Phil Lilley

It's running now. Already looks better.

Corp has NOT started to run water yet so we're stuck. Rick Lisek did go out this morning and caught 4 limits close to Fall Creek. He said they caught them on a miracle fly under an indicator only 2 feet deep. The trout aren't going very deep in this off colored water. Haven't talked to anyone who's gone above Fall Creek but I'm sure there's a clean water line somewhere above there. I bet fly fishing below the dam is excellent this morning. Enjoy it while you can!

I've caught a lot of browns above and below that rr bridge.

Not sure how many inches of rain we had this morning but it poured from the skies and from the creeks and ditches. Taneycomo is a wash with all the leaves and sticks that fell to the ground last fall! No fishing today after noon, at least not in our area. There was so much junk on the surface it'd be detrimental to your motor to take it out - get your water pump clogged. But the real nice thing about our lake is it gets "flushed" and we get all brand new water over night, just like that! Table Rock is shooting up so I bet we're going to see a little more generation in the coming days. We'll see...

Not everyone got defensive... I wouldn't take it that way at all. Unfortunately, we are limited on the people that post on the White River compared to John Wilson's forum. I haven't read his to see what people think of MF there. I'm sure access has to be more limited with more flow, especially for folks who can't wade in more current. Tailwaters aren't the easiest to wade no matter what the flow is. Please Mr Fowler keep posting your prospectives... I for one am appreciative of your views especially with your background and experience.

Ramp at the railroad bridge is public and a good ramp. You can get what you need at Scotty's dock right there. They can also tell you exactly what they've been catching them on in that area of the lake too. Water is deep in that area - no issues. We've gotten a big rain this am and lake is muddy with lots of debry but it should be cleared out by tomorrow morning, hopefully I'd think they would start running more water at Table Rock because lake levels are rising quickly.

The real benefit to MF is more flow and better life in the river. Taneycomo- when we have good, constant flow for months on end, our bug population explodes and of course our trout growth does too. When it's off for long periods of time, bug population drops dramatically and it takes a long time for it to bounce back. I'm talking mostly scuds although I think sow bugs and midges benefit when the flow is constant. Other insects do better too and would flourish if Taneycomo went to a minimum flow, IMO. I think MDC fisheries biologist would agree. So the question is: Does the benefits of better fish growth/health outweigh the lack of wading possibilities, no matter how slight that may be? Depends I guess if you have a boat and/or the knowledge to work around the higher flows on land. I think that's where this forum may help those who don't have a boat and rely on wading only. The more people that weigh in on this the better. Thanks Ron for your help. And I think others like Mr. Fowler can help with boat fishing.

We're doing a "guide of the month" here at Lilleys' Landing. Thought I'd post this on Table Rock's forum because I know how much he's LOVED here. Enjoy.

