Phil Lilley

All depends on generation patterns. The way it's going, we may not see much running water. Not a whole lot different than what we're seeing now and what we're doing except there will be more brown trout in the upper 2-3 miles of the lake.

Got out yesterday late morning and found the trout to be tough. MDC shocked on Wednesday night for their annual survey so may be we can blame it on that. But it's been pretty good up to Wednesday. It does seem like the trout have taken a beating from Fall to Short Creek but that's been the case all summer. Some of the out of town guys came in yesterday for the tournament this weekend. They were surprised how tough it was yesterday. I told them it was just a day... today's a new day. Here's the report. <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/crooks_brown_500.jpg" width="500" height="200"><br>Just checked weather.com's 10-day forecast for the Branson area, and it says we're in for some lower temperatures this next week. May be we've seen the end of triple digits this summer. Good for the angler even though the trout have not seemed to care. What this will affect is generation patterns. We may see less flows. Instead of four units later in the afternoon, we may see two units or fewer. But you never know with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Today one unit has been running all day with a planned bump up to three units later.</p> <p>Trout fishing continues to be good. August usually is one of the slowest months of the year here on Taney. MDC still stocks a year-high 90,000 rainbow this month, but for whatever reason, they usually don't bite as well in the dog days of summer. But they have been biting very well. Large rainbows are still being caught above and below Fall Creek. Here's at Lilleys' Landing, we had two rainbows weighing more than seven pounds caught this past week, one off the dock and one out in a boat. A 12-pound rainbow was caught off the dock and released.</p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/crooks_brown_350.jpg" width="250" height="265" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="right">We are selling about 120 dozen night crawlers a week right now and, yes, night crawlers are the best bait for sure. Like this morning, with one unit running, the best thing to do is to start drifting at the mouth of Fall Creek, with four-pound line, a small #8 short-shanked bronze hook and a #7 split shot pinched on the line 18 inches above the hook. Hook the worm one time in the collar and break off the tail leaving the same length of worm hanging off each side of the hook. Inject some air in the night crawler so it floats off the bottom. Set your boat sideways in the current and throw out upstream. If you're not hitting the bottom, increase the amount of line you have out. If that doesn't work, increase the size of the split shot until you get a good roll on the bottom.</p> <p>You can use Gulp Power Eggs the same way, but night crawlers will catch more and bigger trout. Use one white along with one other color--orange, pink or yellow.</p> <p>Some of the guides did find some nice-sized rainbows just up from, through and down from Scotty's Dock this past week, but there are a lot of smaller rainbows down there, too. The smaller ones will take a spoon or spinner cast and retrieved slowly.</p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/big_rainbow_off_dock_250.jpg" width="250" height="195" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="left">It still amazes me how many large rainbows are down in our area of the lake (by Lilleys' Landing). My fishing buddy Vince was done with a trip on Sunday and was fishing out in front of our place about 1 p.m. I called him to pick me up and we fished down to Cooper Creek -- on the bluff side. He was throwing a Sluggo (plastic jerk bait) for browns and I was casting a 1/8th-ounce black jig. With one unit running the water was barely moving. He had several follows but no takers. I caught a couple of rainbows, then hooked a heavy fish. First I thought it might be a smallmouth bass but getting a look at it, I saw the fluorescent rainbow flash. With two-pound line it took a while to land, but it was a solid 19-inch rainbow weighing more than four pounds. It had avoided a lot of Power Bait over the past eight to 12 months to grow to that size!</p> <p>There should be less fog on the water both in the mornings and in the evenings with cooler temps and less humidity, so getting out early won't be so difficult. Shouldn't be foggy at night either if you want to get out and do some night fishing, either wading below the dam or out in a boat.</p> <p>Above Fall Creek in the trophy area, fishing has been twice as good as normal. Some of our guides are starting as early as 6:15 a.m. when the trout seem to bite best. Fishing a micro jig in black, olive or tan under a float four- to five-feet deep using two-pound line (a must) has been great, but the trout have been alittle picky about how it's presented. At times they like it dead in the water with no movement, but some times they like it twitched every 5-10 seconds to project a little life. The strikes can be slight or hard, so you have to watch the float closely. One problem many anglers have is keeping the line slack to a minimum and keeping the rod tip pointed at the float. If these two things aren't watched, setting the hook is futile.</p> <p>Fly fishing is still very good, out of a boat or wading below the dam. Of course, the water needs to be down, not running, for the best wading, but out of a boat it doesn't matter. They're still eating a scud pattern the best, but you have to get it to the bottom and keep it moving to have the best success. Number 12 in gray, olive and brown if the water is running and #14 to #18 is it's not. You can get away with using 5 or 6x tippet if the water is running but if it's not, use 7x. Zebra midges in red, black or olive are working well, too, especially when the water is off with no generation. Fish close to the surface if trout are midging or taking midges off the surface and fish them 12 to 36 inches below an indicator if they're not.</p>

