Phil Lilley

I received a letter today from the southern council thanking me for participating in their conclave back in October. The information in the letter is worth sharing... Activities and projects of the council in 2005: Three Academic Scholarships - $3,000 Grant to continnue the study of the White River System - $1,000 Wolf Creek Conservancy - $1,500 Bank Rebutment project on Long Pine Creek - $760 Restocking on the Upper Guadalupe River - $750 Project on the Lower Mountain Fork River - $1,500 Strawberry River project by the Nature Conservancy - $2,500 Continued sponsorship of the Warmwater Room at the Fly Fishing Discovery Center - $2,000 Cast for Life - $1,600

I have had so much fun catching all 3 types of temporate bass... taught a good friend how to use them in the upper White and Richmond Creek above Beaver Lake some years ago, using small sluggos in fast water while every other lure and bait wasn't working the sluggos killed them. Below Lake Texhoma in the Red River, throwing big sluggos, we cleaned up on stripers. After watching us catch fish on every cast, locals rushed up to the bait shops and WalMart and bought out their stock of soft plastic baits.

Fox- I had the permission setup incorrectly- it's fixed now go report away. Thanks!!

We set most on the main water along the school's property- one on the bluff side. Bare in mind we only set 8-9 traps for 4 days total. We did set one in the back water but it was in the last slew down and across from Cooper. We caught 2 possuums and a coon there. Total I think we kept 7 coons, 1 possuum and 2 red fox... let a possuum and 2 coons go unharmed... well with a sore leg. Sounds like you work alittle harder than we did... and set good traps. We were hoping for beaver and otter but I don't think we set the right traps in the right places. If you want to sell any skins, let me know. I want to hangs some in my shop. I think Babler may want a few too.

I probalbly can't say "never" but it would be very close... I have learned in the Word (Bible) that a Christian should never be offended. "Easier said than done" is a phaze that comes to mind, but I do strive to let any comments directed to me fall to the wayside. If a person is securely founded in his idenity (in my case it's who I am in Christ and the relationship thereof), then he should be unshakeable if life's experiences. Gezzz- I go on and preach if I'm not careful. Anyhow- I don't offend easy so don't hold back. And I didn't take any post personally but thanks for asking. But in saying what I've said-- my views, my actions and my heart aren't perfect (bad grammar but I can't figure out how to put it). I will say stupid stuff- and I have you all to set me straight.

I'll back off the statement about the 13-inch in the light of Gonefishin's post. I would not physically measure anyone's fish nor would I glare or harass at anyone who had a stringer of trout. The only way I'd say anything is if the trout were obviously in the slot. My intention of my comments about a 13 inch trout is that... hard to explain... first and foremost I would inform to try to help educate, not to point a finger. 9 of 10 people I've talked to about the rules have thanked me for doing so- they simply didn't understand.

Sorry you feel that way... but you that right. If I "pay for" giving someone advice in a polite way, so be it. But you know I've never been yelled at for trying to help in a constructive way. If I do it with an attitude, that's another thing and it sounds like porochi has experienced alot of attitudes, bad ones unfortunately. Hope you have some good ones in the furture. As for the 13 inch rainbow, the reason I would say something, and I will every time, is to try to keep this person from getting a ticket. If he brushes me off and shows he doesn't care, I will make a call if I can to an agent or the hatchery simply because if he's keeping a 13 incher, he'll keep a 14 and a 15 and a 16-incher until he's caught. I report poachers when I can- period.

If you fished Taney in the 60's you may have some lunker stories to share!! Welcome.

