Phil Lilley

Back home... had a really good trip. Didn't fish hard at all. A few hours here and there, almost all out in front of camp over the boulder field. I think I ended up with a dozen rainbows over 25 inches and these 2 almost 30 inches. The chrome was the closest at 29 and the colored up buck was 28 inches. Man what I'd give for a trolling motor! Next year Jim said he'd have at least one on a boat. Never caught a salmon although they still were running fairly well. The sockeye were low in number and very small average. They said a lot came back after only one year. Don't know what triggers that... they said the bay was much colder than normal this year. Showing off some improvements to the dining hall. Jim's upgrading all the cabins too.

Ran up Big Creek yesterday looking for kings and chums. Jim caught a small king and I got one good bite. Looked around the river for the same and wasn’t successful. Fished the rapids and caught one small rainbow. Good afternoon fishing with Jim and hood son James.

Is there a camp ground close where we could make a weekend of it?

Finally got out and fished a little. Out in front of camp, drifted 1/8th once black jigs. Caught 3 rainbows just over 20 inches and one at 26 inches. Mine is 26. Jim’s pic is a 22. Caught another 10 each from 12-18 inches. Tomorrow the weather changes back to cold and rain. Summer is over. It lasted 5 days.

Hanging around visiting so far today. Might fish in front of camp this evening. 80 degrees today! But the bugs aren’t terrible.

Sounds like a great idea. Count me in plus probably a couple of my staff may want to go.

Sitting in Anchorage airport waiting on the last flight to King Salmon. This was a trip I didn't think would happen. Too many things going on at home - flash flood and putting things back together - short on staff... but I was told I needed to leave and regroup. So I'm here till Saturday, a short stay for me. But it should be a good one. I'm planning on visiting friends at camp and in town. Fish for rainbows. Boat to Brooks and visit my bear friends. And the most important task - bring a couple of boxes of salmon home. My friend @Waterman set aside 2 boxes for me so I don't have to work for sockeye- besides that run is pretty much over there. I'll post a few pics, esp now that camp has internet. I have mixed feelings about that... I liked it when I was off the grid. Airports are BUSY.

The road to our property got washed out at the bridge. This was very isolated in our area... small area got up to 8 inches of rain. We're seeing the affects on our lake. They're running some water now which I can't believe. They usually don't run it until the water down lake drops. Not complaining. It will clear by tomorrow.

Facebook is lit up with damage from the rain this morning. We're good here - one duplex has 6 inches of water in it but we're already working on it. The lake is pretty messy. I want to go up and see what washed in at Short and Fall Creek. Hopefully no cars this time.

Lake Taneycomo is in pretty good shape this summer. Our water quality is very good compared to past years. Clarity is excellent, water temperature is holding at 49 degrees, and the dissolved oxygen content is very good for mid July. The generation pattern has been very consistent this past month with no generation mornings and water flow starting about 2 p.m. That has continued until about dark and building up to all four units. This gives everyone a chance to fish their favorite way -- water off and water on. Because of the extra clear water, we're having to pay close attention to our line size in the mornings, especially when using baits and lures that hang or sit. When fly fishing, I'm using 7x tippet when fishing scuds, midges, micro jigs and mega worms. I'm using two-pound line when throwing most jigs. But when the water starts, I can get away with bigger line . . . but not too big. Of course when throwing jerk baits and some spoons and spinners, we're using four- to eight-pound line. The pink worm under a float has been the go-to bait for most of our guides all summer, especially in the mornings when the water isn't running. They're fishing it anywhere from four- to nine-feet deep, depending on the depth of water and where the trout are holding. Most are using two-pound line or 6x tippet. Hot spots have been the flats above our resort, up around Trout Hollow, down on the Cooper Creek flats, the Monkey Island area and down through the bridges to Scotty's. It does seem like there's a lot of rainbows in the lake, stocked by MDC, for the summer months. And these rainbows are scattered in the area I mentioned, in good numbers and size. The pink worm is one of the best ways to catch these fish. Blake has been fishing a black 1/50th-ounce jig under a float and luring trout pretty well. Nightcrawlers are catching fish, of course. Either fishing them in the mornings using two-pound line and injecting a little air in the worm to make it float off the bottom. Drifting them on the bottom when the water is running, no air is needed. Jerk bait fishing is good late in the evenings into the night. We have guides working during the periods and catching decent rainbows and browns, but not a lot of trophies like in past years. I think they're there but maybe they're just getting educated and not hitting these baits. Trophy area is the most popular but anglers are catching good fish below Fall Creek also. Fly fishing has been fun in the mornings with the water off. Several things have been working for us including a mega worm, micro jigs, zebra midge and a bead scud under a float. Of course, use 7x tippet for best results. The cream mega worm has been the best color while the black micro jig has out performed most other colors. Guide Brett Rader has been fishing size #18 or #20 zebra midges in black and catching fish for his clients. That's pretty small, but it seems like our fish are growing wary of bigger midges. Small scuds are working, too. Use a #18 gray scud in tandem to a #18 zebra midge with the scud on the bottom and fish it where the scud is very close if not on the bottom. Our friend Linc Hunt caught some nice rainbows around Lookout Island when the water was down on $14 Parachute Adam dries while he was here. I've been trying dries a various places with little success. View full article

