Phil Lilley

She doesn't mid touching... baited her own worms. It's holding, pic and releasing that I like to help with.

Thank you!

Great pictures! Thanks for posting.

It's a joy to watch them. Matheny has the luxury to try his new, young pitchers (like yesterday's game) even if it means losing a game here and there because he knows his ball team is in good shape to win the next, with Lynn pitching and the team hitting like it is. These rookie pitchers are brought up under the best of circumstances.... their team is backing them with good play and that gives them the confidence to do well. I remember just a few years ago, Cards were frustrating to watch because their pitching was lagging behind their batting and defense... they just couldn't hold a lead. If they find a closer they're really going to be hard to beat.

coreykallmbah - send me your name/address vonreed - same. I'm not fishing as much these days... leaving in 2 weeks so HURRY!

Here are the results of the first annual Fly Casting Contest sponsored by RIO, Trout Unlimited and Lilleys' Landing Resort. It was held at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery, mid day today. Accuracy 1st-Joseph Long 31.5 sec-Redington Pursuit outfit 2nd-Jeff Zohner 51.3 sec- Any Rio Fly Line ($75 retail value) 3rd- Matthew Peet 59.0 sec-Orvis Sling Pack 4th- Sam Stewart 1:05.0-Fenwick HMX 7wt outfit 5th- Bill Wise 1:09.2- TFO Bug Launcher Distance Am 1st- Bill Wise-72'8" Redington Pursuit Outfit 2nd- Don Shull- 66'9" Any Rio Avid Fly Line 3rd- Joseph Long-63'4" Any Rio Mainstream Fly Line Distance Pro 1st-Matthew Peet 85'- Orvis Helios 2 Fly Rod, Any Rio fly line ($75 retail value) 2nd-Duane Doty 74"-Any Rio Avid fly line Darin Schildknecht was the director and organizer for the event. I personally have to protest... I had to leave early to do a TV interview for a Dallas News station... I thought I relayed to the crew I threw 74' 6" and I had a witness! Doesn't pay to leave a Doty in charge! Thanks everyone for helping... Brian Shaffer, Duane and Mona Cheri Doty and Darin.

I have gotten more requests on this thread than any other... super!

Got 'em

What's your address and I'll send you some. Anyone else?

Talked to Jeremy Rasnick (ranger for the Corp and native to Branson). Said the water temp needs to be 80 for them to get good. Normally it's good most of June into July but water is much cooler than normal.

The ones we're wanting are big 'uns... too big for trot lines. My son Caleb with one we caught last week.

I've hit some points close to the dam twice this week with fair results. I haven't found the right depth yet I guess. Using worms and fishing 15 to 30 feet deep. Catching smallies and channel. Had 10 the other day but only 1 yesterday, fishing 2 hours from 3-5 pm. Stayed in the Moonshine area. I know everything is still behind by a week or so and it's only June 7th.

Took Caleb and Maggie drift fishing this morning. Drifted night crawlers from Fall Creek to the old Sun Valley. Best drift was from the River Pointe Ramp to Sun Valley. Maggie out caught Caleb by a couple. She caught 5 rainbows to Caleb's 2 rainbows and 2 browns. The brown in the pic was caught in front of the old Riverlake place. The nice rainbow Maggie caught was in the same area. Didn't do anything to the worm... just cut in half and hung it off the hook naturally. Caleb is my son and Maggie his bride. They're visiting from the Boston area.

Looks like he's already been there...

I was struck by the number of No Trespass signs on the river. Some places they are ignored - were back when I fished it. But there are some places you better watch. About a 1/2 mile above the Green Cabin access I was chewed out continuously for an hour by a guy and gal for stepping on the bank ONCE to avoid a overhanging tree. They didn't leave us alone till we were out of their sight. I think it was a game for them. They enjoyed it. I've heard there are river monitors but never seen them. Below the 4th clay bank there's a club - can't remember the name of it. But they're pretty picky about people walking on the bank.

I'll look at it... thanks. But I'm not looking for free necessarily.

