Phil Lilley

They all don't run up there all at once... they are spread out.

They used to be thick the last week of October and first week of November but we haven't had a normal run in 4-5 years now, I think. We'll see.

Today.... Saaaaaa-weeeep!

Tim Homesley, owner of Tim's Fly Shop in Cassville, Missouri, sent me these fish pics and reported having a great morning of fly fishing on Taneycomo this morning. He said he waded in and fished between outlets #2 and #3 and threw a cream leach to catch these beauties. The biggest brown was 22 inches. Homesley isn't a stranger to Taneycomo. He's fished it since he was a kid and gets over and fishes the tailwater many days out of the year.

Wacha handled the after game interview like a veteran. He didn't seem that bummed about it. The win was more important and gave credit to his teammates in the field behind him. He's young... he'll have more chances. Hope it's with the Cards.

The question has been asked, "Are the browns up below the dam on Taney yet?" I'd say, "Yes!!" Steve Dickey and I ran up by boat to the dam this evening for a quick trip. With 2 units running, we started at the cable, throwing to the north side of the lake. Steve brought his bait casting rod and had a Mega Bass stick bait on. I had a 1/8th ounce white jig. Before we hardly moved when both of us connected with fish and both were brown trout. Steve's fish was bigger than mine so we netted it, took a quick pic and released it. Then we netted mine and took a pic. We drifted to below the boat ramp. I was pleasantly surprised how many trout we both caught, and missed. We made another run up to find the water dropping out and the current much slower. It didn't seem to bother the fish much. We still hooked and landed nice fish. All toll we netted 7 browns, 2 over 20 inches (Steve's) and the others just under 20. We caught quite a few small rainbows but did have 2 pushing 19 inches. Trout were active to say the least. And the browns, well, I'd say there's a very good number of them up there right now.

http://www.beaverdamstore.net/

That's what I heard too.

Thanks again.

Started at 11 pm last night. Water was dropping out. My main target was fishing below Rebar in what was called the Big Hole because that's where I saw browns jumping the other day. But with the water still up, I didn't want to so down there till the water dropped out more. So I started at outlet #2. I took 2 rods- one with a sink tip and one without. I used the sink tip the whole night. Tied on a #8 black pine squirrel, started fishing close and down current and had a take on the first cast. Then a hookup on the second. But I'd forgotten I had 6x tied on and broke the fish off. Tied on 6 lb maxima and another fly. Had several light strikes and one more hookup at #2 before heading down. The moon was out bright. Didn't even need a light to walk down to my spot. My first fish wasn't a trout... it was a white bass! He took a #6 ginger sculpin. I was casting it about 11 o'clock, throwing a big mend upstream and letting it drift, bouncing on the bottom. I got several takes doing this but no hookups. Then I'd make short single strips, pausing between. They were taking it on the pause, sometimes so hard I couldn't react. Lots of misses but caught 6 rainbows, no size. I tried quite a few patterns, some big articulated, white, black and smaller but they just weren't that active. No jumping. But it was nice- hardly anyone down there fishing. Couple of guys at outlet #2.

Great post... great enough I'd like to post it on OA site. Do you have any pics of the area or the dam?

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

Thanks. That's about a 14-inch brown I caught on a #20 trout crack (in it's mouth). Can't really tell how big it is for the pic. I took it in about 4 inches of water along the bank.

