Phil Lilley

Ham- you're entirely right on the population of these trout. They stock over 750,000 rainbows annually. If that population would be left in the lake, they'd all starve and take alot of the other fish with them. Back when they stocked 1.5 million, they ate most of the large population of shrimp- it's never been the same since. Note- I'm not saying that why we don't have 1970's population of shrimp today- other factors play into that occurance. But it contributed.

Average life of any trout outside the trophy area is 30 days- MDC stats. As strong as I or Bill feels about shuffling, it is an insult to compare the two.

Guiding for stockers is a far cry from shuffling. That doesn't make sense. All trout are stocked in Taney.

Headed out for a quick fishing jount this evening 5-7 pm. Waded out at Rocking Chair- surprised to have it all to myself. Water is very low and moving good thru the area. Rainbows miding fairly well but the surface was slick and fish spooky. tied on an #18 rust zebra under a half palsa float 6 inches and started. Worked down past the riffles, brought 8 rainbows between 12 and 16 inches to hand with over 20 hookups. Then I tied a #18 cream soft hackle on and hooed another 6 trout landing none. Very nice evening. Glad to get back up wading after a long absence. Had to let the crappie rest a bit.

No walleye.

Don't worry... I'll keep a fire going underneath Babler. He'll continue giving up secrets. Even his superglue invention.

Every Saturday from now till June will have multiply tournament going on... MoBass- good luck with that!

I've caught more crappie on Taneycomo this year and last than any other lake around. Have they always been there and I just havn't been aware of it (too lazy to look for them) or is this something new? I don't think it's new at all. Taney has always been a great bass lake. Also good for blue gill. Taney has had great hatches for all kinds of warm water species the last few years it seems. I'm catching tons of small bass and crappie every trip. Where? From Branson down in creeks and on the main lake. Looking for the same structure you'd find crappie on other lakes, brush and trees near deep water. Water temp hasn't made a great deal of difference either. It's been cold water and they still bite good. Yesterday they were closer to the brush than they have been- I guess because of the cold front. Taneycomo has no size limits on bass or crappie and the limits are the regular state limits- 6 bass and 30 crappie. I've kept a few 9 inch crappie early in the season but I've been pickier lately, keeping only 10-11 inchers. In the last few days we've seen whites mixed in with the crappie, most are yearlings measuring only 4-5 inches long but some have been males and sows to about 2 pounds. It's hard not heading to my regular spots in Long and Cricket Creeks, Bridgeport and over to Bull Shoals and Beaver and K-Dock area... knowing what I have here on Taney but I'll go anyhow... later when it gets going better.

Put a small gold or brass bead on a size 14 3X long Mustad hook. Wrap about 10 or 12 turns of thin lead wire around the hook behind the bead, wrapping toward the back . Tie on a tail of ginger or light brown marabou a little longer than the hook shank. Strip the barbules from one side of a brown hackle feather and tie it in tip-first where you want the body to start. Leave some thread hanging at the back of the body so you can counter wrap the body for added strength. Cut 3 strands of pheasant tail fiber as long as you can, tie them in where you want to start the body, and twist them, then wrap them forward, holding them with hackle pliers, and tie them off at the bead and cut off any excess. There won't be much. Now counter wrap the thread you left hanging over the body and tie it off behind the bead. Now wrap the hackle up to the bead, tie it off, clip the excess and you're done. This isn't the most durable fly in the world, even with the counter wrapping, but it lasts through 10 to 20 fish before it comes apart and even then the trout seem to keep hitting it when it's all torn up. Bruce Cochran

Well I promised it and it's finally done... well except for the fine tuning and skins... http://OzarksSportsTalk.Com Kick it around and see what you think. Give you a chance to talk about something besides fishing!

