Smithvillesteve

Thanks Dave. Hopefully that will stop a lot of the complaining on this site about how we hold bass for pics. I always try and support a fish for a pic by holding my hand under the belly and take the pic of a fish horizontally. Glad to hear that according to your post that seems to be ok. Guess I'll have to worry about if I'm doing it right when i catch an 8.5 lb bass!!

Thanks for the report Phil. Nice pics. Two buddies of mine plus myself had a great trip this past week. Wed afternoon thru sunday at noon we boated 280 trout. Biggest was a 17 inch rainbow and a 16 3/4 inch brown. Several 14-15 inch fish. A lot of fun and good fighters. We caught and released all but two fish. One of my buddies wife wanted a couple of trout to eat. I dont usually pay a lot of attention to Taneycomo on the website as this is the only time we make it down to fish this lake. But i try and pay attention for about a month prior to our trip. We thank you very much Phil for posting information on the site that helped us catch a lot of fish. Sounds like we should have boated up to the dam to catch a few bigger fish. But no big deal. We fished all the way from Fall Creek to Monkey Island and caught fish in most the entire area. The weather was absolutely wonderful and it was good to get out and fish with a lot of friends. In our tournament sat and sun with about 30 guys a 2 lb 8 oz rainbow won 1st place. A 1 lb 14 oz rainbow finished 2nd. Good time. Good memories. Thanks again for posting valuable information that we could use Phil.

That makes me feel better Phil. Looks like some nice trout caught in the Masters tournament. Fat and healthy. Like me!! Looks like we will catch some decent weather. 50's and 60's into the weekend. My first stop after launching the boat is your place Phil. Get some advice and buy a few jigs.

Thanks for the report Phil. Coming down wed and staying thru sunday. I spent about 20 dollars yesterday at Bass Pro on various sizes of white jigs!! I figured everything would change about the time we got down there. "Should have been here yesterday!" is a remark i have heard over and over in my fishing years! Oh well, we will have fun. You know the old saying, "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work!!"

Very informative read Bill. Thanks for the info. I am yet to catch a fish on the A-Rig. But i have not thrown it very much. I bought the Yum set up. My problem is I am 64 years old and just cant throw that darn thing very long. Wears my old butt out!!! Now, i dont have the equipment that you have listed here or anything like that. Maybe that would help me immensely. I do know this, that thing looks deadly swimming in the water. I will continue to use one on occasion until I finally wear down after about 30 minutes!!

Thanks for the written report and the video Phil. I am coming down in late Jan. My concern is that they have been running water for a month and now all of a sudden it stops. What will that do to the fishing?

Great topic on the rain gear. Great pic of winter float trip. Now, my question to you boys: What is the best cold weather base layer? I have some of Cabela's ECWCS that I use for cold weather deer hunting. But I cant remember if it is for the coldest weather possible. On the answers to best cold weather rain gear several of you mentioned Under Armour. I am going on a trout trip to Taneycomo in late Jan and want to go buy the best cold weather base layer i can get!! I have seen that Under Armour has a base layer at 4.0, 3.0, 2.0 and 1.0. With 4.0 being rated for extreme cold conditions and so forth. Any advice boys?? Sincerely appreciated!!

I cant say "thank you" enough for all the responses to my question. You guys are the best. Whenever i get on here and ask questions about fishing Taneycomo or Table Rock or Stockton i get timely responses. I have always told people that 99% of fishermen and hunters are just good people!!

Thanks mwfischer. Greatly appreciated info.

I dont fish for trout very often. I enjoy the experience just dont get the opportunity. I have a question for anyone on this site and your help will be greatly appreciated. I am going down to Taneycomo in late Jan for a tournament with a bunch of "cabin fever" married guys. I try and watch the topics on here leading up to my trip to find out what is working. With all this high water lately that has been tough. I have 3 ultra light setups that i take. I spool one with 6 lb test mono for throwing jerk baits and 1/8 oz jigs. I spool one with 4 lb test mono that i use the most. Drift fishing, spoons, crankbaits. I spool one with 2 lb test mono for small jigs under a strike indicator. I have never used flurocarbon down there. I just use my Trilene XL green mono. A buddy of mine claims i need to be using flurocarbon at Taneycomo. I use flurocarbon at Table Rock as a leader on my braid for drop shotting. I just dont think it is very strong. Any advice for this novice trout fisherman would be greatly appreciated.

I too have had the Cabela's Guidewear now for about 3 years. I go to Canada for a week in late May and you better have some high quality rain gear!! I have been very satisfied with that choice. Have fished in driving rain and get back to cabin dry to the bone!!

Thank you for the report Phil. A bunch of us coming down the last weekend in Jan. Hope you will report what is going on down there with the generation flow, water color, fishing conditions etc almost daily. Not too much to ask is it? Sincerely appreciate the information you give.

Thanks for posting that info Phil. Its hard for a guy like me to decipher but I'm trying. We will hope and pray that your area does NOT get that rain, or as much as predicted, this week. A bunch of us are planning on coming down the last weekend of Jan. Any opinion on lake conditions by that time? Any opinion on what trout will be doing by then? I know thats 3 weeks away and with the current conditions and forecasts a lot can change. Stay safe. Stay dry!!

