Phil Lilley

I know you guys know but these phases are MDC's not mine. This is how MDC labels Taneycomo, not me. And the figures like 30 days are not mine either- they are MDC's. I'm just not that smart.

You might mention ozarkanglers... we need more guides on the site.

Had to double check you since you flunked your last diction quiz. dissonance 1. inharmonious or harsh sound; discord; cacophony. 2. Music. a. a simultaneous combination of tones conventionally accepted as being in a state of unrest and needing completion. b. an unresolved, discordant chord or interval. Compare consonance (def. 3). 3. disagreement or incongruity.

Cooper Creek. No ramps at Fall Creek.

The water has been high enough you don't have to worry about the channel. Stay in the middle of the lake and you'll be fine. As for tying up- don't!! Don't anchor in ANY current. If you want to do it, go behind some of the islands or in pockets where there's no current.

"1/1,000,000" You have a much better chance than that of catching a 15 pound brown here. "Phil again, what is the approximate amount of trout that the lake could support if all were catch and release? " I have no idea. That's a fb question (fisheries biologist). As for your comment about 14 inch rainbows... IF you're a good fisherman, and you have the means, you should be able to catch numerous 18-inch rainbows in a day's time on Taneycomo. At least they are there in abundance RIGHT NOW. They aren't always though.

done deal.

They release about 12 to 15k browns in Taney per year. ??????? Sometimes, Trav, I don't know where you're coming from. Congruity means to agree. Why would people be intimidated by us if we agree? I didn't think we did ALL the time. Actually, it wouldn't very interesting if we did. And yes- I had to look congruity up!!

Was bored and wanted to take a close look at this pic. A- clear smallmouth B- not sure what this is C- clear smallmouth D- not sure E- could be trout F- smallmouth G- smallmouth H- could be trout I- smallmouth J- smallmouth Oh F and J could be same fish

No- there isn't enough food for 750,000 rainbows. But that's part of the management plan. Most of the lake is "put and take". The average rainbow only lasts 30 days in Taney, below Fall Creek.

Wasn't clear on the trout thing... I did say from '58 on but... oh well. Browns catch and release... problem is I don't think we'd see much of an increase in number of size of browns even if it was c&r. Ask Trav- they are hard to catch for 10 months of the year and fairly hard the other 2 months when they're below the dam. I don't see that many browns being caught out of here. Would I like to see it- sure. I do know there was pressure within MDC to widen the trophy area and/or add more restrictions on keeping trout in other parts of the lake- by even biologists- but it didn't fly. Even the director at that time was for it but... it didn't get done. We may see changes in the regs within the next 5 years... but I wouldn't hold my breath.

You know- these issues are fun to discuss but none of us are fisheries biologist with all the facts that really matter when it comes to managing a fishery. I for one can't argue intelligently about the subject, nor can anyone else unless he has all the facts, knowledge and training to decipher these facts.. we're all guessing here... so if we have any fishery biologists in the crowd, please speak up. Unfortunately, the ones I know won't step foot on forums. Taneycomo is and always will be a trout lake. I believe that's set in stone and will never change unless TR dam is removed and it becomes a river again. Trout receives first consideration from MDC- again something that won't change. Why? Because in 1958 Taneycomo became a coldwater lake and the feds promised to stock trout to replace smallmouth bass. The state, thankfully, decided to pitch in. Don't think we'd have much of a trout fishery if all we got were federal fish. As for offending... not. Opinions are good here.

I've seen that sign... welcome.

That's a nice rainbow! I guess you won't divulge your secret spot- huh?!? Yea- this rain is getting old. I was out Saturday afternoon- back down to Rockaway for more gills when we got rained. Of course we left when it was sunny and hot and took no jackets. My son-in-law is skinny as a rail and almost froze on the way back in the fog. Did manage a few nice blue gills in Bull and Roark (on the way back) and this a nice crappie. We waited out the storm under the dock at Rockaway. There is no way to dock at Rockaway now and walk up to town which is sad. We beached the boat after the rain and walked up to the convenient store for coffee. And yes- you found Trav's dock.

