Travis Swift

I just caught my biggest trout ever. Caught her in the restricted area on 2 pound test and a jig I pour and tie myself. 25 inches long. 10lbs 12oz. Went under the boat 3 times and I had to stick my rod in the water almost to the reel all 3 times. We missed her with the net twice. Soon as we got her in the net the jig popped out. I have been coming to taneycomo several times a year for over 30 years to catch a fish like this. I wanted to take her to Lilleys but we simply didn't want to risk killing the fish. We were very careful with the fish care and we have under water go pro video of her swimming off which we are very proud of. This post has been promoted to an article

we leave at noon to head that way today........gonna pour on us a lot it looks like in the next 4 days. Oh well we brought rain suits and are gonna try to make the most of it.

We are headed that way tomorrow also. May see ya on the water. Safe travels

Last one.. A Megabass Magdraft I doctored up a little. 6 inch bait that's not legal in the trophy area but can be thrown below

All good points and info. Sounds like it varies to a personal preference. I sure appreciate everyone commenting so far and sharing your knowledge.

we leave at noon tomorrow to head down. We will fish all day Thursday thru Saturday. Bringing rain jackets and the works, thinking we might be in for an epic trip hopefully. Plan to throw a lot of jerkbaits, especially in the rain also.

Picked up some more little swimbaits and jerk baits for the trip this week. These are academy H20 baits and all are between 3.99 and 5.99 and I think once you add the dots they look pretty decently like a little rainbow. They are nothing like Duanes work but not all of us are as talented and handy as he is

My baits would be midge to midge, Micro jig to midge or midge to scud if I was going to do a dropper.

Do you think fish shy from the first fly or jig because of line coming off the hook at all?

As I'm tying on fly stuff for a trip to Taney next week I was going to tie droppers to every rod for tandem set ups. I just can't bring myself to do it though. It looks weird to me and I feel like it would deter fish from biting. So how often do you guys do it, why do you do it and if so do you tie to the hook bend or eyelet?

That don't get much prettier than that one! Congrats on a great fish.

In "phil speak" what does it mean for Taney currently and for the next month or two. Is this good for this time of year or bad?

whatever it takes to catch a 10 pounda ahahahahha

I also have this 5 inch glide bait on the way. I have fished these brand for bass and it works great and has a great gliding motion to it. EDIT: Dear Lord fellas please ignore my wife's "wish list" at the bottom of the picture........

Found that color on the rack. I thought it looked pretty close and just added some dots with a sharpie. I don't think it looks awful. Gonna throw it with a slow retrieve and also thinking about using it on a drift rig when the water is on. Will be fun to mess around with atleast. I threw some 6 and 7 inch swimbaits and glide baits the last couple trips with no results but I didn't stick with them long enough either though. This smaller size might get some action though.

So here is going to be my experiment down there next week..

He has GOT to be excited about that! If you remember you gave me a "dinky Doty" jig to try on my fly rod back in June. I still have that jig but it's since been retired. I caught so many fish on it that it finally basically got torn to shreds. Everything you make is top notch!

my boat will be on a dock all week so I want to explore some other areas of the lake after dark. Thanks for the tips though I appreciate it! Great trip man and great report.....did one of those special jerkbaits accidentally make it home still tied to your rod by chance?

Thanks Duane. We are coming down next week and although I won't be up that far after dark I have aspirations of possibly going to the short creek area and throw jerkbaits after dark but I wasn't sure if I should jerk them just like I do during the day or just reel them slow on the surface. I just haven't tried to fish at all after dark in the boat down there.

that is REALLY good stuff guys thanks for taking us along. Are we allowed to ask questions such as what size line are your throwing the jerkbaits on and how you are fishing them? I know there is the jerking retrieve during the day and water flow but when the water is low like that and before daylight are you willing to share your retrieve style from a boat? I used to throw my jerkbaits on 6 pound test down there but have upped it to 8 pound test the last couple of years. Is that a mistake?

Not to hijack the thread but this is the exact reason I continue to experiment just a little each trip down with big swimbaits. I have been trying them down lake for bass cause I know there are big bass eating those rainbows so the browns have to be doing the same thing and probably in the same places. There were several spots this summer down lake where I would see some 6 and 8 inch rainbows and there is just no doubt that is nothing but candy to bass and brownies.

If you drove 5 hours in the middle of the night to fish with Ducky just for a hours this morning this is freaking epic dude!! My hero. Hope you guys whack them!

That is like Mr Miyagi asking you to learn Karate from him......you better take him up on that Pete.

They look long to me as well but Tim Homsley has a video on his facebook on how he ties them and in that video he said he makes them about 3 inches long so that's what I was trying to go for. Hey at the very worst I can snip the end off shorter and singe it and be back to fishing in a minute or two.

here's a picture.....atleast they are my version. I've never made or fished one but I copied the length and style from a video I saw from Tim's fly shop. I'm going to try them on taney next week but was hoping for some pointers on how to fish them. also wanted to try them for bass and crappie and white's etc here in Kansas and wasn't sure if anyone had fished them on warm water fish at all