Phil Lilley

We hosted an outdoor writers event this last week, put on by the Conservation Federation of Missouri and sponsored by Bass Pro, Rebel Lures, Camp Chef, G-3 Boats and the Corn Growers of Missouri. Talk about a fun event - great bunch of guys, every one of them. Blogs and articles are starting to come in. Here's the first- http://jeffsamsel.blogspot.com/2015/01/taneycomo-troutfest.html

Planning for our 2nd annual father/son midwinter fishing trip involved keeping a close eye on the 10 day forecast. When a few days of 65 degree weather appeared, we made reservations at Lilley's. The 3rd generation, my son, was unable to join us due to work conflicts. We arrived in Branson on Tuesday about 1:30 pm. A call to the office at Lilley's requesting our assigned slip number allowed us to launch the boat at Cooper Creek Access prior to arrival at the resort. We were met by friendly dock staff who were waiting to guide us to the proper slip. We got on the water about 2 pm. No power was being generated. The decision to go downstream was made and we fished below the landing then moved up across from the Fish House. Fishing was tough. Nothing seemed to work at least as far as jigs go. Black, black/orange, sculpin, olive, white, the trout just weren't biting for us. Headed up to Monkey Island and then under the power line just below cooper creek. Still nothing. Packed it in and got off the water about 5:30 pm. Wednesday morning we made it out about 9:15 am. Looking at the power generation charts, that was shortly after generation stopped. I know, we should have gotten up earlier but I hate alarm clocks on days off from work. We headed upstream this time starting at Fall Creek outside of the trophy area. I had read an earlier report about some anglers using cooked shrimp and had invested in some from the salad bar during the grocery run the previous evening. There was still a small amount of current so we tied on drift rigs and baited with the shrimp. This produced more than a few good "hits". I brought in 1 - 12 inch rainbow on the shrimp. It was hard to keep the bait on the hook however due to the softness of the shrimp. Maybe it was over or under cooked. I had 1 line rigged with white and pink power eggs. We did not anchor tried drifting with the small amount of current there was, but the wind blowing in the opposite direction (upstream) either held us in place or pushed us upstream. Over the course of the next 3 1/2 hours, we caught a half dozen rainbows in the 10-15 inch range. Took a break and headed back to the resort for lunch. After lunch we headed upstream again, anchoring in the Short Creek area. Pink and white Power Eggs again produced a few fish. I continued to try jig fishing without a good result. At some point I changed over to a white and chartreuse Power Eggs combo and it was "ON". Over the next 2 hours we landed just under 30 fish. Most of them small, but a couple 14-15 inch rainbows and 1-15 inch brown. We kept 1 limit of rainbows for dinner. Maybe our drastic change in luck was that the atmospheric pressure was now rising as the weather would be changing overnight. At any rate, That last 2 hours was a blast. I can't say enough about the hospitality at Lilley's. We plan to return in April during Spring Break for a 4 generation father/son getaway. Lorn M. Dennis Lawrence Dennis

Costa prescription sunglasses cannot be returned directly to Costa for repair. Mine are prescriptions. And the dealer didn't answer emails or calls. So I'm stuck.

Did you deal directly with Costa or through a dealer?

What is a electric chicken??? I googled it and Electric Poultry Fence - Net fence for backyard poultry. came up.

Betcha it was getting heavy!!!

I met two buddies from northern Michigan last week in Branson on their snow bird trip to Arizona. The small motel we stayed at suggested we visit Lilleys Landing if we wanted to try and catch some trout. We got some gear together and after checking in at the office we spent a few hours on the dock and caught a few trout. They decided that they could stick around if we could get a room at Lilleys. A brief visit at the office and we were set up for Sunday Jan.18 - 20. We arrived about noon on the 18th and had some time before check in. We fished for a hour or so and landed two before our room was ready. A quick trip to the grocery and we were set. After lunch we fished till dark and landed 7 more. Monday the 19th was a great Ozark day, 65 and sunny and the fishing was great. 3 limits! The best catch of the day was when we found out about the Fishing Buddy Special ! A quick trip to the office and we extended the trip two more days!!!!! Tuesday the 20th we had a rainy afternoon and but we still caught 8 nice rainbows. Wednesday the 21st we caught 9 rainbows and by now were getting picky, it takes some skill with power bait to catch and release. ha Thursday was check out day, quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and leftover trout and the fish were safe until we return! We ended up keeping 38 Rainbows, mostly caught on chartreuse glitter and orange power bait, all caught off Lilleys Landing dock. The three all we could eat trout suppers were fantastic ! We will talk about this for years! The front office staff, guys on the docks, housekeeping and the guys working on the pavilion (good work men) were all fantastic, couldn't have asked for better ! We did have one suggestion. Bronze Star, Purple Heart still full of Vietnam shrapnel fisherman Butch thought it would be nice if you installed Lazy- Boy recliners on the docks...... Thanks again!!!! Nick, Butch and Bernie

Great report and catch. Thanks for posting!

