Phil Lilley

I've always wondered about what would happen... I've wanted to setup a video camera in the woods on the bank, mark the lake map with the HOT SPOT over the pipe and then have the city boys let lose. But then there's alot of things we think about doing that we'll never do...

Hey!

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/fall-2012.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="168" /> Generation - no much with the exception of one day this week when they ran quite a bit all day. It did clean the lake out, at least the upper end. They've been running "fish water" in the evenings, about 2 hours of a half unit. Check the SPA schedule, but don't rely on it 100%. They do change it without notice. Lots of leaves on the surface of the lake right now. Remember a couple of things: Trout till hold close and under these leaves, using them as cover and also will eat bugs that come off the leaves. They're also had to fish through if there's a bunch in one spot. When boating, try to avoid the groups of leaves. Leaves will lodge themselves against the back of your motor and cause it to cavitate or suck air down to the prop. It sounds like your motor has come out of gear. Stop, shift into reverse and then you'll be fine. Trout fishing has been great this week minus the time when the wind was blowing 30 mph. Actually the trout bit good during those times, it was just hard to fish! The only complaint we have is the size of the rainbows we're seeing, not the numbers. We're having to catch 5 or 6 trout to get one rainbow over 12 inches. Bill Babler called in a fishing report yesterday and told me how he has been catching trout this week. He says they've been doing well, fishing from Monkey Island up through Trout Hollow using Turner micro jigs (full) under a float. Jig colors - black, olive or ginger six feet under the float when water is not running and pink when it's running. Above Fall Creek in the trophy area, he's using the same rig but using half micros--colors are ginger with copper head and white with white or copper head or olive with a copper head, fishing it not as deep as below Fall Creek - 5 feet deep. Bright sun conditions use the lighter white and ginger colors and when it's cloudy use the black or olive. Rainbows have been quite a bit bigger in this area. Catching some brown trout too, caught on #14 to #16 thread jigs (white). Generation - egg pattern on a drift rig or a small 2.5 inch rapala drifting on the bottom using a drift rig. Rick Lizek reports he's catching trout from Fall Creek to Lilleys' Landing on pink/white or white/chartreuse Gulp Powerbait when the water is running and when it's not on the micro jigs - ginger being the best color. Trout Magnets are also working under a float in Cotton Candy and Pink. In the trophy area, Rick's catching fish using a drift rig and pink or peach egg fly trailed with a #14 UV gray scud or fishing an olive, orange head micro jig under a float. Best when the wind is blowing. Below the dam, fly fishing has been fair. They're seeing a few big browns but not many. Reports are fishing is slow except around the outlets. This usually is a seasonal issue caused by low oxygen in the water but I suspect it's not as much about the low DO as it is just slow fishing. Some days the fish just don't feed. More people walking around might be an issue too. This time of year we'll see a lot more anglers wading around below the dam. Try to be as stealthy as possible. Think small the thin. Small scuds and midges, san juan worms and soft hackles. Tippet - 6x and 7x fluorocarbon. Sculpin patterns may catch a bigger rainbow or brown but you won't catch big numbers. Night fishing is fair. No big bruisers being caught or at least reported.

Is there an article somewhere on this?

JE - I had to read this a few times and I think what you lost is the key to your boat? I thought - he lost a red mustang (like a red 1966 car)?! Not sure how you lose a car but... I think I figured it out.

Welcome. Lots of anglers here fish Bennett.

Got invited to hunt in NE first of November, which I declined. Can't go at that time. Anyhow- they said population looks good. They're hunting a couple of places where they're charged by the gun - $100 per day. Probably alot of those places around.

Wow... didn't see that!

I'm am interested in ND hunting too. I've resisted going up there - always hunted in SW Kansas but the bird population out there have been extremely low the last couple of years. I have a son-in-law that really wants to go hunt pheasants so we may have to look into going up there. I've resisted because I know once you hunt in those conditions (lots of birds) it's hard to hunt anywhere else, although I do like the hunt more than just killing birds. But it is nice to SEE birds.

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2012/10/the-narrows-fall-colors.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="281" /> Got out this afternoon for a few hours. Wind out of the south about 15, party cloudy. Wanted to try scuds against the bluff bank below Lookout. Started across from the tennis courts. Not one bite for the first hour using a brown "mink" scud. Switched to a gray "peppy" scud and picked one up immediately. Using a #12 3769 hook, weighted under a float 30 inches. Dragging it from the bank out. It swallowed the scud so lost it. Next rainbow (video) took another peppy scud, this time it was tied on a 200r #14 hook, wire segmented. Lost that scud too. Didn't pick another one up for a while using an olive "perfect scud". Switched to a tan perfect scud and start catching again. Got to the Narrows flat and backed off the bank and started fishing the flat. Good chop on the water. Small rainbows took the scud pretty good. Fished on down through the narrows and caught a few more. No midge action at all. Did strip a crackleback - nothing. http://www.youtube.com/embed/vMnpgm0pZeQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Any size to your catch? Any browns? Browns like the rain, in my experience. And they like small crank baits. I'd be surprised if you didn't catch any.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's ANY PLACE in Missouri where there's a hook restriction, at least barbless.

What I'm most thankful for is the home plate umpire not calling the last few outside pitches strikes... he sure could have. They were outside the "box" but those pitches had been called strikes earlier in the game. Yes they were close but they were NOT strikes and the crowd didn't like the calls. But to end a game on a called strike 3 when it was not a strike would be very sad... kinda like the last play in basketball. Let them play!

