Phil Lilley

Ran across this video while looking for something else. I got to say our trout right now aren't even close to this quality, especially the browns. Now I have to wonder why... I've blamed the brown decline on the 2008 fall high water/flood gates but here it is spring 2010 and catching these nice browns. Just don't see them today.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – During this Memorial Day weekend Army Corps of Engineers officials want lake visitors to be safe when on or near the water. Nearly 90 percent of the drownings at Corps-managed lakes in 2012 could have been prevented if the victim had been wearing a life jacket. There are a number of styles available, including life jackets for paddling, water skiing, and riding a personal watercraft. If you visit a lake without a life jacket, borrow one from us. Life jacket loaner boards helps ensure park visitors have the chance to safely enjoy water activities. The loaner program has limited quantities of life jackets for children and adults so use it for the day and return it. Life jackets loaner stations are located at some parks at Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Norfork, Clearwater, Greers Ferry, Nimrod, Blue Mountain, Millwood, Dierks, DeQueen, and Gillham lakes. Several Corps parks along the Arkansas River also have loaner stations. Water safety tips and life jacket loaner program information can be found on the Internet at www.swl.usace.army.mil, Facebook at www.facebook.com/littlerockusace, and Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/usacelittlerock.

MDC and AFG are both trying to rid TR of stripers... they come over Beaver Dam when they open their flood gates.

I subscribe to this channel.

Jeremy Rasnick caught this in the Mill Creek area yesterday. Bottom fish- is it a redear? 12 inches long.

By Conservation Agent Charles Nofsinger Fishing for black bass is popular activity in Southwest Missouri. Learning to properly identify the different black bass is important for anglers. Black bass are divided into largemouth bass, spotted bass, smallmouth bass, and all black bass hybrids. Depending on the lake of river that you are fishing, different length and possession limits may apply to the different species of back bass. The proper identification of these fish is very important where these length and possession limits apply. In this article I will cover different characteristics of each one of these black bass that can be used to help in identification of these fish. Other good sources for learning how identify black bass are The Fishes of Missouri, A Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations, and having an experienced angler show you the difference between the fish. The largemouth bass is more widely distributed in Missouri than the other two bass. It prefers the slower moving water found in lakes, ponds, and pools. The characteristics used to identify this fish are several. First, the upper jaw extends beyond the back of the eye. Second, it has a smooth tongue. Third, the dorsal fins of this fish are not connected very well. Fourth, the scales found on the cheek are the same size as the scales on the body. Finally, it has a dark horizontal stripe. On Bull Shoals and Table Rock Lake the length limit for largemouth bass is 15 inches. The spotted bass which is also called a Kentucky bass looks a lot like the largemouth bass and can be mistaken for a largemouth if not closely looked at. First, the upper jaw does not reach the back of the eye. Second, it has a rough patch on the tongue. Third, the dorsal fins are well connected. This is obvious when compared to a largemouth bass. Fourth, the scales on the cheek are very small. Finally, it has a dark horizontal stripe with the lower side with series of dark horizontal streaks. On Bull Shoals Lake the length limit for spotted bass is 12 inches, and on Table Rock Lake the length limit is 15 inches. The smallmouth bass is the easiest of the three to identify. It is usually a brown color instead of the greenish color of the other two bass. First, the jaw does not extend beyond the back of the eye. Second, the dorsal fins are connected. Third, it has very small cheek scales. Finally, the side is plain with a series of separate vertical bars. On Bull Shoals and Table Rock Lake the length limit for smallmouth bass is 15 inches. Being able to correctly identify the difference between the three bass can be important. If you are unsure of the fish you have caught and the regulations for the different species it is best to release the fish unharmed immediately to the water where it came from. For pictures of these fish or more information about them you can pick up a copy of A Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations or The Fishes of Missouri from a Department of Conservation Office. If you have any questions about fish identification or any other conservation question please contact your local Conservation Agent or Department of Conservation Office.

You can change your screen name if you've posted, I think, 50 times. Regardless, I can change or add spaces - just send me a PM.

I decided to delete the topic in question. I changed the rules just a bit. Here they are: Forum Terms & Rules ATTENTION!! 05/20/2013 I will not GUESS whether a person registering is a REAL person or a SPAMMER any longer. If you are NOT clear in using a screen name that is YOUR NAME or a PROPER name of some kind, preferably FISHING related, then you're out of luck. EXAMPLES: djones948 is not a REAL name. Dave Jones is a real name. iddjfishk100 is not a fishy name. Joey Largemouth is. Use spaces. You CAN use spaces. Please take a moment to review these rules detailed below. If you agree with them and wish to proceed with the registration, simply click the "Register" button below. To cancel this registration, simply hit the 'back' button on your browser. First- we all will respect each other - no bashing or being rude. Second- no "shoot cursing". That's when bad words are altered to get by the admin... it won't this admin. Third- OAF doesn't mind links posted to other sites as long as they are sites of interest by OAF folks. Of course no inappropriate sites will be tolerated. Posting links is acceptable by "frequent users and contributors' of OAF. Please don't "spam" the board with nothing but links, no matter if the sites are useful to anglers or not. Fourth (and this has become a big one) - Please read some of the forums, threads and articles before posting questions. Chances are someone has already asked your questions, whether it be about current fishing or upcoming conditions. If your question is relative-- go for it! But please don't post "How's fishing?" or "What are they biting on?" if that subject has already been covered. Fifth - No political topics. Keep politics out of this fishing forum. No religious topics. Please remember that we are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not the views of this bulletin board, its owner or representatives. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this bulletin board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise illegal. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this bulletin board. Once posted, the material becomes part of public domain and is no longer considered protected by copyrights or any other private right, as long as it's no copied or plagiarized from another internet site or other private or public publication. Clearly most people do not read these rules before registering... most are common sense stuff.

