Phil Lilley

Wind... I see the wind. Here's the only video I shot yesterday.

Got out with John Johnson and his son-in-law this morning. No generation, cloudy and wind out of the NW. Boated to just above the narrows and started fishing a red #16 zebra midge under a float 24 to 36 inches and caught fish. They shut off so went to a 100th ounce brown/orange head jig and float, 48 inches deep and they bit good. After a bit they shut off again- we bounced back and forth from midge to jig and did pretty well. Not sure what made them go off and on like that but- it's fishing. I broke off a very nice rainbow on my anchor rope- I was in a jon boat and was using the anchor to keep me from being blown all over the place. Health caught a nice brown. A few other rainbows in the 14-15 inch range but mostly small rainbows.

No way... no worries.

As reported, we put in at Rim Shoals yesterday at 9 am and floated down to the mouth of the Buffalo River and Riley's Lodge. Kyle said they were running a good amount of water and we had no issues floating over all shoals including the Buffalo Shoals which they said was the "hairiest". We did have to pick the best spots and watch for larger rocks and wood structures. A little wind mid day blowing up river and rain/snow off and on all day. We all threw either jigs or stick baits and tried to stay in the deepest side of the river. I'm used to Taneycomo and fished deeper water so casting and working what I considered shallow water - 3-4 feet - would seem fruitless but it wasn't. There were trout holding all through these areas to my surprise. I used mostly an 1/8th ounce jig but did throw a 3/32nd ounce every once in a while - especially when I felt like an 1/8th ounce was too big. Didn't seem to matter though. Colors- white was the biggest producer but I did throw a sculpin/ginger and an olive/sculpin and caught fish. Trout seemed to be holding in groups. We'd all have fish on in various stretches and then nothing for a while. But most of the time we were catching fish all the way down the river. There was one stretch that we all were catching nothing but brown trout which was fun. Most of the trout were on the small side- 10 to 12 inches with some 8's and 9's mixed in. I think our biggest rainbow was 14 inches and largest brown was may be 19 inches. I'd never fished this stretch except for fishing just the Rim Shoals area a few times, once with John Berry. I was impressed how many trout were in this river although I was very surprised we didn't see more 15-inch-plus fish. Kyle did a great job handling his big jon and Cody manned the trolling motor all day. No one fell in and everyone caught fish. I wish I could have stayed longer at the lodge but was scared of the icy roads, especially the road getting out of the river valley but to my surprise all the ice had melted off from morning to evening yesterday. No problems at all getting home. Looking forward to the next OAF fishing trip.

Saw a group of 2-300 mallards on the White River yesterday at the mouth of the Buffalo River. Also a big group of canadas. Not many on the float down though. Thought of you, DD.

Leaving here at 5 am. Be in Cotter at 7 am. The only phone number I didn't see is Gotmuddy. I think I have everyone else's. Going to bed.

I'll bring the buns... don't go back to the store.

Not sure about the 3 pm meeting with the smoker... is it at the lodge? Can someone else put it on?

If there's any deviation from the plan, we have everyone's cell phone, or should be this evening. We can call and make adjustments- meeting times and places. Fog may be the biggest issue for sure. I'll bring a jacket or more if necessary and I have plenty of warm clothes.

It doesn't sound like you'll need my boat so I won't bring it. I'd rather fish 3 or even 4 to a boat... more fun and fellowship. And if we fish out of 2 boats, we can stay close together.

Suggestion: Hoglaw's boat - Hog and Phil put in at Cotter and boat up to White Hole and pickup whoever can make it there by 8:30 am (Quillback, LittleRed, Gotmuddy). Meet Ham there with his boat. Put Ham's boat in there and float to Cotter (shuttle him back up to get his trailer at the end of the day). Gotmuddy, LittleRed and Quillback jump in with us. We'll have 2 boats to float and fish all day. Quillback, if you can't get there till noon, we can arrange a time to meet you at an access, say Wildcat? Someone who knows the river can speak to where we'd be about noon. Can do lunch at that time. Edit: I can meet at 7 am at the ramp... be at White Hole at 7:30? Whatever time works for everybody. We can fish around the access and wait for anyone who can't make it will 8-9 am.

