

Don't forget we are the first line in the poacher problem.I met a guy cleaning fish one day as he bragged about regs. aren't for him. He was catching trout out of the trophy area with power bait. Two days later he was whining about the large fine he paid when he was caught red handed. I wonder how they knew his pontoon boat numbers and where he would be fishing???

Thom I wasn't going to give a comment on this but you asked,so I'll try to explain but keep in mind that I answered for other reasons I have fished Taney for 37 years and I don't keep any trout for myself. I said no because I believe that the Mo. Consevation Dept. are monitoring on a regular basis. They have been the Leaders in Taney's sucess all these years. I didn't understand when they wanted a "trophy area" above Fall Creek, but I was amazed how it improved fishing over all. I also have seen many people caught that were not following the rules and fined big.Just like big fish there will always be ones that get away. The 2 areas Upper & Lower Taney are very different types of fishing and I do both. I guess my biggest reason for saying no is lack of knowledge as to if it's good or bad. Taney has always been a great fishing destination and I love coming there. I do not expect to catch 50 fish a day but have had more than my share of good trips. If given the choice that Taney would stay just as it is I would say hooray, because the reason I'm down there 7-10 trips a year is I can't think of another lake that I enjoy fishing more. You will hear absolutly no beef from me no matter what they raise the lenght or lower the limits I just love catching & releasing trout. Like I said it isn't a good reason just my reason.

When you get to Taney, a stop by Lilley's Landing will be your best bet for info,hot flies,and any other needs like boat slip rentals. A nice boat ramp is also right below them. Good Luck.