Phil Lilley

From the Corps At 1200 today, we will open Table Rock spillway gate #4 to 1 foot due to hydropower unit outages. The spillway release will be approximately 1,000 cfs. The total outflow from the dam will be approximately 7,700 cfs which includes the spillway release as well as the hydropower release.

It’s sure fun when they bite. They are definitely there. Good fish below Fall Creek.

19.5 inches and .... no weight

Trout were biting late today. Watch One Cast...

Not sure if it's public knowledge but if you like Anvil scissors, you should grab a pair now. Darin called the company and t/t the owner. She said she can't get steel. Said she could continue and deal overseas but doesn't want to go that direction. Said she's had a good go of it and has decided to get out. We've had a hard time getting them, that's why Darin went to the source. Probably will start seeing some product on Ebay at elevated prices soon.

I've been getting a lot of membership requests lately. The ones from Pakistan and India I can easily call spammers but there's a bunch from outside the Midwest that are suspect. I check the IP's. The screen names - those are hard too. REAL ppl use names with numbers which I don't understand. The spammers use them too. This JohnWilson007 or whatever he was got through and posted. He took the time to add to his profile - links in his signature. That's what his goal was. He should have been a little more convincing with his first post though

Spammer... he's gone.

Sounds like fun. I thought about heading to Beaver Creek for the same reason. But I'm sure it's blown out for a few days. I think the whole area got 1.5-2 inches yesterday. Further east of us got more. Thanks for posting!

Our report on generation patterns is an easy one, although it may change very shortly. Operators at the dam have been running two units of water -- about 6,500 cubic feet of water per second -- non stop for a week now. But after about a two-inch rain Wednesday and Thursday, the lakes are on the rise. Strangely enough, Beaver opened one spill gate yesterday and shut its turbine down, then closed the gate and started the turbine. I have no idea what's the purpose. Today at noon, Table Rock, while still running two full turbines, opened one spill gate 12 inches, releasing 1,000 cubic feet of water to bring the total release to 7,400 c.f.s.. An email from the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers stated there was a "hydropower unit outage." I'm speculating that there are two turbines offline. I have no idea how long that could last, but this could make this spring season very interesting!! Lake water temperatures have held to about 45 degrees, but we've seen as low as 43 degrees at times. Water clarity is very good most of the time. Trout fishing has improved since my last report. Compared to the first of March, anglers are doing much better, although some are still having trouble catching numbers. Some blame it on cold water temperatures and some on the amount of algae the trout seem to be eating. Fish don't have to eat as much when the water is this cold. But it is encouraging to see some days when fishing is very good both in numbers and size. Our guides have been making their money on the same combo of flies --the scud and egg duo. Most are using a #12 gray scud and either a peach or yellow egg fly, catching fish on both flies almost equally. The San Juan worm in big puffy pink is working well, too, and the Pink Power Worm is catching a lot of fish drifted on the bottom from Fall Creek down. The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Neosho Federal Hatchery have been stocking rainbows regularly on the upper end of the lake. This seems to have really helped fishing above the Branson Landing. We're still seeing a good number of bigger rainbows caught from our place up to Fall Creek, but most trout caught are recently stocked rainbows. If the scud/egg bite is off, it's hard to beat a night crawler. We've sold a lot of minnows lately but have not received too many reports on how they produced. We did hear that some anglers were fishing them around the bridges down lake and catching nice trout. A lot of people ask if the trout are up in the creeks yet. After this rain they surely may be. The warmer water from the rain will draw trout up in Turkey, Coon and Roark creeks, and they can be caught on the Pink Worm, a jig or even PowerBait under a float. They'll also chase a spoon or spinner if they are freshly stocked. Marabou jigs have made somewhat of a comeback lately. There's still speculation as to whether our trout have eaten threadfin shad coming through the turbines at the dam. They are hitting white shad flies and white jigs but not like they normally do when they're seeing shad. They're also taking olive or sculpin color jigs. There are two variants in the green shades of baits. One is like the algae our trout eat -- from off the bottom on the rocks and what is drifting down the lake that's either been dislodged or coming in from Table Rock Lake. Either way, our trout do eat it. The other shade is the olive brown that mimics sculpins that live on the bottom. Trout love these little fish and there are tons everywhere right now. We've been throwing jigs that weigh 1/16th-ounce to 1/18th-ounce. I've been throwing mainly 1/16th-ounce using two-pound line. The best areas so far are from Lookout Island to Fall Creek in the Trophy Area and from Fall Creek down to Trout Hollow. Ironically, I'm catching nice rainbows above Fall Creek and nice browns below Fall Creek. I'm working the middle to channel side of the lake and keeping the jig as close to the bottom as possible. It's been fun to catch fish on the jig again. With one spill gate open, there's a slight chance we may see some shad spilling over the top, but I wouldn't hold your breath for that. Last spring dam operators ran spill gates quite a few times, and I don't think there were many little morsels introduced to our fishery. But we will keep checking!! I've seen a few boaters either tie up to downed trees and anchor or "spotlock" (with trolling motors) along the banks in slow moving water. I know they're catching trout, fishing night crawlers, salmon eggs, PowerBait and minnows. I recommend doing this on the inside bend and not on the outside or bluff side. I also recommend tying off the very front of the boat, not the side or definitely not off the back of the boat. To be safe, always keep a sharp knife handy just in case you need to cut the rope in a hurry. The Missouri Department of Conservation, Fisheries Division, conducted a "shock survey" last week because there was some speculation that we were short of trout in the upper end of the lake. Our winter fishing had not been as good as recent years, and guides and out-of-town visitors were concerned. The results showed that there is the same number, and quality, of trout in our lake as there was in August of last year. So there's plenty of trout in the lake; they're just getting a lot smarter -- or we're getting a lot dumber. View full article

Probably a day trip.

Back to the paint... thanks for the ideas.

Anyone have a favorite paint for dotting jig eyes?

I’m surprised our guides haven’t started charging a gas surcharge. They did the last time gas prices were this high. We include gas in our rentals because technically we can’t sell gas. And we didn’t raise our rates this year. We may limit how far down lake ppl can go I guess.

I've hooked 10 browns in 2 days this week, all below Fall Creek on white 1/16th oz jigs. Fishing middle of the lake and keep it close to the bottom.

Welcome!

Love your reports!! Thanks

CAM has a new warehouse on contract here in Branson. We've been operating out of a cut up, small old school building. This place will increase our ability to move food and store more when it comes available. We've turned a lot of free food down because we didn't have the room to hold it. Hope fully we'll close on the property soon and start renovations soon. Pretty exciting! Thanks!

Congrats! Send me name and address please. The plaque was made with 100+ year old pine barn wood from SE Kansas. They don't make wood like that anymore. It even smells different. We made most of our plaques this year out of it.

Back out this am. 4 full units. Water dropped to 43.5. Bites this time with one nice fat rainbow below the ramp. I'm going to keep plugging... I know they've seen shad. These fish just aren't biting all the time.

I got a good report this evening and relayed to Blake just as he left the dock to do OC. White jigs at the dam. If you've been watching, I've wore out white at the dam after several white reports. When I say white, sub out shad from now on. A guy said they caught them most of the day on white, most were "footballs" which is usually the case when they're eating shad. Blake did ok up there but did better BELOW Fall Creek on white. Stupid trout.

Yeah I got tons of groupies... tons. We've actually had some reels disappear lately. Spinning reels. So I've been thinking about a locked case.

I'll take it.

I’m not going to make it Saturday and neither is Babler. So if there’s anyone That lives this side of the dam I can run the plaque over to let me know please. Thanks