Hiring a fishing guide can be somewhat intimidating for some anglers who feel like they need a certain level of skill just to launch out on the water. But for guides on Lake Taneycomo like Bill Babler, setting guests at ease is a top priority. “I never set any preconceived fishing goals,” Babler said Monday, “but gear everything to the client. My goal is just for everyone to have a good time, and personally, for me to pick up a tip from them – either about fishing or about life.” As a United States Certified Coast Guard captain for 22 years, Babler knows what it takes to serve the clients and continuously updates his equipment. He was on the lakes 278 days last year and will soon be guiding out of a 2014 new 22-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 250-horsepower Mercury ProXS motor. He favors Falcon rods with Shimano reels for his four, six or eight-hour trips, but is equipped with whatever his clients need for fly or spin-cast fishing for trout on Taneycomo or for bass on Table Rock. The big bass lake has been an angler attraction this year with the water clearer than it has been in 20-plus years. Most four-hour trips have started at 5:30 a.m. initially for the best bites, and now for the best spots on the lake amid all the boats. “We have lost the topwater bite since the fish have moved down in the water column, and they are not as active right off the bat – but you still have to get out early to snag your favorite hotspots.” Babler, who helps his wife, Becky, run their 10,000-square foot White River Lodge Bed & Breakfast near Blue Eye, grew up catering to guests. His parents built Pine Cove Resort in 1962 and ran it until 1976. He really had only trout fished Taneycomo a few times before starting then School of the Ozarks in 1972, “when they became a good source of food for hungry college boys,” he said. Bill married his sweetheart Becky in June 1977 and started with the water patrol at Lake of the Ozarks, using his recreation degree. Then he was transferred to the Missouri River area by Kansas City in 1983 when the couple also started a livestock operation with Becky’s parents. “A year-plus was enough time for me on the Missouri since it was a lot of search and recovery,” Bill said. “ I was one of the original members of the dive team and one of the first to have a college degree.” Meanwhile Becky continued teaching first grade, which she had started at Climax Springs. She taught for 22 years at Kearney, before retiring back to the Branson area. Becky’s folks had inherited a lot in Shell Knob, MO, so several of the family and some friends decided to help them build a house on it in the early 1980s. “The livestock business just wasn’t faring very well,” Babler said, “so when I ran into a buddy I had known on the water patrol, he suggested I get my guide license.” For years Bill would commute down from Kearney weekly, then commute daily from Shell Knob over to Taneycomo to guide, as he and Becky fine-tuned their dream for a bed and breakfast It was in his high school drafting class where Babler initially designed a log home, always envisioning it as something to build in Colorado. But a mule deer trip to the Rockies led him to fashion the plans after a grand hunting/fishing lodge there – even though the high land prices “pointed us back here to build it.” After looking for years, they bought their dream property in 2001 two miles off Missouri 86, just 20 minutes from Branson with “a great lakeview on some acreage with an easterly exposure,” Babler said. Once Becky retired from teaching, they lived in the family Shell Knob home for two years while the three-story bed and breakfast took shape – one Colorado Engelmann Spruce log at a time on the 40 acres. They opened for guests in May 2005 offering not just their great hospitality, but refreshing views of Table Rock from the huge windows and decks of four private guest rooms, and a two-bedroom suite, as well as all the common areas. All the while Becky has been the primary host, cook and housekeeper for their place and served with bed and breakfast associations, Bill has continued to build his White River Outfitters guide service. He writes monthly fishing reports on his website, whiteriveroutfitters.com, and always employs his gift for gab to engage and learn from his clients – which now have him booked though July 18. “Being a fishing guide is kind of like being a bartender or beautician – you talk about everything when you are out on the water.” Babler, and all other guides can be booked through Lilleys’ Landing Resort office, at 888-545-5397.

By Darin Schildknecht Scuds are one of the most common food sources for trout here on Taneycomo. They are more abundant in the upper reaches of the lake than anywhere else. They live in and around the bottom of the lake. They range from a size 24 to a size 12 when comparing to a hook. Most of the scuds are a gray color but when they die they turn almost orange. They eat almost anything. They will eat the vegetation along with anything that is dead along the bottom of the lake. There are many different variations of flies that imitate scuds. Some are very difficult to tie and some anyone can tie. From my experience the simple ones work just as well as the difficult ones. My personal favorite is the scud tied with UV Ice dub from Hareline Dubbin. Fishing a scud is simple, just right on the bottom. When there is no power generation just fish it under an indicator on 5x or 6x Fluoroflex tippet, and if the power generators are on fish it under an indicator still but you can use heavier tippet. We have several types of scuds for sale on our online tackle store as well as in our fly shop. Here is some video that Phil Lilley has taken over the years of scuds on Lake Taneycomo:

The fish is bent in the pic. It's really a nice, proportionate rainbow, great color. Todd brought the fish in to put it in one of our livewell tanks to make sure it had the best chance for release. He's getting a replica made of his trophy.

Caught in front of Lilleys Landing on July 29, 2013. 7 lbs 15oz on Lilleys hand-tied 3/32 oz white jig. Todd Turner Shawnee, KS 22 x 17

