Phil Lilley

Great first post! Any day with Brian on the river is a good one!!

The invasive zebra mussel hasn’t found its way into Table Rock Lake, but conservation officials say it’s an ongoing concern with the species in a portion of Lake Taneycomo and prevalent throughout Bull Shoals Lake. http://bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_13f60b98-2ad9-11e3-aea2-001a4bcf887a.html

Lake Taneycomo, near Branson, Mo., could eventually produce the next world-record brown trout. The Missouri Department of Conservation shocked up a 40-pound female several years ago. She may still be swimming around Taneycomo, feeding on rainbow trout, sculpin and other delicious critters that make the mistake of swimming too close. http://www.examiner.net/article/20130928/SPORTS/130928784/-1/sports

Didn't go- sorry.

Tempting...

by John Nrporadny, Jr. Earning a good reputation sometimes has its drawbacks. Soft plastic jerkbaits serve as a prime example. The effectiveness of soft jerkbaits in the spring leads some anglers to save these lures for one season and ignore them the rest of the year. So this lure’s reputation for catching bass during the spring actually deters its usage in other seasons in which it would excel. However a tournament competitor from Lake of the Ozarks believes a lure that works so well in the spring should also produce in the fall. Finicky bass can be tricked by the subtle action and slow fall of a soft jerkbait throughout the spawning cycle, but this finesse lure also produces at Lake of the Ozarks during the bass feeding sprees of fall. A Zoom Fluke free-falling through schools of shad catches bass during those frustrating times when the fish seem to ignore everything in your tacklebox. “Those bass come busting up through the schools of shad and a lot of times they don’t eat one but just injure it. Then whenever it’s settling to the bottom they nail it,” says Bruce Gier, Eldon, MO. “The Fluke is the closest thing to (an injured shad) imitation that I can get.” The tournament competitor relies on a pearl or glitter-color Fluke anytime he finds bass chasing shad and the fish continue to ignore his other presentations. The technique usually excels when shad are in the backs of coves and the sunshine causes the baitfish to rise to the surface. Casting to busting bass triggers some strikes, however tossing the lure into the middle of the forage also catches fish. “There's a bass underneath those shad. That’s just a given,” says Gier. “If you throw it right on that school of shad and let it deadfall, bass will bust it.” Gier just lets the lure fall to the bottom without imparting any action, then reels in again to cast to a busting fish or back into the shad balls. Letting the lure fall on a tight line causes the jerkbait to stay on top too long, so Gier accelerates its rate of descent by keeping slack in his line. The bowed line makes it difficult to detect strikes on the fall, but Gier knows an immediate hookset is unnecessary. “Once they hit it they won't spit it out,” he claims. The local angler rigs his Flukes on a 5/0 hook and leaves the point exposed since he’s fishing mostly in open water. Gier never adds weight to the lure, so he opts for a 6 ½-foot medium-action spinning rod with a light tip that allows him to throw the light bait a long distance. He favors 8-pound test line and a spinning reel with a large spool capacity. While he catches plenty of keeper-size bass on this trick, Gier has also taken quality fish with a soft jerkbait in the fall. “I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a 5-pounder come blowing completely out of the water in a big school of shad and I’ll throw everything I’ve got at it and not get a bite,” he says. “But this will work.” Gier recommends trying this technique whenever shad activity is present in the backs of coves. The pattern ends in late fall when the water turns cold and the baitfish leave the coves. Gier employs this deadfall method from September to November on the upper Osage arm. 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.

What Ronnie is saying is that respect is required on the forum. There are people here with various opinions on the issues of the day and of course not everyone agrees. But we all agree when we signed up to be civil and friendly just like we're all fishing out of the same boat. If we can't, then we need to find another boat to fish out of. We've been doing this since 2005... we have a good track record. There are some incredible anglers on here that share everything (well almost everything) they know about their area of angling expertise. We hope you will join in. Thanks.

Fishing report for Lake Taneycomo called in by Steve Dickey. http://anglersadvantage.net/

Lots of trout in the lake... should be a good day. Overcast. Midges for sure. I've been throwing a 1/16th oz jig and doing very well. Almost fool-proof. Earth colors, trim the marabou. You'll get lots of strikes, misses but hook a bunch too.

