Phil Lilley

Just talked to a guy who fished last weekend in Long Creek- put in at Cricket and fished the trees in 20 feet of water. Two of them caught their limit both days using ?? probally jigs, vertical fishing. Caught them in 8 to the bottom, scattered. Didn't throw back many- biggest was 13.5 inches. Water temp was 63 but should be cooler due to the cold front. Colder water temps should group the crappies but better.

Back from the cold country on north Missouri... Tuesday - blowing snow, winds 25-40 mph and 30 temp. No deer moving. Wednesday - no snow on the ground, wind 30-50 mph and 20 temp. No deer moving. Thurday - no wind (yea!) 5 temp in the morning (cold!!) a few deer moving but not my way. Vince - 0 Phil - 0 But we both already have deer in the freezer so that's ok.

It is much stronger than any 2 lb line I've tried... stronger than most 4 lb lines. I guess you need to try it for your self to see what we're talking about.

They have been running water every morning and afternon this week... surprising to me really but not unusual. Table Rock jumped up a tiny bit after the rain Tuesday but the rain didn't fall on enough of the water shed to make a dent in the lake level. But tomorrow and Sunday my giess is that they won't run as much if any at all. Temps are up alittle, there may be some generation in the mornings for a while but don't let it ruin a good day of fishing. Sunday looks to be the best day - cloudy and a chance of rain.

http://ozarkanglers.com/useful.php Hope this finds you in a timing fashion. I don't think they will run much water at all this weekend. And if they do, it won't be enough to run waders off the water.

Nice to see everyone's getting along while I'm gone... good conversation. I think the C&R idea for the first mile has merit. May be limit it to the fall. I don't think that would ruffle too many feathers. I'll run it by a couple of people. As for the outlets... you need a black line between right and wrong for a good case in court. Placing a cable across a creek and saying, "no fishing above this point" is a black line. Not much wriggle room to that rule. "No fishing in the hatchery outlets" and "No fishing above the present lake level" is a black line but isn't as clear as the cable, I guess. Motivation - what's the movtivation for the cable at outlet #3? My guess is to keep anglers from taking advantage of hearded browns. Or fishing up in the outlet when the water is high from full generation. So if the motivation is to keep anglers from taking advantage of trout in the outlet, then the "No fishing above the present lake level" is another cable with the same purpose. Then why aren't both rules enforced? As for enforcement, I think the present agents do an exceptional job in all fields of game enforcement... they just can't be in all places at all times. The question about police writing game tickets - they can't in Missouri. They can hold a person for an agent but they can't write the ticket, not sure why. You can call them and have them radio an agent. But I've found you have to have good information, just like reporting any crime, for the agent such as descriptions of the person(s) and/or vehicles involved. As for keeping trout, the rules in our trophy area were designed for keeping rainbows under 12 and over 20 inches. The problem is very few rainbows are kept, unless the water is running and boaters are drifting the area in which alot of those anglers will keep a limit uner 12 inches (esp guides).

Gone deer hunting - be back late Thursday. Keep fishing and keep reporting!

When we moved to Branson in 1983, we knew a couple of people - Rex Grady, a resort owner who befriended us while trying to sell us his report down on Lakeshore Dr, John logan, the realitor who sold us Rosadaro and Lulu Roman who's husband had a hair salon on the strip at the time. We started attending a church - Branson Hill Assembly of God - where we met more people, people who became life-long friends to this day. One couple was Chuck and Terry Puckett. They had a little girl like us and went on to have 2 more... we had 3 more. We became best friends, took vacations together, changed churches together, started a church together, and yesterday by best friend turned 50. Wow! How time flies. Chuck is the pastor of our church, Covenant Life Church. He has a pastor's heart... he helps everyone that calls, he's compassionate and patient... all the things I'm not. I've always said Chuck's there to help people who I loose patience with- I'd just as soon slap them on the third or forth go-around. Chuck is passionate about life and about God. He has walked the walk long enough to have God's wisdom on a lot of life's situations. The world would be a great place if everyone had a friend like Pastor Puckett We don't call him that cause it sounds so corny.

