Phil Lilley

I've taken some time off from writing the Lake Taneycomo fishing report, but then not much has happened to change how our fish have been biting. The generation rate has not changed in over a month. Operators have been running between 2,500 and 3,500 cubic feet of water per second (or from a half to a full unit), 24/7. Water quality is excellent with no major changes in lake levels. We have, though, received rain in the last couple of days. The Beaver watershed received the most - about 2-3 inches, while about two inches has fallen in the Table Rock watershed. And because of the rains and rise in lake levels, we're seeing 2 units running at about 8,000 c.f.s. of flow. We should see this for at least a week or 10 days. Fishing generally has been pretty good for most anglers. The slow flow allows for a lot of different fishing techniques to be enjoyed -- anchoring and still fishing with bait, drifting with bait and flies on the bottom, stick baits and flies, throwing jigs, spoons and stick baits, fishing jigs, the pink worm and flies under a float and even still fishing off docks. The only fishing I've done lately has been for One Cast. But Blake has been fishing on his own, mainly fly fishing at night below the dam, throwing streamers between outlets #1 and #2. But Blake and his angler friends have also been throwing stick baits in the same area at night and doing well, catching some big rainbows. It appears the rainbows are spawning in the lake and up in feeder streams/creeks. Speaking of feeder creeks, I've been told there's a good number of rainbows actively spawning in Turkey, Roark and Bull creeks. With the rain Thursday night, the creeks will be high and off color for a couple of days, but after they run out, it should be pretty good fishing. In the Trophy Area, drifting flies has been the staple for most guides, using red and pink San Juan Worms, #12-14 gray or olive scuds, egg flies or beads and the Mop Fly. Fishing the same flies under a float, get them close to the bottom. Use a fly rod or spinning outfit, depending on what you like to do. Our trout have been taking jigs pretty well. Some nice rainbows and browns have been caught on sculpin colored jigs. Depending on wind and water flow, 3/32nd- to 1/16th-ounce jigs are working the best using two-to four-pound line. Floating a smaller jig under a float is working ,too, especially if there's a chop on the surface. I'd go to two-pound line or use a short tippet section of two-pound since our water clarity is really good for this time of year. We are carrying minnows again. I've anchored in slow current and fished them off the back of the boat as well as drifted them on the bottom to catch well. Along with night crawlers, natural baits will normally catch bigger trout. Dock fishing has been good. I recommend using natural, sugar-cured salmon eggs. With a small #16 treble hook and two-pound line, add just enough weight to get your rig to the bottom in slow current. Cover the treble with three salmon eggs. You will probably catch more than your four-fish limit, so when you're releasing these rainbows, just cut the line without handling the fish at all. The hook will eventually dissolve and the fish will have a better chance of survival. Hooks are cheap! We look forward to a great winter fishing season on Lake Taneycomo since there are lots of big, trophy size trout in the lake right now. Remember catch and release works . . release bigger rainbows and eat the little ones. And practice good release techniques - - don't handle the trout but release them as quickly as possible. View full article

What MDC has to be careful of is over stocking the fishery. Sounds like the food base isn't good - then why put more fish in just to starve? They've reduced stocking numbers on Taney and we've seen good results - bigger fish. I think money should be spent on planting trees for shade and bank retention, looking at replacing gravel if needed and getting creative and adding structure to the river to accommodate FOOD for the trout rather than a quick fix of adding fish. We selfishly want to fix things in our lifetime what would naturally take decades to fix after an event like this. We can help a little... but we can also screw it up in the name of speeding things up. And the dam- they took it out because people were getting hurt/killed by going over it - right? What's changed?

I'm pinning this topic - great info - thank you guys for giving it up. Buster Loving cut his teeth on upper BS. If you want a guide to show you some of the ropes, he'd be a good investment. Phil Stone is another one - good walleye and crappie guide.

Mahomes isn't connecting as well. I think it's good that they're having issues now and may be can figure it out before the real games in the playoffs. But they won't make it far the way they played yesterday. Good thing is their defense is looking better. Also- the offensive play calling was different. Trying something new? Last 2 games actually. I know they have to keep the opposite team guessing... they have one more game to figure it out.

Dennis - the trolling motors aren't the best.... have to lean too far out to turn the head, although if the motor still turned that would be ok. I'm looking at some pole mounts - there are several out now. https://millennium-outdoors.com/product/sidekick-fishing-double-seat-d-200-00/ This is the seat pedestal I'm using. I just didn't have the second seat. I need to get an extension for the screen. It needs to be closer, up almost in line where you can watch it and you line at the same time. Some like to stand and watch it... they have mounts that adjust pretty tall.

Feel free to post them here. I don't mind.