Great summer fun! Thanks for sharing.

I've spoken with numerous MDC guys about barbless and trebles. They all say it's more about cosmetics than mortality when it comes to both. So Missouri won't be changing their rules any time soon.

It is true... not sure if and when it will happen.

I didn't see those posts either - Bill didn't say anything to me about it. I would say now that we lost one of our first, best and long time contributor - the guys who gave Bill a hard time - my guess is that they are not contributors. And my guess is that all of them put together could not replace Bill's value to this forum - for almost 20 years now. Bill - suck it up and keep posting.

My first cruise... 10 ports I think in 3 countries. Couple of days in Athens. Marsha, my son Greg and Marsha's sister Shala (Florida). In my old age I don't like to be gone from home and my bed. I'm sure there are those here that know what I mean. But this should be fun. Greg and Shala put it together so all we have to do is follow along. No fishing excursions though... I didn't look for any.

It's been an interesting spring season for fishing on Lake Taneycomo. If I had to script it, I'm not sure I could create a better scenario as far as the water conditions we've had so far. We've seen up to nine gates opened at the dam, bringing in a lot of shad and other food for our trout. Plus, the warm water has spurred some great, active trout feeding most days on white jigs, jerk baits and scud flies. And then the cicadas started to hatch, providing some awesome dry fly fishing -- which will continue well into June. We started the spring with very low lake conditions above and below our lake, but spring rains have caught us back up on rainfall, plus some. The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers has not let Table Rock Lake rise too much, dumping water and maintaining the level at around 917 feet, which is our summer pool level. With two turbines down for maintenance, anytime there was demand for more than 6,000 cubic feet per second flow, the Corps supplemented turbine flow with a flood-gate release, but that has ended with the turbines back online. With present levels and rain in the forecast, I would say we're looking at at least mid to heavy generation most afternoons with lower to no generation in the mornings for the next few weeks. While the flood gates were opened, the white jig and shad fly were definitely the best ways to catch trout up within three miles of the dam. Since the gates have been closed for almost two weeks, the fish aren't really keying in on white, but you can still catch fish on white -- it's always a good color to use. The same for jerk baits and big streamers. Black, though, has taken back the lead as the best color to throw, with sculpin/ginger a close second. Most of us have looked forward to this cicada hatch! And it has not let us down. The only slight disappointment has been the lack of multiple areas on the lake where our fish have targeted them. From the dam down through the Narrows is by far the best area, with the bluff side from Fall Creek to Trout Hollow Resort just okay. Our guides have been making their living drifting night crawlers from Cooper Creek down to the Branson Landing with three to four units running. We've seen some nice catches come in and heard of some brown trout caught and released, especially in the Monkey Island area. The lake's current is much slower there, and it's easy to drift and bump the bait along the bottom. I've also heard that the PowerBait Gulp Eggs are working in the pink/white combo. Drifting scuds on the bottom has been good from the dam clear down to Trout Hollow Resort. If the water is running pretty hard, you can get away with using a #12 gray or brown scud, but if it slows down to one or two units, drop the size down to a #14 or a #16. Make sure you're bumping the bottom or you won't get bit. View full article

It's fun for sure!

Ran 2 units this afternoon and shut the bite down. I thought it would do just the opposite.

Guess you could below Fall Creek.

They are picking up some nice rainbows on the bluff below Fall Creek now. Mike has caught several rainbows and browns the last couple of days including this one that measured 24 inches.