Phil Lilley

MDC Creel Study Attached. 2006-2007 Table Rock Lake Creel Summary.pdf

There are many opinions and experiences out there and this debate will always exist as different folks have different main reasons they fish… i.e. food or fun, or a combination of both. Here are the facts. MDC manages each fishery with the knowledge (based on both surveys and angler creel information) of what species are in there, how they interact with each other, how fast they grow, what the food availability is, year class strength (spawn success), etc. The creel limits are set based on what the lake can support being harvested and still maintain a quality fishery. There is a portion of the population that harvest black bass for consumption, and current regulations allow for that while maintaining a quality fishery. And as is commonly known, the environmental conditions of a given year are far more important to the size of a black bass year class than the number of spawning individuals. It is hard to deny the fact that if all the keeper bass that are caught were kept, the population size structure would suffer and a notable decline would be observed in catch rates. BUT, we know from angler creels that this is not the situation. According to past creel surveys conducted on both Stockton and Table Rock, anglers released approximately 70-75% of the legal bass they caught. In addition, of the 25% of bass that were harvested on Table Rock, 79% of those were harvested during a tournament, which means they were likely released later. I haven’t got all of the last 2 years of Table Rock creel data analyzed yet, but my suspicion is that this percentage of released fish probably increased. Just look at some of the data from 1995 and 1996, anglers only released about 35-40% and the fishery did well then. With these numbers, we are not at all concerned that too many bass are harvested on Table Rock or Stockton. Stockton is scheduled for another creel survey next year, so we should be able to get some more updated information then. Shane Bush, Table Rock Adam Boman, Stockton MDC Fisheries Biologists Emailed to me today.

I actually increased the volume when editing it. The mic is in the camera which is 12 feet from me. And then there's competing noises. I can hear it when I play it back. Try turning up the volume and see if it helps.

You think? I've always admired the Stockton forum for it's loyal following and sharing of info. Yea I think the TR forum gets more into technique and tackle (Ned Rig to name one) but you can take that info and use it on Stockton just the same. Plus I think you have to look at the size and use of the two lakes - and the popularity. I don't think a lot of Stockton anglers want TR's traffic! Same for the forum. Keep it on the down low...

Actually 9LB, I thought this thread has been a good discussion. People has expressed their opinions on keeping bass, big and small. No one has bashed anyone. It's been a good discussion. Now if this were over on the Table Rock forum... well now!

I'm not a fisheries biologist but I play one on TV Youtube... Wouldn't you think (I would think so) that poor water levels adversely affect a fish's spawn rather than harvesting. Note: I said harvesting and not over harvesting. In the evolution of bass fishing the past 30 years, there are more keeper bass caught and released today. That bodes well for any fishery - for bass. If water levels rise and fall at the wrong time, it could knock populations down way more than harvesting fish, even off the beds. Oh, did I say that! All I'm saying is that MDC fisheries biologists manage our fisheries with harvest in mind. If zero large fish are taken out, I'd think it would stunt the growth overall, just like in a farm pond. Now if everyone did it, it would hurt. But in this day and age, it won't happen. Too many anglers releasing, or am I wrong. Note 2: I'm NOT a bass fisherman but I am around a lot of biologists.

There are many types of people in the world. There are many types of fishermen in the angling world. As long as it's legal, it's legal to keep a limit of fish. As long as it's legal to express your opinion, it's ok to express your opinion. Thanks for not taking offense to the criticism. That's shows maturity on your part. And I have no problem with criticism either- it's all part of the conversation. Would prefer it to be respectful- and I think it has been that. I will say this- and I thought of it when walleye and crappie was mentioned. Everybody here would love to catch a mess of either and have a fish fry. But not everyone can do that, including me, when we want to. Catching good eating fish like crappie and walleye is a chore, at least for me.

Do you know where I can find circle hooks as small as #8's or #10's? That's been our problem- can't find them small enough to use for trout.

A little over $20 with insurance for shipping. Doesn't matter if it's 1 or more.

I've pinned this topic because it's a good, basic topic for the Eleven Point and fishing/floating. Good information given by the guys who are authorities on the river. I would also add there is more information and maps on this site - http://www.ozarkanglers.com/eleven-point

I shot this last night. Didn't spend much time doing it -- may scrap it and try again with less mistakes and better "script". I have a hard time NOT looking at the camera. But the fish cooperated. The water was moving extremely slow!

We can ship. Have to check and see how much it would cost. Depending on where you live, we could try to send one with a guest heading to your location.

Tapatalk should NOT work on OA now... a couple of weeks ago it crashed the forum after I updated Tapatalk. Couldn't get Tapatalk to answer my emails so I deleted the software from the server. There's an IPB app available I believe.

Rods are $79 and $89. Most are $79 but the new 30th Year Edition is $89. It costs us a little more. The reels are $68.85 for the 6725 model.

No. Haven't gotten that far in his training...

Yea- never leave your social sites ~~ LOGGED ON ~~ and leave your computer unattended. Bad things can happen!

