Phil Lilley

Yes- my old minolta cause I didn't have my optio handy. I took 2 pics cause we were in a hurry to get it back in. One was out of focus... I held my breath when I checked the second one and it was good.

Pete LaBoube caught this big brown this morning while trolling down around Monkey Island with a Pointer. He and his partner fished the Masters yesterday and had some decent trout but did not place in the money. They sure would have if they weigh in this trophy! Word is that they caught a nice rainbow on Friday while practicing for the tournament. 33 inches x 22.5 inch girth - 18.5 pounds. It was released immediately after taking a couple of pictures. Amazingly, it didn't need reviving... it swam right off.

Yea Denny- it wouldn't have worked.

Call me next time... I could have gotten it out.

Exactly.

<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="500" height="305" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nGgNawUFYiA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe> </p> <p>Funny how things can change in a day.&nbsp; I wrote a lengthy fishing report Wednesday morning, but then stepped away from the computer for an hour and my report was gone. Wrote another report that evening, but Word locked up and I also lost that one.&nbsp; It’s hard to get enthused about writing anything three times, so I quit for the day.&nbsp; Here it is another day and everything has changed -- well almost everything.</p> <p>Wednesday I wrote that generation patterns had not changed for more than a month.&nbsp; Today they changed.&nbsp; It got warmer.&nbsp; I think it hit 60 today, and when it hits 60, the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers doesn’t run as much water and not for as long.&nbsp; Today less than two units ran for a couple of hours.&nbsp; Tomorrow, according to the schedule, there will be no generation.&nbsp; So… I will guess that if it stays warm, there will be very little if any generation.&nbsp; If it gets cold again, and I’m sure it will, look for generation early in the morning and none for the rest of the day.</p> <p>The changes also negated the video I shot (This is what I hate about posting a video and then waiting a day to write about it.)&nbsp; It was cold when I shot the video… the report was a good one but would not apply to, say, this weekend with the expected balmy weather. </p> <p>&nbsp; This morning (Thursday) I launched out with Flip Putthoff of the Northwest Arkansas Times — a great guy to enjoy catching fish with. We started at 8 a.m., thinking we’d have two hours of good generation, so I already had the white jigs tied on.&nbsp; They didn’t stay on for long.&nbsp; I boated up to the Big Hole but decided not to go further since it looked like the water was already dropping. I didn’t think the “white bite” would be too good, and I was right.&nbsp; I threw a one-eighth-ounce white jig and I tied on a sculpin/ginger one-eighth-ounce jig on Flip’s rod.&nbsp; After a couple of throws, I picked up a rod with a sculpin jig on it, and we proceeded to hook a “Double-16” --&nbsp; that’s two 16-inch rainbows caught at the same time.&nbsp; Flip was immediately impressed.</p> <p>The “Double-16” could have meant that we were in for a slow day – if you cater to the catch jinx and all.&nbsp; But it was just the start of an incredible morning of catching rainbows.</p> <p>We drifted and fished down to the boat ramp using the same colors and caught several more rainbows.&nbsp; Then we picked up and boated down past Lookout Island.&nbsp; I advised Flip that since we were in deeper water there, he needed to let the jig sink longer before starting his retrieve.&nbsp; He didn’t need much coaching at all – none, as a matter of fact.&nbsp; The trout were just on the mark this morning, on anything with sculpin that is.</p> <p>We fished all the way down to the narrows, catching rainbow after rainbow.&nbsp; There were slow times, and I did switch colors a couple of times but went right back to either a sculpin, sculpin/ginger or sculpin/orange and kept doing well.</p> <p>About 11 a.m., the fishing slowed way down, so I tied on a 1/16th-ounce sculpin jig and played around with it.&nbsp; The wind picked up but kept wildly changing directions on us. We could hear it swirling overhead in the trees on the bluff but the wind speed wasn’t that bad. It was the changing in direction that was difficult to handle.&nbsp; So we motored down below the narrows and stayed in an area where the wind was blowing us downstream.</p> <p>When using a 1/16th-ounce jig, especially in wind, you hardly need to work it at all.&nbsp; As a matter of fact, I was basically drifting with it, keeping the boat from moving too fast in the wind but enough to keep us moving ever so slowly.&nbsp; This let the jig drift along the bottom. I lifted the rod every five seconds to make sure something had not taken the jig. The rainbows loved it, and we caught some of the best and biggest rainbows of the day. </p> <p>In all, I bet we caught more than 60 rainbows up to 18 inches long.&nbsp; Flip took a lot of pictures.&nbsp; I look forward to reading his article next week.</p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/1-27b-250.jpg" width="250" height="188" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right">This afternoon, I picked up a good friend of mine, Vince Elfrink.&nbsp; Vince and I have known each other since I moved here in 1983.&nbsp; We raised our kids together and been blessed to venture on many, many fishing and hunting trips together over the years.&nbsp; He’s my best fishing buddy.&nbsp; Vince is now battling a quarter-sized malignant tumor in the middle of his brain discovered a few months ago.</p> <p>One of these days, I’ll detail his fight with this cancer and how he and his family are standing strong in their faith in God to sustain and heal.&nbsp; God is doing both.&nbsp; But today, we were just a couple of friends, catching trout, laughing and giving each other a hard time as usual.&nbsp; </p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/1-27a-250.jpg" width="250" height="188" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right">We caught our fish on a sculpin 1/125th-ounce jig under a float about five feet deep.&nbsp; We fished from above the Narrows down to Fall Creek.&nbsp; Vince hooked and landed the largest trout on his last cast of the day, about an 18-inch rainbow. </p> <p>I talked to others who fished today and most said it was a very good day.&nbsp; Some said the Cooper Creek area was good.&nbsp; One gentleman shared a photo of a rainbow he caught there that looked to be about three pounds.&nbsp; He caught it on a jig but since he’s entered in the Masters Tournament Saturday, he wouldn’t divulge the color --&nbsp; seriously.</p> <p>With the water level expected to be down for the next few days, fly fishing below the dam is going to be pretty popular and rightly so.&nbsp; There are some great rainbows that should be caught (and released).&nbsp; The water is pretty dark, normal for this time of year, so seeing or sight fishing is difficult, but if you move around and cover big areas, you should find at least a few of them.</p> <p>There’s been some big midge hatches mainly in the afternoons, which the rainbows have been keying in on.&nbsp; One encouraging report&nbsp; said fishing a #16 zebra midge under an indicator 10-inches deep was the hot ticket the other afternoon, yielding “a bite on every cast for a solid hour.”</p> <p>I did get out last weekend and fished night crawlers, blowing them up with air and fishing them on the bottom out in front of the Riverpoint Estates’ boat ramp.&nbsp; We did very well but didn’t catch anything of any size.&nbsp; </p> <p>There are lots of trout in the lake right now, so fishing should be very good this weekend.&nbsp; Hope you can get out and enjoy this nice weather.</p>

