Phil Lilley

Today was a good learning experience. I’m not a crappie fisherman. Can’t wait to get back. I think I need some ice jigs.

I have a few old ones. They're not necessarily beat up though. I'll never use them. I'm not a bass fisherman - those baits really look great! Display Case Worthy.

The year 2022 will go down in the record books as one of the best lunker trout years in recent history. It may not have surpassed the "good ole' days of the 60's and 70's" but I think we gave them a run. Just that we recorded so many trout longer than 20 inches compared to the past 40 years is impressive. I'm just not sure if this streak will continue. Our fishing pressure really dropped off in December. Fishing continued to stay good for most anglers who braved the cold and rainy days. But for us, we didn't see a lot of bigger trout. We did not, though, fish below the dam where I know a good number of big fish live. I believe the pattern for Taneycomo is when the heavy generation starts, the trout tend to scatter over the upper half of the lake. Then we'll see the lunker numbers increase for all parties fishing the lake. When Table Rock Lake turns over, which it did in mid November, our water becomes dirty with silt flowing from the dam. Our Dock Manager Blake Wilson noticed that when that happened, our jig bite really took off. Since the last week of December though, our water from Table Rock has really cleared up considerably. This should help with overall fly fishing in the whole lake. I believe our trout see smaller flies a lot better in this clear water versus the brown, silted water we had experienced. Generation has been sporadic. Even during our cold spell, dam operators didn't run much the first couple of days, then ran it full blast the last couple of days. If they run water now, it's the first few hours of the morning and/or the last hour of the evening and into the night. But there's no pattern at all. Lake water temperature has dropped from the 50's to the 40's in the last few weeks. Last time I checked it was about 47 degrees coming from Table Rock. I have been fishing on Table Rock and have seen its temperature as low as 39, but mostly it's about 44 degrees. So we should see our water temperature continue to drop in the coming weeks. I have some personal fishing info from doing One Cast lately. I've been catching rainbows on the white mega worm under a float -- probably my best producer overall. Second would be the zebra midge under a float. The scud has been slow except that I do know that some of our guides have drifted it in running water, with an egg fly, and done well from the dam through Short Creek. Jig fishing turned on after Table Rock turned over and our lake got silty. White jigs have been the best followed by ginger and then sculpin. Olive and black have been good, too, at times. I've been fishing mostly when the water isn't running so I'm throwing 1/32- and 1/16th-ounce jigs on mainly two-pound line. If the water is running, I'm increasing the size of jig and going with four-pound line. Night crawlers have been the best bait, injecting them with a little air and adding a split shot 18 inches above the hook. Or you can float the worm with a marshmallow. I took my grandkids out a few weeks ago and fished strictly with a marshmallow and did very well. I did have to watch the kids to make sure they didn't eat the bait. I've also suggested using red Pautzke's salmon eggs with gold glitter off the dock. That's producing good catches. Our rainbows are really gaining color right now. Most of our rainbows are winter spawners, although very few successfully spawn. View full article

We need to go fishing.

Not sure if Covid knocked this event out but haven't had it for a long time. Should bring it back. May be next year.

I chickened out.

I don't mind the cold. But this wind won't let up. I may have to resort to stick baits today. 10 casts!

My mic didn't quit... but the camera picked up the audio. I think it sounds better than the mic. Can't hear me talk though.

More than I thought was going to fall. I just did One Cast. Wasn't that bad. My mic died in the middle of it. Thought it was the battery but I guess it was temp related. I did catch a fish...

Hard fast rain. Gully wash is a better term.

Sold!

Sold! Thanks Brian!!

We had offered this donation as an auction back in October. The winner turned out to be a person who didn't understand what a silent auction was and didn't want the trip. So now we're offering it as a 2 for 1 trip. For $5,000, you get 2 spots at Naknek River Camp next summer. See below. https://naknekrivercamp.com/rates/ Naknek River Camp 2023 The Johnson's at Naknek River Camp have graciously donated a 2-person trip to their camp in King Salmon, Alaska to the food pantry in Branson, Christian Action Ministries (CAM). https://naknekrivercamp.com/ This is a full, 7-day trip (with date restrictions) for 2 people with a value of almost $10,000. Includes: Private, riverfront cabin All meals in their dining hall Transportation to and from the King Salmon Airport (12 miles from lodge) A visit to the World Famous Brooks Falls and River World class guided fishing trips every day on the Naknek River Dates offered for this trip are the month of June and the last 2 weeks of July plus the first week in August, 2023. The weeks of June 10, 17 and 24 plus the weeks of July 15, 22 and 29. Their weeks always start and end on Saturday. The trout opener for the Naknek River is June 10, 2023. The river is closed to fishing in the spring months for the rainbow spawning season. Rainbows are chasing and feeding on smolt (baby salmon) as they make their trip to the Naknek Lake to the ocean. This is prime time to either fly fish or spin fish for these trophies that exceed 30 inches in length. Sockeye and king salmon start moving up in the river as early as the last week in June but typically the run starts the first of July and continues into the third week of the month. The silver salmon run starts the first week of August. Flyouts are offered if you want to take a day trip to a near by river. A float plane will pick you up at their dock on the river and fly you to a remote Alaska river, drop you off and pick you up after a long day hiking and fishing. Christian Action Ministries exists to provide food assistance to people who are food insecure. Eighteen percent of Taney County residents or nearly 10,000 people face food insecurity daily in our community. We also have care coaches onsite/offsite that provide referrals and other resources to clients to encourage self-sufficiency and independence. The person buying this will be required to pay a deposit of 50% of the total by December 31, 2022 to CAM. The remainder will be due by January 31, 2023. CAM is a 501-c3, nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible minus the value of the trip. A tax deductible giving letter will be given to the winner. If for any reason the trips can't be taken in 2023, it will be extended for the 2024 season. The buyer is responsible for airfare to and from King Salmon, Alaska. You'll have to fly through Anchorage, Alaska. What's not included with your week stay at NRC - Alaska Fishing License Gratuity for guides and/or kitchen staff Snacks and drinks other than meals (alcoholic beverages and other foods can be bought in King Salmon at the AC) Fly outs to remote Alaska Rivers The Johnson's do have fishing equipment for guests who do not have fishing gear such as waders, fly rods and spinning rods but most anglers do bring their own gear which we can help with suggestions if needed. The following items are a must - a good rain jacket, a pair of polarized sun glasses and a waterproof case for your phone/camera. You'll want to pack layered clothing such as fleece. A 10-day forecast before your trip will reveal weather conditions but it's usually rainy and much cooler than the summer weather in the lower 48 states.

