Phil Lilley

This was a big one.... a lot of silt came in on the initial push. Not sure if you saw it but at one time there was 300k cfs coming in to Table Rock while they were releasing only 73k. Can you imagine 300k running through Taney?? It would have been bigger than the floods back in the early 1900's or at least equal to them.

Glad you're doing well and in a warm (er) place.

There's a lot of old names/friends in this thread... and aren't here anymore.

$300 trout. Walleye. Heard of a few largemouth and crappie caught too.

White jigs? Yes. But some did good on pink jigs too. Only one team fished up (above Fall Creek). Shawn and Gerry Pingleton - 4th place. Hathman and Vanover - 3rd place Wilson and Duff - 2nd Place Francis and Nothum - 1st place Biggest Trout - Giesleman. 3.82 pound, 22.5 inch brown trout.

No- they'll be on white for several weeks- or more.

We had a change in generation/flood gates the other day that dropped the flow from 20,000 to 15,000 cubic feet per second of water -- which was a good thing. Table Rock dropped below the magic 920 feet mark, so the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers closed off most of the water coming over the spill gates. I don't know the exact flow of water coming over the gates, but the water coming through the turbines has varied from 9,000 to 13,000 c.f.s. daily. The lake level dropped about 18 inches here at the resort, and the flow is much slower, although it's still fairly swift. The threadfin shad that were coming over the spill gates have all but stopped, but the fish are still looking for them. Fishing pressure in the trophy area has been pretty heavy the last couple of days -- they've seen a lot of white jigs. Some of our guides have been switching over to dark jigs -- as the white bite diminishes -- and have done well. Below Fall Creek, drifting and getting bait, flies and lures to the bottom has been the key. Bait: Gulp Eggs in, yes, white has done pretty well with chartreuse right behind it. Minnows and night crawlers should be good, too. Flies: White shad fly, of course, Mega Worm (white yarn San Juan Worm), #12 gray scud, and white wooly. I'd also try other colors of San Juan Worms and scuds, too. Lures: White jig, of course, and I'd suggest a small, floating silver stick bait such as a F-5 Rapala. The wind was wicked today, coming out of the north. Rather than pinpoint the best areas to fish, I'm going to say you should target areas with the least amount of wind. You could find other areas where the fish are bunched up and hungry, but if you can't get your bait or lure to them with the proper presentation, you're not going to catch them. Wind really hurts your presentation, in most cases, so I suggest finding an area on the lake where the wind isn't as bad. Guys cleaning trout Friday evening said most of their fish were full of shad, but some were full of scuds. View full article

Just got word that the Corps dropped our flow from 20,000 to 15,000 cvs today. We're getting an average of 10,500 through the turbines and about 4,500 through the flood gates. This flow will continue till Table Rock reaches 915 feet which might take another week to achieve. Previously, the Corps thought they'd just run 4 units to get Table Rock Lake down to 915 feet but they must be thinking they should run through as much water as possible now before more rain falls. They still have to get Beaver Lake down too. Once TR gets to 915, my guess is that they start to drop Beaver. Side note: As I was walking the dock after One Cast, I saw several shad floating by. Fish were hitting the surface all out in front of the dock while I was filming - and that's why. Our trout will continue to see and eat shad till the gates are closed. Not sure if that's a bad thing...

Boated to the dam late yesterday. Saw gulls feeding on the way up so knew something was happening. With as many that were coming through, fish as far down as the Landing saw shad. Table Rock is below 920 feet. Gates are still open this morning.

Had not noticed the drop in generation. It hasn't affected the level much- probably why I didn't notice. As far as I've heard, they plan to shut the gates down about 920. Last week the manager said he thought mid week this week.

I think there's a setting where I can enable a thumbs down rating... I thought that might be more trouble than it's worth. We don't need more drama

Haven't heard that. Was an issue last summer. They fixed it without dropping Taney below normal levels.

Ben is pursuing a dream of his... to our benefit. Nip this one in the bud before it becomes a full blown, over dramatized thread. I don't think J-Doc meant any disrespect by his comment.

We are a couple of weeks beyond the winter flood, and all of us are breathing a little easier. The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers has been releasing 20,000 cubic feet per second since early January, moving all this flood water through our lake system. The word is that operators will continue this flow until Table Rock Lake is down to 920 feet, which may happen as early as next week. The Corps has managed our lakes in a way that kept a lot of us from being totally submerged by flood waters. Did you know the water entering Table Rock Lake reached an estimated 300,000 c.f.s.? That was a record. At the same time, only 72,000 c.f.s. of water was being released, which did flood many roads and houses for a few days, including our lower three units, 19-21. But can you imagine three times that amount running over Branson? Our dam system kept all that water back until it was safe to release it. (Thanks to an amazing army of volunteers, we were able to move out all the furnishings. New drywall is going up this week and carpet next week, so the affected units will be hosting guests again for the Masters Tournament. We so appreciate all the prayers and calls of concern from so many.) Just a couple of days into our highest release (72,000 c.f.s.), our lake water turned off-color. This was from the "flash flood" water entering Table Rock, bringing muddy water into the main lake and through the dam. The same thing happened with the 2011 high water, but this time the water was much more dirty. When we started fishing, it was tough, not because of the fast current but because of the muddy water. This week our water cleared up considerably. It's not the clear water we associate with Lake Taneycomo, but visibility is such that the fish can now see four to five feet ahead. I'd call this water clarity "ideal for fishing." One bonus from our flood waters from Table Rock Lake is the steady flow of threadfin shad -- which our trout absolutely love. Most of the shad we're seeing are about an inch long, the perfect size for even smaller trout. We live for shad runs on Lake Taneycomo and for good reason. Our trout get a big growth boost -- you can see how fat they are! Plus they really go nuts on anything that looks like a shad for weeks after the shad stop running. It's some fun fishing. Fishing with so much water running sounds pretty intimidating, but a lot of people have been fishing slower water from below Cooper Creek all the way down to past Branson Landing. And the best part has been the number of really nice, big trout caught down there, both browns and rainbows. Drifting is the technique. Use enough weight to tick the bottom. This is very important. Stay in the middle of the lake and away from the sides. There are more trees washed into the lake and they line the sides. Use a drift rig and at least a 1/4-ounce bell weight with four-pound line. Drag a shad fly, egg fly or San Juan worm if you're fishing above Fall Creek in the trophy area. Also, we've been seeing trout, mainly between Fall and Short Creek, full of freshwater shrimp -- so drift a scud. I'd use a #12 gray scud. If you're fishing from Cooper Creek down, drift with minnows, night crawlers or Gulp Powerbait, white or orange. I'd also use a shad fly here. Some guys this weekend have been using raw shrimp and catching fish. I think they look like shad . . . maybe. All boat ramps are clear. The public fishing dock at Cooper Creek is still not accessible because of high water. View full article

I just posted a flow and fishing report. 10 gates are open and will remain open for 8-10 days.

The Corp's email this evening says that the lakes are dropping slowly up from Taneycomo as predicted and that this release (20K) will continue till Table Rock drops to about 920 feet which should take another 8-10 days. Our water color has improved immensely... and the trout bite has also improved. Our trout are still seeing shad as far down lake as Monkey Island. I threw a white jig almost down to the island and caught rainbows and browns I'm used to seeing just below the dam - big and fat. Then boated to the dam and caught some hogs on white. Video to follow later tomorrow.

Me too on both comments.

Good answer. With water color the way it is, you can get away with heavier line BUT throwing 1/8th oz jigs using 6 pound line might be tough - just because of the weight of the jig. I use 4 pound.