I reported during the week last week that trout fishing was a little tough because of the gin clear water we're getting from Table Rock. Plus it seemed like the lake was low on rainbows--that was the rumor anyhow. But towards the end of the week, catching trout got much better and this weekend fishing was back to what I'd call normal with good reports coming in. The clouds and gentle rains helped too. Today, Monday, the generation pattern looks like it's going to be the same as last week - less than one unit in the morning building to less than 2 units through the afternoon time. Check out the SPA site for flows and times. I had one of my toughest guide trips last Thursday morning. My clients were seasoned salt water anglers. The water was running ever so slightly and we were fishing the stretch between Fall Creek and Short Creek. We started throwing marabou jigs and ended drifting with night crawlers. Both techniques proved to be lacking. The trout just would not take it but only chewed and sucked and spit everything out before the hook could be set. They ended a 4 hour session with only 6 trout total. It can be tough out there, it's not always the angler's fault for not catching fish. What I did find is that people were waiting and going out later in the afternoon after the generation picked up and drifting with either Gulp Eggs or night crawlers from Cooper Creek down to Monkey Island. Most were catching their limits on only one drift. One great technique that worked very well this weekend when there was no generation was using a micro jig under a float 5 feet deep using 6x or 7x depending on how aggressive the trout were PLUS tying on a 12-inch section of 7x tippet to the micro jig and dropping a #16 black Zebra with a copper head under it. So you have a float, 5 feet of 6x tippet, a micro jig (black worked best), 12-inches of 7x tippet and a #16 black Zebra midge with a copper head. Fishing guide Rick Lisek showed me this technique. Of course it would work above or below Fall Creek. I used a similar technique yesterday while taking my mom and son Greg out fishing. I used a Miracle fly instead of a micro jig and caught just as many on the Miracle as I did on the Zebra. The Miracle was a oregon cheese color. Friday afternoon, fishing in the rain was very good. We fished, again, between Fall Creek and Short Creek, middle of the lake to the deep side using the micro jig/Zebra midge combo and caught a lot of trout including a nice 18-inhc brown (pic). It restored confidence in me that there was truly a good number of trout in that area. Come to find out, other guides had caught good trout in that area as well as up in the trophy area last week. This morning, fishing guide Bill Babler, reported trout fishing was nothing short of excellent, his clients catching in excess of 50 rainbows almost all on Trout Magnets. They fished from Short Creek to Trout Hollow Resort, using a pink/white magnet under a float 4 to 5 feet deep and using 6x tippet. I recommend light line again this week. Even if the drift rigs your buying have 4-pound line, add a short piece of 6 or 7x tippet to the end and tie your hook on that. Tie them together using a triple surgeon's knot (Link). It's an easy knot to tie. The simulation only shows a double tie. Put the line through one more time for a triple knot.

Had to post a close up of the fish. Real pretty markings.

Here's the brown.

Took Gary McSpadden and his grandson Chase out fishing this afternoon,,, yes in the rain. Started at 2 pm and ended just a while ago. Rick Lisek, guide, told me they caught fish just above the River Pointe boat ramp using a micro jig under a float 5 feet deep but tying a #14 black zebra, copper head, 12 inches below the jig. He was right. They caught probably 25 each, 3 browns- one about 18 inches and some nice rainbows up to 14 inches on mainly the zebra. Caught one on the jig and one on a pink thread jig I used instead of the micro. Used 6x tippet. Nice to know there IS a bunch of trout up there. After the last 3 mornings, I was beginning to wonder. Pics to follow.

Another trip this morning... even tougher. Did best drifting from the boat ramp above Short Creek to the creek using 2- 3/0 splits spaced 6 inches apart 18 inches above a #10 hook tied on 7x tippet. Night crawler with air. They were still chewing on it but managed to get some hooked and landed. All the rainbows we cleaned today (Babler and I) had orange meat which means they've been in the lake for a while. Found out that a lot of people here at the resort are waiting and fishing later in the afternoon after they crank up generation, drifting Gulp eggs from Taneycomo Acres down to Monkey Island. Doing very well, catching their limit in one drift. May be we should be taking people out in the evening instead of the morning! I'll try it tomorrow.

Pretty tough fishing I'd say. Spotty good then slow. That's about what it's been this week so far. Not the easy >catching stocked trout fishing< we're kinda used to. Water is very clear and the trout aren't taking and running with it. I took out a gentleman yesterday in the morning. We started early and made the run from the Branson Landing to Fall Creek. Some of the guys said pink Trout Magnets are working well so that's what we used. Five to 6 feet under an indicator using 7x tippet - still couldn't buy a bite. We switched to most everything else I use under a float and only had a few nibbles, 3 rainbows to the boat. The wind picked up and we got a chop on the water. Thought that would turn things on and it did a little. They were sucking on the TM just like they've been sucking on the worms. I could see the float moving but nothing on the set. I inspected the TM after 30 minutes of fishing and saw that it had been gummed to death by trout. Something else. He ended the day with less than 10 rainbows, caught up and down the lake. Caught the last one in front of the Landing. The guides who did the best stuck it out above Short Creek using night crawlers. This morning I had 4 guys from NW Missouri. I decided to fish night crawlers and stuck with them this time. Running 1/2 unit, we anchored several places from Short to Fall Creek, in the middle of the lake (not the shallow or deep side) and dropped the air injected worms behind the boat. It was good from 6:30 till about 7:30, then it got slow. We caught a few then moved 200 yards and catch some more. Ended at 10 am with a limit of 16 plus probably 10 more released. Good numbers... it just wasn't fast and furious. Word is MDC stocked a bunch of trout yesterday below Cooper Creek. Didn't know that till later in the morning.

