Phil Lilley

Any size? I assume they had fat bellies?

Didn't get out today. Got back from Lawrence about 1 pm and had to catch up with things here. Our dock hand is still on vacation so dad and I have had to work the dock. Hope to get out tomorrow early for a few drifts. MyDucky dropped by this afternoon. He said he saw people catching trout at the dam- those in boats at least. One big brown landed and put on a stringer by someone in a boat he said. Tony Wedele, one of our guides, had a good afternoon. They did well at the dam on white jigs, nothing huge but most good fish. He did best drifting from Lookout down to Fall Creek using a white flat fish rigged carolina-style, drifting on the channel side of the lake. He said they were really "whacking" it. Power Bait fishing and drifting minnows from Fall Creek down was good today. No wind and almost 70 is a good day even if the fish don't bite!

Anchoring takes thought. First, if anchoring will help you catch fish? Most of the time it won't. Better to drift. There are places along the bank- eddies and cuts- where fish will hold and wait for food to drift by. Those places are good but again, you have to look and plan your attack. Be ready to cut the line if you get in trouble. Don't anchor off the sides or back of a boat- only off the front and only if the front of the boat is high- not close to the water. You don't want the boat to get sucked under the water.

Are you coming back for the tournament?

Quickly- leaving for Lawrence in minutes. Bill called me at 10:15 and said they were tearing up the trout below the dam. I was going up to pick up his camera, rob some pics for my presentation, but I had to fish too! I caught a dz trout, most 15 inches and up on white 1/8th oz jig. He can tell you more about the morning later when he gets in... and more pics cause I didn't have a cord for his camera. Here are my pics- I could have taken a bunch more but I didn't want to stop fishing (catching).

Spring River is running muddy... but there's whites in Sycamore Creek... got it on a good report. Friend of mine caught dozens on Sunday evening.

I don't remember catching them in BS- now TR I have. Will have to target them if I get to go... they are great eating.

I think it was down below Rockaway Beach on the opposite side. You got to it off E 76.

I've seen people leave the dock, not knowing how to steer or accelerate and get them backwards while leaving the stall. I thank the Lord when they return safely. Jon boats with small motors are pretty fool proof; bass boats are another thing. Pontoons, well they are big and clumsy and get beat around but seldom does anyone get hurt on them. There have been several fatalities on Table Rock, one that I can remember recently, involving a guide and the USCG cracked down on guides, even though the guide was certified (Bill, correct me if I'm wrong). In Missouri they have a boat lisc now if you're of a certain age which is a good thing but that doesn't give people experience. Heck, if you buy a boat, there's no class how to use it or operate it. You can pull off the trailer and immediately send the boat down the river at 70 mph! Bottom line, people have to die before anything is done. What is done is sometimes justified, most of the time overkill- knee jerk reaction. As for Arkansas, they'll do something one of these days to tighten up guide licensing. Might as well go ahead and get your 6-pack... then we can call you Captain Davy!

Do I carry circle hooks? That sounds bad... I know I ordered some to check out... must have made it to the shop and on a shelf. What am I chargin' for them? I got them from Hagens. I'm looking at the catalog now. They have Eagle Claw 15/0... is that big enough for ya!? Vanadium makes a #6, sport and sure set That's the smallest in Hagens.

Boated to the dam 10 am this morning - trying to get some pics for a presentation I have in Lawrence, KS tomorrow. Water running fairly hard and LOTS of shad flowing... not good for catching. I was able to pick up 10 rainbows, the largest coming at the last at KOA on a 1/8th oz white jig. I drifted using my fly rod, float and 1/16th oz white jig 5-9 feet deep and caught the most fish- best against the south bank between the cable and the first island. They didn't like my red/white jig, only white. I missed several fish too... so fishing wasn't all that bad.

I have a forum for fishing organizations now under fly fishing. That's enough for now.

John, we're putting this request on our church prayer chain. If there's anything we can do, please let us know. I attend Covenant Life Church in Branson. We are a Body that is dedicated to helping people who need it. Father, please let Your presence be felt by those seeking Your love, help and guidance in John's family. You are faithful; You want the best for us. It's tough times that make us strong so we draw on Your strength. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Wish they more pictures.