I just checked the weather forecast for the next 10 days and I see some 40 degree nights and not many 80 degree days. If you noticed the trees in my opening image you'll see a little color in those trees on the bluff. It all indicates a change of seasons is just around the corner! There's hasn't been a great deal of change in our fishing patterns here on Lake Taneycomo is the past few weeks. Generation has started sometime after noon and continued into the evening. Most days they're running 1 to 2 units, just enough to flush out the upper end of the lake of the leaves that are starting to fall. Water temperature is holding about 51 degrees coming through the dam and rising to about 60 degrees at the Branson Landing. Early in the mornings before the sun gets too high, the bite has been the best but on sunny days, after about 9 a.m., fishing gets a little tough, especially in the trophy area where the water isn't as deep. If the wind kicks up and we get a chop on the water, it'll stay good throughout the day. Our rainbows that have been stocked the last couple of weeks have been on the short side it seems. I've been out jig fishing a few times this week and noted a lot of the rainbows I'm catching are less than 11 inches. They do seem to be eating well--they're in great shape, fight hard and have good color. But there's always the bigger rainbows and an occasional brown mixed it. Speaking of jigs, I've done pretty good this week going out and throwing a straight jig, using an ultra light rod and 2 pound line, throwing a 1/16th ounce jig and working it in deeper water close to the bottom. The best areas have been from the Narrows (/14-mile above Fall Creek) down through Fall Creek all the way down to our place (Lilleys' Landing). Best colors have been sculpin, black and ginger/sculpin. I haven't done as well throwing a jig and float this week. It seems like they're wanting something moving more than sitting still, whether the water is running or not. A couple of weeks ago, I did the same thing with a Trout Magnet. Threw it using 2-pound line and working it without a float. They hit it on the drop which makes feeling and/or seeing the bite tough. I bet I miss 80% of the strikes I get but they're hitting it so often I'm still catching them pretty good. I believe I do catch better fish using the jig. That's always been my experience anyhow. Bait fishing has been good the last couple of weeks too. Most people fishing off our dock and out in boats have been catching their limits. Our water is still very clear so using at the most 4-pound line is important. Using 2-pound line will catch more fish. The same live baits are working-- night crawlers injected with air or floating it using a Gulp egg, best in white. Gulp eggs in pink and white. Noticed a lot of people trolling and doing well. Troll slowly using a small crank bait like a F-5 Rapala. A in-line spinner like a Rooster Tail works. Be sure to use a good barrel or swivel to keep your line from twisting. Best to troll the area below Cooper Creek. Missouri Department of Conservation guys said they saw some good browns during their annual survey a few weeks ago. They shock and survey trout in the upper end of the lake every August to determine the condition of our trout in the lake. Shane Bush, MDC fisheries biologist, said they shocked 2 browns around 30 inches. He also said that they're seeing some browns come up the hatchery ladder, located below the dam. Fish pics courteous of Steve Dickey, fishing guide. Drove to the dam this afternoon to look around. Hadn't been up there since the last high water event. Ran into Duffy, a good friend who fishes up at the dam almost every day of the year. He said fishing had been pretty good lately. Overcast today so I knew the trout would be active up there below the dam so I took my rod. There were quite a few people fishing but not crowded and plenty of places to fish. Duffy told me about the changes to the Rebar area, how it had filled in. The run itself isn't as deep as it was and it dumps into a deep pocket on the far side on the way down. Not easy to fish that deep pocket. The water slows down too much when it hits it. Can't get a good drift. There are a lot of trout holding in the fast water though. Duffy showed me how it's done. He was drifting a soft hackle over a weighted scud, using a long leader and no indicator. He's cast it over the run and with a slack line, let it drift down. A strike would stop his line, it would tighten and he'd set the hook. He set the hook on a lot of fish as I stood and visited. I fished down from the run, across the water from the washout gravel bar. I stayed out of the water most of the time and casted to mainly rainbows that were working the bottom in the shallow water there below the small flow coming down over the main gravel bar. There was just enough current to carry my fly across the gravel where they were feeding. I used a couple of flies--a #20 dark trout crack and a #20 plantan using 6x fluorocarbon under a half palsa. I had a long leader too so as to not spook the shallow holding trout, although they still spooked quite a bit. I hooked and landed 6 or 8 trout, one brown (pic). Others were doing well too. This gal was showing everyone up, hooking over a dozen trout while I was there. She was drifting something in the deeper run. Out in front and down from here, I saw several nice browns jump. That's a good sign for sure. Didn't see any big browns either in the Rebar run or in the shallow water I was fishing. Duffy said he seen them jump too. Said he'd seen several 15 to 17-inch browns caught but nothing bigger in the last week. For bigger trout including browns, I'd use bigger flies. Like Michael Kyle posted, sculpins are their main diet. Day time or night time, they're good flies to try. Also, if there's a chop on the water, I'd use a crackleback. I've seen a lot of browns caught on cracklebacks.

I'm looking into nylon shirts. The online store site is down. We're working on getting it back online.

Fall Creek Dock. It's a big dock on the west wide of the lake. Can't miss it. No docks between my dock and theirs. Above it is where Fall Creek comes in, same side of the lake. There is signs on the up lake side. But the up lake edge of the mouth marks the boundary across the lake.

The temp has warmed up the last couple of weeks and will continue to warm up through the fall. That's how the lake (Table Rock) cycles. DO will drop to almost nothing. Only O2 coming entering the lake when there's no generation will be through the hatchery outlets which will be rich in O2. Generating- they'll inject liquid O2 to keep it above 4 to 6 ppm. Trout I caught today fought hard except for 2 or 3. That's a good sign.

There are a lot of rainbows 1/4 mile above and 1/2 mile below Fall Creek right now. Today I fly fished above the Narrows for 2 hours. Cloudy but slick surface and they were tough (after 9 am). Before then, the guides said it was very good using black micro jigs. Then I dropped down below the Narrows and started throwing a 1/16th oz sculpin jig. The wind did pick up some which helped. They wouldn't leave it alone. Below Fall Creek- the same. Caught some nice ones but mostly small. Sculpin/ginger did well too.

What's the last pic - the spring?

Also sheriff's department will help. They're probably braking more laws than too many fish... sounds like they need a license plate!

Call Springfield MDC at 417-895-6880 and ask for enforcement. Tell them your story and ask if there's a way to get the cell numbers of the agents in Stone County. Then call the agent and talk to him about what you saw. If you're in that area a lot, may be you can help them catch these guys. Have a camera ready when you're at these accesses and take a pic of them, their vehicle. The more info MDC has, the better chance they'll catch them. You might be surprise- the agents might even know who these guys are, especially if they're locals.

Yes the DO is low. Has been for several weeks. Normal for this time of year. Water temp is the thing to watch. Warm temps coupled with low DO adds stress to the trout. Last I heard it was 51.

I've never used them or know anyone who has. But I'm sure they would work ok. Almost all of the bottom up there is gravel. As far as current, don't knowhow it would work.

Of course! We mice for rainbows up there all the time. It's a blast!

That area of the lake should be cooler than Ark. Should see whites and stripers head up to the headwaters on into the fall. Should be good!