Bill & Becky Babler had a dream and that dream became a reallity in June of this year... they opened the doors to their dream lodge on Table Rock Lake. If you want a gorgous place to take your wife for Christmas- check this place out. It rivals anything Big Cedar has with the personal touch of the Babler's handywork... not to mention a yummy breakfast and breath taking views. http://whiteriverlodgebb.com

You got that right! Taney's more boat-friendly - that's what I've been promoting for years... fly fishing out of a boat on Taney is extremely productive no matter what conditions. That in itself helps with the "crowds". But does Taney get crowded as far as boats - oh yes. But the trophy area is still one of the best places to fish out of a boat around and it doesn't get that bad even on busy weekends.

Mike Scott told me he used vanish line made by Berkley for his leader and tippet material. He uses 6-4-2 lb only, building his leader from the 6 and 4 and uses the 2 lb as tippet. The 2 lb is .005 diameter which is the same as 5x Rio. And he told me he caught tons of trout this weekend on it using zebras and scuds. I thought... 5x! And I've been using 7x just to get bit more!! So I tried it this morning (see fishing report under Taneycomo 11-14) and I had no problem fooling fish- no problem at all!! I'm going to have to keep experiment with this- I've used it on spin cast rigs but I like mono better because of the stretch and feel it gives me. I use flourocarbon tippet... but this is bending my idea of tippet diameter and what I have to use to get bit. Any ideas?!

Just got back from the dam. They are running (were running) 2 units but only 3 feet high (704.3). Great water to fish even from the bank. I missed Mike Scott and his friends... miscommunication. I think they went to the Beaver Tailwater on the way back to Tulsa- they missed a great morning of fishing here but from what they told me last night, they might have been tired of catching trout. I walked into the Rocking Chair Hole from the north side and started below where the falls used to be- 9 am. I tied on a black #16 zebra with a copper head, 20 inches of line between the fly and indicator and flipped out on a few feet from the bank and let it drift- hookup! That happened 3 times in a row. Worked the water out further from the bank and down and caught trout after trout- 13 in all before I got down to the big rock at the sycamore tree. I jumped up on the rock and started casting out up to 50 feet and continued to hook rainbows- another 12 landed. All on the same fly at the same depth- I didn't touch a thing. Size- I had a couple at 16, a couple at 15- many from 13-14 and a few small ones. All were colored up real pretty. No one was fishing within site except for a few up by #3 outlet I could see. Three guys walked in just before I left across the lake from me. Mike was right- they are tearing up a zebra at the Rock Chair Hole. Water was dropping out the last 40 minutes I fished but was slow in dropping. Still running when I left at 10:30 am. Sorry I didn't take the camera- threat of rain.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of people who share your sentiment. It does get crowded at times and there are rude people. But for every crowded day, there are 3-4 days conservatively that are not crowded, based on weekend/weekdays and on the time of year. And for every rude guy, there are 10 that will respect your water. I think it boils down to preferences and everyone has the right to his or hers. I like both tailwaters but I live on Taney. I would love to get down to the White more often just for a change of scenery.

You know if you sweet talk your brother in law, he may be able to help you. Or else- make a trip to Taney and I'll help you with it. With leaving for north MO tomorrow for 3 days of deer hunting, I don't think I'll be able to slip down your way for a while.

Less people - why is that??? The White is world famous and offers so much more than Taney. As for regs... your suggested rules have been brought up to MDC many times... barbless, kicking... but they have said both are "social" issues and they won't regulate that way. MDC considers barbless more of a "cosmetic" issue than a "health" issue for trout. They won't regulate ethics either unless it develops into a fist fight- then call the police.

Rolan Duffield was successful NOT to delete his pics before putting them on a disk so we have pics from our trip. Enjoy. http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2005/san-juan2

Follow up- talked to Mike Scott and his buddies- they fished the Rocking Chair all day and did exceptional. Did the best on a super scud #18 fished on the shelf rock, north bank. He released a 20 inch rainbow with lots of other nice quality browns and rainbows. Also- they mentioned seeing alot of dead trout- between 12 and 18 on the bottom from the night before. I thought low DO or they were caught and fought to death by night fishers. Not sure but it is disturbing. DO levels are very, very low at night.

