Phil Lilley

Yea... told Remi I was going to close it. Nothing good can come out of discussing this here. Thanks guys....

Read my report(s). I talk about the flats below Cooper Creek. That's exactly where you're fishing. Chances are you won't catch anything but trout though. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/

Now that we got the B-Day out of the way (thank you)... Was told this morning there's a ton of rainbows just below Scotty's. Gentlemen leaving today said he and his buddy caught over 50 and kept their limit of nice rainbows, bigger than average. Didn't way on what but they should be easy to catch being just stocked (casting spoons, spinners and floating jigs/ Trout Magnets).

I think you guys have settled in to the fact that you're not going to change anyone's mind here and it shows... the last topic that could have gone the way of the trash can didn't and neither is this one. I congrats you all! Carry on.

MDC stocking boat just went by the resort (3:12 pm Wednesday). Water temperature Monday afternoon while the water was running was 47. This reflects a 2 degrees drop from what it has been. This is very cool for this time of year and a drop in temp is almost unheard of in the fall. It should be rising and the DO should be falling and it's not. Bottom line is these water conditions are very good for us. Trout should not be as stressed as they would in a normal season. This doesn't mean the DO isn't going to fall as we get later in October though.

Diamond Back Water Snake

Unedited... Generation patterns remain the same--haven't really changed in more than 3 weeks. Three or 4 days a week, the Corp runs from 1/2 to a full unit, 24 hours a day. The other days, they leave the water off till about 3 pm when they run 1 to 1-1/2 units till dark. Which days of the week changes every week. We've had some good days of rain, soaking rains, and the forecast is for more this coming week. It's not going to affect lake levels much, nor is it going to change the way the Corp is running water. Mild temperatures for this week too... a nice intro to the fall season. Trout fishing hasn't changed much either the last few weeks. Catching is good, with most anglers catching at least their limits each day. We trust they're keeping only their limit, if they're keeping fish, and practice responsible catch-and-release on the rest of their day. I tell our guests on our dock it's like this: You hope the anglers who fished before you got here stay within the law so you have fish to catch and you should do the same for the anglers who come after you. Night crawlers are king. Had a guest come in the office the other day and said all he could catch them on was worms, like he was disappointed. Funny are people think sometime. He was catching, that's a good thing. Shoot some air in the head, hook the middle and pinch the tail off. Set the weight about 18 inches from the hook, throw it out and be patient. Enjoy the outdoors. Gulp eggs. I ran a merchandise report the other day. We sell white eggs 2-1 over any other color. Then orange, pink and chartreuse. White seems to be the neutralizing color for trout. They like it. Our guides are still putting a couple of eggs on a jig hook and using that under a float 5 feet deep, fishing from Lilleys' Landing down to the Branson Landing. The Cooper Creek flats are still pretty hot. Trout Magnets are still a good go-to technique too. Pink is the hot color. Our guides are also using a jig and float below and above Fall Creek, either area is good. Micros are best with olive/orange head and ginger being the best colors with grey/chrome head pretty good too. They're using 2-pound fluorocarbon as tippet--most are using Vanish. Someone asked me if I use a barrel swivel to connect the two lines, if you're not using straight 2-pound on your reel. I said no, I don't, but Bill Babler does so it's ok. I use a triple surgeon's knot to connect my line to the tippet and use about 3 feet. Fish the jig 3 to 6 feet deep, depending on the depth of water. Need to be within a foot of the bottom usually but you can play with the distance till you find the right depth. I've been doing some fly fishing, wading below the dam with the water running and when it's off. Playing around with some trout worms made with a puffy yarn Tim Homesley found last spring. I've been told it's called a "baby blanket worm". It is soft as a baby's bottom I think. Not sure what the trout think it is but they like it. It floats and moves through the water and when twitched, it moves real well, triggering a take. It's good around the outlets as well as in any moving water like rebar, the gauntlet and rocking chair. I've used it the last couple of evenings above the MDC boat ramp from the bank during generation, drifting it with and without a float. I've heard of a big brown being sighted around the outlets the last couple of days but no numbers of browns yet. It is time... but we haven't had a normal spawn run in years. It seems the season has gotten later in the fall. We'll see. Zebra midge, rusty, primrose and pearl and black, #16 and #18, has been working really in many places in the lake but especially in the trophy area. If trout are midging or dimpling the surface, set a small float only 12 inches from the fly and target the rise. If there's no surface activity, set the float at 3 to 4 feet and work the area well. Scuds, trout crack in tan #18 and #20's worked well this weekend for some people fishing here from St Louis. The group was part of an outing from the Ozark Fly Fishers FFF club. Soft hackles, red, yellow #16 and cracklebacks #16 red and orange worked well either when there was a chop on the water and when there wasn't. The rain acted as a chop Friday and Saturday. They also hit a black or olive wooly bugger #10.

