Phil Lilley

Gavin- you're right in the ballpark.

Yes- I only use green. It just seems to work best at least here on Taney.

Type in King Salmon, AK. Naknek River runs thru KS NE to Naknek Lake. Follow the only road past Pike Lake (marked) to the end of the road and that's Lake Camp Access. The camp where we operate out of is just downstream less than 1/2 mile from the access. The image isn't the best on GE but you get the idea of the river, lake and surroundings.

I understand what you're saying. I've gotten in trouble with some of my best friends for posting a report on a good crappie hole or "the whites are running" just to have a hundred people show up the next day. But it's a mindset I don't necessarily agree with, but respect. But reporting and educating is why I started this site in the first place. It's built on that premise- to share information on fishing, something we all cherish. My hope is that more people start fishing, not less. More kids learn the sport, not less, which is the trend by the way. We all dream of having a nice trout or smalley stream all to ourselves but in this day and age, it's almost impossible, except of course you're fishing Taney in zero degree weather.

Brian Shaffer is big into bamboo... I'll drop him an email and see what he thinks.

Clarify- Out fish- Those that would fish a conventional yarn egg verses a bead- no comparison. I posted a pic somewhere on the forum where I'm holding a handful of real salmon eggs with one bead in the mix- you can't tell the difference. Neither can trout and char in AK. I caught and released one rainbow 4 times this fall on Idavain Creek. He never refused it. Problem using them for most trout here- they don't make them small enough. 6mm is the smallest troutbead makes. Rainbow eggs are smaller. But they do take these beads, just not like trout taking sockeye and king eggs in AK.

"works like this: The fish take the bead....the hook swings down against the fishes OUTER jaw-line...when the fish expells the bead the hook usually pokes the fish." Sometimes. In my experience in AK, about 5% of the time. Not lying here to defend using it here- we hook our rainbows, sockeye and silvers 95% of the time in the mouth- that is the hook is all the way inside the mouth. I know your theory make sense but not in real time, or real fishing. Now here, with small rainbows, your statement may be more true. Of the few rainbows I've caught on beads - pegged - the hooks are in the mouth but not all the time. I understand what you're saying... there are quite a few guides in AK who don't like beads... but we out fish them everytime. And like Michael said, it's up to us to get people into fish- catch fish. If the client doesn't want to use beads- that's fine. But he has to understand the difference and what the results are. BTY- a bead slid onto the hook will not catch fish.

http://troutbeads.com or I carry a few patterns in my shop.

FLYWATER ANGLING ADVENTURES Steve Hollensed Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor flywaterangling.com 903.546.6237 For 2009, the fly angler will have many opportunities to improve his or her fly fishing skills. I will be conducting casting classes and species specific fly fishing classes. Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide Rob Woodruff continues to offer his very popular and informative entomology class. Rob and Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide Doc Thompson team up together this year for a new Trout Lab. This class will focus on various natural science disciplines as they relate to fly fishing. Listed below is the current schedule: Warmwater Fly Casting School with Steve Hollensed: April 3rd & 4th[, near Sherman TX (see attachment) Learning to Fly Cast with Steve Hollensed: April 25th, near Sherman TX (see attachment) Entomology for Fly Fishers with Rob Woodruff: February 21st & 22nd, May 16th & 17th, November 14th & 15th, Mountain Fork River, OK Dry Fly School with Orvis Dallas: May 30th, Mountain Fork River OK Trout Lab with Rob Woodruff and Doc Thompson: June 6th & 7th, Cimarron River, NM Gift certificates are available for these schools. Feel free to contact me for more information. stevehollensed @texoma.net BeginnerIntClass.doc WARMWATER_FLYCASTING_SCHOOL.doc

"pegging beads is kind of an ethical issue, the technique is designed as a way for lazy guides to simply get a fish on the line of someone who lacks skills .....it is more like politically correct snagging ! " I resemble that remark

Here's a podcast of a sermon we listened to on the way back from Kansas yesterday. My son Caleb turned us on to different teachers on itunes. This one was especially good for this season and the hard times some are having. http://ozarkanglers.com/podcast/generous.mp3

Guess they've been killing alot of ducks on the lower lake, I've heard.

What's your professor's name?

As much as we bless others, that blessing is multiplied by the number of people that are here, especially the ones who we have met personally though this medium. I have to give all the glory to God who is so generous that He gave us His Son, Jesus, and without Him, for us, there is no other reason to live. Everybody who participates is a blessing. OA would be nothing without each one of you. Merry Christmas.

Tucker- Thanks for posting information on your club. Does your club have a website? I'd like to add it to OA's links. I edited some of your all's posts and put a space in the emails you typed. Bots can scan webpages and pickup emails and add them to spam lists, I'm told. Thought I may save you some grief down the road.