I've been using photoshop for simple applications for years. Yesterday I restored my main hard drive to another drive and lost all privileges... I can't find old serial #'s and I don't want to purchase another copy of it. I've tried fixing it through adobe and it hasn't worked either. Very frustrating... Anyhow, I really don't need photoshop for what I do (I think). What is another photo editing program I can look at. I'm a MAC user. Thanks.

Dock?

No. Table Rock is above 918. Usually that means big flows but none yet. May be because it's summer now instead of spring they're going to conserve water, not expecting more big rains. May be that's why they're not releasing 4 units right now. But that could change. So it's anyone's guess. I'd be surprised if this pattern of 1 to 2 units continues. I'd think they would run more and wouldn't be surprised if they started. We'll see.

I met Jim Johnson, good friend and former owner of the Pere Marquette Lodge just south of Baldwin, in the mid 80's when I started fishing up there in the fall. I've made about a dozen trips up there but none since 2003. He showed me how to fish the river - and yes it's a great river no matter when you fish it. His cousin Steve owns BBT. Jon Kestner (facebook https://www.facebook.com/kestnerflyfishing) is a good friend who guides on the PM. I've been reading that the hex and drakes will be coming off soon- that's some great fishing!! If you contact Jon, tell him I referred you. Here's his site - http://www.jonsguideservice.com/ David Roller is another guide in the area. He spoke at the St Louis FFF last month. His site - http://www.peremarquetteoutfitters.com/ Good information there too. Hope you go... take lots of pics.

Ken, No lunker pin but I did get a patch from Fall Creek Dock I think before I moved down here for a 5 pound rainbow? Can't remember. I did try to find that patch yesterday and failed. It's here - I'll scan and post it when I find it.

I pay a 10% tax on the rods I have made in Harrison.

by John Neporadny Jr. Catering to anglers of all ages and skills, the Lake of the Ozarks has a rich tradition of introducing its visitors to the sport of fishing. Whether competing in a bass tournament or relaxing on a dock and tight-lining for catfish, you have plenty of opportunities to catch fish from this 54,000-acre reservoir. Competitive anglers flock to the lake because they know it contains a quality bass population. The lake's numerous crappie, white bass and catfish also provide lots of action for recreational fishermen throughout the year. But the lake's most abundant-- and probably it's best-- fishing asset is the sunfish. While they pursue bass, crappie, catfish and white bass now, skilled anglers visiting the Lake of the Ozarks probably got started in the sport by catching bluegill, green sunfish, pumpkinseeds and other small sunfish. These diminutive panfish abound in the Lake of the Ozarks and each year introduce a new generation of anglers to the sport. The lake also offers plenty of comfortable and easy places to catch sunfish with it numerous boat docks. When my wife was a child, she caught her first fish at her uncle's dock and our daughters were introduced to the sport by catching bluegill at the same dock. The best time to catch bluegill is a hot, sunny summer afternoon, which makes covered docks ideal spots for kids to fish because the floating structure provides plenty of shade and reduces the risk of sunburn. The docks also offer shelter and food for the throngs of sunfish swimming under the piers. Plenty of sunfish and other gamefish are attracted to resort docks because the owners or caretakers sink brush piles in the wells and along the sides of the docks. These spots provide hours of consistent fishing action, which is necessary to get the beginning angler hooked on the sport . After fishing for bass or crappie from your boat in the morning, you can spend the summertime afternoon on the resort dock teaching your children how to fish. Even though they're on a flat, stable surface, children should wear a life jacket while fishing on a dock. Sometimes the excitement of hooking a fish can cause youngsters to lean over the water to look at the fish, and they could end up in the lake. When introducing children to fishing, I recommend you equip them with a short, lightweight rod and a simple spincast reel, such as the Zebco 202 model, filled with 8- or 10-pound line. Light line works best even for these aggressive sunfish, because the panfish become wary of the monofilament after a couple of fish have been hooked. Since sunfish have such tiny mouths, you should tie on small hooks such as a size 4 or 6 straight-shanked model. You can either drop your bait straight down and tight-line with a BB split shot or without any weight. For the first-time angler, I suggest attaching a small BB split shot to the line and the smallest bobber you can find. This makes it easier for beginning anglers to detect strikes because they can just watch for the bobber to submerge. If you attach too large of a bobber, the float causes too much resistance when the fish grabs the bait, which causes the bluegill to spit it out. Novice anglers tend to let sunfish run too long with the bait and the fish tend to swallow the hook, so you also need a pair of needlenose pliers for dislodging hooks. Despite their small size, sunfish have large appetites and aren't choosy about what they eat. Some baits we have used over the year to catch these panfish include worms, a piece of hot dog, wax worms, corn and artificial baits such as Berkley Power Wigglers. We have even caught some green sunfish (the most voracious eaters in the lake) on bare hooks. When using a worm cut it into pieces, so the bait will be easier to thread on the hook and harder for the sunfish to take off without getting stuck. Putting the whole piece of worm on the hook allows the bluegill to bite off pieces of the worm and avoid the hook. Since cutting worms into pieces creates such a mess, I prefer baiting a youngster's hook with a cricket. Bluegill crave these insects, which are easy to place on a hook without all the mess. Simply stick the hook through the collar behind the cricket's head and thread it through the body and out the bug's belly for the best results. I recommend taking along 50 to 100 crickets for a day on the dock because sunfish devour these bugs in a hurry and you'll also lose some when you're trying to hook them and they jump out of your hand. If you're too squeamish to hook on a messy worm or a fidgety cricket, you can use the easiest and cheapest bait for sunfish. Rolling up a piece of bread and kneading it onto the hook will also catch plenty of sunfish. One trick for catching these little fish when the action slows is to tear up pieces of bread and drop them into the water. The falling bread crumbs attract sunfish from all directions and triggers a feeding frenzy. Have your children drop their pieces of bread on a hook into the middle of this action and they'll immediately get bites. The resort docks at the Lake of the Ozarks are great places to teach a kid how to fish. Spending a couple of hours with them catching bluegill off the dock will introduce your kids to a sport they can enjoy the rest of their lives and then carry on a family tradition by teaching their children when they return to the lake for their summer vacations. 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.