I think you guys are simplifying this a bit. To say it's ALL about the $$ is like saying "always" all the time (one of my pet peeves). Using the word all means there's no room for any other reason- period. I think that's alittle narrow minded. I tend to consider the thinking of a fisheries biologist. Mixing certain species of fish isn't smart. You don't stock stripers and rainbows in the same pond. You don't overstock a pond- every pond, lake or river has a carrying capacity- a balance that nature tends to take care of herself. When man tries to interject something that does work, you have trouble... stunted and/or deceased fish. And I might have said this earlier in this thread- can't remember- but I know from talking to MDC biologists in the past, their stance in these kinds of issues is, "if it's not broke, don't mess with it". And I know they don't think Taney is broke. As a matter of fact, they are pretty proud of what they've done here and I don't blame them. Fisheries management is about fish, water, food, structure and fishermen- and in the end, it should make a profit.

I didn't watch but a few minutes but this guy is saying that there's enough oil on the Northern Slopes of AK to last US 200 years. One source is an inside guy at BP.

What REALLY burns me, when I hear Gov. Richardson the other day say, no way are we going to let anyone drill in north AK!! Pebble Mine - google it. It's a huge gold and copper mine near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark which is the headwaters of THE largest salmon spawning rivers in the world. They are allowed to move ahead on this mine which puts these fisheries in danger. Mines are dirty and very toxic. Controlling runnoff is virtually impossible. Why then will people like Richardson not say a word about Pebble Mine but scream about ANWR!! There has to be more to it than what the public is seeing...

Front Page! Great work- thanks!

I think I see mostly smallmouth bass on the stringer- I'm sure there are more than 6 there. Not sure if there's a length limit there. MDC can still use this pic with your testimony or at least they can be aware of this guys activities, esp if he's a local. MDC does watch this board but I'll make sure an agent is alerted.

Coy and I only had a few hours to fish this afternoon after shopping and such and a chamber dinner at 7 but really wanted to go down and fish with Trav below I left for Alaska next week. Got to his dock (thanks to our new map) at 3:30. Because of the rain yesterday afternoon, all the major creeks were muddy. The system that drove Trav in his closet dumped an inch of rain north of Branson but not a drop on us south of town. So we headed downstream. Fished Duck Cove (see map). It's a cove I had fished I bet 15 years ago and caught crappie there. Trav said we should fish shallow water - 1 to 2 feet deep. We wanted to see bottom and we could at 2-3 feet. First cast Trav caught a 14-15 inch largemouth. I kiddingly said that's a bad sign... how many times had I done that esp white bass fishing and not caught another fish. Did we catch another fish in that cove? I think Coy caught another bass on a sinko and Trav had another blow-up on his blue/silver rebel. He was working it like a top water plug- twitching it real slow. We headed to another cove- Sunken Forest Cove (Had to look at the map). Tons on blue gill here- nice ones too. Coy caught another bass on his sinko and missed a couple others. Trav caught another bass (pic) but as he pointed out, the first one was bigger. I ended up resorting to my fly rod and a red humpy- yes I caught 3 blue gill. It wasn't as easy as you'd think... those buggers were spooky and hard to fool. Would love to go back and fish all day for them. It was fun. Great time for just 2 hours of fishing. As Trav says- we'll have to do it again.

The laptop just arrived donated by Patfish - Pat Nelms from St Louis. Many thanks!!

Sockeye aren't picky... I bought thousands of wooly buggers years ago from Kenya for $3.00 per dz. That's what we took up there- nothing fancy at all and they LOVED them. It's terrible they all got burned up. They were great CHEAP flies.

We are pretty much set on flies and even equipment. I'm to my limit in baggage weight for the flight and mailing anything to King Salmon is slow and expensive. Hopefully when I get back I'll have a bunch of salmon and we'll have a big salmon grill party. Thanks to all!!!!!