Phil Lilley

No cover - just open water.

You should do good using PB or night crawlers. Lots of rainbows in the lake. Short Creek is another hot spot.

13 females out of 45 keepers today.

I think I've cleaned enough crappie for a while.

I may have been misled... I'll reactivate Tapatalk and see if this new update solved the conflict.

It's the old electric purple. Purple minnow with blue flake. I bought 10k from Mark at Cricket Creek when we thought the original swimming minnow people were going out of business.

Got on the water and up to our spot by 7:30 this morning. Crappie on the first cast. Had 3 limits by 10 am. Same technique - slow retrieve right on the bottom in 7-9 feet. I forgot (or lost) my crappie measure tool so everything that went in the livewells were at least 11 inches. We were checked yesterday at the ramp and was expecting to see him again today (did not). We threw back quite a few "keepers" along with some short of 10 inches. Yesterday's crappie I cleaned - 11 out of 30 were female. I have not cleaned today's catch yet. My temp gauge was incorrect yesterday. My new gauge this morning said the water temp was 43. Pics to follow.

Did not set the get together date.... need to.

No whites there but did hook one upstream on flats just above point 15 last week.

We fished an area where me and Bill had caught crappie in the past. I followed Josh's report that he was catching his fish in 8-10 feet and it was right on. Many thanks for sharing that. Last week, we fished deep (18-20) thinking that was the winter bite pattern. I think they're there too but not as easy to catch as in 8-10 for sure. We're going back tomorrow. I'm taking a fly rod and fish a jig under a float. Should work. It'll be the last time I get out this week. Weekend - we're covered up here at the resort. Taking the Grizzly. If you see me with Jackson (black lab), wave and say howdy.

Put in at Bridgeport at 8:30 this morning and headed up with my fishing pal Bill Babler. We hit a couple of places close to point 15 before heading up in to Flat Creek. Had our limit at 11 am. Just like Josh has reported - 8-10 feet of water on the flats. Fished a long area - not all in one spot. Had to be on the bottom. 1/16th oz head with purple/red flake swimming minnows. Had probably 15 shorts, half dozen smallies up to 15 inches and a few small largemouths. Water temp 41 and good color. Paul and Martin met us there from Neosho. They had their limits by noon. We were the only boats in sight. 3 rigs at the Flat Creek ramp and 6 at Bridgeport. Agent Akin checked us as we were leaving. He was there last week too. Better be legal if you're fishing over there!!

Water levels are running at 284 cfs at the spring and water clarity is clear with a green tint. The trout have been biting really well. Y2k's and trout magnets fished below indicators are great for high numbers and Guppies and woolly buggers, fished with a tight line or stripped, are better for bigger trout. Some of the best catching lately has been during the nastiest of days. If the weather forecast is for bad weather then the trout are probably biting.... If it is a sunny, nice day it can get tuff. The trout are there just gotta get down deep.

Oh gosh... the lake has only froze once in 30 years I've been here and that was after a week of no generation and sub zero nights. It froze over night one night and the next morning they ran water, breaking it up. There was only a very thin sheet on the surface. This was back in the 80's.

I see where temps are forecasted to be in the 20's at night and 30's daytime. I don't think the ramps will be an issue. We have been known to throw icemelt on the ramp if needed. As long as the sun is out, it won't seem that cold.

Big Brown Trout Pot Hits $1,000 Branson, MO - (Monday, Feb. 11 2013) -- The last public winter fishing tournament on Lake Taneycomo sponsored by Lilleys' Landing Resort and Marina in Branson is scheduled Saturday, Feb. 23. Cash prizes and trophies are awarded to the top four two-person teams in this catch-and-release contest which is open to all novice and expert trout anglers alike. Formerly called the Team Tournament, the Vince Elfrink Memorial Tournament was renamed last year to honor an outstanding fishing guide and avid competitor in the tournaments. Elfrink was the longtime facilities manager of the fieldhouse at College of the Ozarks who died in October 2011 from an inoperable brain tumor. "Many of us miss Vince," said Phil Lilley, tournament organizer, "and cherish all the memories enjoying God's great creation with him. We thought this was a good way to honor his memory as a wonderful outdoorsman, husband, father, and friend." Fishermen will take off at 8 a.m. from Lilleys' Landing, returning at 4 p.m. for the weigh-in and a free meal. The entry fee is $50 per each two-man team; usually between 25 and 40 teams enter. It's a catch-and-release, so anglers can only use artificial baits. Since no one has weighed in a brown trout for four years -- they must be 20 inches or longer to net on Lake Taneycomo -- the prize pot has rolled over, now reaching $1,000. Marabou jigs have long proved to be a mainstay on the lake, because they are inexpensive at $1 each, and can last through a dozen or more fish. Lilleys' Landing tackle shop carries jigs in several different size of weights to vary with Taneycomo's generation schedule. Scuds and midges are also great to try in the upper lake, sometimes with a tandem rig tied with an egg fly or a San Juan worm 18 inches below the scud. Entry forms for both tournaments are available at the Lilley's Landing office, 367 River Lane off of Fall Creek in Branson, or at the website, http://lilleyslanding.com. as are weekly fishing reports. There are only a few boats left to rent through the resort, which may be reserved by calling (417) 334-6380. Media Contact Megan Cummings - Marketing, 417-294-0406, megan@lilleyslanding.com

Duffy is first class. Glad you had a good trip. Thanks for the report.

Boated up to the dam and picked up Duane. He'd been fly fishing there for a few hours and had caught quite a few rainbows using a shooting line, pencil lead and a pine squirrel sculpin, running one unit at 704.5 feet. Just as I picked him up, they blew one horn and turned on another unit. We tied to the root wad near Rebar and Duane tried to fish the chute using a bead or egg. Several takes but no hook ups. We boated down lake as the water rose and did better off the tip of the island just above Trophy Run. This video is showing technique. We use this technique (chuck-n-duck) is Michigan and Alaska in fast moving rivers.

That's what I thought. I couldn't put the swimming minnow down for a rattle trap but I had a feeling if we threw it we'd get some.

A friend told me water up in Long (Cricket in Arkansas) is pretty muddy. He only caught one crappie- and he's a native, knows what to do. Very slow.

I did hook one white (didn't see it but sure it was a white) yesterday while fishing in 14 feet of water.

Nice afternoon to get out except the west wind played havoc with the jon - blowing me to the bluff side. No trolling motor so kept the outboard running and moving back a lot. Wanted to drifting some flies. Scud/egg tandem for a while till I lost the scud. Didn't matter - they wanted the egg. Small pink or peach egg with a 3/0 split, fishing the shallow side. They were hammering it. Nothing big though... actually nothing even "medium". I thought the video turned out pretty good except Jackson kept bumping the chair and finally knocked the camera off.

Yea TR's charts and levels are down. Even SPA's is down. Weird. Looks like they've slowed it down some but still moving... may be one unit? Try to swing a pine squirrel using sink tip along the bank between outlet 1 and 2 or wade out (be careful) at and below outlet 3 and do the same without sink tip. Point Royale, if you can get in the gate. Go down and swing soft hackles. Boat up to Lookout and get out and wade around the island. Good soft hackle below. Good dead drifting the riffle towards the top, outside the island. And I'd try a pine squirrel there too.

Boy, they're really mixing it up. The days they're running it are random at best. No rhyme or reason. Fishing seems to be very good this morning though. Guys are drifting bait and catching them. Jig fishing should be very good in the upper end. Cloudy, hardly any wind and good current.

On the flats? We almost got to 10 feet of water on that flat but EVERYONE was out deep so we didn't go on in.