Table Rock and Beaver Lake levels have dropped to where the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers has backed off on running water through the dams. Late last week, the turbines were shut down at Table Rock Dam, and we had no generation during the day for the first time in weeks and weeks. Since then, we've seen no generation almost every day, except today. Today they've been running anywhere from a half to a full unit. The most noteworthy item to report for Lake Taneycomo would be our gin-clear water. Ever since Table Rock turned over in late November, our water has been turbid, green but with color. Here in the last couple of weeks, that water has cleared up to the point I'm thinking of changing all my reels from four-pound to two-pound line! Most of us, though, are just tying a short piece of tippet to each line for small jigs and flies under a float when the water here is not running. Vanish two-pound line is good tippet material for this. Use a triple surgeon's knot to connect the two pieces. The link points to a regular surgeon's knot are looped only twice. Just make another loop for a triple knot. If the water is running, you can get away with using four-pound line. With the water not running as much, our water temperature has risen. When the water was running, and the temperature was in the low 40's, our trout just didn't like to come out and play as much! They head up in the creeks where the water is warmer and that's where we were sending most of our guests to fish. The water temperature is much more conducive to "catching" now. Using a jig and float has been the best way to catch trout this week. I rigged up some first timers to Lake Taneycomo a couple of days ago, and they immediately started catching rainbows. This is what I did: 1. I added about 36 inches of Vanish two-pound line to their lines. A couple of them had four-pound line and one had six-pound on their reels. I showed them how to tie the triple surgeon's knot. 2. I slipped on a carrot float. 3. Tied on a 1/50th ounce marabou jig, brown with an orange head. 4. Then I tied an 18-inch piece of tippet (Vanish two-pound) onto the eye of the jig. 5. Added a #14 red Zebra Midge. 6. Set the float at six-feet deep from the first jig and told them to try that depth. If it didn't work or they moved to fish shallower water than six feet, we moved it up or down. 7. I told them to find and fish water that had a ripple on the surface. Most of the water they fished was between Short and Fall Creeks. With the exception of the first day, they caught their limit every day plus caught and released extras. Here at Lilleys' Landing, we have started a new program that we hope will help people who are having trouble catching trout learn how to use jigs and be more successful. A rod building company in Harrison, AR, has been making the Lilleys' Spinning Rod we sell in our shop for about 12 years now. It's the rod I use in all my videos, perfect for fishing marabou jigs. We have rigged up these rods with Pflueger's Presidents reels and four-pound line and will starting renting them on a daily basis to those who would like to try them out. The rate will be $15 per day or $25 for a two-day trip. IF you like the rods and they help you catch more trout, you may purchase the combo in our shop and take the rental rate you paid off the retail price. If you would like to buy the rod you used, we'll take an additional 10% off the retail price. I want to get these rods into trout fishermen's hands and let them see how they work. The rods come in four lengths-- 5'6", 6'0", 6'6" and 7'0". I would suggest using the six-foot for throwing jigs without a float and the 6'6" for using the jig-and-float method. Back to trout fishing... Fly fishing below the dam most mornings with the water off has been amazing! Months of running water has produced some incredible rainbows in the upper end of the lake. They are taking midges -- both Zebra and thread midges, Rusty, P&P, green and red, #16's and #18's. Strip a #8 olive, green or brown pine squirrel anywhere from the cable down to Trophy Run. Also try #8 Wooly Buggers in same colors. In faster runs like outlets 1 and 2, Rebar and the chute above Trophy Run, drift #16 olive or gray scuds, #14 thread midges in black or olive or white, red or brown San Juan Worms. In the slower, but still moving runs, drift the same flies but in smaller sizes. In the trophy area, fishing out of a boat, Zebra Midges are king! Size 14's and #16's in red, black, olive, Rusty or P&P under an indicator three- to five-feet deep in most places. Be sure to use 6x or even 7x tippet. If the water is running, deepen the drift and add a split shot or use a small jig above the fly. Below Fall Creek, Zebra Midges and small marabou jigs are still good choices. We are using 1/125th to 1/50th ounce in weight in pink, white, black, brown, sculpin, sculpin/orange, sculpin/ginger and ginger. Add an orange head to the darker colors except black. Fish them a little deeper if you're fishing the channel--up to seven-feet deep. We've had a couple of guys fishing here all week, targeting mostly browns. Robert and Wayne Dickerson of Lawrence, Kansas. They've been fishing between Fall and Short Creeks using white jigs and stick baits, working the bluff bank. Both have caught some really nice brown trout, just under 20-inches and one right at 21-inches. Of course you can't keep the rainbows off the line . . . Bill Babler, one of own fishing guides, reports doing great using Trout Magnets in the Short Creek area this week. He's using pink, pink/white and salmon colors. He said he cuts off "3 rings" off the head, shortening the bait. He also puts about 10 wraps of thread on the TM jig hook and glues with TM grub to the hook using Super Glue. He said his client used one bait all morning this morning, catching several dozen rainbows. They're using 2-pound Vanish tippet and setting their floats 5 to 6 feet deep. Bill said the fish bite better if there's cloud cover. If the sun's out and it's bright, the trout only nibble and chase the bait. Gulp Powerbait has been only fair at best for our anglers. Night crawlers are working much better, injected with air to float off the bottom. Most trout have been suspended off the bottom at least three to five feet. That's why floating a jig or fly under a float has been working so much better when the water is not running.