Since my last fishing report for Lake Taneycomo, very little has changed. Lake conditions and generation schedule are basically the same. Weather hasn't changed much. Should get a little rain tomorrow and a drop in temperature but not much on both counts. No generation till later in the afternoons, running till dark then nothing till the next day. Leaves are starting to fall more so there are leaves floating on the lake's surface and rainbows are holding under them feeding on midges mainly early and late in the day. Even with the water running, the evening bite has been very good from Lilleys' Landing down to the Branson Landing with trout midging, taking midges off the surface on the water. When these trout are surfacing, they'll take a lure thrown and retrieved up close to the surface like a rooster tail or small spoon. They'll also take a wooly bugger using a fast and stop retrieve. Of course using a very small jig and float or a Zebra Midge under an indicator works very well too. Missouri Department of Conservation, Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery stocked rainbows yesterday from their stocking boat. It ran up lake, up to our place and turned around. I was surprised to see the stocking boat because the lake seems to be already full of trout. The usual baits are working very well- Gulp Power Bait using a white/orange or white/pink combo on the bottom or on a small jig hook under a float. This really works good- almost cheating! Remember to use a little Super Glue to hold the egg on the hook. And of course air injected night crawlers. I've been writing about the brown trout we're seeing and hearing about up close to the dam. What should not be missed is the nice rainbows up there too. Rainbows between 14 and 18 inches seem to be in abundance and are taking small scuds and midges as well as leaches and sculpins. Take quick look at a report by Tim Homesley and one by myself fishing last week and early this week pertaining to browns. Wade fishing below the dam at night is heating up too. Brown trout typically come out and feed at night so we like to target these beasts in the dark. Crowds aren't as bad either but from now till mid November there will be more night owls out, especially on weekends. For big browns throw big streamers and sculpins, not that they can't be caught on small woolies and even scuds at night. Keep changing retrieve styles and speeds and keep changing flies if you're not getting bit. They're out there! I did get out last evening for a couple of hours. With 3 units running but only partially, the level and flow equaling may be 1.5 units, I boated to the cable below the dam and started throwing a white 1/8th ounce jig. The other evening when Steve and I went up, we did really well, catching several nice browns so I thought may be they'd want to play again last evening... they did not. I made several drifts but didn't do well above what we call the Rocking Chair area. From the Rocking Chair down to the boat ramp is was good but only the rainbows wanted to bite. But the rainbows were aggressive and bit well. I boated a dozen between 13 and 18 inches. At dusk, the water was dropping as the Corp shut down the turbines. Trout really starting feeding on midges, dotting the surface on the lake from bank to bank.

I honestly don't know. I'll ask.

Right.

Enjoyed our stay at your place as usual. My fishing report will be kind of meager because we didn't fish as much as usual this time. Tuesday we fished from about 9AM to 11:30 and caught 3 rainbows. I fished along the gravel bar "downstream" from the rebar hole. Caught 2 on a #14 beadhead pheasant tail woollybugger and 1 on a red #18 zebra midge. We were ready to go back out in the afternoon but they started generating. Wednesday we started about 8:45AM and quit at 11:00. I fished the same area and caught 5 rainbows. The biggest was 23 to 24 inches and really fat. All three hit the same woollybugger I had used the day before. Again we were ready to head back out about 3 PM but they started generating again. Hope to get back soon! Bruce Cochran I fished upper Lake Taneycomo on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I'm strictly a wade fisherman so am dependent on generation schedules. Both days I was only able to fish mornings as afternoon generation included three units. On Tuesday I started at 8:30 AM below the rebar hole using a #10 Black Wooly Booger. I had several minor strikes but couldn't hook them. I decide to wait out the nibbles and it paid off with a nice 18 inch rainbow. On the next cast I landed a 14 inch rainbow. After that I had a couple of strikes, but the catching was over. I then put on a #12 Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle and had three strikes before quitting at 11:30. On Wednesday morning I started again below the rebar area with the Wooly Booger. As the day before I had a few strikes before hooking a fish. I had one fish on that I lost, and then had a big fish break me off. I never saw him. He just took the fly, bent the rod, and took off before I could do much. I continued to fish and landed three rainbows with the largest at 13 inches. My old legs got tired so I quit at 11:00 AM. The weather was perfect and there were relatively few fishermen. It was a fun trip. My thanks to the people at Lilley's Landing for their excellent service and accommodations. Edward Spence

New brown trout stock are introduced to Taneycomo in the spring. Any browns in raceways right now are the ones who have come up the ladder from the lake. Clint, hatchery manager, replied to my question about these browns and he said the browns being held, about 100, are not ready for spawning yet. Typically, browns really don't start dropping eggs till mid October. Browns are given a mild an anesthesia so when they're handled they aren't harmed. This is why they are held in the hatchery for 21 days before being put back in Taneycomo. But Clint said they are using a new anesthesia this fall and the waiting period will be shorter. But these browns probably won't be put back in the lake before November (my guess).

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?