Gezzz... we have 9 days before we leave and you're already signing off. What are you going into hibernation between now and then?

Sorry for not writing more about our plans. Try to get current on our trip. We mailed 5 packages to Kotzebue last week. Mailed 2 big soft duffle bags, one barely made the minimum size (108 inches) and weighed about 65 pounds. The other was smaller and much lighter. Mailed two boxes - the plano and another utility box. Sent them usps priority mail. Cost: about $390.00. Mailed them on 8/12 and they arrived on 8/17 with a weekend in between. Not bad. We have 2 more utility boxes to take up with us on the plane along with our 2nd check-on bag and carry on. We'll mail everything back except what we need for the second week usps ground from Kotzebue - we'll see how long it takes to get home using ground instead of priority. Our plans have changed for our second week in AK. Instead of going to King Salmon and my cabin, we're heading to Kodiak from Anchorage and spend a week, or may be less. The flight will cost us $100 less than the flight to KS from Anchorage but we'll have to rent a car and pay for lodging on the island. Why the change? I've never been there, Bill has. The silver run should just be starting when we arrive plus the char fishing should be really good. Next fall, we're planning on taking several groups of clients to Kodiak for KAA (Kids Across America) as a fund raiser so we're going to check things out and figure out the best plan of action. The plan is to take couples so we're going to look at bed and breakfast establishments. I had bought a Canon 7D camera a couple of weeks ago thinking that would be the best all round camera for me. I had it 5 days and was totally overwhelmed. I'm not a photographer. I thought I could take a couple crash courses, plus I thought I had a line on a few camera lenses I could take to AK but both didn't work out. I took the camera back. I bought a new Pentax Optio 90w, same as my 20 but newer. For this trip, I'm taking my GoPro, my Flip and my Panasonic minidv camcorder. I've bought extra batteries for all and should be set. Bought a couple of 16g sc cards off ebay too. I bought a GPS and reserved a Sat Phone from this company - GPSphones.com We'll pick the phone up in Anchorage and drop it off on our way back through on the 6th. I don't think we'll need it but it will be handy if we get fogged in on our take-out day. I check the weather for Kotzebue every few days to see if there's any changes on the horizon. None really. The outfitter said they're getting quite a bit of rain. That should help bring fish up into the headwaters. Again, the outfitter will tell us which river would be best for our float. Of course, we wouldn't want one that's high and off-colored. http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/fitness/tenday/USAK0135 Highs are still reaching almost 60 but today's high was only 49. There seems to be wind most of the time which is a good thing- keeps the bugs down.

Yea- never trim marabou after it's been tied on with scissors - you can pinch the ends off though. Thom's tip is what I use. Less marabou is better than too much.

Mike- if you want you can take someone out in one of our john boats. Either Saturday or Sunday or both.