On Table Rock, I've caught crappie up spawning shallow in clear water but only very early and late in the day. They move up while the light is low and move off when it gets lighter. May be that's another variable when fishing clear lakes.

Be interesting to see who and what won each hour and how much they won.

I heard Larry Dablemont on the radio this morning say crappie spawn in water one foot deeper than you can see. He used a succi disk as an example how far is "deep". Problem is, at least on Table Rock, visibility is 20-30 and even 40 feet deep right now. So where do crappie spawn in that kind of water? Do they just hold their eggs? I had to get to church or I would have called him and asked.

My comment - this subject has been pounded again and again and as far as I can see no one has changed their mind or stance. If anyone has changed their mind because of these conversations, I'd like to know. Changing a stance because of these conversations is not impossible... if it's happened, it would motivate me to see these discussions in a different light. BUT as long as the discussion remains a discussion and not a yelling match, I see no harm. May be I need to change the rules to say it's ok to discuss weather, catch and release and politics as long as it stays civil... ok, not politics. That's a lost cause!

Eddie Waggoner of Parsons, KS caught this 6.30 pound black on lower Taneycomo late this afternoon. They were fishing coves, finding 60 degree water and lots of beds. They did say they didn't see many fish on the beds though. Caught this on a tube fishing a downed tree. Caught a 5 pound black off the same log. All were released.

The Coast Guard is blessed to have Duane Doty in their ranks... he has served us in war in Iraq on the front lines and now will escort anglers on awesome fishing trips here and in Alaska. He works hard. He's a selfless man who is totally dedicated and loves his wife, his family and his friends. Doty - I'm honored to be your friend and look forward to our fishing adventures in the future, God willing. Congrats!!

Generation pattern: After a significant rain, Table Rock Lake rises above 917 feet which triggers the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers to release the maximum amount of water through their turbines until the lake stabilizes and then drops below 917. Then the Corps cuts generation back. That's what we've seen here in the last five days. Thursday night last week, we received an inch of rain here in Branson, but some areas to the south and west of us gained as much as five inches. Beaver Lake jumped up and so did Table Rock. We saw four units of water from Friday until late Monday afternoon. The Southwest Power Administration schedule says today we're looking at one unit in the morning, increasing to 2 early in the afternoon increasing to 3 later, into the evening. The water was actually completely off early, then started generation at 7 a.m. As the lake levels drop, so will generation levels on Taneycomo. While three units are running, it's fairly easy to get and keep your bait on the bottom, as long as the wind isn't playing havoc with your drift. Your bait has to be on or close to the bottom to get bit. There's been a few hot spots we've found while drifting either Gulp Powerbait or night crawlers. The first place starts at the mouth of Fall Creek and down about 1/4 mile. Another spot starts at the Riverpointe ramp down to the mouth of Short Creek staying on the south side. This water is deep where the area was washed out in the 2011 flood. The next good area is drifting from 1/4 mile above Monkey Island down through the island to the Highway 65 bridge. One report I heard involved boating down lake to Rockaway Beach. One of our guides caught quite a few rainbows throwing spoons from a half mile above the mouth of Bull Creek down to Bull Creek. When fishing night crawlers from Fall Creek to Short, remember to break the worm in half, hook the worm right in the middle of the worm, letting it hang off each side of the hook. When you get a bite, let the fish take the worm before setting the hook. Above Fall Creek, now that there's less water running, catching should improve. Guide Bill Babler has been catching trout drifting a floating rebel or Trout Magnet Crank Bait (Hawk) on a drift rig from the dam down to Trophy Run. Steve Dicky has either been using a float to drift a scud/egg fly rig or drifting a shad fly or white wooly bugger using a drift rig and doing well. I've gone out in the evenings and thrown 1/8th-ounce jigs from the dam down to Fall Creek and done fair. This morning while the lake level was rising, I fished white, sculpin/ginger, black and ginger colored jigs. The trout liked the ginger color the best. All but one brown, they were holding pretty tightly to the bluff bank and in the eddies. Drifted the small crank bait and a miracle fly on a rig and caught fish, too.

Never met Martin but traded emails with him over the years. I was wondering the other day if he was finding his morels this spring.

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x2002148349/Kid-s-Day-slated-at-Roaring-River

They started running water.... nevermind.

In case you didn't call this morning, for you locals, the water is off this morning. SPA schedule says it's supposed to be running one unit. Not sure how long it will be off though.

This nest is located above Fall Creek and across the lake (east side) up in the slew about 300 yards. One young eagle in the nest that we could see.

My brother-in-law, Paul Henderson, floated from Steel Creek to Erbie. But he said the better fishing would be below Erbie. He caught quite a few smallmouth bass on a 3-inch tube, silver, red metal or green pumpkin seed, fishing the ends of the runs, dumping into big pools with chunk rock. Water was extremely clear and they drug quite a bit on their float.

Again????

No I didn't take any. Steve Brigman was their photographer so we'll have a bunch of pictures shortly. I'll share.