San Juan Worm Jeremy Hunt Recipe: Hook: 3769 TMC Sizes 10-8 Thread: UTC 70 color to match body Body: Standard chenille (micro for hooks smaller than 14) Tie in your thread at the front of the hook and advance to the bend of the hook. Make sure you pass the hook point. The bend of the hook will always be passed the hook point. When you wrap your thread to the bend please pay attention to making each one of your thread wraps next to the next wrap keeping a nice smooth body. And if you don’t use a floss thread then you will definitely see a big difference in how your fly will turn out. Cut a piece of chenille. What I have found out if you’re trying to conserve on material. If you look at how they wrap the chenille around the card. Each fold around is where I make my cut and that will be a perfect length for the size of the worm you will need for most hooks under size 14. I normally always tie my worms on 14 and 16. This is a part that I wonder is there a right way or a wrong way about how to wind your thread forward when tying in the chenille. I have seen it done two ways. The way I like is when you’re tying up the shank I like the segmented way better. A lot of the worms I have seen tied is they tie in at the back then lift the chenille up and advance the to the center of the hook and then tie in again lift up the chenille then tie to the front of the eye and tie it down and the fly is complete. To be honest with you I think it looks ugly that way. I think people do it that way for durability but if you just glue the underside of the fly all the way down the thread your fly will last just as long and it will have worm look to it as well. So when you tie your chenille in just make even wraps all the way up the fly forming a segmentated look. Once you are up at the eye you are ready to whip finish the fly... and then GLUE it. (The underside where the thread is showing.) This will make it last longer. San Juan Worm Jeremy Hunt

Zebra Midge Jeremy Hunt Recipe: Hook: 2457 TMC, 2499sp TMC, 2488H TMC Thread: UTC 70 color to match body. Body: Thread Rib: UTC Wire (copper, silver, gold) in the brassie size. Head: Tungsten 3/32 for 14, 5/64 for 16 Depending on the hook size is really going to determine the size of the bead you will want to use. The two sizes that I tie on more than any other sizes are 14 and 16. So I really don’t waste my time with size 14 unless I am fishing high water. Ok start the thread just behind the bead and do enough turns just to lock the thread into place and then cut your tag end off. Befor we go on I would like to share a few things about beads and why they are so important for matching beads with the right hook size. It is all about proportioning the fly correctly. If the fly has a thread body along the whole shank it’s important not to build too many thread wraps behind the bead. This will do two things wrong to your pattern. One it will make for lose wraps behind the bead. And two it will make your fly look unproportion because you will not get a smooth tapered look that you want behind the bead. Another thing to mention is winding too many thread wraps behind the bead will start to make the fly look ugly. Try to build a cone shape behind the bead with thread wraps, but don’t build it until you are done with your steps first. Now cut you a piece of wire and tie it in behind the bead. Advance you’re thread back to the bend. Make sure your wraps are even and you a have a nice smooth thread body as you wind to the bend. If you hold the wire back at a angle when you wrap back on the wire it will slide the thread to the next wrap making them look side by side. Look at picture two and you can see the angle I hold my wire. Once you get to the bend you are ready to advance the thread back up just behind the bead. Grab the wire and wrap forward making segmentations as you wind the wire up. Try to make the spaces the same size. Count them to yourself. On this fly I have seven wraps of wire. The main key to this fly is making sure the fish can see those segments. Tie down the wire and move it real fast back and forth. It will break from it getting hot. If you cut it with scissors you will more than likely have a little tag showing. By doing it this way you want. And you will never mess your scissors up from cutting wire. Whips finish the fly. Glue your thread wraps behind the bead and you got yourself a zebra midge. Keynotes: You will see that this pattern calls for UTC 70. This is a newer thread that Wapsi came out with. This is more of a floss thread that will lay flatter on the shank. This will make a smoother base for any pattern that calls for a thread body fly. Also you can tie in dubbing or some sort of peacock herl for the collar of the fly. If you are tying this fly with black thread try using a nickel bead with silver wire. It is one of the best midges for our rivers around here. Good luck! Zebra Midge Jeremy Hunt