This is who I see coming- gotmuddy - Friday early through the weekend. Bringing a boat but would rather go with someone else. ham - Friday morning with boat through the weekend. littlered - Friday 9 am through the weekend. quill - Friday noon through the weekend. hog - Friday 7 am with large jon boat through the weekend. terri - Saturday am till Sunday. phil - Friday 7 am bringing a boat, Friday only. add to this with more detail so we can figure out who's going where Friday morning, with whom in what boats. We can coordinate where to meet quill at noon.

I'm planning on being there 7 am on Friday morning. I can bring a jon boat, 18 foot shawnee with a 25 hp motor/ trolling motor. Room for 2 fly fishing, 3 spin fishing. If there's plenty of boats, I won't bring it. I'm assigned to the lodge room that Randolph (Quillback) is staying. I'll probably only fish on Friday so don't plan around me for Saturday. I'll fish wherever with whom ever... just tell me where to be at 7 am on Friday. My cell phone is 417 * 337 * 4130

Guide Brett Rader expands the term "full-service" on Lake Taneycomo, always stretching himself to provide the next lifetime fishing adventure for his clients -- besides teaching them new fly tying and casting techniques, producing replica trout mounts and offering custom artwork. That could be a challenge with some of his clients booking him several times a year. But since he is on the water 200 to 225 days a year, fishing all of his "spots" can take several days. Rader and his wife, Shelley, left the corporate world in 2002 to plunge full-time into their dream of Chartered Waters -- now a full-service fly shop right on the banks of upper Lake Taneycomo at milemarker 18 since 2007. Together with their son, Marlin, 21, and daughter McKenna, now 8, they offer all the extras -- rentals on waders and rods, airport shuttle service (and soon lodging in a house they are remodeling next door.) As Rader boasts on his website, "Shelley is a dedicated mom and has home schooled Marlin and now McKenna since day one. She built and maintains our web site -- multi-talented to say the least. Marlin is my best adult friend and McKenna is by my side every minute I'm not on the water. The kids can handle a fly rod with the best of them." With a degree in wildlife management from Hocking Tech (southern Ohio) and a minor in art, Rader has been able to combine his skills in the business. He started pursuing a degree in fisheries biology at Ohio State when he was afforded a job in commercial art -- a career path that eventually led him to creative director positions at Starter Sportswear in New Haven, CT (where he courted Shelley) and then at American Identity (now Staples Promotion) in Kansas City. Rader's creative bent keeps him constantly designing new flies, even though he estimates about two dozen a year become useful. "I find the prettiest ones are not necessarily the ones that work," he said," and I've learned to pay attention to materials that look and work right under water rather than what is esthetically pleasing to me." Although he has offered conventional fly tying classes in the past, he finds most clients want a much more casual encounter. "They usually want to learn how to tie the pattern they fished with all day." His flexibility keeps him open to make each trip different for each client, offering combination wading and fishing outings, sometimes including Crane Creek, Roaring River and other favorite honey hole creek spots. "It really depends on what the individual wants to do. That can range from a first timer who has never touched a fly rod to veterans who are looking to learn the next technique Sometimes we get the veteran who want to bring a friend or wife who has never tried fly fishing, so we mix it up for everyone." Besides fishing, Rader grew up in the sport of racing in Supercross and MotoCross, even winning a couple of amateur National Championships. A bad accident blew out his knee the year after he turned pro, so he turned his competitive nature toward education, business and, always, toward fishing. He challenges himself with the guarantee that clients, however novice, will catch fish their first outing or they don't pay -- a guarantee that has yet to cost him. Although Rader received some press recently for the "probable" state record 31-inch rainbow caught by client Mark Clemishire Nov. 2 (they returned it quickly to the water without weighing it) -- one of his most memorable trophy stories happened several years ago. He and a client had spotted a huge brown, probably a female 35-plus inches long. She was surrounded by seven or eight large males, all 18 to 24 inches themselves. The client succeeded in hooking the trophy brown on the first fly of his tandem rig and had played her for five to 10 minutes, when one of the smaller males nabbed the second, smaller fly -- releasing the lunker female back to freedom. "That's probably the only time in my life I will ever be trying to get a 20-inch brown off the line," Rader said, but that's part of the unexpected thrills Taneycomo has afforded. "Taneycomo may not always get the most respect on the national scene," he said, "There may be more strikingly beautiful places, more wild places, but as far as quality fishing experiences day in and day out, you can't beat it."