Did you hit the "more reply options" . Should be able to post using html. If not, start another post.

Not very... they haven't been consistent except consistently wrong- on either side. During the week, they're running it earlier than they have posted. They had it shut down last evening by 6 like the schedule said. Tonight- it's a crap shoot. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Good report - thanks.

I've never heard that one but could be. The pic shows the worm pretty good. It's Tim's material he found in the spring and gave to Doty. Tim does REAL well on it on Taney. First time I've tried it. I was impressed how well that area fished with a half unit of generation. Have to get the right split shot weight to get the right drift, then adjusted as the water dropped and slowed down.

Fished this evening from the bank below the dam above the MDC boat ramp. Water running but slightly and dropping. Fished a white Doty Worm... a white shaggy yarn worm Duane Doty gave me. Caught a dozen rainbows and a brown (pic).

Where are you fishing? Been a great day to fish today.

Haven't posted in a while mainly cause I haven't been fishing much lately. Drove up Friday and fished mid afternoon. Waded in just above the MDC boat ramp. Caught 11 rainbows between 10 and 13 inches on a #20 black Zebra midge under a palsa 12 inches deep. 7x fl tippet. Water was pretty slick and fish were spooky. Had to cast out in the current to get bit, let it moved down till the float disappeared. I've taken the boat out a couple of evenings, once with the water running and then last evening when it was not. Running- threw a 3/32nd oz sculpin, olive, brown/orange and white jigs and missed way more than I hooked. Didn't really do that well. Went to a jig and float using a 1/32nd oz brown jig with orange head and caught 2 small rainbows. All drifting from the dam to Fall Creek. I think that was Saturday. Last evening, with less than a unit running, I ran up to the Red House between Lookout and the Narrows and threw a stimulator against the bluff bank - nothing. Dropped back down to within sight of our dock. Trout were midging, and have been midging real well from this area to our dock the last, I-don't-know, 4 or 5 evenings. Caught 8 rainbows from 8 inches to 13 on the same Zebra under the palsa before it got too dark to see. There's lots of rainbows in this area - has been for a week or more. I'm sure you can catch them on a jig and float too, marabou or micro. But it sure is fun targeting them with the fly rod. They take the midge almost every time you throw at a rise. Cleaned 4 rainbows, I think the first time this year, and threw them on the grill for a late supper.

I've been reading/studying a book you all would be interested in. Heaven by Randy Alcorn The answer would be... yes! Anyone wants to read it, send me a PM and I'll buy and send you a copy.

Welcome. Trust you'll like your new home waters... love those brown trout.

I was forced into a league... kicking and screaming Friends wanted me to play. I'm really not interested but we'll see how it goes.

"What a joke politics has become." I think we all can agree on that!

Shoo Goo is a little thick for me... but that's me. Buy Aquaseal at BackCountry on Campbell in Springfield or a Bass Pro.

Aquaseal for sure. Patch the inside, not the outside like I did once. You'll look like a dweeb if you do. I took the grandson out for a quick trip before they headed back to KC. Night crawlers above the resort. Caught 8 in short order. Kept a couple of a microwave snack/lunch. They were biting bait good. Pretty still... probably was hard for fly rodders.

We look forward to your continued reports here on the forum.

Ozark Trout Bum goes on location in this episode, participating in Project Healing Waters on Lake Taneycomo. Local guides visit with host Steve Brigman about their day on the water with wounded veterans. Trout Bum regular John Berry offers up his best tips on fall fishing and shares his strategy for fishing soft hackles. Wes Swee is also on hand to talk about the drought's effect on Ozark fisheries. Podcast Powered By Podbean Also available on iTunes.

by Darin Schildknecht This week the Corps of Engineers has changed their generation pattern. Here on Lake Taneycomo they have been alternating days of generation. On the days they have been running it, it has only been about half a generator or 25 megawatts for most of the day with some slight fluctuation in the afternoon. The other days the generators have been off for most of the day but then just about half a generator for the afternoon starting about 3pm. The days the water has been off wade fishing up in the dam area has been productive. Fishing #16 or #18 Rusty, Copper Dun, or Ruby Red midges has been doing well under a Palsa pinch on indicator about 18 to 24 inches deep on 6x or 7x fluorocarbon tippet in the slower moving water. In the faster water size 14 to 18 gray or tan scuds are working also under a Palsa. With the scuds in the faster water you can use 5x tippet. If you want to strip something black and olive bead head Wooly Buggers are catching fish. When the water has been running wading is a little harder. There are a few spots where it is possible but BE CAREFUL the water moves faster up there when the generators are running. The best way to fish by the dam in running water is from a boat. Fishing pinkish colored San Juan Worms or #12 Scuds would be the way to go. Below Fall Creek fishing has been great the last couple of days. Air injected night crawlers have been producing the most fish. Chartreuse and orange Gulp has also been a fish catcher this week. With both of these 4 pound test or less is a must. Also, a jig and float has been my favorite. Sculpin and orange with an orange head or brown with an orange head both in 1/50oz.

