Phil Lilley

Unfortunately, I can't control (or I don't know how to) ads that appear in the google ad spaces on OA and OAF. They are viewer driven - what you browse on your computer shows up in ads. You can click on them and object to the content or use an ad blocker. I will point out though that when you post an image of the objectionable ad, it does show up and viewable to everyone.

I haven't been out on the lake on a Saturday, in the winter, in a long time. After yesterday, I know why. And for some reason the trophy area was the place to be! We did have a couple of groups who collectively wanted to fish the trophy area this weekend - one from Arkansas and one from Oklahoma. Together they probably had 20 boats and most were fishing between Lookout and the Narrows Saturday afternoon. And I don't think the trout appreciated the traffic. The group did fish early in the morning and was able to boat past Lookout, some to the cable, and fish before the Corps drop the levels back down to 35 megawatts. They said fishing was very good - white jigs was the best lure. Some did drift a scud on the bottom and caught some nice rainbows. We're still seeing a lot of rainbows in spawning colors - real pretty. I got out about 1 pm and joined the floatilla. Did ok on a 1/16th black jig until the wind nixed my jig fishing. The guys did ok fishing a scud under an indicator (fly fishing) but as the afternoon dragged on and more boats made it up to the area, the bite shut off for us. Sun came out too which didn't seem to help fishing but it did warm us up - I think my guys got sleepy. Yea- this weekend espcially is a busy weekend on the lake - always has been. It was fun though... watching all the yea-hoos barrel up the crowded Narrows channel through traffic only to plow a row through the shallow gravel. If they only drove a little slower we might have told them.

Yesterday was incredible. Today, not good.

The switch thing... we had a weeping willow in the back yard. Need I say more. It's not the discipline across the rear that directs a child; it's the tear in the eye and the care in the heart that teaches and guides. You never hit a kid in anger - that's abuse. If you're mad - go cool off and come back to the issue when you can handle it right. If you can't, you better get yourself straightened out before your kid gets out of hand. That's my piece on raising and discipling kids. Today - its a lost art.

We caught a ton of rainbows above and in the narrows this afternoon. Black #14 zebra and I did well on a #14 blue/gray scud. Nothing over 16 inches.

@duckydoty did you hear that... "stinkin walter"

Come by sometime!

Bill Babler photobombing me... haha. I should have had him speak... he could have done a better job.

We gotta change that profile pic...

I like either the Rio florocarbon or the mono. Leader - Rio 12 ft 3x. Then I add tippet to that.

They usually catch big bass around docks on the very lower end of the lake this time of year.

I use Trilene XL 2 or 4 pound. I also like Vanish 2 pound.

From a friend of mine: True, the ramp at 10c has big pile of riprap on top of it right now. Further upstream at Quapaw there is a ramp in Joshephine Smith Park (aka; devil's prominade). (Good area for whites.) If your gonna go up there a jet would be wise. It can get pretty shallow going either way, unless there has been recent rain. State is not fond of maintenancing their ramps either. I think it was last year that I looked at it and decided I couldn't use it because of all the gravel washed in. (That was after that big flood event.) There is another ramp at Baxter Springs.

Nice

Scales, first place plaque and some food of some kind.

Babler is coming with me, or I with him.

Going over what the MCC did in their meeting Friday and this stood out: Suspended or revoked all hunting and fishing privileges of 325 individuals who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws. Suspended or revoked one or more hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges of 509 individuals in accordance with the terms of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Didn't realize that those who don't pay child support get their priveledges revoked. https://livestream.com/mdc/events/8040983/videos/170007500

Got to be more specific... or did I miss something?

Some ppl are catching fish now... bass is good on TR and BS. Crappie fishing on TR is very good according to some of my local friends who have been catching them all winter. Same on BS. Kris Nelson said he's catching big crappie on Stockton too. Either ppl aren't getting out or not mentioning it here. The masses aren't getting out yet... too cold. Trout fishing is excellent here... but don't come... it'll be too crowded.