Fishing Report - Edward Spence I got to the parking area at Outlet #2 at about 3:30 PM on March 12. Generation had just ended and the water was going down. I started fishing with a #10 Bead Head Olive Woolly Bugger above the rebar hole and got only one strike. I changed to a Crackleback , also with no success. With a #16 Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle I had one fish on, but lost it and quit at 6:00. There were a lot of people fishing from Outlet #1 past the gravel bar, but I saw few fish caught. On Tuesday, March 13 there was no generation when I started fishing at 9:30 AM, again above the rebar hole. I fished quite a while with a #16 White Soft Hackle with no success. I then tried both Green and Gray Scuds under an indicator below the rebar hole also with no strikes. I went back to my old stand by, the Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle, near the end of the gravel bar and had three nice strikes , but no fish. I quit at noon quite discouraged. At 2:30 PM I was back on the water above the rebar hole with the #16 Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle. I caught 8 or 10 small Rainbows, eleven to twelve inches, but fishing was fairly slow. I had heard of success with Woolly Buggers so I switched to a #10 Bead Head Black Woolly Bugger and began to catch bigger fish in and around the rebar hole. I lost several and had one nice fish break me off. I didn't keep count of all the fish I caught, but all were 13 inches or more and very fat. The area was crowded and everyone seemed to be catching fish. The sun had come out and it turned into a warm day with little wind. On Wednesday, March 14 I started fishing at 9:00 AM again above the rebar hole. There was no generation and lots of fishermen. I worked my way through the chute catching about 15 Rainbows, with two at least 15 inches. Fish catching slowed at about 10:30 so I moved below the gravel bar where I caught two more Rainbows and quit at 11:30. All the fish I caught were Rainbows and all were fat. With the Woolly Bugger I hadn't caught any fish less than 13 inches. When I quit, the area from above the rebar hole to the end of the gravel bar was quite crowded. That afternoon I started back fishing at about 3:30. There was still no generation. Now that I had found the right fly I hesitated to change and continued fishing with the black Woolly Bugger. That afternoon it had turned cloudy and cooler, and the crowd was gone. One other fisherman and I had the rebar area to ourselves. I spent the afternoon enjoying the solitude and catching some nice fish. I kept count this time and caught 14 Rainbows before quitting at 5:30. Numbers 9 and 10 were 16 and 15 inches respectively, and put up enough fight to wear this old man out. This was one of the most enjoyable and successful fishing trips Bruce Cochran and I have had at Taneycomo. As usual the people and services at Lilley's Landing were outstanding. Spence Ned and I had an enjoyable stay at your place , caught quite a few trout, and couldn't have asked for nicer weather. I started fishing at 4 PM Monday afternoon off the edge of the gravel bar out from outlet #3. They had just turned the water off and it wasn't all the way down to normal low level yet. I tried my usual variety of soft hackles , woollybuggers, and cracklebacks and managed to catch one rainbow on a black #18 soft hackle. They blew the horn at 5 PM so I moved over closer to shore and kept fishing but the water never came up. Hope they don't do this too often or guys will get to where they don't believe the horn. Tuesday 3/13 I started fishing about 9:30 AM along the same gravel bar east of the rebar hole and caught 9 rainbows and 1 brown on a variety of woollybuggers. In the afternoon I started again about 3 PM off the lower end of the gravel bar and caught about 20 or 21 more rainbows, all on #12 olive/black woollybuggers and #14 pheasant tail woollybuggers. Wednesday 3/14 I started about 9:15 AM in the same area and caught 10 rainbows, most of which hit the little #14 pheasant tail woollybugger. After lunch and a nap I started fishing again about 3 PM just east of the rebar hole, working my way east along the gravel bar, catching 9 rainbows and 1 nice brown about 14", all on the pheasant tail woollybugger or a gray #12 crackleback. I didn't catch any really large trout this trip but I had lots of good, fast action and all the fish I caught were fat and healthy. Thanks again for another good trip. Bruce Cochran

Lots of people from Neosho... great town. Fished with Paul Crews yesterday from there- good friend. Welcome!!!

I've had things come up and am not going to make it at least to camp. I will try to come to the sow bug for a day trip Saturday or possibly Friday but I can't swing 2 days like I'd planned. We'll do a fish fry real soon.

Zebra midge have been killing them below the dam.

http://www.ky3.com/news/6501612.html I talked to someone from DNR the other day about the senate bill in the works... he brought up this farm and pointed out that most counties in the state have few rules governing aggraculture and farming practices, Barry County being one in the lacking column. I'd think the most effective way to govern this is on the county level cause each county needs to be handled differently. Counties in the south part of the state where there are springs and streams should, in their own interest, protect these area from damage BUT if they don't elect the people who see it this way, they won't. It appears this chicken farm has basically jumped through all the hoops and by all legal means should be able to start their farm, according to county and state laws.

You did the right thing, and a good thing... thanks!

Might try looking on http://download.com or http://cnet.com for shareware programs.

That's why there's a pump in Taney pumping water to the hatchery... I heard about this. Make sense. If they shut the water off at the hatchery altogether, how long do you think it would take before fish started dying? 23 minutes? 25 minutes? They should have a backup system, don't you think? If this were to happen, if Shepherd lost EVERY trout in the hatchery, consider the economic impact it would have on the state.

Dark. The Quarry Campground does not take reservations- first come first served. So I'll try to get there early Friday to grab a spot. I have some phone numbers from the forum but in case the facility is full and I have to relocate, pm/email me your number if you're planning on coming.

OK- I got cleared to go. I'll be camping at the campground below Norfork Dam. I'll be in my 2-tone dark blue/beige Ford truck with an old pop-up camper... I'll put an OAF hat on the radio antenna. I'll have fish, beans, potatoes, tea and water and eating tools. Everyone else fill in the blanks. Ask friends... I should have plenty of fish.

My first thought on any new regulation is enforcement... I'm sure they've thought through it (hope so) cause there are ramifications to any new regs. I'd think they'd have to have an agent at the put-ins every morning or at least on busy days to monitor what people take on the river. It could look like KCI or Lambert's security gate... wouldn't that be a sight!

Would a stainless steel prop get me any additonal top end speed? No- stainless is much heavier and will do just the opposite.

Don't change it on account of me. There will be other times, God willing.

I'll have to send the chicken with someone else... May 19 is out departure date to the great north territories. We may have to do something else (in addition to) in April... a little less formal may be.

Welcome, Heather. We always could use another school teacher or two to keep us illiterates in line here. MrsDucky has been a little overwhelmed lately.