Did you go?

We've enjoyed a lot of down water this fall here on Lake Taneycomo. And with the long cold spell in late October and into November, Table Rock Lake has turned over. Now we're benefiting from the great oxygenated water when the dam turbines are running. We're anticipating a very good winter trout fishing season. Fly fishing below the dam while the water is off has continued to be pretty excellent. Lots of browns have been caught during the annual spawn as well as nice rainbows. We're starting to see a few reds where rainbows are cleaning their spawning beds. But the majority of the winter rainbow spawn happens later in December. If you're having trouble catching fish while fly fishing, change flies. Change tactics. I'm guilty of fishing one fly way too long with little success. My mindset is, "They should bite this! Why aren't they biting this?" You can't force feed fish if they don't want to eat your presentation. Change! I think zebra midges and the mega worm have been at the top of most fly fishers' lists for go-to flies. Scuds, for me at least, have been slow except when drifting with the water running. Then the egg/scud combo has been very productive. My "have-to-have" flies for Lake Taneycomo right now are: Zebra midge in black, red, olive, prism and primrose in #14, #16 #18's. Mega worm in white, peach, chartreuse. Scuds in various shades of gray (w/ flash), tan and olive in #14, #16 #18's. Micro jig (Lilley's) white, brown, sculpin (orange head). Woolies in black, olive, brown in #14, #16. Tippet -- 6x fluorocarbon and mono, 7x fluorocarbon. We're selling a crystal egg that Jeremy Rasnik showed us that's done really well when fished with a #16 or #18 gray scud. It's working from the dam clear down to Short Creek. I've seen some nice trout below the dam while stripping woolies, cracklebacks and soft hackles, especially if there's a chop on the surface (with no generation.) Also, stripping sculpin on the bottom, all above the Missouri Department of Conservation boat ramp has been successful. I've done well with a white mega worm under a float from Lookout through the Trophy Area, then on down to our place. The peach and chartreuse mega worm is working, too, at times. Strangely, working scuds with the water off has worked poorly. The zebra midge continues to be one of the best flies to flat catch fish. Most of the time I have to switch colors and sizes to find out the best one that the trout prefer at that given time. It's surprising how picky they can be. I'm using 6x tippet for the most part, either mono or fluorocarbon. The pink Powerworm is still our guides go-to lure to catch fish below Fall Creek, either with no generation or with up to two units running. They're fishing it from four- to seven-feet deep under a float. Night crawlers and Powerbait are catching a lot of stocker rainbows from Cooper Creek up to Fall Creek. They stocked a ton of rainbows off both Cooper Creek and Riverpointe Estate's boat ramps before the holiday weekend. Fishing for most of the weekend was very good. The stockers were chasing everything moving. Spoons like Cleos and Bouyant, as well as rooster tails, were very good. I saw people trolling very slowly and picking up fish fairly often. When I was out, I had a lot of rainbows chase my jig all the way to the boat. On our daily One Cast video we try to feature all the ways to catch fish that are working that day. We don't fish bait very often simply because they work most of the time. View full article

I'm sending her a screen shot... just so you know.

I remember that house... the guy was working to fix the washed out gravel driveway with a small tractor. You should pave it... save you a lot of work. You'll have to hire a maid now. Becky doesn't need to clean house 24/7

https://lilleyslanding.com/on-sale/ We're moving some fly rods and reels.

For those who have questions about the lake turning over, here’s an article.

I’m sure it will

Looks like the big lake is turning over. https://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/trdo.htm With the cold and wind the last 2 days, it's send the surface level temp down. The temp at the bottom is 58 so it doesn't have to drop too much to get below that. I got 7 ppm the other day at the dam. The fish have been pretty aggressive, biting pretty good and fighting hard. I'd say the low DO period has past for 2022.

I ran this by our local agent. He said basically what @BilletHead just posted.