I'm right in the middle of a rain event (again) writing this fishing report for Lake Taneycomo and can only guess what may happen in the next few days or week as to what generation patterns will be. Lake levels for the lakes above Taneycomo (Table Rock and Beaver) had dropped to levels that merited flows to be less here in the last week, but things may change after rain this weekend. The Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery stocked 10 loads of rainbow trout last weekend, so catching fish has been good all week. I'd say 10 loads is about 20,000 trout, and the fish should average about 11 inches each. We've had good reports of most anglers catching their limits all this week here on the upper end of the lake. Generation has been different almost every day, but we've seen fairly long periods of time during the day when there's been no generation, allowing fly anglers to wade and fish below Table Rock Dam. And the trout have been hungry, biting very well for most. Jig-and-float fishing has been excellent, too, especially up above the mouth of Fall Creek in the trophy area. Longtime angler Brad Wright reported that he's started to catch trout up below the dam in shallow water flats on a black ant size #18. He said it has been best with a small chop on the surface. It won't be long before the fish start looking for grasshoppers and beetles! There's also been good midge hatches during the day. Trout are taking a #18 p&p, rusty or black midge under a small indicator. If it's windy, try a wooly bugger #14 black, olive or white or a #16 red or black soft hackle. Steve Dickey, one of our fishing guides, called in this report today. the brown trout images posted in this report are all his clients. Our guests have been using night crawlers below Fall Creek down past Short Creek and doing very well, whether still fishing when the water is off or drifting in the current when it's running. As Steve Dickey's report says, his clients have been catching a good number of nice brown trout drifting night crawlers "on the flats," which means he's not drifting in the channel but on the flat, shallow side of the lake. Remember, brown trout must be 20 inches or longer to keep, and you're only allowed one brown per day. It takes a brown trout about five years to reach 20 inches. If you catch a trophy-sized trout on Lake Taneycomo and want to have it mounted, remember that a replica made of the fish saves the fish and also lasts much longer than a skin mount. I think they even look better. Take a good picture and measure the length and girth of the fish for a replica. Note: Casting Contest is next Saturday, June 8 at the Family Fishing Fair. It's 10 a.m. t0 2 p.m. at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery located at the base of Table Rock Dam.