Taneycomo Sculpin Jeremy Hunt Recipe: Hook - TMC 5363 size-6,8 Thread - UTC 140 (color to match body) Body - rabbit strips Collar - grizzly olive saddle hackle Eyes - 7/32 presentation eyes (not dumbbells) As you notice in the picture I already secured the eyes on top of the shank. If you know how to do this step go ahead. For those people that don’t know here we go. **You can buy a lot of hour glass eyes that come in many different shapes and styles but the ones that I prefer are the presentation eyes. The reason being is when you look at the eye closely you will notice that the middle comes more to a “V” shape which really keeps the thread wraps sliding down in the center to keep each wrap tighter. Let explain the reason why. I don’t like the other eyes as much as this presentation eye because of the center part that connects the two sides together. Let’s say that you have some other eyes lying around the house. If you look at the difference between the others compared to the presentation eye you will notice that the lead eyes or dumbbell eyes, the centers don’t taper to a V. It has more of a long post in the middle like an axle on a car. Think about it like this you have a rod connecting the two tires together. So what I’m trying to explain is because the style of the eye it is harder to cinch the thread wraps to the shank without the eye slipping or shifting. I understand that you can use types of glues to secure the thread and the eye from shifting but the key is not to use too much glue because it could be detected by the fish and they will refuse it because it has to much smell. So what I have found out about the presentation eye is that it holds around the shank more securely verses the other styles. Of course I always use a little glue to keep the eyes from shifting faster because of the way the eyes are tied on the top of the hook this will allow the fly to ride upside down (keeled style). So when you’re striping this fly you need to remember that the rocks will get the best of it over a period of time and will definitely shift and create the eye to start turning around the hook shank. Another tip I would like to share is how you tie in the eye to the shank. I have seen this way tied so many ways. What I have found works best is try not to tie this in and go one direction a lot of turns and then the other direction in a lot of turns. What you want to do is one turn around in a figure eight repeating that same process going the other direction in a figure eight motion. . Do enough turns to fill in the “V” and then rotate the fly upside down and do the same thing on the other side. This will really secure the eyes on the shank. Also move the eyes with your fingers and see if they shift. If they do not than I would say that you did well. The next thing I do is when you’re done with the figure eights on each side. You can use a technique called posting. What this means is post around the eyes. Look in the pic 3 and 4. You will notice the thread is going under the eye but staying on the top of the shank. What this does is cinches down any loose wraps of thread when you were tying the figure eights and it also tightens it up all together. I believe you will notice a big difference next time you do it this way. One thing I did leave out is when you add your glue add your glue when you first start to tie the eyes in. Just get the eye secure on the shank with the thread then add your glue and figure eight them. Do the same thing on the underside if you don’t have a rotary vise just take the hook out and turn it upside down. After you have completed this step your ready to move on. The only other thing I would say is if you are using a glue make sure the glue dries before you complete the fly. If you don’t you could find some of your rabbit stuck together in the glue when you start to palmered the strip forward. What I do is pre-tie my eyes and then go back and tie the rest of the flies. Go ahead and advance your thread to the bend (past the point). Cut a strip of rabbit. This should be about four inches in length. Before you poke this through the hook point wet your fingers and spread apart the rabbit hairs on each direction. This will keep the hairs on the rabbit strip apart so you can see where to tie it in at. So once you poke it through the point you will need to take your hook out of the vise a slide it down and put your hook back in the vise once you slide it down. Tie the hide down about five tuns of thread tying over each turn. Don’t go side be side when doing his step. Then lift the strip up and tie in front of the strip locking the hide down preventing the strip or the tail from spinning. Advance your thread up just behind the presentation eyes now. When you tie down the strip and your ready to make your cut be sure to cut it off on the top side of the shank. Now you will see a little of the hide showing after you cut it. Tie all that in to create a smooth foundation to be ready to wrap the hackle around. If you have bumpy foundation it will create your feather to have a mind of its own. Because of the stem being so stiff if you do have any ridges it will make the feather slide or shift making you have to maneuver the feather instead of just making smooth turns forward with the feather. Select a saddle hackle. I always use olive grizzly hackle for the collar of all my different sculpins patterns. If you notice I cut it right where the barbs are all the same. I don’t want any of the soft feathers to be used for the collar. Tie the hackle in concave. The shinny side facing down. Wrap the hackle about four turns and cut off the rest. Now once you have done that you’re ready to dub the head. I use blends of sowscud dubbings but you can use whatever you want. SLF is a great substitute. Just make sure that it blends with the rest of the fly. Just remember this phrase in the dubbing world. We like to say you can always add but you can not take off once you have tied it on. So once you dub the thread with some dubbing you are ready to tie around the presentation eyes and then the fly is pretty much completed. Do your first wrap behind the eye and in between the hackle. This will kind of lay the hackle back instead of it being so straight up. Next you will want to figure eight the wraps around the eyes. Just do enough wraps to cover the thread and make a nice head. You will need to turn the fly over and do the same thing on that side to. Since you dubbed the fly with you fingers you are not going to have that picked-out dubbing look so you will need to pick it out with a bodkin. Something I found that works real well is a gun cleaner brush. It’s a lot faster and it looks a lot better. It grabs more of the dubbing making the head look portion right with the rest of the fly. Well that’s the fly and I will tell you hat this is a deadly pattern for big browns and also a great night pattern tied in grays and blacks. I hope you have as much luck with this fly as I have. Good luck. Taneycomo Sculpin Jeremy Hunt