Go to a Chiro or a good massage therapist and have them massage the inflamed tendons 2-3 times a week. It will be gone in a month. I had same thing for a year. That's what I did and it worked. No drugs, didn't stop what I was doing. The massage breaks up the bad stuff and allows blood to get in and heal the tendons. But I warn you - it will hurt like heck!!! Especially the first week. If it doesn't hurt, they're not rubbing hard enough!

Have to give them cuddos on this one. Now the IRS... that's a whole different animal.

Those that have gone to the trouble (and I mean trouble!) to get a USCG guide's license knows the hoops you have to jump through to get one.... and the cost in time and money. I got my limited 6-pack license for the White River Chain of Lakes in November of 2008 and my Alaska Western Fresh Waters license on September of 2009. I had to take a test for each. Down here, I just went to St Louis and took the test, studied on my own but up north I took a class in Anchorage and took the test there. The licenses are good for 5 years but my AK paperwork gave an expiration date of only 3 years, 2013. They give you a year after the expiration date to renew or you have to go through the whole process again. To renew, you have to get a physical, drug test, Red Cross, document hours on the water and pay a fee. I got it all done and sent in last September but there was some things they want to clarify - owner of the boat and my hours. They gave me 90 days to comply. So the procrastinator I am, I waited till the last minute to get what I needed, then messed up on mailing it in, not thinking of the holiday off-days. I over nighted it but I knew it would be a couple of days late. I don't guide much - may be 2-3 days a year. I take people fishing... but not for pay unless there's a shortage on a big group so the license wasn't a big deal if I didn't get it renewed. But still, it would be nice to have. The AK license I had gave up on. I don't really need it when I go up. The place I go - http://naknekrivercamp.com- is well staffed now, not like in the beginning when Jim needed help. Well, I got my license book in the mail yesterday!! And to my surprise, they renewed my Alaska license too! For once I can say thank you federal government for going beyond the call of duty!!

Looking forward to it. Hopefully we'll have some more jump in. Weather hold!!

First annual True North 3-D League! Location: Ozarks Archery, Reeds Spring Mo. Feb 2: Practice night League officially begins Feb 9 and runs every Monday night through March 23 Time: Doors will open at 6:00pm and league will begin at 6:30. All are welcome to come early, to get in some warm up shots Cost: $10 per shooter, per night Final scores will consist of best 5 nights out of 7 league nights total. Age: League will be limited to 15 and older. Any younger participants will be welcomed if any spots remain when league play begins Feb 9. Space is limited to 18 shooters. This league is filling up quickly. Call, email, text, ASAP! Brett Potter 417-294-2684

Are we having a feud between the Beaver guys and Table Rock guys? Come on, really??

Anchorage, Alaska. You'd have to ask DD what shop.

Yes

We're keeping the official one cast in house for now. I'm afraid with all our regular guests, we'd have a major problem picking and choosing guest casters for it, since it is once a day. But we could always do a one cast video and post it here on the forum...

I have chased many fish stories in my time, mainly word of mouth stories. I don't know if they were true or not - I bet most were true reports - but I'll tell ya most of the time I don't do as well as the story I heard. May be 90% of the time. Common sense has to come into play. You take what you've learned and add a little bit of a good report and go from there. If you jump in hook, line and sinker, you're probably out of your element and you won't do well, even if the fishing is decent.

Glad you joined. Look forward to learning from your experiences.

http://www.orschelnfarmhome.com/OrschelnFarmHome/ctl16754/cp/si6612310/cl1/interlocking-ring-mat-3-x-3-ft?&query=mats&hits=12&offset=

I saw a small brown last week like this one. Very unusual. I'll call it to the attention to hatchery ppl.

You can fish off our dock. Just register in the office first.

Gotta love that dough bait. Good stuff.