One of the most popular, if not the most popular, relaxing ways to fish is drift fishing. Just set the boat mid-stream, shut the motor off and relish only the sounds of the birds, the wind and the splash of jumping fish -- and yes, the occasional neighboring boat buzzing by. Cast, relax and let the drift do all the work. The idea is simple: To present your bait as naturally looking as possible to the fish. Trout tend to stay close to the bottom when the water is running for two reasons -- to stay out of the current and to stay close to the food. So that’s where you want your bait. Now, what’s the best technique to sink the bait down -- and keep it there -- and still feel the strike -- and not get snagged up and lose the whole rig? First, use the right amount of weight. Whatever you use, whether its split shot, bell weight, sock weight or lead core weight, you want the right weight to take you to the bottom and keep you there while still allowing your bait to skip over snags and not hang up. Split shot is okay, but it probably is the worst of all choices. Comparably it has the flattest sides and tends to catch more than its counterparts. Bell weights are a close second. Walleye walking weights are designed to tick the bottom and hop over rocks, so I’d give them the next spot. But the weights that win, in my book, are the long, skinny weights. The can be made either of parachute cord loaded with split shot with the ends sealed by melting the fabric, or of lead core with either a hole punched in one end or surgical tubing with lead core stuck in one end. This makes a weight that has little surface to catch, and I’ve found to be the best. But how do you rig this rig? Some use a three-way swivel, attaching the line from the reel to one loop, a tag line for the weights and a line for the hook. The weight line is usually a third of the hook line in length and can be much heavier in strength. So can the line off the reel. The line that the fish see is the hook line and this line should be four pounds in the winter and spring and two pounds in the summer and fall seasons. Hint: If the hook snags, you only lose that portion of your rig. With the same idea of length and line strength, other rig conformations can be used. A store-bought drift rig consists of a straight line, about 40 inches long, with a hook tied on one end and a bell sinker tied on the other; a loop knot is tied 12 inches from the weight. It’s pretty simple and easy to use -- just tie a swivel on your line, clip it to the loop and you’re ready to fish. Another method uses only the line on your reel. Tie a hook on the end, come up about 40 inches and make a loop knot creating a 6- to10-inch, non-slip loop knot. Then tie a small, simple cross knot at the end of the loop to keep the split from slipping out the end and attach your split shot to the loop. One of my favorite ways to rig uses a technique I learned in Michigan, fishing for king salmon in the Pere Marquette River. Take the line from the reel and run a snap swivel onto the line through the loop, not the snap. Then tie a barrel swivel onto the line from the reel. The snap is free to slide up and down that line but not over the barrel swivel. Next tie your “tippet” to the barrel at about 30-48 inches. Tie your fly or bait to the tippet. On the snap swivel you hook your weight. I personally use lead core. It comes in two sizes, 1/8-inch and ¼-inch and can be cut to the length you need. I use a tool called a LeadMaster which is a pair of pliers designed to cut, flatten and punch a hole in the lead core. This technique is quick and easy to use and cuts down on losing rigs. Plus I get the bait to the bottom and it stays there. I don’t feel the bottom as much, which allows me to concentrate on feeling the tug of the fish. Because of the way the rig is set up, it allows the bait to move close to the bottom in a natural way, not appearing to be drug through the water. Distance from the boat is pretty important. The bait should be about 50-70 feet away from the boat when fishing directly upstream. If you’re fishing off to the side, 30-50 feet is plenty of space. I tend to use less weight if I’m fishing off to the side because I feel I have more control and know exactly where the bait is to follow it better. Wind plays a big part in drifting. The trick is to keep track of the bait by sight and feel. A trout won’t hold on to the bait for very long, and you have to be quick and hard on the hook set. Too much slack will cause you not to hook the fish, as well as sometimes to miss the bite altogether. With your trolling motor, try to keep the boat moving at the same speed as the current. If you can’t keep up, fish out to the side and keep your rod low to the water to prevent slack. You’ll have to cast, drift and reel in more, but that’s the only way to fish effectively. Bait fishing, using worms, minnows or Power Baits are easy ways to catch trout on most tailwaters when the water is running. With night crawlers, pinch the worm in half and hook the worm anywhere from the middle or out to either end. When you feel a bite, let the fish take the worm by counting to three; then set the hook. For minnows, hook the minnow through the eyes and follow the same technique as night crawlers. Power Baits, either Gulp variety or regular eggs, are the easiest and most effective bait. Don’t load the hook too much. Use a #8 short shank hook and slide on two eggs. Hook them in a straight line, so they won’t spin in the current. Using two colors of eggs, generally white and some other color, works most of the time. Drifting flies is a great way to catch trout in restricted areas. Egg flies are probably the favorites on Lake Taneycomo. San Juan worms, scuds, woolies and others are also extremely good. Rig them the same way. You can even use tandem flies. Tie one fly on, and then using a 12-inch tippet tied to the eye of the first fly, add a second fly. Our guides like using a San Juan and an egg … “Breakfast is served!” Where to drift is a problem for many anglers. They make the same mistake repeatedly and then lose a bunch of rigs. Now that’s great for selling rigs, but it’s not necessary. Stay in the middle of the stream and away from the sides, especially off the bluff banks where there’s a lot of trees and brush. If you drift a certain section and consistently catch one or two fish each time, keep up the pattern because you’ve found a place where a large school is holding, maybe a hole or a rock, something that the fish like. I know the bottom of the lake pretty well on Taneycomo in certain areas. When I’m drifting and come across a drop-off or hole, I hit the trolling motor and slow the boat down just a bit, letting the bait hesitate and drop down in the hole. Sometimes I’m rewarded for doing it just right – with a big trout! Hope this helps next time you’re out fishing in high water. Keep the rod high, locked and loaded. Watch the rod tip for that tap and pull. That’s the key when a trout has picked your offering out of the current and is holding it, saying, “Set the hook!”

Yellowbank? What's that?

trout food fly

Thanks for posting and for the reports. Look forward to more professional insight in the near future.

No- to the cleaning shack, inside. Thought you'd rather see a bunch of guys cutting up fish than moving water. But not a whole lot to see when there's no one in there. Thinking about just taking it outside and pointing it at the lake- but the iris isn't really setup for long distances.

I sent a gentleman down to highway F and Bull Creek yesterday to do some wading/bank fishing. Hope he made it and did some good. He had some REAL nice looking little crawfish patterns. Not sure if there's any "public" access there except for the highway right-a-way but you could wade the creek up and down. Down is better looking water and I've talked to people who have waded there and done very well. I've floated it from 160 to F- it's a neat little stream full of smallies and this time of year I'm sure there's a few trout.

See- Babler's doing it now! The pressure is on! Thanks, techo for the report.

You talking about up at the dam? Around the outlets?

I have a Pentax Optio W20. Waterproof to 5 feet. I like it.

Yes- it's in the mail... snail mail.