He fished today- Bull Shoals and then Taney. Then he was going home for a "special dinner" prepared by his wife Becky. He turned down my offer to lunch... I wasn't good enough for him. Love you buddy!

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nGgNawUFYiA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe> I've typed out 2 full reports and lost them both. My word program keeps locking up. I'll write another one tomorrow...

Super- thanks!

If you to boat from dam to dam, how many miles would that be?

Is there more information besides the article from Kirksville that I'm not seeing? If not, how can you say beyond a shadow of a doubt that they shot the animal just because they wanted to? You're judging what happened without really knowing what happened. Not saying they should have. I'm not sticking up for MDC. I agree with most of what has been said regarding the killing of an animal that's not threatening anyone but you all are jumping all over MDC and the hunters without knowing all the facts. I bet MDC is considering how to deal with this issue -- increasing numbers of bears and mountain lions in the state. They will have to create new rules, laws. This is a new occurrence, at least within the last couple of years.

I took the girls out this afternoon. These are gals from College of the Ozarks that have been coming over the house for years and become one of the family. Then there was Maggie, my son's friend from Beverly, MA visiting for a week with Caleb. It was little breezy and cool, no generation but alittle current never the less. Anchored above the RiverPointe Estates ramp and dunked some night crawlers. They had a blast, catching both dinks and mice rainbows. For Maggie, it was her first fish ever, although she's been fishing before (first pic). I threw a jig and float and caught a few but they kept me pretty busy. Slow weekend for anglers... not many people down fishing this week. Next week looks much busier.

Jan. 19 and 20th Fishing Buddy Report Jan.19 Arrived in town the morning of Jan. 19th to find 4 generators running, so I rigged up a size 14 scud and 14 sowbug and fished the outlets for a few hours catching several fish. Headed to the room around 11:30am for some lunch and a nap. Got back up to the dam around 2:30pm and the water was off. I tried a white wooley bugger from outlet 2 up to outlet 1 with no takers. There was a little breeze, so I tied on an olive crackleback. Caught several fish wading down from outlet 1 to the rebar hole. They wanted it moving. A siren went off when I got around the rebar hole so I stuck around there waiting for water to start rising. It never did. I tied the scud and sowbug back on and fished the rear end of the rebar hole catching several fish. The nicest one is shown in the pic attached. Jan. 20 Too cold to wade so I fished off the dock and caught a few to take home. Flouresent Yellow Power Eggs and inflated worms seem to have been the best that day. Saw a few Bald Eagles as well. Overall, great trip. Thanks for the great price on a nice room. We enjoyed our stay. Dave Bolyard

