Phil Lilley

I found a small fly box yesterday with a few of Rolan's scuds in it. Scuds that he tied. I'd forgotten how different they are from any scud we tie or have tied. It was a #12 tied on a 3769 TMC hook, straight back. He ties all his scuds on this style hook. I added it to a #16 black zebra yesterday on One Cast. Bright sun but chopped surface. Fish were actively moving and feeding. I fished it off the bottom suspended, like Rolan does most of the time. They bit it really well. I'm going to have to show this to some of my tyers and have them duplicate it. Sparse and prickly is a good description.

Thanks for sharing.

I haven't set foot wading below the dam this year. Not sure why except I don't want to join the crowds. I need to go up there and at least see how the lake has changed. It looks like the flow at Rebar has changed since last year. It splits up going the old channel as well as over the middle bar. How did you fish and where? Tim Homesley has been sending me pics for 2 weeks of the fish he's catching. He starts at outlet 1 and sight fishes down to outlet 2. I think he uses various types of mega worms. That would be fun.

I will also add that bass fishing is pretty good mid and lower lake. A guy posted some impressive pics on FB. Said he caught them on topwater not that far down from the Landing. Early AM

I would add a couple of things. With the weather shift we should see more wind. I don't think I've ever seen a full month of September with virtually no wind except for a storm. Wind really helps the daytime bite, no matter what you're using to catch trout. A chop on the surface enhances the jig-and-float bite, the jig bite in general, stripping streamers, soft hackles and cracklebacks and throwing jerk baits. It doesn't hurt the dry fly bite either. Black is still the best color for jigs, under a float or thrown straight.

We’re planning on videoing him tying one soon

by Blake Wilson Fall has officially descended on the Ozarks area after September stayed unseasonably warm.  A recent front has brought the desirable fall temperatures with a two-week forecast of lows at night in the 40s. We should expect to see the leaves make their beautiful color transition in the middle of October.  Fishing for the month of September was still on par with August.  There were still days where the trout just did not want to eat, accompanied by days when they ate well. Water temperature is still holding at 51 to 52 degrees early morning, rising to 54 or so by the end of the day.  Oxygen levels are being well-maintained, with an average of four parts per million most of the time.  There have been some nights that the records show lower than that, but for the most part, they were good for this time of the year. While there were not quite as many trophy catch & release certificates issued in September, that did not stop some very impressive browns from making the trophy board. Featured in photos here are two 30-plus browns caught in one night of fishing with Leonard Keeney and his sculpin patterns. Since the browns have moved up for their annual mating pattern, many big ones are being spotted and caught both day and night wading below the dam. Capt. Brett Rader of Chartered Waters Guide Service reported that he has switched from his small mini-jigs to fishing a double scud rig in the shallow water of the trophy area in the last week or two. Nightcrawlers are still reigning supreme in the bait world here on Lake Taneycomo.  I have also had success recently adding yellow PowerBait with nightcrawlers. Others, too, have reported success with just the yellow PowerBait. The 1/32-ounce Lilleys jig in black combinations and sculpin has continued to catch fish consistently, day and night.  Capt. Steve Dickey and other guides also indicate that first thing in the morning the bite is still the best. Keeney’s sculpin streamers have been working round the clock, producing both numbers and quality fish below the dam when the water is off. The late evening and night bites have been good on jerkbaits and 1/32-ounce jigs over the last few weeks, with the jigs surpassing at night; however, both have been successful. As the temperatures drop, we should expect to see less water generation in the afternoons — and potentially days in a row with no generation at all. Please don’t forget good fish handling techniques this time of year!  Keep your fish in the water following their fight so they have ample time to recover before you release them. View full article

I turned my phone off, just so mine wasn't dinging with the others. I was in a CAM meeting. But then after I turned mine back on - they got me.

Should be good

Yes sir. Even lead soap.

Our next project will be a 3/16th jig. And I do want to do a 1/4rd ounce too. Tony - I don' t know. I think he throws a 1/6th some.

We will have to relabel alot of things!

I agree! I should start doing OC on Table Rock. But then I'd bomb there too.

We bought the equipment to make our own jigs and weights back in May. We have a CNC machine that cuts out the molds using aluminum bars and we have silicone disks to make molds so we can mass product jigs. With the package came over 100 molds for various jigs and weights. It's been a fun learning experience. Years ago, Duane created the master jigs we sell now - 4 sizes - 1/32, 1/16, 3/32 and 1/8th. Of course, those aren't the "real" weights of each. We were frustrated with the process at that time. We didn't understand how the weight of the jig changes each time to copy it. Your finished product is never the same as your prototype. It's always a reduction - usually. And it depends on the actual lead you use - the amount tin in it. We've been working on a "1/50th" ounce jig, to both throw and use under a jig. But the issue was that when we made an actual 1/50th ounce jig, it was too light to throw, even with 1 pound line. The jig we came up with actually was a true 1/32 ounce jig. Anything less wouldn't fall like we wanted. So we have a dilemma. Not really.... I think I know what we're going to do. We're going to make the new "1/32nd" ounce jig (actual size) and rename our present 1/32nd ounce jig to "1/25th" ounce jig, which again is the actual weight. This put 3 jigs in line with each other in size. I think we're going to start making them today... start painting the heads and out to the tyers. Now that we have total control of the process, we can make what we know works. Thoughts?

I liked Jim too. And bought some Falcon rods (seconds) over the years from him. The gal that worked for him embezzled and took off with a bunch of money, then Jim developed dementia. There is a new guy making rods there but I don't know much about him. Tried to have him make us some rods but he's never got back to us.

I fished in a charity bass tournament yesterday out of K Dock. My partner was Michele Dean, director of our local food pantry. CAM partners with Coffee Creations, a local coffee company that employees disabled adults. Fog delay kept us off the water till almost 10 am and then it got bright sunny immediately. Very little breeze. I had gotten tips from fellow OAF members and fishing guides about what to try. I haven't seriously fished for bass in a lot of years. Had to visit BP and WalM Friday and borrow some heavier rods. Yes I did throw my jigs but no luck. I ended up fishing a ned most of the day using my trout rods. We fished transition banks below K Dock. We bagged 2 keeper LM just over 15 inches. Caught several nice crappie and smaller bass. I was happy with our results. Out of 12 boats we finished better than average. I'm thinking less than 10 pounds won it with big bass about 3.25 pounds. It was fun fishing that long for bass... I like fishing the ned. I know the big bass came on a football jig. I heard that a lot of bass were caught up shallow.

Love this!

I like golf.

Just saw this.... Bill B. got me in touch with one of the partners who I visited with a couple of months ago. He had the inventory left by Bo - 6 figures worth. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it so he wasn't necessarily offering it to me... and I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it, although he said I could double my money pretty easy. As far as I know he's still sitting on them.

I still haven't been up there this year to wade... but they've been starting generation about 2-3 pm and running till dark.

We've lost quite a few guys to pickleball from basketball. They keep trying to get me to play... I tell them I will after I retire from BB. I did play a couple of weeks ago for fun. I had trouble getting low enough to hit it. The paddle is too short... I'm used to a tennis racket. I played alot of ping pong and tennis growing up.

I'm afraid to quit playing at this point. I don't do anything else to stay in shape. Really need to build some muscle, not for playing but because I'm going to need it. I started working out with weights in 2007 thru 2011. I still benefit from that strength I believe. I know alot of it is genes for most of us but just being smart with stretching and eating right can do wonders for an aging body. Just got to do it.

9/19 is a popular date. My sister is 3 years behind, I had 2 uncles and 1 aunt born on the 19th. And Bill Medley shares the same bday.