Yea- I didn't crop him out... He's a good one!

This is the midge I had on when we were fishing (video) This is a p&p but with a red tint. I'm going to have Jeremy Hunt describe the materials exactly because I'm not 100% sure I'll get it right.

I know what you can do instead of watching the debate!! Listen to the new podcast - Ozark Trout Bum! Just released today. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/blog/2012/10/11/ozark-trout-bum-october-2012-podcast/

Trees along Lake Taneycomo are starting to turn their fall colors. Some have said we may not have a colorful autumn because of the low rainfall this summer but I don't think so. It's looking like the beginnings of a beautiful fall season. Very little generation lately. Mild temperatures dominate our days and colder our nights. Feels like brown trout season which normally happens later in October and November. Speaking of brown trout, we have seen a few nice browns in the upper lake, mostly small males but a few larger trout holding below Lookout. No reports of anyone catching any browns at night below the dam... yet. No generation means easy access to wade anglers below the dam. Lots of places to find trout and many ways to catch them. Hatchery outlets always will have a lot of trout holding in their flow but outlets will be crowded. Rebar chute will also be a hot spot. Anywhere there's flow, fishing should be better. Scuds from size 14 to 24 will work. Other flies to try are San Juan worm, white or brown, thread or zebra midge size 18, rusty, p&p and olive. If fishing slower or dead water, drop in size and use thread midges, wd40's, loop wing or RS2's, #20 - #24 in red, olive or black. I use palsa indicators because they drop on the water quietly and are pulled under easily. Choppy water, strip a soft hackle #18 in red, black, olive or copper or a crackleback #16 in red, yellow or green or a wooly #14 in olive, brown or black. One suggestion: Look before wading in. You'll probably see trout feeding very close to the bank, even in very shallow water. Scuds are known to swim along the edge of the water in big schools and fish know this. Stand and observe before wading in. If the upper end of the lake below the dam gets too crowded, boating up, getting out and wading is a great deal. You can get out and wade the island at Lookout, behind the island or get out and walk/wade the shallow side of the lake down to the narrows and then on opposite side almost to Fall Creek. Good midge fishing in the shallows and site scud fishing a little deeper out. Depending on the day, conditions and fish-bite, jig and float is working fairly well. The best jig has been a half micro, ginger. I saw Buster Loving's client catch quite a few rainbows on a ginger micro this morning while on a guide trip. But I have heard that at times it's been tough catching up there on jigs. Most days we've had a good chop on the water making it better but this morning it was dead calm and the fish bit really well. I got out a couple of times this week so far. The other morning they kicked the water on for about an hour. I noticed the trout were midging hard up on the shallow side so I took the boat over and set the motor in the gravel as an anchor. I fished a #18 primrose & pearl midge under a palsa 6 inches and caught a dozen rainbows. None very big. They dropped the water on me and I had to get out and push the boat off the gavel. Almost had to pitch and tent and camp! This morning I got out and fished. Started at Lookout on the bluff bank. Trout were midging in close to the rocks on the bluff bank. I tried several dries - elk hair, black ant and stimulator with no takers and the trout were still feeding like crazy. So I tied a #18 ugly zebra midge (olive body, black bead) under the stimulator 6 inches deep and targeted the rising trout. They didn't go nuts over it but I did start catching rainbows. Ended up with a couple of dozen before heading in about noon. they wanted it no more than 3 feet from the edge of the bank, in shallow water. I've talked to several guests and guides and all say, as far as bait goes, night crawlers rule below Fall Creek. But most of our guides are fishing a jig and float below Fall Creek because they maintain they can catch more trout using jigs than using bait. There are a few "hot spots" I can share. Out in front of the River Pointe Estate boat ramp down to the mouth of Short Creek has been good. From Trout Hollow down to where Sun Valley used to be. The Cooper Creek flats and between the bridges and below the last bridge to the "Fish House" is holding a lot of rainbows. Some have done well trolling the old cow bells with a red worm. Bill Babler and I this evening. Very calm, flat water, trout were midging but not real interested in what we were offering. But still caught a few.

Yea- this topic had it's day and I'm closing it. But in the future, calling people an "idiot" is uncalled for and will get a topic shut down every time.

Great trip report. Love it.

The hook may have been in the mouth and the line wrapped around the body or tail but it was brought in tail first. At no time did the fish's nose turn towards the angler. It happens.

Yea- and as they go by, they wave with a big, friendly smile on their face. I know them well.

Probably shouldn't do that... google is set up to notice a big increase in clicks. Might get me in trouble... You can't get much over on google anyhow. Not aiming to get rich doing this site --- just love doing it.

When I first posted the google ads on the site, members pointed out to me a lot of the ads were for singles... and then I started seeing them too. Funny... I had a lot of ad hits back then! I went in and changed some of the preferences and also changed my individual preferences by clicking the corner of the banner ad on the site. There you can somewhat control what you see and don't see. I wish I didn't have to have google ads on the site... when I get time I'd like to find an alternative... but for now the extra $400 a month helps pay the bills.

great report

Some terms I don't quite understand, Ken. "Sow Bugs on cruise control." Stripping them? "Bungee Jumpers." Always moving around? Lots of small rainbows in the lake right now- everywhere.