D.T.

Terry, Thanks, My wife set this weekend up for me and said to fish as long and as much as I wanted she even asked if I really wanted her to come on the trip with me. What was I going to say to that I mean is that a loaded question that would lead to no good. Thanks again, Dave

I see thay ran generation all night last night. I hope this is not a sign for the next few days. Has it been hot this week in Branson? I will be down over the weekend hoping for some wade time. Was down the first of June and only had one day of good wadable fishing. Dave

Phil, Is Lincoln in town for a while or was it just last week? I enjoyed the last 2 summers fishing with him. Dave

Dave & Terry I did just that last month. I crossed over with 2 units the water was thigh deep and I waded all the way to the lower end just up from Point Royal. The fishing was good but I didnt pay close attention to the water level, it was up in the grass. I had a hard time wading back up stream, it is a long walk back with water moving that fast. When I crossed it was at the top of my waders and I was glad they had not kicked on 3 or 4. Im a BIG GUY AND FLOAT VERY WELL worst case I thought I could stash my gear on the island and float back down to Lilleys.Does the water cover the whole island when four units are on full? Dave.

Greg I have heard that too but have also been told that you can drive but that the access area is not public. You said you walked all the way down today, does water flow around the back side of the island with no generation? It looked 10' deep or more at the lower end of the island with 2 units running. Im still wandering if there is a place to cross over to the island with more than 2 units running. There were a lot of fish stacked along the edge accross from KOA with 2 units. Thanks Greg for the info, Dave

I was reading one of the articles on here this morning and fishing Point Royal was mentioned. I have fished there in the past at there access point. The last 2 years I have been denied entry there. The guards were nice about it but said it was for guests and residents only. Is there another way to fish that area? I tried wading down past KOA but when I got to the end of the island the water was too deep to cross with 2 units running, is it crossable down there with no generation? When I crossed over to the island at the upper end right below the boat ramp with 2 units the water was at the top of my waders, can you cross over any where with more than 2 units running? Thanks, Dave

I have a Loop model 1.5 fly reel that turns rough. I have had the bearings dipped in a tank and cleaned but still turns rough. I have looked all over the web and cant find parts or service. Loop and the designer of their reels split a few years ago and I have not found anyone to help. Loop has their own line and Danileson (the original designer for Loop) has theirs so both are still around but havent got a response from either. If anyone has a suggestion I would appreciate it. Thanks, Dave

Rusty, I tried Sunday afternoon and found the same thing never did get a answer. Does anyone know if they ran water on Sunday and how many? I have a trip planned around mid July hoping to find a couple days of wading. Trying to find a pattern on generation. If that is at all possible.

Stayed at Lilleys last week and by Thursday the water was clear down to there. We boated down past rockaway on Thursday there was large patches of debris in just a few areas in the middle of the lake. Im not sure how clear the water is normaly down that far but I couldnt see more than a foot deep. We parked the boat down there and me and the kids swam in about 8 feet of water one of them lost their goggles and I tried to swim down and find them but the water was to dark. This could be the normal clarity I dont know we normaly fish from Lilleys up. Dave

Thanks guys for the info. Vince, I think your right about the fish being chubs their mouth was on the front. I believe we met last week in the parking lot at outlet 1. I had all the kids with me at the time some were fishing and some playing in the water I hope they didn’t disturb your fishing. I enjoyed talking with you and would have talked longer but my wife was ready to go she said I would talk to a fence post if it would listen. Wayne, I understand about wanton waste but I wasn’t sure if that would apply to a non game fish. Here carp are not a game fish and I have had farmers ask that if you catch them in their pond that you kill them. I hope it didn’t come off as being an unethical fisherman like I said I practice catch and release 99% of the time. I do very little hunting for the same reason but have nothing at all against those that keep fish or hunt as long it’s within the law. Kayser thanks for the tip about the scoring I assume it would apply to any fish that would have thick fillets. Thanks again guys, Dave

