Phil Lilley

by John Neporadny While the main lake rocked and rolled with pleasure boat and personal watercraft traffic, I retreated to the calm waters of a Lake of the Ozarks feeder creek on this hot, sunny summer Afternoon. Pitching a plastic worm into the shady areas of boat dock wells, I managed to catch a 4-pound bass, lose a 3-pounder and land some smaller bass before I had to leave for work. The still waters of this creek allowed me to thoroughly work the docks and present my lure slowly without having to constantly run my trolling motor against waves. Missouri's largest reservoir offers excellent fishing year-round, but during the heat of summer we have to share the waters with pleasure boaters, skiers and personal watercraft jockeys. Fishing at night or early and late in the day will help you avoid most of this recreational boat traffic, but the best way to get away from the summer crowds during the day is to head up the lake's headwaters or a major feeder. Most pleasure boat operators prefer the wide-open areas of a main lake and steer clear of these narrow, shallow riverine sections. Stained water and plenty of cover, such as lay-downs, stumps, weeds and rocks, in these upper lake regions keep bass shallow and make them easier to catch during the summer. The best headwater areas have cooler water and current flowing in from tributaries or Truman Dam that activate bass, even during the hottest summer days. The busiest lake in the state still provides good refuges for anglers in the summertime. I have caught plenty of bass and some fish in the 3- to 4-pound range in the backs of Gravois, Indian and the Grand Glaize creeks in July and August when the mid-day boat traffic made the main lake look like a wave pool at a water park. Other good areas to avoid the summer boating crowds include the back end of Lick Creek and the upper section of the Niangua and Little Niangua rivers, but the most consistent summertime fishing is in the lake’s headwaters below Truman Dam. "Any of the river arms work just fine. In the summertime, you just can't fish the main lake during the day on the weekends," says Roger Fitzpatrick, a tournament angler from Eldon. He concentrates on the Osage arm of the lake from Big Buffalo Creek up to the Truman Dam spillway from July through October when he wants to get away from boaters. Siltation at the mouths of coves and even on the main channel of the upper Osage makes hazardous navigating for most recreational boaters. The lack of boat traffic allows Fitzpatrick to concentrate on the flats and boat docks on the main lake. "If the water is high and running out of Truman Dam, then I'll concentrate on main lake stuff such as flat points where the water is breaking around it," says Fitzpatrick. "If it's at normal pool I mainly concentrate on docks either on the main lake or back in coves."The upper Osage also contains stained water, which helps bass stay shallower in the summertime. "Usually in July it's still a summer pattern and the fish are a little deeper. You can catch them during the day but you have to key a little more on brush piles and the docks 8 to 10 feet deep, unless the water is high. In that case, the fish will get up shallower and you can flip the willow bushes. It seems to flood up the river a lot and get into those (shoreline) bushes easier than it does on the lower lake." Current plays a role in positioning bass along the cover in this area. Depending on the current's velocity, bass will hang on the outside of a dock or suspend under it. The fish will also hold on the shallower or deeper ends of lay-downs depending on the amount of water flow. On sunny days, Fitzpatrick pitches a 10-inch Berkley Power Worm along the docks. "Some of the docks have brush and some don't," says Fitzpatrick. Bass usually hold along the sides of the docks whether or not the floating structure has brush underneath it. Fitzpatrick switches to a white jig or spinnerbait for cloudy or rainy days on the upper Osage. The Lake of the Ozarks headwaters contains quality bass that become more active as summer progresses. "In late August you can catch a lot of 5-pounders up there," says Fitzpatrick. "It's rare to catch one 6 or 7 pounds but you can catch a limit of 4- and 5-pounders easy on a good day." For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

Last year was not good... state made them stop fishing when they were running the best. Then let them fish when it was over. Great escapement in 2013. Good for us river anglers.

Nice report. Thanks for sharing!

