Phil Lilley

Here's the report. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/11/Dickey-Nov-9.mp3

Steve Dickey says fly fishing is still "excellent" which I concur. Midge fly fishing is off the chart. Mornings and evening and even during the day trout are eating hatching midges and are being caught on zebra midges. http://anglersadvantage.net/

I haven't followed all of this thread but... I think people are just flat tired of tax increases when gov't in general is so irresponsible with what they spend now, in all areas. Right or wrong, people don't want to keep feeding gov't until gov't gets its house in order. To this point, it doesn't seem like gov't cares about it or is making any motion to correct the problem.

http://www.ozarkssentinel.com/table-rock-master-plan-revisions-require-temporary-halt-to-shoreline-management-requests.html/

Cool! Good lookin' cotton!! Thanks.

Rolan... Chuck's not on the forum.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/03/3898654/the-fall-fly-zone.html http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/03/3898644/missouri-agency-works-to-maximize.html

Got out for a few hours this morning on Taneycomo. Water running--didn't surprise me--but the amount of water they were running did. Saturday? Two units? Really? Banks were lined with anglers, most frustrated by the high water I'm sure. The happy ones were the guys in the prime spots at the outlets. We actually messed around at Lookout Island for a while, fishing a zebra under a palsa, throwing at midging rainbows at the current's edge and caught a few but they weren't liking our zebras much so we headed to the dam to try jigs. We had our hearts set on fishing midges but... the Corp messed our plans up too. Thought about drifting scuds, eggs and san juans deep but decided to throw white jigs instead. I thought we'd have a chance at a big brown but all we caught were rainbows. We made 4 drifted and I think caught 7 rainbows. Some of the strikes were hard but most were soft. Missed quite a few - out of practice. John did hook a big fish out in front of outlet 3. Thought for sure it was a snag till it gave, moved and he felt the head shake. Of course, the hook pulled out just after I hit the trolling motor to slow us down. Had a wedding to go to at noon and John went shopping with his wife. No more fishing today... http://www.youtube.com/embed/6pman6Ne8QY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Ned sends me all his articles.... he's an active member on OA.

Fishing report by Bill Babler. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/11/Babler-Taneycomo-Nov-3.mp3

Got a real good report from Scott Bice yesterday... nice browns at outlet #1 and also some big rainbows. He said he landed a couple. Chasing shad and other forage fish.

http://www.lilleyslanding.com/live-cam Mine is working now.

Mine isn't working on Taney... I have a dedicated computer for just the cam and I've had lots of trouble with it. The Kimberling City one - I know the owner. I'll let him know it's down.

