Firefish

If you run a 150 on the White river you better have your mechanic on speed dial. There are a few deep holes, but there are a heck of a lot more shallow stretches. The White is more of a jon boat/drift boat type river than Taney is. I use a 25 hp, but I would say most people have 15's, and there are still plenty of places to tear up a prop at normal flows. This is all my opinion, of course. There are people on here who have a lot more knowledge of the river than I do. I always camp when I'm there, but I hear Gaston's is nice.

Awesome pics! I think the rocks are going to be great. As long as boats motor up the main channel, which most of us do anyway, they shouldn't be a problem.

The National Association of San Juan Shufflers (NASJS) is having it's annual convention in Branson that week. They're having a five-day tournament below the dam that will include hundreds of the very best Shufflers from around the world. It's going to be awesome!

I haven't seen many reports from wade fishermen. Just curious as to whether anyone is doing any good with the flow like it is and if the big browns have moved up yet. I've got a trip planned for Oct. 10th. Thanks.

We fish both every year and love them both. The White is like multiplying the upper few miles of Taneycomo by a hundred. We pretty much just fly fish now, but up until a couple years ago my kids used spinning gear and caught them on about the same things you do on Taney. The learning curve is definately steeper on the White, simply because there is so much fishable water, but that means there are a lot more areas to explore. As far as the water flow question, I don't know what to tell you. I normally don't like to fish the white as much on flows up over 10,000 FPS or so, but then I've never fished Taney as low as it is right now.

Drifted the trophy area, caught a bunch of nice rainbows both days. Nothing too big, but pretty steady fishing. Did good on egg patterns, San Juans and scuds in various colors. I also relearned how much work it is trying to keep up with flies and tangles when you have an 11 and 14 year old boy both using fly rods.

Is there a public boat ramp at Short Creek? And if so, can you get to it now? I'm assuming the road across the dam is still closed and I was trying to avoid driving through town from where we are staying this weekend. Thanks.

Is the ramp at Cooper Creek open? Also, thanks for keeping everyone up to date.

This might be a stupid question, but if they resort to opening up the new emergency flood gates, won't the torent of water go right through the hatchery?

I think your camping choices are fairly limited. If I were you, I would stay at the state park below Bull Shoals. The campground is great, and they rent kayaks and canoes. I'm pretty sure they also do shuttles. You wouldn't be able to do a float to the campground, because of it's proximity to the dam, but there is some good fishing to be had right there at the park from a kayak depending on water flow. Rim Shoals Trout Resort also does shuttles, with several options depending on where you want to float. We did one from Wildcat Shoals to Rim Shoals in July, and we caught a lot of fish from some really beautiful water. Go to Rim Shoals and click Dock Services. Good luck.

I put rear-view mirror on my hat when I do the reverse Shuffle troll.

Thanks for the input. We may just have to do two days of floats. It's amazing how many miles of good fishing there are on the white river.

Anyone have any thoughts on the best part of the river for a one-day fly fishing float trip? We'll be there the second week of July, so I'm assuming they'll be flowing some water. We're going to try to get some wading time at BSD, Rim Shoals and the Norfork, but I figure a day of good-old leisurely floating would be fun for a change of pace. Thanks.

Phil, I seem to remember last year that you posted something about using jigs over on the White. Did you have good luck on them over there?

Chris, You can't even have an outboard on the boat. Most guys use a 14-16 foot boat with a couple of trolling motors on it, although some use the little scamp-type boats with one motor. The photos on Google Earth are good to check out because they were taken a few years ago when the lake was drawn down 35 feet for work on the dam. Good luck.

Woops. Yeah Phil, they were #12. By the way, Didn't I read a post you made last year about using your jigging technique over on the White? I'm taking the kids over there for our yearly camping trip. They're getting pretty good with a fly rod, but I thought I might have them try some jigs too.

I probably caught 1/4 of them on the egg. Chris, your right. We do have a lot of good fishing around here. The biggest problem sometimes is deciding what lake to go to. Have you ever gone to Pumpback (also called Chimney Rock and W.R. Holloway)? It's a 900 acre lake just East of Hudson, 160 feet deep, and fishes a lot like a mini Tablerock. The state record smallmouth came out of it a couple years ago. No gas motors allowed. Awesome lake, and very peaceful.If only it had Taneycomo coming out of the bottom of it.

I drifted the trophy area the 14th, 15th and 16th and I have to say the fishing was insanely good. They were running 1 unit Friday and then cranked it up to 4 units for the rest of the trip. Caught most of them on gray, tan and olive #2 scuds below a peach egg pattern. Had to use about 10 lbs of split shot to get it down Monday morning due to the high flows, but the fishing was probably the best I've ever had on Taney. They must be pumping steroids through the dam, because the fish were goin nuts! Then came the lightning. I went back out Monday evening and caught a few more, but it had definately slowed down from the morning. I envy you guys that live there. We have a wealth of lakes here in NE Oklahoma, but I'd give them all away for Taneycomo and Tablerock.

Do you drift with the jigs on a tight line bouncing the bottom?

I appreciate the info. Do you guys know a phone number or web site where I can check the level of crooked creek when we get there?

I'm coming down in early June and was curious which float would be the most productive drift fishing with flyrod in moderate to high flows: Wilcat to Rim, or Rim to Buffalo City. Or others if you have any suggestions. I'm hoping for no flow at all, but you know how that works out. Thanks.

I was walking through the parking lot at outlet 1 yesterday when I noticed a familiar looking car with it's windows all fogged up and two people in it in a very compromising position. I walked over, pounded on the window, and when the guy rolled the window down I found out it was my next-door neighbor with my wife! I looked at the two of them and did what any red blooded fisherman would do. I said "As soon as I get done fishing I'm coming back up here and there's gonna be heck to Pay!" Then I caught several really nice trout and kinda forgot about the whole thing.

Forgot to mention. If they have anything available, I'd stay at Lilley's. Nice place, right on the water, great people. Good luck.

Speaking as a fellow okie, I can tell you that any time is a great time to fly fish on Taney. Hopefully they will have the water shut off by then. Regardless, winter is one of my favorite times to fish there. My favorite flies are tan, grey, possum and sowbug colored scuds in size 12, 14, 16 and 18; Zebra, Primrose and Rusty midges in size 16 and 18; G-bugs in size 16, 18 and 20; brown and red San Juan worms; and usually as an attractor above another fly I'll use egg patterns in cream, orange or peach. If you don't tie your own flies, the g-bugs are available at Chartered Waters fly shop in Hollister. If you haven't fished Taney before, I would definately go there and to Anglers and Archery fly shop which is right at the turnoff to the trophy area parking. Chuck or his son at A & A can give you a lot of tips that will really help you out. There are a few things you can do on your rigging and presentation that will make a big difference in how many fish you will catch. There are a lot of guys on this forum who live in the area who are a lot more knowledgable than I am, and are always willing to give lots of good advice.

I'm starting to think maybe I'm nuts. Obviously I'm going to have to make a trip to the white sooner than I expected to try and track down this mythical size 30 fly. What a high price to pay for scientific discovery. Now if I can just convince my wife.