With little rain and not much change in lake levels, generation pattern has been the same the last few days. Low daytime temperatures have helped to, that is keep the water from running here on Lake Taneycomo. They've been running water late in the afternoon for only an hour, not reaching over 1 unit. Because our water hasn't run much this week, "catching" has improved greatly. The main reason, some of us believe, is it's let lake water temperatures rise into the 50's and that makes for more aggressive trout. It's also helped lessen water clarity, especially with the increased boat traffic this holiday. The water temperature today at our dock is 57 degrees. Rainbows are starting to take Gulp Power Eggs again pretty good but night crawlers are still the best bait by far, catching bigger fish than the manufactured baits. Need to shoot some air in them to get them off the bottom. A trout will eventually find a crawler sitting on the bottom or buried in the weeds but floating it off the bottom brings it up within eye sight where it's eaten quicker. I have a good night crawler story. Yesterday I took my grand kids, Jeriah and Serenity (age 4 and 2) fishing. Our goal was to catch 2 smallish rainbows to paint and print on small shirts for the kids but we had some trouble. Pulled up to the gravel bar at Short Creek about 4 p.m. and dropped a couple of anchors. We were on top of the bar in less than 2 foot of water but within casting distance of deep water off the bar. I rigged up a rod with a #8 hook and split shot, added a worm and shot it with some air to make it float. Threw it out and handed it to Jeriah. He's been out with me before so he knew to just hold on and feel for the bite. It didn't take long. I didn't get but a hook on another line and his rod was bent and about to fly out of his hands. The bow jumped several times and pulled out some line. Jeriah had a tough time keep the rod tip high enough but handled it fine. After I netted it, I said it was too big and we'd have to throw it back. Jeriah doesn't like to release anything--he wants to eat it! I stuck another crawler on the hook, threw it out and handed the rod to Serenity. She did a good job holding it and it again didn't take much time--another bite and a bent rod. This time I grabbed the rod because it looked like she wasn't going to be able to hold on. Then I knew this was another trout we weren't going to keep... even bigger than Jeriah's rainbow. After several runs and helping Serenity reel the fish in, we saw she had a hold of a big brown trout. We hadn't been there 10 minutes and 2 trophy trout!? Wow!! We netted it, took some pictures and released it back to the lake. Jeriah, again, was put out with this release thing. I told him we needed small rainbows for their shirts which he came back with, "but grand daddy, all I catch are big fish!" We caught another "too big" rainbow before the smaller rainbows finally got interested. We caught a couple and headed in. Back to my report: With the a little more turbid water color, anglers are getting away with using 4-pound line again although we're throwing small jigs using 2-pound. We're still seeing some brown trout being caught. Several reports yesterday of browns caught on night crawlers but released because they were less than the 20-inch length limit. This brown was caught on a chartreuse Powerworm just below Fall Creek Marina yesterday, weighing 2.98 pounds and measuring right at 20 inches. The best way, I think, to catch these browns with the water off is to use a 5'6" medium action spin rod, 2-pound line and either a 3/32nd or 1/16th-ounce jig, no float, and work it deep in the channel from Lookout Island down to the Landing. Preferably you don't want much wind and you want to fish early and late in the day when the sun isn't high over head. I'd fish with the colors sculpin, olive, black, brown or they're running just a little bit of water, I'd use white. Let the jig go all the water to the bottom and then hop it up and let it fall. Watch for a tick in the line or for the line to go slack prematurely. Sometimes you'll feel the fish on the line when you hop it up- go ahead and try to set the hook although this is difficult, not impossible. Because the jig weight is small, you can work this lure slow--slower the better. Vary the "hop" from lifting slowly to popping it up. Watch you're rod tip to see how far you're hopping it up. Don't lift the tip more than 4 feet- 3 feet is ideal. Master this technique and you can catch any fish anywhere. We haven't had much wind so jig and float isn't working as well as it should. If you can find chop on the water, definitely use a jig and float and drop a Zebra Midge below it. I'd still use 2-pound or 6x tippet. In the trophy area, I'd consider 7x is they're being fussy. I did fair using a rusty midge the other day between Lookout and the Narrows, setting the float at 4 feet deep and fishing the channel. I did catch one rainbow on the olive Micro Jig I was using as the main fly but the others came on the midge. An olive, 1/16th-ounce jig has been the hot lure this week, working it with no float, fishing it really anywhere from here (Lilleys' Landing) to Lookout. I did real well the other morning fishing it above the Narrows in the channel, catching some very nice rainbows. They likes the olive over several other go-to colors I use. The lower lake is still holding a good number of rainbows. Missouri Department of Conservation has been stocking most of their rainbows in the lower lake this summer because the lake water down there is colder than normal. There's a hot spot that's worth trying. Down below Rockaway Beach around the sharp bend there's a set of docks on the right at the end of T Highway. Below these docks, I hear there's a lot of trout to be caught. Trout Magnets as well as spoons and Power Bait. This coming week, daytime temperatures are going to heat up and these rainbows in the lower lake will make their way uplake as the water temperatures rise, as long as the Corp doesn't run a lot of water from Table Rock. If they do, all bets are off. Fish pictures courtesy of Captain Rick Lisek, Captain Steve Dickey and Captain Phillip Stone. Here's a fishing report Steve Dickey called in. You need FLASH to listen to this message.

Wipe off the paint and they're good.

Nope. They don't.