<p><strong>VanDam’s $75,000 Amateur Big Bass Classic returns to Table Rock Lake</strong></p> <p>SPRINGFIELD, MO., January 18, 2011 -- The Oakley Big Bass Tour presents the 2nd Annual Kevin VanDam Big Bass Classic, March 26th and 27th, 2011 at Big Cedar Lodge and Bent Hook Marina on Table Rock Lake.&nbsp; This open big bass tournament will offer amateur anglers the chance to compete for over $75,000 in cash and prizes during the 2-day event.&nbsp; The angler with the largest &nbsp;Z9 powered by aÒoverall big bass of the tournament will take home a 2011 Nitro &nbsp;-- aÔ 250 horsepower motor and equipped with a Power PoleÒMercury high-performance bass chasing package valued at $45,000.</p> <p>The Kevin VanDam Big Bass Classic will be open to amateur anglers only.&nbsp; There will be seven hourly weigh-ins each day with thousands in hourly cash payouts and the overall largest fish of the event will earn the winner a fully rigged 2011 Nitro Z9 powered by Mercury guaranteed.&nbsp; The first 100 two day entrants to register online will receive a custom Oakley rod from Quantum.&nbsp; </p> <p>Anglers may pre-register for this event online at www.oakleybigbass.com. Anglers may also register by phone, fax or mail.&nbsp; Additionally, on-site registration will be held at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield on Friday, March 25th from 12:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Anglers may pick up registration forms at Big Cedar Lodge, Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Marine locations.&nbsp; Anglers must check in Friday at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield to pick up tournament registration and information.</p> <p>Kevin Van Dam’s appearance times and locations will be posted at Bass Pro Shops prior to the event.&nbsp; Oakley's Rolling O Lab www.oakley.com/community/olab will be onsite at Bass Pro Shops for registration. There will be complimentary food and drink on Friday along with prize raffles and contests for those anglers touring the Rolling O Lab. Saturday and Sunday's weigh-ins will take place at the Toyota Main Stage at Bent Hook Marina on Table Rock Lake. The public is welcome at the live weigh-ins from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.&nbsp; After the weigh-ins there will be angler and attendee hospitality activities from 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. each day. For more information on Table Rock Lake visit <a href="http://www.visittablerocklake.org/">http://www.visittablerocklake.org/</a></p> <p>&quot;We are thrilled to be back on Table Rock Lake for a second year,&quot; says Louis Wellen with Oakley Sports Marketing. &quot;Our partnerships with Bass Pro Shops and Kevin VanDam have allowed us to create one of the most unique amateur tournament events in the nation,&quot; added Wellen.</p> <p>Sponsors of the 2011 Kevin VanDam Big Bass Classic include: Oakley, Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Marine, Nitro Performance Bass Boats, Toyota Trucks, Mercury Marine, TroKar Hooks, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, MotorGuide, Quantum, Power-Pole, Vitamin Water Zero, Powerade Zero, Sony, Big Cedar Lodge, KTTS 94.7, and Central Pro-Am.&nbsp; Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the March of Dimes.</p> <p>About the Oakley Big Bass Tour:</p> <p>The Oakley Big Bass Tour is a premier big bass tournament series open to all amateur anglers. We provide anglers of all skill levels with an exciting tournament format and event experience on some of the nations best bass fisheries. Established in 2007 our tour is focused on the promotion of bass fishing and bass conservation at the grass roots level through our tournament events. Our founders and event staff have over a decade of experience organizing and hosting bass fishing tournament events.&nbsp; The 2011 Oakley Big Bass Tour will feature the following tournament events:&nbsp; Lake Conroe Big Bass Classic, Kevin VanDam Big Bass Classic, Jamie McMurray's Carolina Big Bass Classic, Blue Ridge Big Bass Classic, Kelly Jordon Big Bass Classic and the Gerald Swindle Big Bass Classic.&nbsp; For more information regarding tour events please visit www.oakleybigbass.com or call (877) 958-TOUR (8687).</p> <p>About Oakley:</p> <p>Headquartered in Southern California, Oakley is a worldwide leader in performance optics including premium sunglasses, goggles and prescription eyewear. Oakley's HD Polarized fishing specific sunglasses are the cornerstones of optical superiority creating an optical force field around your eyes by protecting them from harsh glare without compromising the clarity of your outlook on the water.&nbsp; For more information visit <a href="http://www.oakley.com/sports/fishing">www.oakley.com/sports/fishing</a></p> <p>Media Contact: Mark Jones, Mark@OakleyBigBass.com</p>