I know this has nothing to do with fishing BUT this will be seen more here than down in sports. I'll move it in a couple of days. Our Big Brother Big Sister Chapter is trying to raise funds. Our director thought this might be a fun way to do it. I guess he plays... I don't. Here's an attachment you can download. 2010 Big Bro Gridiron Classic.pdf Here's the verbiage if you don't want to download it. Ready to dominate community members with your vast fantasy football nowledge and support youth in our service area at the same time? Introducing the Big Bro Gridiron Classic. This league is a weekly salary cap league where total points over the course of the NFL season will determine the league champion. Players may be owned by multiple team owners. Team entry fee is $100 with half of the dollars raised going to support our quality mentorship programming and the other half being awarded as prize money. Interested? http://www4.fantrax.com/ Call or e-mail us and we’ll send you an invitation to the private league set up on the fantrax website. Entries are limited to the first 100 participants. All team registration and fees must be received by 1pm on Thursday, September 9. From there, just set your lineup each week and enjoy the friendly competition. Contact Aaron Newberry with any questions regarding league at 417-294-7593. Good luck and thanks for supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters! Aaron's email is aaron@bigbrobranson.org Thanks

I'd say lower Bull Shoals - close to the White, Norfork and the tailwaters.

You've got some great spots to fish there close to Rolla. Glad you found us... we can help.

This chart is also located with the water level charts at the link above all forums. http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17240

http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/plots/Web/trdo.htm Here's what Shane sent me (fisheries biologist for Taney). He said DO isn't low enough to stress out fish, as you can tell from the chart. He said the dead fish were probably trapped in low water and died from heat or depleted O2. He said to call his office at 417-334-4859- it's right up by the hatchery.

You should spend a lot of time on the internet researching different places. There are alot of them. http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/ Here's a good forum used by alot of AK people. I've used it frequently.

I got a call into MDC to see what the levels are right now. I doubt if they're that bad, this early.

You should call MDC. Call the home office in Springfield at 417-895-6880. Ask for someone in fisheries and tell them exactly what you saw. Don't exaggerate the numbers... not saying you are at all, they just need to know exactly what happened. I wouldn't think the DO levels would be low enough to kill anything right now. The levels don't drop till later in September. But that's where the levels would be the lowest - away from the hatchery outlets. They could have died earlier when the water dropped and they could have been trapped in a pool. Unfortunate regardless.

Thanks Eric. You beat me to it.

It's not new news . . . it's the news media trying to drum up something. But it is a problem that one day may be fixed but with the money crunch our country is in, don't look for a fix anytime soon unless someone with a few million wants to do it.

The funny thing about this article... they talk about the DO "problem" like it's a recent thing. It's not. We've had it since the dam was built. Each year we go thru the same thing. The FED could may be not FIX the problem but they could just inject more liquid O2 into the water and keep the level at 6 ppm instead of 4 ppm but they won't. The last 2 fall seasons, the DO and temp have been pretty extreme but look at the trout in the lake today- big, fat, hard fighting. Biggest they been in 30 years or more. So low DO isn't a BIG problem... it's so good cause the water has been RUNNING for almost 3 years straight. Moving water helps food and helps trout - period. So minimum flow increase would help trout growth.