That's why a lot of people move to Alaska... you do go back at least 50 years or more, living in most places. I do love visiting. it's hard work- a good kind of work. You always have to think and work efficiently because everything you do has meaning. You can't waste- everything is too hard and too expensive to throw away or screw up on. You have to be smart, wise and in good shape. That's why I "visit" - it's tough to do all the time! I am talking about the bush... not Anchorage or the Kenai area. Where I was at there was a store, auto parts place and lumber yard within an hour's drive but most things had to be ordered from Anchorage (a day away). It's still hard there but not as hard as a lot of villages and camps in very remote places. Want simpler times... move to the bush of Alaska. Sorry- off the subject. If's Scott's fault!

by John Neporadny, Jr. You can beat the heat and summertime crowds by fishing at night on the Lake of the Ozarks. When the moon shines and the water calms down, the fishing action picks up for bass, crappie and catfish. Some fish can be taken during the day, but night fishing offers a cooler alternative and the fish seem to feed more after dark. From mid-June to the latter part of July, nocturnal trips for bass are productive on the Big and Little Niangua arms where the fish hold in brush piles around docks. In the Little Niangua, flipping behind docks in coves also takes bass at night. Fish lights on the back of a dock are good attractants for bass, especially if there is a brush pile within 5 feet of it because the light brings the bugs in, which brings the baitfish and big bass in. During the last part of July and in August, concentrate on brush piles on the Osage arm around the Lodge of the Four Seasons. Bass seem to prefer main lake structure later in the summer. Points can be ideal spots to check at night because the fish move out to deep, cooler water during the day, but after midnight when the water starts to cool down they will come up on the shelves. Water color has little effect on night fishing since bass can be taken in clear or off-color conditions. The key is to find brush piles either on the main lake or other areas that have deep water nearby. Any brush pile sitting in 5 feet of water or deeper will hold bass at night. The depth of the fish varies throughout the night as they come up to feed at certain times. Start your evening fishing the brush piles 5 to 10 feet deep and when the fish stop biting in the brush, move up shallower in search of bass roaming and feeding behind the docks. As morning approaches, move back to the brush piles. Picking the best time after dark to catch bass can be difficult because the action can be non-stop some nights or there will be lulls between bites other nights. If there's a full moon, the fish might bite all night. Other times the fish bite during periods such as 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. or daylight to 8 am. Magnum-size plastic worms (10 or 11 inches) and jigs are excellent night-time lures. Plastic worms in darker hues, such as black, blue fleck, June bug and red shad, work well along with a brown or black 3/8-ounce jig with a rattle and some type of pork chunk or double-tail plastic grub trailer in a bluegill color. Retrieve the worm and the jig in the same fashion. Let the lure fall into the brush and crawl it through the limbs. Sometimes the fish suspend around the brush piles, so you should lift the worm up over the brush and then let it drop down into it, then lift it out of the brush again and let it drop back to get the fish that are suspended around the brush. Another technique also produces at night for bass. Try a 3/8-ounce black spinnerbait with a silver willowleaf blade and a black twin-tail trailer, which should be slow rolled over the chunk rocks. Nights are also a prime time to drift for catfish. When the wind calms in the evening, head for a the back of a cove and rig your rods with shad and frozen shrimp. Spend the rest of the evening and into the early morning drifting the cove for catfish. If you don't have a boat, resort docks also provide good night action for a variety of fish. Most of the resorts have sunken brush piles around the docks, which become havens for bass and crappie. Bass can be taken from the brush on plastic worms or jigs. The best crappie action occurs in the brush piles located under lights that shine directly into the water. The lights set off a chain reaction as microorganisms are attracted to the lit area, followed by baitfish and then crappie. Minnows, jigs or a jig tipped with a minnow catch crappie under the lights. Some crappie anglers also get in on a bonus catch when a school of white bass move under the lights to feed on shad. Tight-lining off the docks with live bait or stink baits is an effective way to take catfish at night. As the temperatures rise, take the day off and try some fishing under the stars at the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks this summer. 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 &amp; Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