Jeremy Hunt <strong>It pays to be versatile when fishing the White River right now</strong><br> </strong>&nbsp;<br> <img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/hunt-002.jpg" width="250" height="167" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right">I know it’s been a little while since my last report, and I do want to apologize to my readers and remind everyone that you are free to drop me a line if you need current fishing information at any time. My guiding schedule has been busier than normal for January and this is the primary reason for my lapse in reporting, but when the fishing is as hot as it is right now, coupled with so many dry days with above-average temperatures, it makes sense that a lot of anglers are making impromptu trips to fish the White River Basin tailwaters – arguably home to the overall best winter trout fisheries in the country.<br> </p> <img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/hunt-001.jpg" width="250" height="167" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right">All of my time recently has been spent on the White River below Bull Shoals Dam, as it’s always difficult to stay away from that place when hooking up with trophy brown trout is a daily occurrence. Water flows have been tricky to predict over the last few weeks, and this has made staying in the best areas a bit of a challenge. On some days, we are seeing heavy flows in the morning followed by a drop to the one to two-unit level in the afternoon, and on other days, releases stay pretty light from dusk until dawn. Also, there have been some extended periods of low water when temperatures are mild, so it’s important that people planning on fishing the White come prepared to wade, drift or do a little bit of both.<br> <br> &nbsp; <br> <img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/hunt-003.jpg" width="250" height="167" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right">Streamer fishing is still the way to go when it comes to targeting large browns, but unlike in December and during the first part of January, water conditions are playing a huge role in the way these fish are reacting. If you can find ‘clearish’ water that is at or near its highest point of the day, you have likely located the right area for working the banks with shad imitations and other patterns that range from two to eight-inches long – using huge and gaudy streamers is the best way to ensure that every bite is going to be a nice trout, but it does take patience and work to fish this way for an entire day. White is still the overall best color for catching numbers of fish, but there have been times when changing things up has paid off big time; like the 24-inch brown a customer caught on a wild-colored, seven-inch articulated streamer on Monday.<br> <br> &nbsp; <br> Up until about ten days ago, my clients have been exclusively fishing with shooting-heads, heavy rods and big flies, but now that we are seeing more falling and low-water conditions, nymphs have started to really turn on. We are not just catching small trout when nymphing either; some very nice browns and rainbows are aggressively taking scuds, sow bugs and a myriad of other sub-surface flies drifted near the river bottom in riffles and in the deep, slow holes. Midges are also working well when flows are minimal in areas where the river has virtually no current. If you see fish rising in flat water, Zebra and V-Rib midge patterns tied with tungsten beads are producing one bite after another – just be sure to approach such spots with care, as these trout are easily spooked. </p> Fishing will likely continue to be consistently good for at least another month, unless something drastic like flooding or a prolonged draught seriously affect river dynamics; as long as the Corp does not leave the water low for days on end or start running six to eight-units around the clock, <img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/hunt-004.jpg" width="250" height="167" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right">expect “brown trout madness” to occur at some point virtually every day. With such a nice mix of wading and drifting water, each of the tailwaters I frequently fish are offering up something for anglers of all types. Please feel free to give me a call if you are interested in discussing the best spots for fishing based on the type of action you are looking for. The White River Basin trout fisheries are known for testing the versatility of fly fisherman of many different skill levels, and do not be afraid to move around in search of areas that “fit your fancy”. It’s hard to remember a time when twenty-inch (and bigger) browns were being caught almost every time we’ve tried for them, and this upswing in the trophy fishing is most like related to the new brown trout regulations implemented just over two years ago. Considering how quickly the fish grow on the White River and the Norfork Tailwater (and to a similar degree on Lake Taneycomo) due to the prolific, nutrient-rich habitat, the best trophy fishing is most likely still years down the road – considering how good things are shaping up already, we could see a return to the hey-day fishing of the distant past when twenty to thirty-inch browns barely batted an eye. This prospect gets me excited every time I think about what the future holds.<br> <br> ***My fly tying classes at Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery (below Table Rock Dam) have been extremely popular of late – there were over twenty participants at the last get-together. This is the most tiers we’ve ever had show up for a single event. Everyone is learning, swapping fish stories, sharing information and generally having a great time, so if you are in the Branson area when <a href="http://www.taneycomotrout.com/tyingnewsupdates.html">next class</a> is being held (see below), be sure to stop by… if you can pull yourself away from the fishing for a few hours.<br> <br> <br> Big fish should not only be caught once!! <br> <br> <br> Jeremy Hunt <br> 417-294-0759 <br> <a href="http://www.taneycomotrout.com/">www.taneycomotrout.com</a> <br> <a href="mailto:jeremy@flysandguides.com">jeremy@flysandguides.com</a></p>