by John Neporadny http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-of-the-ozarks/files/2012/11/397.jpg" alt="" width="470" height="149" /> The Gravois arm of the Lake of the Ozarks has plenty of options for bass anglers, but its creeks offer the best action in the fall. “The back ends of all the major feeder creeks—Gravois, Little Gravois, Indian Creek, Soap Creek and Mill Creek--really load up with shad in the late fall and when the shad move shallow the bass come in with them,” says Scott Pauley, a tournament angler formerly from Eldon, MO. The Gravois arm is a microcosm of the entire lake with clear, deep water on the lower end and shallow, dirty waters up the various tributary arms. Pauley believes this arm is a good area to pre-fish for a tournament if you have never been on the lake before because it allows you to try several different patterns without having to make long runs. “Within 10 miles you have deep, clear water, bluff banks, channel swings, pea gravel, and chunk rock and in the upper end are shallow flats with wood cover, so you can try a whole bunch of different things in a short amount of time and then expand it from there,” he advises. When he finds shad in the creeks during November, Pauley searches for bass with a 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Trap in a Silverado hue. “That is a hard color to find but it really matches the coloration of the shad there,” describes Pauley. He burns the lure on 15-pound test line and tries to bump it into cover to trigger a reaction strike. This tactic produces best for Pauley on sunny days when bass cling to the shady spots of root wads and the sides of logs. He relied on this pattern to take the lead the first day of the 1999 BASSMASTER Missouri Invitational at the Lake of the Ozarks in which he eventually finished 10th. Pauley notices the fish stack up in the wood cover on sunny days less than 4 feet deep in the stained waters of the upper ends of the creeks. He can catch some fish on buzz baits and spinnerbaits then, but banging the Rat-L-Trap into the wood cover can produce a quick limit. “If we keep getting those warm, sunny days I can go up there and catch a limit in an hour if it is right,” claims Pauley. The creek pattern produces mostly largemouth bass in the 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pound range. “Sometimes you’ll catch a 5- or 6-pounder,” Pauley suggests. The Missouri angler has to change tactics when a typical fall cold front passes through and the weather turns cloudy, then cold and sunny. “Those fish will roam too much out away from the cover (on overcast days) so you can’t always pinpoint where they are,” warns Pauley. On calm, cloudy days, Pauley favors waking a spinnerbait along the corners of docks and along secondary points. “Just try to cover a lot of water with it,” he says. His favorite spinnerbait is a Jewel lavender shad 1/2-ounce model with two small willowleaf blades, which he retrieves in an erratic fashion on 12- or 15-pound line. If the day is windy, Pauley slows down his retrieve to run the lure under the choppy surface. After the front passes and the fish ignore fast-moving lures, Pauley resorts to a tube bait or jig to catch these sluggish bass. He pitches his lures to the corners of shallow docks along the flats of the creeks. Pauley prefers to pitch a Texas-rigged Southern Pro Lures Fat Butt Tube (black neon in dirty water and green pumpkin in clear conditions) with a 3/16-ounce Lake Fork Tackle MegaWeight and 4/0 Owner Rig’N Hook tied on 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line. When fishing clear water and sparse cover, Pauley opts for a brown Jewel Eakins’ Pro Model Jig with a green pumpkin Jewel Eakins’ Pro Model Craw attached to 15-pound test line. If the water is dirty and he is targeting heavy cover, Pauley switches to a black-and-blue Jewel Eakins’ Finesse Flip ‘n Jig and the Jewel Eakins' Pro Model Craw or a Jewel Prowler Pro Craw Chunk that he ties on 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line. The patterns remain consistent throughout November and early December unless a heavy dosage of cold fronts keeps hitting the area. “As long as those shad are there and active the bass will be there and key on the baitfish,” says Pauley. “If the shad leave that area because it gets too cold for them then the bass are going to go with them and you’ll have to start fishing points and stuff.” Wind-blown points are good then and any docks where wind is crashing in holds fish that suspend under the dock foam. Fishing pressure drops off considerably during November as many anglers turn their attention to hunting and football. The lack of pressure helps Pauley’s pattern because the backs of the creeks can only sustain so many boats at one time. “The good thing is some of of those flats are huge and the fish only seem to be in a couple of places in there,” says Pauley. “So there may be some boats that come by and will fish the banks or docks, but I fish right out in the middle of those flats looking for those isolated pieces of wood. Any kind of wood is something they can relate to (even if it is a pencil-thin stickup).” When deer season rolls around at the Lake of the Ozarks, try the Gravois arm to get in on some late fall action for shallow-water bass. For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free 162-page 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. Copies of John Neporadny's book, "THE Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Guide" are available by calling 573/365-4296 or visiting the web site at www.jnoutdoors.com .

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/October-31.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="287" /> Fishing -- and catching -- on Lake Taneycomo lately has been awfully good, according to our guides and most of anglers we talk to. Generation has been unpredictable, running some days and not running other days with no real pattern. I'd normally advise checking the Southwest Power Administration site but be warned . . . the generation schedule has been wrong at least two days in the last week. Our water temperature is an amazing 47 degrees. I say amazing because it has stayed around 47 for almost three months. Normally our water temperature from Table Rock Lake rises into the mid 50's in the fall, but that just hasn't happened. Dissolved oxygen levels seem to be very good, too, since our trout are fighting just as hard as they normally fight in the winter and spring. Midge hatches are off the chart at times. I was out a couple of afternoons ago at the dam, wading close to the Missouri Department of Conservation boat ramp when midge flies started coming off the water in swarms. You would have hought I was on a warm water stream in the summer or the White River during a caddis hatch. It was amazing! And the trout responded -- they were all over the surface, slurping as fast as they could all the larva, pupa and adults. They liked my #20 olive loop wing... a lot! Late this afternoon, I fished just above Fall Creek for a while. With no generation and a slight breeze, the midge started hatching all around me. Trout were already midging on the surface. When the air started filling with the small bugs, they increased their activity and I started catching rainbows at will. I was using a #16 rusty zebra midge under a palsa three feet deep, fishing the deep channel above Fall Creek. I didn't catch anything longer than 13 inches but saw several very big rainbow rise while fishing. Usually, these hatches don't happen until dusk but these started early. I was back in well before dark. I kept four rainbows for the grill this evening. As I gutted them, I took their stomach contents and put them in a clear plastic baggy. Adding water, I saw hundreds of midge pupa from these trout in the bag and took some pictures and even a video of them. http://www.youtube.com/embed/8wOufLSC2aU" frameborder="0" width="500" height="280"> I couldn't believe how close a rusty zebra came to imitating these pupas. They even had a rusty tint to them. I did use a #20 cream blood worm up on the shallow flats, and the trout also liked that fly a lot! The problem was that I had a hard time hooking and landing any trout that bit the tiny fly. They were taking it so aggressively that the hook was just popping out. And these rainbows on the flat are nice, mature rainbows that know how to pull and fight -- not an easy battle on 6x tippet. Our guides are also saying that Turner's micro jigs, half micro in tan or olive, have been red hot both above Fall Creek and below, especially if there's a chop on the water. They also recommended Trout Magnets in [ink and cotton candy at and below Cooper Creek if there's a choppy surface. Again, night crawlers are the best live bait to use below Fall Creek and the best areas are just below the creek mouth to down past Trout Hollow. Berkeley's Gulp Power Bait in pink or orange from here around Lilleys' Landing to Cooper Creek has been decent.

