D.T.

Still here but not as much as usual very seldom log in. Dave

Jeremy, I apologize if anything in my post offended you that was not my intention at all. I appreciate all the posting and fly stuff you have posted in the past. I do want to know though why the drastic difference in post from different people lately. Is it just the conditions day to day or total different way to fish the river from the past? I would have liked to heard your thoughts on that if you addressed any of it before you deleted your posts (I knew I should have spent more time reading the posts and less time working). Bad fishing posts dont upset me at all because it still is a tool to know what others have tried and had lack of success with. It shows trends or patterns that we can learn from. Other question Wouldnt you have thought with all the water that was released it would have deepened the main channel at least for a ways below the dam? Bigredbirdfan, I had a day like that last summer where I couldnt steal a fish. I was in a boat from Lilleys and me and my boys didnt catch a fish on 2 drifts. I take my daughter out the next drift and she catches 2. I thought I was the fisherman in the family. Dave

Jeremy, One thing I have noticed is all the different reports. They are usually one extreme or the other it seems (all bad or all good). I look on the guides web sites and they are all reporting great fishing most of the time then one day out of the week they will have a real off day. So whats up with that? Even Phill has reported great days then a weird day with some weird fish. I have notticed that the water off elevation is 700.76 and I thought it used to be 700.3 or close to that. It seems that some fill in has occured just looking at those numbers. I would also have thought that with all the water that was ran it would have deepened the main channel and pushed all the gravel to the edges. Dave

I see that the link (Lake Taneycomo Weather & Water Levels) has remained the same for several weeks now. The only way I can check the current lake level is to use the real time flow report link. Any Ideas? Thanks, Dave

I have heard the same about big browns yet to come. I have seen it on some of the other guides web sites. I'm sure nothing is the same this year though so, I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Silo Hope for water off its by far your best chances. Looks like it was off maybe fri. and Sat. untill noon (not 100% on that). This week its been on by 6:00 am. If water is off go early you never know for sure when it will start again. I have not been back since the high water of the spring but I think the same areas will still be productive. Try the following areas 1. Between outlet 1 and 2 on the oppisite side fish from shore. When you are in the water the fish stack up around your feet which makes less fish to fish to. Your best chances are to find faster moving shallow water so the fish dont have as long to look at your fly. You need a good drag free drift and most of the time the strike is very subtle. 2. Below outlet 2 all the way to the bend 3. Where the water first makes the bend to rebar on eather side. In both the above I use scuds in the #16-20 range in brown, gray, black, drk green and even white. Use 6x flourocarbon Some will say it doesnt matter but from my experiance its big. Small indicator small weight but enough to get it on the bottom set your float so the weight just ticks the bottom every once in a while. I have also heard of guys fishing real small sanjuan worms lately in a dark red or wine color. You can get scuds from Charteredwaters in Holister he is over by the lookout area. The best scuds I have ever used very detailed. 4. Down at the boat ramp high or low water use black or red zebra midges or various other midges #16-18 range get various colors at River Run fly shop up on the highway, very helpfull people. Fish 18" to 3-4 ft under small float. Fish all along above and below ramp in low water. High water fish from shore along the ramp. Not sure where you are staying but Lilleys is by far the best place we have stayed and they have the biggest fly selection I think in the area. I hope this helps, my first year I was at Taney was a 6-7 fish week. Since then I have had a lot of advice from lots of different people. I now have 30-50 plus days usually half days. so dont get down if your first trip is slow. Taney takes a few trys to figure it out. P.M. me if you need any more info and I will see if I can help. Good luck, Dave

Wow, I dont check the forum for 24 hrs and someone went and raised Tablerock almost 2 feet. Did you guys get a lot of rain down there? I still have almost 2 months before my fall trip so there is still hope for a normal fall level. Dave

Phil made a commit in a earlier post that he was not sure what normal water level will be (water off level). I was noticing that it looks changed from what it was in the past according to the flow reports. I thought the normal past level was 701.3 and now it shows 700.6. Thats about 8.5 inches if I figured right. I may be wrong on what the level was in the past. If this is right the upper end is a lot shallower now or is there something else contributing to this number? Anyone have any thoughts? Dave

I rarely use a net any more. I fished One summer with Lincoln Hunt when he was working at lilleys. The first day we went out he had a fly rod, wading shoes and a small chest pack (no waders on Taney). I learned to fish light with him. He would land fish a never had a net. He would run his hand up under the trout from the back and hold them upside down which seemed to subdue the fish. I have since used that method and it seems to work well. As jdmidwest said the best way is to grab the fly and pull it with out touching the fish. If that doesnt work try holding them upside down next time. Dave