by Ed Beijen The plans for our winter fishing trip to Lake Taneycomo actually started 2-3 months ago, a time when the leaves where turning a golden color and the Indian summer was at its best. My fishing buddy and I have fly fished during the winter season before but invested a fair amount of reading about winter fly fishing conditions so we would be better prepared to have a successful trip. On January 17 we rented a boat from Lilley’s Landing in Branson. Our goals for the trip were two fold: to get acquainted with the river and to fish as much possible. We had a six hour window ahead of us where no power was being generated. Since we do not care to fish from a boat, we decided to wade fish whenever we saw a stretch of the river that would give us bank access to fishable waters. Our first stopping place was just above Fall creek. The skies were overcast and an intermittent wind light wind gave the lake surface a choppy appearance. On Richard’s first cast, he caught a 16-17” rainbow on a size 12 white hackled crackle back. I was fishing a size 8 black woolly w/o any hookups, switched to a size 14 scud, then to a midge pattern before I tied on a size 10 green crackle back and finally began catching rainbows. I knew it would be impossible for me catch up with Richard because his reel was continually having line stripped from fighting fish. The highlight of the first place we fished was a simultaneous hookup and we were both fighting 17+ inch rainbows. About 12:30 we moved upstream about 300+ yards and noticed lots of rises and casting white and green crackle backs towards the rises produced regular hookups. We spent about 90 minutes covering approximately 150 yards of the river. We would also cast upstream and downstream from our positions and stripping the subsurface crackle backs regularly produced hook ups. I also noticed the fish seemed to be more active when it was calm. We made two additional stops and continued to catch brightly colored, deep bodied and healthy rainbows. I experimented with a red crackle back and continued to catch rainbows. Most of the strikes came within the first few (5-6) times I stripped the line. We never made it to the tail waters because we were getting regular hookups whenever we stopped to fish and our six hour window was over before we were ready to call it a day. Our first winter fly fishing trip to Taneycomo was very rewarding but we did not expect to be essentially the only ones on the river. During the six hour adventure, we probably saw no more than 10 people. But then again it was a Monday!!

I went on a buying binge a bunch of years ago and bought dozens of stamps on ebay. I should have bought and finished the MO trout stamp collection cause I see they're bringing $50 or more for a stamp now. I still think I have more stowed away someplace. I know I kept more of the strips. Wish I kept some of the stamp books - they'd be worth some money I bet.

I agree.

I have more- have to dig for them and scan.

Ran up this am for a couple of drifts below the dam. 4 units. Short report is they are keying in on white for sure but they aren't hammering it. They don't seem to like it down past Big Hole too much. I saw one shad floating - it was small - about an inch long. I was using 1/8th oz. If I were to try it again I'd tie on a 1/16th oz with a split shot or a 1/32 oz under a float. That would match the shad I saw and might make a difference in the bite. I caught 5 rainbows from 14 to 17 inches. 3 were thin - not overly so but not trout that had been eating many shad. The other 2 were full bodied but still not bulging like we see them in a full blown shad kill. Water temp 41 - that's cold for this time of year. Usually see 50 in January and 41 in April and May.

Best introduction ever!

BTW - Thanks for the report.

When the "shad bite" starts, it can be off and on, depending on how much shad they're seeing and feeding on. Doesn't sound like they're seeing a ton which is good. Best thing that can happen is the run lasts a long time. It's great for growing big trout and if it happens for weeks, it may bring up some big browns.

Thanks for posting. Yes- still trying to crack the LOZ market. We've had more people posting about crappie on LOZ here in the last couple of months so may be that's a start. Crappie reports are, though, kinda hard to come by anywhere. It seems crappie anglers aren't real excited about giving up places where they catch them. But that's probably like any other fisherman... Thanks again. Hoping to get up to LOZ before spring and do some crappie catching!

Leonard called me yesterday and informed me he'd seen thread fin shad at outlet #1 the other day. Table Rock is certainly cold enough for a shad kill - 41 degree - according to Babler. So it's not surprising. Leonard also said he's seen and talked to guys fishing off the bank and out in boats who are catching lots of rainbows on white jigs and nickel spoons, another indication of shad. I'm still out of town but will return Monday late. I'll get on the water on Tuesday to see for myself and report back.