Stayed at Lilleys last week 2nd- 9th. Fishing was tougher than in the past due to the generation schedule and the amount of trash in the water. It looked a lot better by the end of the week though. Hopefully the 3 or 4 days of 3 to 4 units cleaned it out. When the water was down to one unit in the evening I could catch some on the sculpin olive and peach jig. I would catch 2 or 3 in an hour and that was as long as I would fish. I did catch a nice brown off the dock that was 20-21 inches nice and thick. While up at the dam on Sunday my son and I were fly fishing. He is a first time fly fisher so I didn’t take a rod and tried to just help him get the hang of it I’m not as patient as I should be. We caught 4 in about 1.5 hours on a primrose and pearl midge. The next time I went was on Tuesday and arrived at 8:00 am to find 2 units running fished for about 3 hours and got skunked; last time that happened was my first trip to Taney 5 years ago. I went again on Wednesday and found 2 units running by 7:00 am I waded below the mdc boat ramp when I went in the water was waist deep and barely going around the area that turns into an island across from the KOA. I waded all the way down to the end of this area which is almost to the look out. I fished a purple and wine sg bug and caught 5 bows 3 on 3 consecutive casts. I changed to a brown sg bug and caught 3 more. I noticed the water coming up but no horn so I headed back to the ramp a long hard walk when the water is up in the grass. When I got back to the place to cross back to the ramp side the water was almost to the top of my waders. I would hate to cross if there had been 3 or 4 units. I went again on Friday and found no water running. I fished the island side below outlet 2 and the bend to rebar. Lots of fish in there. I caught 2 or 3 on purple wine sg bug again. I switched flies several time and would get one on a new fly and then nothing else. I used brown and ginger sg bugs an olive type of midge and some bit scud in brown olive and black. I caught a dozen fish in 3 hours of which 2 were browns. Not an awesome day but I didn’t get skunked either. Dave

We were at Lilleys this week and the kids said they saw a large fish under the dock. They held their arms apart and said it was this big (hands about 3 feet apart) maybe they werent exaggerating! Dave

I just got back from Taney on Saturday. I have fished Taney 5 years, last year was the first time I have seen suckers, that was at the dock at Lilleys. The kids fished for them with a white micro jig and caught them by the dozen all about 4-5 inches long they had a blast. I thought they were like the carp we have around here, trash fish and left on the bank. This year I found them in a couple spots in the upper end, wading across from koa I found 4 or 5 holding along the bank nice size, and below outlet 2 before the bend to rebar in the middle. I was casting to what I thought were all trout and caught about a dozen but when I left I walked through that area I was fishing and found quite a few suckers in there maybe a dozen or more. If I had caught one I would probably have thrown it on the bank, may not have been legal though. Does anyone know if these are a regulated fish? And what does it mean to score these fish? I mainly practice catch and release, I can count on one hand the number of fish I have eaten in the past 15 years. I have no problem with people keeping what is legal I just don’t care much for fish and I figure what I don’t keep may make up for what some may over keep. I may change this stance a little, this trip my boy and one of the boys that came with us wanted to keep 1 each for dinner. I agreed and cooked them on the grill and could not believe the taste they were great nothing like the bitter put and take trout here in the winter. Dave

Is there any other area as good as Taney to wade and fly fish for trout, that is close to Taney. Somewhere that would have the similar type of access and the same quality of fish as far as numbers and size. Dave.

I wish I had bought a bigger pair of boots. This week when we were down there I tried to put on a thick pair of socks and couldnt get my boot on. I had to wear a pair of then ankle socks and my boots had shrunk since I wore them this summer my toes hurt for the first 3 days. I wear a 14 and I bought 14's the way these fit I probably could have gone just 1 size bigger but I would take a thick pair of socks and try every thing on first. Dave.

Phil, I was looking at the pictures in the maps area and you can tell the water covered alot more of the gravel bars below #2 and the lake looks much wider then, than now. That first summer I was down to taney I was wet wading and trying to cross in different areas and I found water almost chest deep. The rebar seemed very deep and I didnt even try to cross at lower end of it and there was a spot toward the end of the narrows that was chest deep only a few feet from the south bank. Four years seems fast to fill in, and where did all the gravel come from, was it all along the upper banks and washed in? Would this have been from not running the water very much the last couple of years? If there is not as much water covering the gravel up there then there is not as many places for the aquatic insects to produce. Maybe this would be part of the reason for the lower numbers of fish along with all the pressure in a small area like you were saying. I was reading some where that scuds tend to thrive in faster moving water, not much fast water anymore.