There’s an old saying among diehard ice fishermen. It goes like this, “Early ice is best ice.” And nowhere is that more true than on the Iowa Great Lakes. Right now anglers are venturing out on four inches of ice in Upper Gar and Minnewasta lakes. East Lake and Big Spirit may have some safe ice as well. This weekend will see a big push of anglers hoping to cash in on the early action. No one has a better handle on the fishing in this region than long-time guide Jim McDonnell, “The Fishing Professor,” of Royal, Iowa. “Guys will start venturing out on three inchs of ice,” he says. “And the first ice is usually on Minnewasta and upper Gar. “They’ll be looking at perch, bluegill and maybe some white bass and yellow bass,” he continues. “There will be a couple of weeks of really good fishing.” Shortly after that Big Spirit Lake will begin to freeze. “Anglers wil get into good crappie, bluegill and a few perch off Templars, early,” McDonnell says. “The next option would be The Grade and there’s always a good crappie, perch and bluegill bite. “Next would be Angler’s Bay but you have got to be really carefull out there,” he says. “As you move out from the shoreline you might have four inches of ice but farther out there could be only one inch. That’s because of the wind currents which set up with a southwest or northwest wind. So, be sure to use a spud bar as you push your way out.” Anglers will be looking for clumps of still green weeds under the ice. Here the bluegill, crappie and perch will hang out. There are no shortage of prsentations in today’s panfish marketplace. McDonnell recomends staying with products made by Lindy, Northland and other brand names. Everything should be tipped with a waxworm or a wiggler. “Sometimes just a plain 1/80-ounce jig head tipped with a waxworm or a wiggler is as good as anything,” he says. http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2...a4474904539.txt For lines, Jim stays with the time-tested Berkley XL monofilament. For bluegills, he’ll go as light as two or even one pound test. He also uses a fly fishing leader straightener to straighten the first 10 feet or so of his line. “You can’t have your presentation twisting back and forth if you want to catch bluegills,” he says. Most of the lakes here have good buegill fishing, but West Okoboji is clearly the leader in this department. Typically, the big lake freezes up much later than the smaller lakes, but when anglers can get out on Emerson’s or Miller’s they’ll find fishing for big bluegills as good as anywhere. For information on fishing these lakes, call Oh Shucks Bait Shop (712) 338-2087, Fisherman’s Factory Outlet (712) 336-4535 or Stan’s Bait Shop (712) 338-2586. “These are good starting points for information,” McDonnell says. “One phone call and you are way ahead of the game.” McDonnell and his partner, Laef Lundbeck, operate an ice fishing guide service in the Lake’s region. They rent portables as well as permanent and delux ice shacks with all needed equipment. Call (712) 933-5532 for information.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=320324784431

I actually got out the last couple of afternoons and fished with John Johnson and friends. BOTH days water running 24/7... feels like it's November again. I guess it's because of Beaver Lake being dumped. Who knows. We drifted basically from Lookout to Fall Creek. Best technique was jig and float- yesterday is was a 1/50th oz sculpin or brown jig with an orange head. Today it was anything pink. Set the float 3-5 feet deep, depending on the depth of water. I tried to keep the boat in 3 feet of water and throw to deeper water. There were trout on the shallow side but not as many. Too deep of water and we didn't get bit. I did throw a 3/32nd jig, sculpin and/or olive caught a few but not as good as floating a jig. Nice rainbows yesterday. Today they were smaller. Good fighters. We're going to try to drive out to west Kansas to shoot some birds tomorrow afternoon. Looks like we might be skating over highway 400. Be back Thursday.

Basically what happened during the high water was gravel was washed off the banks into the lake, plus gravel was pushed downstream from one place to another. As far as the bottom area of the lake, when the water is off (no generation), I don't see that anything like you mentioned was actually lost. It wasn't there in the first place. No wing dikes have ever been constructed, or man-made structures except what anglers put at the outlets to guide the stream of water. Those things need to be added now. But thanks for adding to the conversation. Those are just the things we need.

I don't think there's any wind in the forecast. Current should be minimal- even no current in the evening. I wouldn't sweat it. Nothing else come by the resort and see if any of the guys are around to help. I may be here- or possibly on the water.

The word "boulders" is a major drawback to the habitat restructuring. Way back when we were talking to the Corp about doing something and the word boulders was used, it would get a rise out of the marina operators as well as some guides. Boulders came from the Beaver Tailwater project but boulders in NOT what we need at all. Actually it's a word that opponents have used to squelch any notion of moving towards any real planning.

ladyliller- I've posted pics like this that I thought were legit just to find out they weren't what they seemed. Don't feel bad. Thanks for posting them.

We talked about this at our Trout Unlimited meeting last night (see audio download). The corp does inject liquid o2 into the turbines but alot of it is lost in the mix before it even hits the lake. It would be great if you all took over the operation here at Table Rock as well as other tailwaters if your test prove your system works better than the Corps. Sounds like your method would even save money.

I was very encouraged by the discussion last night at the TU meeting on adding fish habitat. "Boulders" has always been thrown out in conversations as one habitat addition mainly because of the project at Beaver Tailwater. Boulders were add there. But boulders here on Taney run into opposition because of heavy boat traffic and the liability issue raised there. My thought- "boulders" is the wrong term. When you think of boulders, you think of rocks 3 to 4 feet in diameter. I think the objective for using rocks in the stream bed is to change the flow of the water to create eddies and pockets for trout to hold, as well as food sources like minnows and bugs. It will also hold vegetation and that will also help the bug population. Why not use small piles chunk rock along with wood matter plus clay and silt strategically placed where it would do the most good. Rock would divert water and create pockets, wood would help bugs like scuds and sow bugs and clay and silt would host midges and other bugs. I've always said it would make a fantastic program for a fisheries department at MU or MSU to create a model that would be financially feasible and applicable for our tailwater. There is grant money always there for habitat improvement for Table Rock AND Taneycomo. With TU helping both financially and with volunteers, I think it's very feasible that something substantial would be done.

To listen to a Quciktime audio file of the Trout Unlimited meeting, click here. Clint Hale, managers of the Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hachery in Branson is the first to speak. Shane Bush, fisheries biologist for Table Rock and Lake Taneycomo, MDC is also with Clint. They addressed a program on Thursday night, December 11 at the hatchery visitor's center to about a dozen people. Bryan Puttman was the host, naturalist for MDC and the hatchery. Many thanks for both guys for being so candid with us pertaining to issues on our fishery here at Lake Taneycomo.