Trout choking on dam water in Lake Taneycomo Trout in the waters below Table Rock Dam face an invisible menace that even threatens the local economy. By Wes Johnson - News-Leader • August 15, 2010 Lake Taneycomo -- Shrouded by a layer of early-morning mist, David Pietzel cast his fly far into the quiet water of Lake Taneycomo Thursday morning, just below Table Rock Dam. The Solon, Iowa, fly fisherman regularly makes the trip to catch and release big brown and rainbow trout stocked by the thousands in the lake. "I don't go unless there's fish," Pietzel said. "Today I saw a 24-incher that kept hitting my feet when I stirred up the bottom." But there's trouble in Pietzel's fishing paradise. Cold water pouring through power-generating turbines at Table Rock Dam frequently lacks enough oxygen in late summer and fall to keep the trout healthy in downstream Lake Taneycomo. Because of the low oxygen levels, Lake Taneycomo has been declared an "impaired waterway" since 2008. The problem threatens Taneycomo's multimillion dollar trout fishery, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency now wants Missouri to do something about it. Last week, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources began seeking public comment on ways to get more oxygen into the trout habitat. The low-oxygen problem and some potential solutions are detailed in a 90-page DNR report. DNR has to forward a final report, including public comments, to EPA by the end of the year. "The fish don't eat" Shane Bush, a Missouri Department of Conservation fisheries biologist, said low oxygen levels are a real problem for trout. At the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery adjacent to Table Rock Dam, a large tank of liquid oxygen already is in place to oxygenate water the hatchery uses from the dam. Hatchery water then flows into nearby Lake Taneycomo. "In October and November, when oxygen in water from the dam is typically at its lowest, fish congregate at our hatchery water outflows," Bush said. "It's not an exaggeration -- it looks like you can walk across the backs of those fish that are there breathing oxygen we diffused into our water." Bush said trout need water with at least 6 parts per million of oxygen to thrive. In late summer and fall, water coming out of Table Rock Dam can drop as low as two parts per million or less. "The fish don't eat," he said. "It affects how quick they grow and they get really lethargic. Fish that are hooked won't fight well, and if they're released they're usually exhausted to the point they may not recover. They often die." The problem vanishes during winter, when oxygen- rich surface water at Table Rock Lake sinks and mixes with the deep oxygen-depleted water. "It gets up to 10 or 12 parts per million in February through March," Bush said. "You'll really notice the difference in how hard a fish fights. They also look a lot healthier and fatter." That's the kind of fish Pietzel, the Iowa angler, is looking for. $15 million in "trout money" He said he'll spend about $3,000 during his weeklong fishing expedition at Taneycomo, "trout money" that ripples through the southwest Missouri economy. In 2004, the Missouri Department of Conservation concluded that the trout fishery contributes nearly $15 million a year to the local economy. "It's a very big deal for us, it's what keeps us going," said Wanda Wilson, who runs Ozark Trout Resort with her husband near Branson. Many of Wilson's customers come from neighboring states "because we're an affordable destination in this rough economy," she said. Although trout fishing has been great so far this year, Wilson said she supports anything that would improve the quality of the Taneycomo trout fishery and keep anglers coming back.

http://naknekrivercamp.com It's a friend's camp in SW AK. Excellent price. Not the greatest camp but the people are great and so is the fishing. You get to see places for basically the price of your stay that others have to pay extra for by boating to places in the area instead of flying (from camp). He does book up a year ahead though so you have to ask what dates are open for next year. Look at the calendar - you can tell when to go to fish for the species of fish you want - rainbow, char, graying, kings, sockeye, silvers. Bill and I are planning on offering some trips next year as well. But the price will be higher than Jim's. I think his is $2295 for a week that includes basically everything but equipment, fishing license and tips. Ours will be pushing $4000, mainly because we don't have a lodge or cabins... we have to pay for all that ourselves.

Eric- thank you! You too, Chief. Good post to end on I think.

This is one of those times where I'm in a quandary to what to do. This discussion has been civil up to now and those of you that have been down this road before on the forum, I congratulate you on your responses. They've been respectful. But if goes down the road of personal, directed statements about "the good, the bad and the ugly" . . . then we best go back to fishing and end this topic. WDJD? He loves Eric.

In any of my statements here, I am referring only to myself. That's what I consider in my life. I would consider my life to be meaningless if I were to turn from the God I know, presently in my life.

Evil is the absence of love. God is love. Evil is the absence of God. By man's choice, he turns his heart from God, against God and evil follows. There are many questions I have about the things you've mentioned. But I do chose to believe in a loving God. To not do so leaves this life meaningless and any life after, hopeless.

It said, "Guns and Roses" instead of "Guns and Hoses".

I was tempted to leave the title... got more attention. But I changed it.