We have 2 Lennox 113000-125000 BTU Oil Fired Furnaces for sale. They were installed brand new in our church building in 2009. We are changing over to natural gas. We are asking $500.00 ea. obo. They are in great condition. You can call me at 417-339-1517. On Craigslist http://springfield.craigslist.org/app/3312305807.html

Beautiful trout.

I wouldn't overlook fishing down lake for big browns. Recently they've been seen in the Landing area. Can fish early and late and at night off the bank or from a boat.

In Missouri, it can't be more than a hopper, dropper, dropper unless the hopper is hookless, then you can add the third dropper. Only 3 hooks on a line in this state. Don't know about Arkansas and other states.

by John Berry http://www.ozarkanglers.com/white-river/files/2012/10/245t.jpg" alt="" width="444" height="280" /> My love affair with fishing droppers began about twenty five years ago on my first fishing trip to Montana. The drift boat guide on the Madison River tied a small nymph to the bend of the hook of a large dry fly and we fished it along the bank. I didn’t catch anything on it (my brother and I only caught one small rainbow that day) but I was intrigued with the possibilities. On my return, I began experimenting with droppers and having quite a bit of success. Several years ago we instituted Catch and Release sections on our trout streams here in Arkansas. A key component of the regulations was that you could only use one hook point in Catch and Release areas. This had a big impact on my fishing, as I fish almost exclusively in catch and release water. When the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission updated the regulations as a result of the Trout Management Plan a few years ago, they were altered to allow the use of droppers (the result of a compromise that also allowed the use of treble hooks). I immediately began using droppers almost all of the time, no matter where I fished. I write about fishing droppers often and always mention them in my fishing reports. They have been my most effective strategy for some time. I recently developed a subtle change. For the past few months I have had my clients fishing grasshoppers with midge droppers and we have done well. It is a great way to fish shallow water. The other day I was fishing with Bob Long, a long time client and friend. I was rigging his line with a hopper dropper combination. A few days prior, a fellow guide mentioned that he occasionally used a San Juan worm as the dropper. We had been fishing a San Juan worm with a midge dropper under an indicator and had done well. I thought; why not use both the San Juan worm and a midge under the grasshopper? It took me a few minutes to rig it all up but we achieved success almost immediately. The concept is pretty simple. There are a total of three flies that cover the water from top to bottom. It is like going through a Chinese buffet. There is something for everyone, a nice juicy grasshopper, a hot pink San Juan worm and a tasty midge. What trout could refuse it? The rigging is really pretty simple. I attach a grasshopper to a leader/tippet combination that is nine feet long ending in 4X tippet. I prefer large western foam hoppers. They float well and can support the weight of the other flies. They do not require the use of floatant and are durable. I attach the San Juan worm to the bend of the hook on the grasshopper, with an improved clinch knot. Mid-way down the tippet I cut it and tie a surgeons knot. I attach a bit of weight above the knot. I want the distance from the hopper to the worm to be eighteen inches of 5X tippet. I then attach a small midge (Norfork beadhead or zebra midge) to the bend of the hook on the San Juan worm with an eighteen inch 6X tippet. To fish this rig, you cast it upstream and let it drift downstream in a perfect drag free drift. Mend the line as necessary. The grasshopper is your strike indicator. If you see it twitch or go down, set the hook. Sometimes they take the grasshopper. There is nothing like a vicious top water strike from a big fish. The take is usually the worm or the midge. Yesterday we got takes on all three flies. The problem with fishing this technique is that with three flies you can get some pretty bad tangles. With this rig, it can take a few minutes to untangle them. The key is to cast with big loops and avoid false casting. I have had a lot of success with this technique. Give it a try. I think you will like it.