This past weekend I walked the north bank from the new boat ramp up to outlet 3. While walking I looked at a couple ledges about halfway in between this area that I thought used to have a deeper drop off. This got me to thinking about the amount of water in the trophy area the first time I came to Taney, which was about 4 years ago. The water was not running and I remember fishing a shallow flats where the water backed up around the point at the end of the narrows. The water backed up pretty far around that point and it held a lot of fish. The rebar seemed to not stick up out of the water as much as it does now as well. Is this my bad memory or is there not as much water up there now. I know outlet 3 is not runing would that make that much of a difference in water elevation? Thanks, Dave

John, we were there from Thursday through Sunday and you are not the only one it was tough for. We fished from 8:00 am to dark Thur, Fri. and sat. and 7:00 am to about 2:00 pm today. The first day we each caught about a dozen these came on olive brown sg-bugs, gray bit scuds, gray soft shelled scuds a primrose and peral midge and a uglys midge. we fished above rebar, below rebar, in the narrows, between outlet 1 and 2 and at rocking chair. our numbers dropped to 5 or 6 each a day the rest of the weekend. I was very frustrated because I have been used to much higher numbers in the past. I got to thinking about this on the way home and I remembered somthing from the book Trout Bum by John Girach, He said that he doesnt care for guys that are concerened about numbers or that are not satisfied unless they get a fish over 20" that it is more about the experience. I realized I get caught up in the numbers game and the whole reason I got in to the sport of flyfishing was the beauty and nostalgia of it and that made me feel alot better about my trip. Besides 4 days on the water is much better than work, fish or no fish. Dave.

My buddy and I were there the past 4 days and couldnt believe how some would come up and start fishing less than a rod length from us. If you caught a fish and had to move very far to net it they would move right into your spot and not move when you came back. We moved several times because we were crowded out. The best one was a kid in his late teens or early twenties who walked in front of everyone in the rebar area and just stared in the water not even fishing. One guy asked him if he was crossing or was going to move and he said no he was just staying where he was at, (right in the middle of the run where everyone was fishing). We went up to the shelter for lunch and talked to a man and women and told them about this kid and that he needed his tail kicked. The next morning I was fishing at the end of the narrows when the guy from the shelter came up and stood a rod length from me and I couldnt even get a back cast. About a minute later this kid from the rebar shows up and it turns out that they are father and son. This is not to say everyone there was rude because we always talk to lots of nice people who have good stream side manners. Thanks to all of you good ones out there.

duckydoty, I was the guy that took the pictures for you and it was a beautiful fish. It was too bad that it didnt survive after you spent the rest of the evening trying to save it. I was there with several guys from our fly club and one of the guys is a fish biologist with the Kansas Fish and Game. He echoed what Phil said that for these big fish to survive you need to get them in the current because that is where all the oxygen is, and to face them up stream and keep them upright. I was going to start a post about this when I got back today. I wish they handed out a guide with your trout permit on the best way to handle these fish or have signs to educate people along the upper end on this. This was not the only fish of this size that didnt make it that we saw in the four days we were there. duckydoty was trying to get it back in the water as soon as he could to save it and Im not directing this toward him at all. But we saw other guys holding fish of this size up by their gills, dragging them up on the rocks and walking them around to show others with their party keeping them out for 10 minutes plus. We saw at least one fish a day that would be over the 6-10 lb range killed by blatant mishandling. Also on this trip I and another guy fishing there rescued 5 browns out of a shallow pool where outlet 3 is. After the water went down these fish were stranded in water that didnt cover their backs and no way out, two of these fish were 8-10 lbs and didnt make it the other 3 were 16" fish that swam off on there own when we got them back in the lake. It is too bad some one cant make the chute so the fish can get out when the water drops. I wonder how many other fish dont make it in this area every time they run water. Just a couple of thoughts.