Seth pegged it. But I need to get another mount. Jeff - I caught 2 crappie and 2 bass. Still not keeping anything, I just like getting better at fishing for them.

Not my best video effort... struggled with wind and keeping the boat on spot. Still learning this crappie thing... I did find that if you follow the flat side lake edge - where it drops off from flat to channel - you'll find quite a bit of small structure that holds fish.

If you look at http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/waters/lakes/lake-taneycomo/ you'll find quite a few articles about fishing LT. This will help too.

Both sets of parents grew up in Denison, thus I spent most summers with my mom's dad, Dain as we called him. He didn't like being called "grandpa". Spent time on Texoma trolling for sand bass and setting trot lines for big cats. Later I got a taste of stripers below the dam... that's fun!!

Thanks for sharing... may be some other new comers will see this and add to the list.

Very hard to say. May be - may be...

Private. There's very little Walk In hunting areas around there now. Do you have the app called OnX? It shows all the WIHA areas. Didn't see anyone else hunting but there were a couple of guys staying at the motel. And a group of 8 at the diner.

Just got back from a bird hunting trip. Stayed in Greenburg, KS and traveled/hunted north and south of Mullenville. There was already about 6 inches of snow. It snowed about 6 on Tuesday. Yes it was windy and cold. Hunted Monday - saw lots of birds but only in thick CRP areas next to grain fields. There was a fair number of fields of uncut milo which probably held a lot of birds but impossible to walk. The stalks were bent over blocking any effort to walk through. The thick CRP was tough enough to push through, esp with the snow. Found a couple of coveys of quail. Tuesday, we hunted in falling snow and a 10 mph east wind. Four degrees early but it got up to 24. Great hunting conditions but we didn't have access or many good looking fields. The fields we walked didn't hold birds because the snow beat down the minimal cover that was there. Walked some good quail spots but the numbers are down this year - they weren't there. Wednesday - more of the same. We did see a good number of pheasant this year, more than we've seen in the past 3 years. A lot of roosters too. They did get up wold on us several times but some did hold tight and we got shots. 8 of us ended up with about 15 pheasants and the same number of quail.

@Ham, @Blake Wilson and I had a great day catching fish and getting better acquainted. Couldn't have asked for better company! Boated lots of small rainbows with a few nice browns dotted in.

One Cast on the White River!

It's time to celebrate! Two things have happened this week that should cause any trout fishermen on Lake Taneycomo to rejoice. The first is that Table Rock Lake has turned completely over -- our water is now a little colder and rich in oxygen. Secondly, Table Rock Lake has dropped below its seasonal power pool, and generation has slowed to a minimal flow. And I think we should start to see periods of no generation any day. With the turn over, we're seeing some turbidity in our water again just like we witnessed a few weeks ago. This is normal and will clear up in the coming weeks. The life of our fish has been restored to normal. They have been feeding more aggressively, and when hooked, fighting very hard. Also now when releasing a fish, we don't have to worry so much about it surviving. They should do fine if we are careful about how we handle them. Quick reminder on catch and releasing trout: Try not to touch the fish at all, but if you do, wet your hand or -- if using a rag -- wet the rag. A dry rag will do a lot of damage to the fish, removing the slimy protection on their skin. If the hook is buried in the fish's mouth/throat, cut the line and leave the hook. It has a better chance of surviving than if you were to try to remove the hook. Of course, don't keep trout out of the water very long. We've seen a pretty good jig bite since the turnover. I haven't identified the best color, but they seemed to be hitting darker colors better than light colors. And with the water slowing down, I'm going to smaller sized jigs such as 1/16th- and 1/32nd-ounce. We've been blessed with huge midge hatches during the day. Fish come up and take them off the surface but not in big numbers. The scud bite continues to be the best way to catch some good quality rainbows, both above and below Fall Creek. Drift them on the bottom or use them under a float, as long as they're close to or on the bottom. With the water running slower, I'd go to a smaller scud--- may be a #14 or #16 gray, tan or brown. We're carrying minnows again. I wouldn't be afraid to drift a minnow on the bottom for a big brown or even a rainbow. Of course, night crawlers are working well. Real, red salmon eggs have also been excellent off the dock the last couple of weeks, too. View full article

Awesome!

Got to remember, Garmin has a host of engineers working on aviation and other gadgets - fishing GPS and sonars are an off shoot of what they are already doing in others areas on industry. They are knocking off the old guard in aviation - all the major plane makers are going with Garmin or at least want to.

Cody - you should spend Thursday night at the house... even if you're the only one. That would be pretty cool. I'd enjoy the quiet time reading on the back deck.

I am paying for Thursday night so anyone wants to change their plans and stay, the rate is the same

You guys make it possible... from the revenue on this site. Glad to do it.