by John Neproadny Jr. When those first cool nights in September start to cool down the Lake of the Ozarks, crappie awaken from their summer siesta. During the heat of July and August , crappie seem to disappear at the Lake of the Ozarks as they burrow into brush piles or drop into the depths of the main lake or creek channels. Dropping a minnow into the deep brush or drift-fishing channel drops and bluffs still catches some fish, but most of the crappie seem to be taking a summer vacation during this time. While September days can still be hot, the nights become cooler and the lake's water temperature gradually drops out of the 80-degree range. This drop in water temperature and the massive schools of newly hatched shad lure crappie out of their summertime doldrums and trigger a feeding spree that lasts throughout the fall and into early winter. Crappie on the main lake can be taken in September as the fish suspend over brush piles around docks, but the best action begins in the tributaries and larger creeks. The shallower water in these arms tend to cool down quicker than the main lake. These cooler waters draw hordes of baitfish that arouse a crappie's appetite. Some of the best tributaries and creeks to try for crappie in early September include the Niangua and Little Niangua rivers, Grand Glaize, Gravois and Linn creeks. Later in the month, the action slows down some in the creek arms but picks up on the main lake. Live bait and artificial lure techniques both work in September. When fishing the main lake during this time, I recommend using minnows or a jig-and-minnow combination. In the morning, a jig-and-minnow works best for me. Since the main lake is usually clear during this month, I favor using jigs in colors imitating shad, such as white, gray or blue, Since I want the lure to fall slowly for suspending fish, I select a 1/32- or 1/16-ounce marabou jig, which I tip with a minnow to make the crappie hold onto the bait longer. Targeting docks and brush piles under the floating structures, I cast to these area first. If this fails to produce or if I catch some fish but the bite stops, I move up to the dock and present the jig vertically into the brush piles. The crappie tend to congregate around docks on main and secondary points 15 to 20 feet deep. Later in the day, the sun and heat tend to drive crappie deeper into the brush, so I switch to a minnow on a hook. I stick the minnow on a 2/0 gold Aberdeen hook and place a split shot about 18 inches above the bait. Moving out to the deeper brush (18 to 20 feet), I drop the minnow straight down into the crappie beds. I vary my depth until I get a bite because some times the fish hold over the top of the brush and on other occasions they drop to the bottom. Using two rods at one time has helped me catch crappie during this month. I usually lower one line with a minnow and set it right above the top of the brush, while I keep the other rod in my hand and work the bottom with a jig-and-minnow combination. The stained and cooler waters of the creeks and tributaries allows you to fish shallower for crappie. The key to finding crappie though is to locate brush close to deep-water structure such as points, mouths of coves and channel drops. On the upper ends of the creeks, crappie can be taken as shallow as 6 to 8 feet, but the key depth range in the rest of the creek is usually 10 to 15 feet. Since the creeks contain more active fish, jigs produce just as well as minnows. My favorite lure for crappie in the creeks is a blue ice Bobby Garland Baby Shad attached to a 1/16-ounce jighead. The same approach that I use on the main lake also produces in the creeks. Keeping my boat away from the brush, I cast past the cover and count as the lure falls, so if a crappie hits I have an idea how deep the fish are and I can present my lure at about the same depth on subsequent casts. When I reach a certain count (depending on the depth of the brush), I start retrieving the jig. The lure slowly falls to the top of the brush where I lift it through the branches. Most of the strikes occur as the lure falls into the brush or after it nudges a limb. After making several casts to the brush pile, I position my boat over the top of the cover and present the jig vertically. With this presentation, I let the jig sit in one spot and rely on the movement of the boat to impart action to the curly tail jig. If this fails to trigger a strike, I jerk the jig up about a foot and let it flutter back down. This action imitates a dying shad struggling to the surface and then falling back down. Any crappie hanging around the brush can't resist such an easy meal. An ultralight spinning rod-and-reel combination works best for all of these techniques. I recommend using 4- to 6-pound test line for the jig tactics and 8- to 10-pound test for dropping minnows into the brush. While the water cools down in September, the crappie action heats up at the Lake of the Ozarks. For information on lodging and 162-page 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.