The only issue would be trying to attach an image that's too large. The limit is 2mb's which is a very large file. You either have to find a place to upload it like photobucket or get a program that will reduce the size of the image. I usually make them about 800 px wide. Let me know if you need more help. That's what I'm here for...

by John Neporadny The Grand Glaize arm of the Lake of the Ozarks is well-renowned for its bass fishing, but this section of the lake also provides good action for white bass and catfish throughout the year. The 16-mile stretch of the Grand Glaize arm runs from its confluence with the Osage arm to the swinging bridges area where the Glaize narrows down to a stream. The stream section is a prime spot for the white bass run in the spring. The arm contains several large branches and hollows throughout its length. Ideal structure for white bass and catfish on this arm includes creek channel drops and bends, bluffs, humps, long gradual gravel points and gravel flats. Here’s how a local expert catches these two popular species throughout the year on the Grand Glaize arm. White bass Camdenton, Mo., angler Robert Hunter looks forward to October when he can catch plenty of white bass on the Glaize arm. When the water temperature reaches in the 60- to 65-degree range, Hunter looks for wind-blown rocky banks where he catches whites on a 1/8-ounce purple-and-white crappie jig that he casts on 6-pound test line to the shallows. “As soon as the jig hits the water I start reeling,” says Hunter, who catches most of his fish in the 3- to 6-foot range. Another prime time for Hunter to catch whites on the Glaize is at night during the summer. He selects a Lit’l Fishie with a 1/8-ounce jighead that he casts to flat gravel banks close to the main river channel. The ideal spots for whites at night are banks that slope off to 7 to 12 feet deep about 25 feet away from the shore. “Most of the time at night the whites are only in 2 to 3 feet of water but every once in a while I have to let the jig sink to 8 to 12 feet,” Hunter recommends. He also likes to run a fire tiger Rapala Shad Rap crankbait along the same banks to catch nocturnal white bass. In early to mid-April, Hunter has caught spawning white bass that make the run up to the stream section of the Glaize around the swinging bridges area. Retrieving a crappie jig or Lit'l Fishie through the riffles is Hunter’s most productive tactic for taking spawning whites in the stream. Catfish Drift fishing the coves at depths of 17 to 25 feet has produced plenty of channel catfish for Hunter throughout the years. He rigs a slip sinker on 10-pound line and crimps a split shot on the line to keep his sinker away from the hook. The veteran angler then attaches shad to a number 6 straight-shank hook. Starting in the back of a cove, Hunter drifts or pushes his boat along with the trolling motor and heads toward the main channel. “It doesn’t seem to matter what cove you are in,” he says. “Some days one cove will produce and another day another cove will produce.” Hunter’s drift techniques usually produce channel cats in the 3- to 5-pound range. He notes the technique will work well throughout the summer but June and July are his favorite months for drifting. “It seems like we get our better fish from mid-June to the middle of July,” he discloses. From mid-summer to fall, Hunter also runs trotlines for big flathead and blue catfish. He set his lines along bluffs with rock shelves and holes in the ledges. “I always like to run my lines almost parallel with the bank out to 15 to 20 feet deep,” he says. His favorite bait for trotlines is 4-inch bullheads that he seines from a pond. But he suggests anglers can also catch plenty of catfish on trotlines with live perch and goldfish. For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1- 800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

We are seeking fly fishermen how can help us with this summer's Healing Waters event. You need a couple of things... A boat you can take one or two participants out fishing for a couple of days and... that's about it. You should be able to help them cast if they don't know how to well and know what flies to use and how to use them. We will provide you a place to stay for a couple of nights and some really good food and fellowship. Dates: Monday, August 25, Tuesday, August 26 and Wednesday August 27. Arrive mid day Monday and fish that afternoon. Tuesday, fish both morning and afternoon, then dinner and a show. Wednesday, fish in the morning and leave after lunch. If you can help with any or all, we'd like to know. If you're a little intimidated by "guiding" someone in the art of fly fishing, don't be. These guys appreciate getting on the water and enjoying the outdoors. If they catch fish, it's a bonus- the same with any of us. If a jig or even a night crawler is used, we have no problem with that!

by Ned Kehde http://www.in-fisherman.com/2014/05/05/swing-oil-baits/

4 lb. Usually Trilene Green XL. Yea I'm taking big chances lifting most of those fish. One shake and they're gone. If I can get to the jig in time, I can shake him off.

68 is young... my dad was 78 when he passed- that's young too. You think they're going to be with you... you just don't know. Very sorry for the loss of your dad.