Thanks Chris... we look forward to your reports. Wish I could check out the crappie fishing but we're too busy and I'm leaving Monday for 4 days pheasant hunting... there'll be plenty of time to chase crappies another time.

They stocked WAY too many trout in the 80's and they literally ate all the food. Everyone speculates why the shrimp all disappeared... if you put too many fish in a pond what happens? They eat most of the food and don't grow. The present stocking levels are derived from a couple of things- fishing pressure and carrying capasity (I had to go to my hunter's safety manual for that one). MDC has balanced stocking levels not to overpopulate the lake so that growth levels are good and so that anglers have enough trout to catch. Size - depends on who is stocking and when. Shepherd trys to stock rainbows that average 11.5 inches. But Neosho doesn't try- they just stock them around 8-9 inches. Sheperd, at times, has to stock rainbows smaller because of situations out of their control (other hatcheries like Roaring and Bennett that have to dump stock because of problems like low water flows). I believe it was this year Shepherd had to dump a bunch of big rainbows (12-14 inch) into Taney and shared them with other trout fisheries because of warm water conditions. When Shepherd's water is warmer than normal, trout grow faster than anticipated and they can't hold the surplus and have to dump them. So to answer your question- yes and no. Shepherd doesn't stock very many broad stock (3-9 lb rainbows) into Taney- they take them to other trout fisheries. They used to before Taney started growing big rainbows on it's own.

I've heard that thread fin shad come to the surface and stay there allowing predator fish to eat them readily. And there a shad called "bottle nose" or something like that that come to the surface and then dive. That aren't as easy to eat. BS has alot of the bottle-shad and few thread fin- so I am told. That's why you don't see the surfacing feeding like you used to and when you do, they don't come up for very long.

a forum on hunting? I'm thinking about purchasing another forum and setting up a hunting forum. BUT- I hunt, like to hunt but I am not an expert by any stretch. AND I can't put the time and effort building a hunting site like I am ozarkanglers. Ideas?

If it did and it bounced, you'll be taken off the list... go ahead and subscribe again.

Did you know in the mid 80's MDC was stocking 1.7 million rainbows??!! (I'm going by memory here)

#1 - Andy William's house is just to my left, below Lookout. #2 - The ditch that dumps into the lake from Pointe Royale is just to my left. Some call it Dry Wash, some the Red House Hole. The dark gravel normally is covered with water.

We have to talk... When you say 4-20 feet, are you saying you threw the jig and you caught crappie (& whites) on the drop at all those depths or did you catch most of your fish at one particiular depth? Were you in the trees? Along bluffs? I don't ask exact locations cause I think that's rude. I did that once to a friend... reported on the net several years ago about a spot that was hot for walleye at night and my buddy had lots of company the next night. He didn't appreciate it at all so he only gives me bits and pieces now... really just kidding- I think he trusts me now... and besides, he reads the forum so he'll see this.

Your ferret was a mink.

This is a pic of a drift rig. You can tie a hook or lure to the end, loop where is shows and bell weight at the end. We use 4 lb line. A snap swivel is tied to your line and snapped onto the loop. Some use a 3-way swivel but in my experience it causes the line to twists up.

Remember this - one of my mottos in life is "never be offended" and I very, very, very seldom am.

I have helped people land 20-inch-plus trout in the past and if they intend to keep the trophy, I politely point out the advantages (and disadvantages) to getting a replica made and releasing the fish. If they want to keep it I try not to show any attitude although it's disappointing to see a fish like that die. But you know it's just a fish. I'd rather walk away friends with the guy and not enemies.

They use well water to help control water temps used in raising trout. I'd imagine well water is warmer than the lake water. Warmer water- trout grow faster. Colder water, they grow slower.

Easy for you to