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/3-Taneycomo.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="403" /> Trout fishing is "excellent" according to Steve Dickey, guide on Lake Taneycomo. He offers good advice for fly fishing the trophy are if that's what you're interested in. Hear his fishing report by clicking and downloading a MP3 file or a MOV file. http://anglersadvantage.net/

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/photo-2.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="332" /> The Southwestern Power Administration has been back and forth the last few days on how many generators they are running. Earlier this week the ran one half of a generator all day but later this week they did not run any until noon or around two in the afternoon. Also, the recording at the dam which tells you how many are running has not been correct either. Despite all of that the fishing has been good here on Taneycomo. There are a variety of ways that you can catch the fish whether on a spinning rod or a fly rod. Are you a sit and wait fisherman or are you an aggressive fisherman? On Wednesday of this week I was boat fishing mainly below Fall Creek until they turned on the power generators. Below Fall Creek we caught them on a couple of things. First, we threw Trout Magnets under a float and caught a few fish. The best colors were Pink, Cotton Candy, Salmon Fix, and Sassy. When fishing these use about a two to three foot piece of 6x or 7x Phantom tippet. We also threw yellow and white Gulp or Powerbait on a drift rig. You can also use just a split shot and a #8 plain shank on four or two pound test line. Set this up with the split shot about two foot above the hook. The main area we fished with this is right in front of the Branson Landing down to Kanakuk Camps. We also went up into Roark Creek and caught all kinds of fish from bluegill to trout. Trout Magnets were the ticket up in there also. Crappie really liked Mealworm Gold color and the trout liked the Pink a little better. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/photo-1.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="428" /> After the generators were on we ran up to just behind the island across from the hatchery. I wasn’t sure if I could make it through rebar so that’s where I stopped. On our ultralight rods with four pound test line and a split shot about two feet above we used the Megadon worm in white and pink. Both colors produced fish about the same. Fishing these is really easy; just drag it on the bottom as you are drifting down the lake. We used these from the island all the way down to lookout. On Thursday I guided with Duane Doty and his wife. We had seven guys from Kansas City and a couple were from Michigan. They had various experience and skill levels but they all did great. We started the day just below outlet two up in the trophy area and it was a little slow. The fish were eating a #18 Rusty or Harvester midge with a #14 or #16 gray scud all on Rio Flouroflex Plus 7x Tippet. The majority of the fish were around twelve to fourteen inches. After a great lunch of smoked salmon and brats we headed down towards Lookout. The generators were turned on so we shuttled everyone by boat over to Lookout Island to fish around it. The fishing really picked up. On the backside of the island they were hooking them great. We switched to just a #14 gray scud or sowbug and the fish tore it up. We did see a few big browns back there spawning also.

7 ft medium action, if you're using it for jig and float primarily. Some guys I know use 8 ft spinning rods but they exclusively fish jig and float - serious anglers.

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/October-24.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="297" /> Set aside yesterday (Tuesday) for fishing. Thought about heading to a different place I decided to stay home and fish Taneycomo. Wanted to wade all morning but the Corp decided to run water all day so boat fishing I did. Eric Evans (ciRe on the forum) wanted to go along so we loaded up and headed uplake about 8 am. One unit on about half or a little more. We stopped at Lookout Island and decided to tie on a stimulator. Wanted to try the water behind the island to see if there any browns back there. Saw some rainbows and caught nothing. Drifted on down and fought the fallen leaves on the water but managed a few rainbows on the dry. Eric did real well. Tired of leaves, we boated to the cable, holding my breathe running through rebar. Threw a jig on the south bank to the island and I think we caught a couple (can't remember). Not impressed, we switched to a #14 zebra under an indicator 4 feet deep and caught5 rainbows first pass. Second pass, nothing! Got me feet wet pushing my boat off the island- not watching where I was drifting- stupid! Not the first time... We made one more pass without any luck so we switched sides and drifted the north side. I wanted to look more than fish it. Wasn't impressed there either. Saw one nice brown. We drifted scuds and zebras all the way down to the ramp and caught a few rainbows. I tried a stimulator again and had a looker, that's all. Finished drifting from Lookout down past the narrows on the shallow side using #12 gray scuds and did well- rainbows but no size. The flat at the narrows was full of fish- did the best there. ~~~~~ This evening, I took Jackson up to the dam and fished from the bank above the MDC boat ramp below the horn. One unit full I think but not enough water to chase me off. Set the float 8 feet deep and started with a miracle fly (egg) and caught 2 nice rainbows. Added a dropped - white san juan, caught one more on the egg. Tied on a #10 gray scud- 200R and caught 4 more rainbows. Lost 2 more. One fish- thought I was snagged... yes "set, yank, pull, head shake, pull out- dangit!! Mosquitoes was terrible! Cool front ought to thin them out. All in all it was a great evening. Jackson loves it up there. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/Oct-24-jackson.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="318" />

Yes there was a brown trout kill. Not as many rainbows. September 2008. How many - not way to know but it was substantial. MDC is trying to build the population back up, stocking more browns than they use to. This is the first "normal" fall season as far as generation. Last year they ran water almost the whole time so we couldn't see. If you're coming just for the browns, specifically big browns, you'll be disappointed unless we see a big, new run between now and then. Tim's report though is very encouraging.