Painting trout... they got a little over ambitious with the paint.

Here's Jeriah's rainbow.

Unbelievable... I took the grandkids fishing this afternoon to catch SMALL rainbows so they could paint them and put them on shirts (explained in another post). First trout was a nice rainbow caught by Jeriah (yet another post later). Second trout, this 20-inch brown caught by Serenity. Night crawler at Short Creek. They EVENTUALLY caught a couple of rainbows that were small enough to keep!

Never been a soccer fan for the same reasons most have stated - didn't understand rules or strategy and such - but I've watched quite a bit of the games in this world cup and I'm warming up to the game. Of course, at this level, the passing is amazing and one can learn real fast what a good play looks like. yeah- I'm becoming a soccer fan but I doubt if I watch many games after the WC is over... heck I don't have time to watch REAL football anymore. Rather be fishing...

Out this morning. Man what a nice morning- cool and no fog. Fish were still not eager to eat though... not a midge or anything that was just sitting there. Throwing a jig though was another matter. They loved an olive 1/16th oz jig until I broke if off. Other colors did ok but not as good.

Fish- looks like a bunch of females... long and skinny. Chuck and Duck? Do they let you do that?

Dan should be paying you for promoting his lodge... Great pic!!

Looks like a "buggy" day...

Generation schedules for Lake Taneycomo have been consistent this past week. Most days the water has been off in the mornings then running, starting mid-afternoon until 9 p.m. The difference is in how much water is run and when it is shut down. For instance, four full units ran yesterday for three hours. Today only run one unit was running in the afternoon. This pattern should hold true for the coming days. Trout fishing continues to be somewhat challenging, although the last couple of days we've seen more rainbows caught off the dock and out in boats. Our water is still very clear and staying cold with the water running in the afternoons. One revelation about the fishing came through an email I received this morning from our Shepherd of the Hills hatchery manager. I asked about stocking for the past month. Because they've been running so much water, the lower lake's water temperature is colder than normal for a summer month so they've been stocking rainbows, not in the upper lake but down lake. Some of these fish will make their way upstream, but not as many as you'd think. Thus, our trout are spread out throughout the lake versus being crowded up where we are in the upper lake. Some of our guides have been going down lake and finding rainbows in the Landing area and even farther down. There's an area called the Old Corn Fields that's always been popular over the years. It's the stretch just above the mouth of Bull Creek on the west side of the lake. Even when four units are running, you can anchor and fish this area or drift the upper lake. The same bait will work -- Gulp Eggs, Powerbait eggs and paste, night crawlers and even minnows. Actually minnows should work better in the lower lake because there's more small forage fish down there. I'd try a Trout Magnet in the mid to lower lake, too, especially in the Landing area. Pinks are still working good, with the float set at five- to six-feet deep. Trolling has been pretty productive lately. Good baits to troll are hard crank baits such as a Shad Rap or Flicker Shad in small to medium sizes, inline spinners such as larger Rooster Tails and even jigs. If you're throwing jigs, when the water is running, throw an 1/8th ounce white, sculpin, brown, sculpin/ginger or brown/orange out in the main lake or channel and against the bluff banks. Work it close to the bottom. Four-pound line is fine but two-pound is better. From Short Creek and up lake, the rig I described in my last couple of reports is working fairly well. That's a jig-and-float with a Zebra Midge dropper using 7x or two-pound tippet. When the water is running water later in the day, our guides are drifting from the dam down using San Juan worms in pink and cerise colors, as well as #12 orange scuds. We just had two shades of orange scuds tied up this week because most of the bugs we're finding in rainbows' stomachs are orange scuds. Scuds turn orange when they're first hatched or when they die. We're also finding sculpin eggs in their stomachs, which are also orange.

Not a good camera angle and light was poor but this shows there is a good population of browns in the lake. This fall should be good.

Email me the pic and I'll post it, John lilleyslandingresort @ gmail

Way down low in the lake- out of the main lake in the arms. I've heard... never tried.

Scott- if you don't finish your report, we'll finish it for you.

Yea I need to throw them more... just can't leave the jigs alone.

Jeremy Hunt throws them and does fairly well? But I don't think it's nothing like the White River. I've spent some time and others I've taken and gotten a few follows and fewer takes on big articulated stuff. I don't think Taneycomo is a good big streamer fishery.

Whites in Bull- we trolled water 8 to 20 feet. They were in the 8-12 feet.

Pinecone- you're right. I know it cost a little more to package it but I think the idea is fly fishers will pay more for stuff than the regular fisher person.

Sorry- I don't lock off topics that are this entertaining.... Another way to "lock" topics is to quit posting.