My heart goes out to you people down at Taneycomo. I only fish down there a couple times a year but really enjoy the experience. Could somebody please explain something to me. There was an article in Sunday's Star up here in KC about the highlights/lowlights of 2015. One of the top stories was of all the rain we had early in the year. Table Rock high, Bull Shoals 30 ft high, Truman and Stockton record high levels, Kansas lakes record high levels. They quoted a guy from the Corp as saying, "these lakes did exactly what they were built for, flood control". Why is it that they release water at such levels to flood Taneycomo? They dont release water like that below Taneycomo, or Stockton, or Truman or other lakes? Last time i was down at Taneycomo I saw signs in peoples yards claiming, "Corp get your act together!!" "Corps needs to think about their decisions!!" Obviously people not real happy about the Army Corps of Engineers. Maybe these other lakes release water like that but it doesnt have businesses below the dam like Taneycomo? I realize Lake of Ozarks is not a Corp lake. Anyway, I hope everybody down there stays safe.

Today's fishing report in the KC Star had white bass surfacing at Stockton Lake. Listed it as "excellent". Early and late.

Thanks for the report Imtout. You are the walleye man!! I will be fishing down there friday and will try the bottom bouncer technique. I am new to that technique. And i cant find any 2 oz bottom bouncers anywhere!! Have not tried Cabela's or BassPro. Bought some slow death rigs at Rogers here in KC yesterday. They only had light bottom bouncers, 3/4 oz. Hoping i can beat the holiday weekend crowd by fishing friday.

Thanks Ryan for sharing your info. Deeply appreciated. I use the paper worm bedding when fishing with night crawlers. I too hate the dirt/mud in my boat carpet. The bedding is excellent. I dont use spoons a lot. Sometimes up at Truman when trying to catch hybrids. I will have to give this a shot. I will also try the bottom bouncers. Once again, thanks Ryan.

Thanks for the report Ryan. I will be going down to Stockton later on in the week and was wondering what was going on with the bass and the walleye. Sounds like you and your Dad caught a lot of fish. Thats great news. Enjoy fishing with your Dad. I sure wish i could fish with mine. If you could, could you expand a little on your techniques? I know you said spoons and plastic worms for the bass. How deep? In the thermocline? And the walleye? trolling cranks? jig and crawler? bottom bouncers? Not trying to be too "nosey" here Ryan. But any advice would be welcomed.

Priceless!! I took my two boys fishing with me at a very early age. My youngest just loved it. He would be fishing by the ramp as I took my boat off the water. I had to pry him away. Now, he is 19 yrs old and we go to Canada every year and fish for a week together. My favorite week of the year. Thanks for sharing your story. Brought a tear to my eye!! Nothing better than getting to fish with your son.

I can not thank you guys enough for the valuable information provided me here on this forum. I took a couple of buddies down last week. All they want to do is troll crankbaits. We caught quite a few walleyes but only 2 keepers. A lot of 13-14 inch fish. We also caught a lot of smallies and spots. Mostly small. I stopped at Woods Supermarket in Stockton and bought a couple of bottom bouncers. But they only had 1 oz. I tried one for awhile on the big flat south of 215 bridge. Used the gas motor, 40 hp, as slow as i could go. Tied on a spin rig to the bottom bouncer. Only fished it for about half an hour and didnt catch anything. Never felt it "tick" the bottom. I was in 15-20 fow. No clue how fast i was running and really think i needed a 2 oz. Cant wait to get back down there and try this technique using a lot of the info you guys have provided. Thanks again.

I dont fish for crappies very often at Stockton Lake. But let me say congrats to you two boys!!

I am coming down to fish Stockton for a few days and have a couple of questions. Any info would be deeply appreciated. I would like to try the bottom bouncer technique with a slow death rig or spin rig attached. I have never tried this technique before. From reading the info on here the last few weeks it seems as if trolling this method 1.5 to 2 mph is the way to go. Is this usually done with a gas motor or trolling motor? I've been told the bottom bouncer gets hung up a lot.Is this technique better utilized on flats that traditionally would have mud bottoms instead of rocky points? I love this forum and all the information several fishermen are willing to share. I usually troll a crankbait and cast/drifta jig/crawler. This time of year I usually focus on main lake points. Any advice would be deeply appreciated. Thank you very much.

Quillback you are the man!! Not being from that area i forget about a guy like Pete Wenners and his reports. I cant thank you enough Quillback. Excellent report. Sincerely appreciate your help.

Thinking about coming down to the Rock mid week. Be fishing around the Big M area. Any advice would be welcomed. Will be bass fishing. All catch and release Champ!! Looks like the weather will be in upper 80's with a chance of rain. I can deal upper 80's this time of year. My plan is to hit bluff ends and points. Mostly use finesse tactics. Ned, drop shots, Carolina rigs. Any advice on where, what, colors would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you Slab Slinger. Yes, i have fished those bluff ends in that area and the big chunk rocks that fallen off the bluffs. Picked up a few small smallies. There is also some good points in that area. Deep water close by. Appreciate your input my friend.