I post EVERY nice fish I catch here... I just don't catch as many as Aaron does. Ever heard of a BRAGGING BOARD. I gonna make one so that fish can be posted without ridicule. No... this whole forum is a bragging fish board.

I hope not... This is a fishing forum and from I've noticed, fish posts, pics, reports - whatever - are down. Then people complain about people posting pictures of fish?? Seriously - quit, stop! It's getting super old.

Bingo

Generation on Lake Taneycomo has varied widely the last week or so -- all tied to the air temperature. When thermometer dips below freezing and the heaters kick on, dam operators run water to produce that needed electricity. When it warms up, as it will in the next few days, generation will slow and we'll see no current most of the day. That's my best prediction, but I know the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers proves me wrong a lot (smiley face.) The water temperature has dropped another degree. It's 44 degrees now coming from Table Rock Lake. The clarity is still pretty good -- may be five to six feet of visibility. It's been cold, and they have been generating, but trout fishing has been superb! Even when the water was off for most of this past weekend, anglers were catching a lot of trout -- and some good ones, too! We had three keeper browns brought in to our dock Saturday at the end of our private trout tournament. One brown measured just over 20 inches, one brown was about 22 inches and the biggest was longer than 25 inches and weighed 7.5 pounds. We hosted an outdoor writers conference Sunday night through Wednesday morning this week, sponsored by the Conservation Federation of Missouri. We were expecting about 30 writers, but some couldn't make it, literally, because of the ice and snow on the roads. Those who did were treated to some great food, fellowship and fishing. Monday arrived sunny but bitter cold. Some of the guides initally couldn't get their boats off the trailer since they were frozen stuck. But later in the morning, they were abe to take some of the writers out fishing . . . and did they catch trout! Tuesday, the weather turned off wintery cold, and the water was running hard in the morning, but those who braved the elements enjoyed some big trout, including these beautiful browns and rainbows. Most of the trout were either caught on a MegaBass 100+ or an 1/8th-ounce white/gray marabou jig, drifting from the dam down to Lookout Island with three to four units running. In the afternoon, the fish switched from hitting white to darker colors like sculpin/peach and brown/burnt orange. With the high quantity of small rainbows still up there, anglers are catching numbers of trout, but the big ones have moved up and may be, just maybe, feasting on some shad coming through the dam. Tuesday afternoon, drifting from Lookout down through the Narrows, we found a good number of trout in this area. We caught them on dark and light colored jigs, mainly 1/8th ounce. The water was running at 705 feet with two units. This is the first time I've done well fishing this stretch in a while. The Narrows, of course, has a ton of fish in it, and they're hitting on just about anything. Ken White, a writer from the Stockton area, was catching them on an 1/8th-ounce Kastmaster, gold/green or gold/red on Monday. The pink Berkley worm is still a hot lure. Bill Babler, guiding for the writers Tuesday, actually put one client on a keeper brown on a pink worm down close to Monkey Island! That's pretty uncommon, a brown taking a pink worm. Drifting night crawlers is catching some really nice rainbows, drifting from Fall Creek to Trout Hollow. Seems like there are a lot of rainbows that have moved downstream out of the trophy area to this stretch, and they usually prefer natural baits versus Powerbaits. Jig fishing has really taken off, it seems. Throwing a jig, no matter whether the water is running or not, is producing big numbers and some big trout, too. Depending on how much water is running, the best choice would be an 1/8th- or a 3/32nd- ounce jig using four-pound line. If the water is running pretty slowly, or there's no generation, dropping to a 1/16th-ounce jig would be better. You also have to drop to two-pound line to throw that small of a jig. The jig-and-float rig is working, too. We did well using a brown/orange head 1/125th-ounce jig Monday about four feet below a float, using two-pound line. I also tried a black/brown and a sculpin/ginger and caught rainbows on both. View full article