I cant see any pics from leonards post. Im at work and there may be a block on it somehow, does anyone have a suggestion? A comment about the size of fish in Taney. Last summer I was drifting along below koa where it starts to get deeper and large rocks. I looked down in the water and saw the largest fish I have ever seen swimming slowly toward the bottom. It looked evey bit as big as the replica hanging on the wall in Lilleys shop. The tail looked like the paddle of a boat oar. It starteled me to see something that big swimming around. Dave

Loo10, I rented a bass boat at Lilleys last week and it had a locator on it. I know nothing at all about those things I did turn it on just to watch it. I was surprised at the different depths from Lilleys down to the landing. The water down river of the bridges was shallow I thought, maybe 8' in some areas. Another thing I noticed was size of fish on the graph and the number of fish. I would go over areas and see lots on the screen and then none for a long time. It was a garmin locator. I wish I new more about them and if it would help with my catch rate. If the locator was right there was long stretches that I drifted over with no fish. Dave

I went and looked at what line I had on and I was using 2lb vanish on a 7 1/2 ft ultra light rod. It is what I use for trout when not fly fishing. The walleye put up less of a fight than the rest of the fish. I thought the 14" rainbow I caught faught as hard as the smallies. I know when I had the rainbow on after catching everything else I thought I had something big. The bow and 2 smallies were the only ones to pull the drag on my reel. The ultra light rod I feel protects the light line. As for the walleye teeth it never bothered either of our lines. Good luck, Dave

I saw in a earlier post that the corp was going to drop Tablerock 8 feet by Memorial Day. Is there still any talk about that? I know one can never count on them doing what they say. Thanks, Dave

Thanks Phil I appreciate it. Dave

Rusty, On page 2 of this section Leonard has a few pics around outlet 1. The water has been so high I dont think anyone has been able to show what the bottom looks like. Phil had some pics of bank erosion that is normally above water level Im not sure what heading they are under. Dave

I cant seem to get the generation charts to open, no matter how I pull it up. Is anyone else having this issue?

Well in the time it took me to wright the first post I see the level is already on its way back up. Dave

I noticed on the lake level page that Taney is at 704. If that is correct they shut all the gates and some of the generation as well don't you think. It would be nice if they shut it all down for a while. I'm curious what the bottom looks like now. Those who are posting pics of the lake, thanks and keep them coming those of us out of town appreciate it. We will be down the first week in June for 7 days. I hope that everything is back to normal then but I'm not holding my breath. That is still a lot of water to get rid of. Thanks, Dave

Phil, How much further can they open the gates? At what point do they open the emergency overflow gates? Will another 2' put the water in the lower units there at your place. I pray for safety for all of you as well as limited damage to the resort. Dave

Dave, Where you are fishing at Point Royal is exclent for midges. I have fished it several times from the access down to the homes and it was always black zebras I never had to change flies.I had to adjust depth and weight according to generation from 12 inches to 5 feet. Also try up river from the access to right below the island Lots of bugs get washed in there when the water comes around the point of that island area (actualy not a full island when water is not running). Good luck, Dave

Does anyone sharpen the hooks on their flies's? I have tried this in the past and end up worse than when I started. We had the good opportunity to have Bill Butts at our monthly fly club meeting and in one of his points he talked about keeping a sharp hook. I didnt have the chance to ask him about this after the meeting. If you do sharpen your hooks how do you do it and what do you use and how often do you do this? Thanks, Dave

drew03cmc, I have a 7' 4wt rod and I use the Wulff triangle taper. I love it, it does everything I need it to do. Long, short, roll cast etc. Dave

Rackersc, I wish I could have seen this post before I got home today. We were staying at Lilleys and I fished the whole weekend. I enjoy meeting guys from the forum. On our way out today I saw Leonards van parked out front at Lilleys and told my wife I wanted to go and meet him. She told me no and said she knew me and I would talk forever ( we had already checked out and was heading home). Well I pouted a little and she told me to hurry. I obliged and was less than 2 or 3 minutes. Would have enjoyed meeting you and maybe doing a little fishing. Dave

rps, I would be there next week if my sinceable calmer level headed better half would move. She says when we retire. I tell her that realestate is cheaper now than 20 yrs down the road so far she wont budge but it doesnt hurt to keep trying. After your post it gives me hope. Dave

Kit, That is exactly our plan this weekend, Lilleys and all. Seriously I am looking forward to it It's only the second time in 18 years we have had a trip to our selfs. With 4 kids it is hard to get everyone a place to go at the same time. The last one I wouldnt really count as a fun trip it was to the Mayo clinic but we still managed some shopping and a little flyfishing.