Tell about the bugger... was it weighted? How did you work it?

Very nice report- your first post! Thank you.

We didn't get any of that snow.

Welcome- thanks for joining.

Steve Dickey and I boated up past the Narrows (about a mile above Fall Creek) about 2:30 this afternoon and fished till 4:30. Water was off but moving out and slight current the whole time. Slight breeze from the south- partly cloudy- couldn't have asked for better conditions. We fished everything under a float, fly rod and spin rod. Fished small jigs between 1/100th and 1/50th ounce, 6x tippet. Depth varied between 30 inches and 5 feet. Best colors were brown, sculpin/ginger and black/olive. Lighter colors didn't work. Best fly was a #14 red Zebra Midge with nickel wrap and bead head fished 30 inches deep. Oregon Cheese Miracle fly did well too. Starting about 3:45 the surface came alive with midging rainbows although we couldn't see what was hatching, if anything. We saw schools of trout in tight areas and they seemed to be fresh stocked rainbows. A lot of dark males. The ones be themselves turned out to be larger and more colorful rainbows. Steve fished a orange Zebra and a black with copper bead head and did well too. We caught a lot of rainbows but nothing over 13 inches.

Upgrade is done. Patch installed. See if there's any issues with copy/paste now.

OK- it's a problem with Windows 11 they tell me and to get the patch I have to upgrade and to upgrade I turned in a trouble ticket and that, they tell me, will take up to 8 days. So.... it will be fixed in time.

by John Neporadny One of the latest bass fishing rages is starting to catch on with Lake of the Ozarks crappie anglers as well. The combination of a jig head and small finesse worm known as a shaky head worm has become the rig many bass pros rely on when the fishing gets tough. A couple of savvy crappie anglers have also discovered a miniature version of the shaky head worm produces fish especially on heavily pressured waters. While fishing with a buddy a couple of years ago on Lake of the Ozarks, Phil Gardner threw a tube bait around the docks and his partner rigged an Eagle Claw Nitro Trailer on a jig head. “He started absolutely waxing me with those things,” recalls Gardner. When Gardner borrowed some of his partner’s trailer worms and rigged up his own shaky head, he immediately started catching fish. Since then he has employed the jig head and Eagle Claw worm to present to crappie suspended around large private and community docks in the fall and winter on his home lake. “I have become a firm believer in the thing because I guarantee it will out catch a regular crappie tube 5 to 1,” Gardner says. A variety of jig heads will work with the Eagle Claw worm, but Gardner prefers a CT Minnow Jig, which has a bullet-shaped head and a keeper barb to secure the worm to the jig better. When rigged properly, the worm should be straight in line with the jig head. “I think it falls a little better (with the minnow head) and that bullet-style head comes through the brush a lot better than a round head,” says Gardner. Throughout autumn and early winter, Gardner prefers his shaky head to fall at a faster rate so he opts for a 1/16-ounce jig head. However, when the fish become sluggish in the dead of winter, Gardner selects a 1/32-ounce jig for a slow-falling shaky head. The Missouri angler favors a chartreuse Nitro worm for most of his shaky head presentations, but he sometimes tries a white worm that he colors the tip with a dash of chartreuse Spike-It spray. Gardner’s presentation consists of pitching his shaky head along the sides or into the wells of docks and letting the lure pendulum back to the boat without reeling in line. He believes the worm has a more natural fall with the pendulum presentation, and he creates more tail action on the worm when he shakes his rod as the lure sinks. The crappie veteran claims the key to his presentation is pinpointing the depth of the fish. Once he discovers the strike zone, Gardner can lengthen or shorten his pitch so his shaky head will swing back to the same depth each time he presents the shaky head. When Gardner guesses the combo has reached the strike zone, he starts shaking the worm to trigger a bite. “Most of the time they will hit the thing on the fall if they are really aggressive,” says Gardner. “A lot of the fish will be suspended 2 to 4 feet deep under the foam and they will knock 6 inches of slack out of your line.” While the fish will thump the shaky head some days, there are other times Gardner has to pay close attention to his line for that telltale mushy feeling or watch for the line to go slack on the descent. Although line watching is essential to his presentation, Gardner prefers using clear 4-pound P-Line because he believes a high-visibility line spooks the fish in clear water. He pitches his shaky head on a 5 1/2-foot light-action Bass Pro Shops Wally Marshall Signature Series Spinning Rod with an ultralight Shimano spinning reel. 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.