I got out for a couple of hours today. Thought clouds/rain and generation would be favorable to trout "catching". Not so. I drifted the bluff bank from Lookout to the Narrows twice - once throwing a #10 stimulator - no looks or takes. Second using a white marabou jig- no bites. Threw an olive jig too - same result. Drifted on down to Short Creek and caught one brown on the white jig. Two other bites. Then on down past Trout Hollow with the olive jig and caught one stocker rainbow. Slim pickings today. It has been tough the last few days. I think it's because of the ultra clear water. Babler thinks it's a lack of rainbows but I've always thought that theory is a cop out... there should be good numbers in the trophy area regardless of when they stocked last. But I am going to inquire tomorrow. Babler said he had 40 this morning on crawlers including a 21 inch rainbow. That's not too bad!

Impossible to keep it neutral but it is somewhat possible to keep it civil.

Gentlemen, The climate on this forum in regards to politics and race has heated up in the last month to the point I'm ready to give some of you "timeouts". Seriously... this has no place on this fishing forum. I've banned politics in the past but let it slide because cooler heads prevailed for a time but I guess it's the heat of summer that's brought out the worse in some of you. Believe me, I don't want to nanny sit the board and nit pic subjects and conversations - I should not have to. But if I have to ban members, new ones or old ones, to solve this issue I guess I may have to. No more cussing. No more acronyms. No more race based topics or posts because no one here has any good answers and no one here can post anything that will do anyone any good in the matter.

I just got back from a fishing trip to Alaska to find trout fishing on our Lake Taneycomo has been pretty good for the most part. And big trout too being caught by both guests of Lilleys' Landing and clients of our fishing guides. Generation has been fairly consistent with a few exceptions: Water off most mornings then generation starting mid day till late at night, building to 3 to 4 units by mid afternoon. I believe the temperature outside dictates how much they run simply because of power demand. The morning bite has been a mixed bag. Calm, dead mornings especially when the fog is on the lake means tough fishing, especially fly fishing in the trophy area. Early, before the sun gets up, fly fishing below the dam is good using #18 zebras under an indicator 8 to 18 inches (depending on water depth) and 7x tippet. Also small #20 to #24 thread midges in red or black- same technique. I fished a #24 griffith's gnat this morning while rainbows were actively taking something real small off the surface and got 2 trout to take it, landing one (pic). I also caught a few on a #24 red thread midge. I was fishing just above the MDC boat ramp, wading in from the north side of the lake. Our guides are reporting catching trout on small micro jigs, olive, orange head or ginger (half micros) under an indicator 4 to 5 feet deep using 6x tippet. Rick Lisek told me he's done well fishing a zebra midge under a float 5 feet deep just below the Fall Creek line before they start running water in the mornings. Steve Dicky called in this fishing report for me this afternoon. I got yesterday and drifted from Lookout to the Narrows, throwing a hopper (fly) against the bluff bank in the pockets and runs I have caught trout, big trout, in past years. But only had one small rainbow take the fly. Jury is still out on the timing of the hopper hatch but if it's not now it has to be coming real soon. Last summer we did extremely well, catching some real nice rainbows and browns on hoppers and stimulators. Really looking forward to when it gets good on these big dry flies. Night crawlers has been the ticket on most of the big lunkers caught on the lake the past few weeks I understand. And the hot area has been between Fall and Short Creek. Bill Babler reports the big trout "just showing up" our of the blue one day and they've been catching them consistently ever since. An unusable number of brown trout too, said Buster Loving yesterday as we talked on the dock after his trip. "I haven't caught this many browns since the high water in 2009." Most are sub legal but a lot of fun to catch. Our water is super clear so 4-pound line is a must, 2-pound is even better. When drifting during generation, you can get away with 4-pound line on everything. They are still working on the intake lines at the Branson City Pump Station just up lake from us. They've had a big excavator digging gravel out from around the pipes on the bottom of the lake for a couple of months now with the end no where in sight. This is stirring up the water and sending murky water down our way. This isn't a bad thing really. If you give me a choice of fishing slightly dirty water and gin clear water I'd take the off colored water every time.

A month ago, Nixa got, what, 9 inches of rain in a few hours? There's a small system sitting on us and it hasn't moved in 30 minutes. Wind and rain. Hasn't let up at all. Pouring. Yes we're dry but this is a deluge! Bottle and sell it!!