Color of what?

2002 24’ Lake Sport Pontoons P #1 & P #2 $7,000.00, P # 3 $ 6,500.00 Painted Single Axle Trailers $1,550.00  14-person capacity.  6 fishing chairs, lounge seating.  2 divided aerated live wells.  12 Volt Min Kota PD trolling motor with batteries and onboard charger.  Hour meter.  P#1 756 hrs.  P#2 403 hrs. This is not accurate, new hour meter approx. 700 hrs.  P#3 684 hrs.  60 hp. Yamaha, 2 cycle, electric trim and tilt with oil injection.  Bimini Top.  Custom steel gunwales. 2003 G-3 Pro 175, 2005 40hp. Yamaha Motor 6,500.00 Trailer $500.00  4-peson capacity.  17.5’ aluminum Bass Boat.  40 Hp. Yamaha 2 stroke, electric trim and tilt, oil injected.  12Volt Motor Guide Trolling Motor with batteries.  On board battery charger.  Depth Finder.  Two pedestal deck chairs.  Aerated live well. 2002 Lake Sport CX 17 Custom fishing boat, $3,500.00 each. Trailers $500.00  Custom built for Pan Fishing, extra floatation, carries 3 big guys.  4-person capacity.  40 HP. Yamaha 2 stroke, electric trim and tilt, oil injected.  Three aerated live wells with built-in minnow bucket insert.  Tandem seating. With stainless steel side steering.  Runs shallow, fun to drive, drives like a sports car.  Entire boat sprayed with tuff liner, easy clean up.  Hour meter.  LS#1 435 hrs.  LS#2 268 hrs.  12 Volt Trolling motor with batteries and onboard charger. email - FCreek@SUNTERRA.COM

I've always done better during the new moon phaze or any cloudy night... dark. But I have done fair with a moon but not very often. Any comments?

Busy day at church today but got to get out this evening for about an hour. Boated to Fall Creek - there were quite a few trout midging, alittle chop on the water- perfect! I thought. Turned out the trout were alittle picky. Tried a brown crackleback - because that's what I finished with yesterday. Caught one small rainbow. Switched to a black #18 vinyl-bodied zebra midge under an indicator 48 inches... too deep. Shortened up to 20 inches and moved out on the gravel bar at Fall Creek and caught about 6-8 rainbows, mostly small. Wind died down but the trout kept feeding- the midge coming off were good size- #18 and grey. I stayed with what I had on and caught a few more before heading down to Short Creek. I wanted to see if there were any big rainbows left from the fall season. They were midging on the bar at Short- alot of them were way back in the mouth of the creek in very shallow water so I shortened up to 6 inches and tied a #20 black zebra on. It was tough getting them to take it but I finally got one to. Moved out and down before it got dark and caught one more rainbow. Dissapointing fishing but beautiful evening. The colors on the water are still pretty.

Jimmy T should post more pics.. esp with trout like this!!

No but I can order some. Let me know.

1 hr 45 min to Bull Shoals Dam. 2 hours to Rim Shoals. 2 hours 20 min to Norfork Dam or handicap access.

Fished alittle today - 3-dark at the dam wading. Met some guys from Tulsa FFF that are staying here for the weekend. I started above rebar shoot and they started at the head of the shoot. I believe they were fishing #16 olive scuds and hooking some trout there. I started with a #18 dark J-Scud drifting without an indicator (experimenting) and caught one brown... more or less by accident. Fishing was slow for almost everyone; not people fishing at all but I understand this morning was very crowded. We worked down below rebar and didn't do well. I saw several very nice browns and rainbows holding in the stream but they weren't doing a thing, moving away from my bug if I got it close. I caught one more brown before the horn sounded I think at 5 pm. Talked to Mike Scott when I got back to the resort- also from Tulsa. He has done well fishing from Rocking Chair down to KOA using zebra midges almost exclusively and green- yes green has been the best color- #16's and #18's. I asked him green as in olive or kelly green?? He said green. Another color I have to carry in the shop!