Leonard thanks for the reply. I always get to the safe side when the horn first blows and I'm not too concerned about the area from the big hole up stream. I just don't know the area from lookout to mdc and mdc to the big hole. I fished one time, down stream a little from the big hole, and on the same side as the as all the outlets. I remember that the bank was fairly steep and there was a ledge out in the water that looked like a large drop off. I don't know if there would be enough time to get around that area. Thanks again, Dave

I have fished several spots on Taney at different times. Like from below outlet 1 to the end of the narrows below rebar. At the rocking chair, the mdc boat ramp and in front of lookout. I'm coming down next week and would like to fish from lookout or mdc boat ramp all the way up to #1 out let and walk back to the car at mdc. I want to do this to explore that whole area. My question is are there any points where I could get stranded on the opposite side of the lake and be forced to walk all the way around and across the dam to get back to my car if the horn blows. I was wondering if there are plenty of places to cross back over to the hatchery side if this would happen. Thanks, Dave

I was reading a previous topic titled fishing report noobie version. In his report he talked about being startled while fishing. This got me to thinking about a vacation my family was on 2 summers ago. We were staying at Lilley's and had just rented a pontoon boat. We were given all the instructions about where to go and not to go and that we were responsible for any damages incurred. I was a little nervous because I had my wife and 4 kids with me and none of them are great swimmers, and I haven't driven a boat in almost 20 years. We started going up stream to look around. We weren't very far up from Lilley's and just idling along (so as not to damage anything) when the water in front of the boat seemed to explode. It looked like when you place a cup upside down under water and turn it over it lets a large bubble on the surface. Except this bubble looked about half the width of the river. I shoved the throttle on the boat into neutral and tried to put on the brakes but we kept moving toward the bubbles. My wife was freaking out and the kids were scared and all the excitement had me shaking a little myself. At the time I didn't know what happened and I'm sure it wasn't as big as I remember but I thought the ground might have opened up under the river. I finally got the boat in reverse and backed away to a safe distance. We let the water settle down and eventually went on up river. Later on that afternoon we learned from the ladies at the shop what it was. It seems there is a place where the city draws water out of the lake and every once in a while they back flush the line with air. What a day! and its funny now looking back but it sure startled us at the time. What other strange things has anyone experienced on Taney? Let the rest of us know so we can have a good chuckle.

Great report, I had to laugh I thought I was the only one to get spooked from those no seums. I have been fishing on Taney early in the morning and the fog is thick when one of those birds lets out a loud squawk. I'm glad there was no one around to see me jump and duck like I had been shot at. I'm 6'2" and well over 300lbs and Im amazed at how fast I can turn into a quivering little boy at the sound of something after dark when I'm hunting or fishing. Thanks again!

I wanted to reply to Pkw's comments in my previous post but it was already to long. When I first started fishing Taney 4 years ago I fished about two weeks a year one in the summer and one in the fall. The number of fish caught was never over 5 fish in one day, and almost always 2 to 3 fish a day with a couple 0 days. That was until I met two men from the Taney area. I met Lincoln at Lilley's the summer of 05 and Brett through his online store and at his shop that fall. Lincoln was kind enough to answer all of my questions and even went out with me not as a guide but just some one to fish with. I learned a lot from him and greatly improved my catch rate. Lincoln is a class act and the Lilley's are blessed to have him. This post wasn't about Lincoln but there is no way I could have left him out. This is in defense of Brett. I have never taken a guide trip with him mainly because I'm usually there on vacation with my family and the whole family could have a day of entertainment for what I would spend on myself with a guide. I have talked to Brett in his shop and on the water. He told me where to fish what bugs to use and how to set everything up. My usual day on the water is about 4 hrs. I have had many 40 plus fish days and nothing under a dozen, thanks to these 2 guys. I have been catching fish many times when no one else around was. I use mostly Brett's flies and few of the midge patterns from other shops around Taney. I read Brett's post on his site and one of his biggest gripes is shuffling and people landing snagged fish. I have seen him guide on several occassions and very seldom see him in the water. If he is in the water its usually only ankle deep and this is to keep the fish away from your feet and in their normal feeding lane. Brett cares about this fishery and the ethics of fishing from what I have seen, and for some one to say he shuffles for his clients is false.