Here's a rainbow caught by Rick Lisek's client about 10 days ago.

PJ's jigs have a flat side like Zig Jigs. That's what I use and sell in the shop.

Winter has made quite an entrance in Branson, adding to the festive Christmas decor. I don't know what the official snowfall count is in town, but here at Lilleys' Landing it measured more than nine inches before settling down a bit. It was a light, fluffy snow, but we still had to push snow off our docks to keep them from flipping. Lots of shoveling and salting, but I think we're over the hump. How's that affect trout fishing? Well, the cold temperatures helped Table Rock to turn over, sending good oxygenated water into Taneycomo. The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers has been generating every day for the last couple of weeks, taking advantage of the lifted restriction on generation. Our trout are feeling the effects, too, striking and fighting much harder than just a couple of weeks ago. To tell the truth, there haven't been many anglers on the lake the last couple of weeks. Even Thanksgiving weekend was light on boat traffic, and fishing was only fair -- except for one report by Rick Lisek on the holiday weekend. Rick told me, " The big ones were hungry today." His client landed several lunker rainbows drifting a red San Juan worm, a peach egg fly and a gray scud up below the dam. I will say, that if you're going to drift a fly or tandem of two flies, it's best to drift them when more than one unit is running. If one unit or less is running, use a float, regardless whether you're using a fly rod or spin rod. Flies tend to drag the bottom, picking up moss, when drifting in slower water. In faster water, the fly stays up over the rocks and stays cleaner. I fished the other day with Steve Dickey, late in the afternoon. A couple of units were running, but the wind was blowing uplake and throwing a jig was tough for me. Steve brought his bait cast rod and reel along with some big stick baits. He and I both caught a couple rainbows but nothing to brag about. Marsha and I boated a long way yesterday to fish for an hour (across the lake) amid the beauty of the frosted trees and hillsides. Less than two units were running with the water barely moving. The rainbows were visibly midging but were not interested in my jigs or Trout Magnets. I didn't take any flies with me. Marsha threw a small stick bait. Neither one of us caught anything. But today I boated up to the stump at Rebar (below the dam about a fourth mile) and gave myself enough time to try a lot of patterns. Only one unit was running with very little wind. I found big schools of rainbows in most of the eddies, aggressively taking something off the surface. I threw a #16 black zebra under a palsa 12 inches deep at them and caught them at will -- small freshly stocked rainbows. I tried 1/8th-ounce sculpin jig and got lots of short strikes. After I added a little ginger to a sculpin jig, they got a little more greedy. I hooked more with the ginger but nothing really big. Tried a small 1/50th-ounce brown jig and an orange head and -- nothing. But then when I added a #14 gray scud 18 inches below the jig, I caught several rainbows. I fished the jig about seven feet deep. It wasn't until the last 20 minutes of the day that I did tie on a white jig. White had not worked the last three times out, so I hesitated using it. But you know, they really liked it. I drifted the Trophy Run stretch twice and caught four of the biggest rainbows of the trip. I wish I could report what's been going on below Fall Creek, but too few people have been out to report any patterns. December typically is one of the best trout fishing months of the year. There should be good numbers of rainbows here in the upper lake and they should be aggressive eaters.