Phil Lilley

Art Hines replied. Said Neosho raised the rainbows from California in the late 1800's and stocked them in Crane. No stockings since. Neosho has not stocked any rainbows since the turn of last century.

Neither rain, sleet nor snow shall keep some anglers away from their crappie spots in the dead of winter on Lake of the Ozarks. While fair-weather fishermen cower in the warmth of their homes, others shrug off the cold because they know they can catch quality crappie in the winter and virtually have all the best fishing spots to themselves. One angler who spends his winter days--and even some nights--pursuing these tasty panfish is Terry Blankenship, a Lake of the Ozarks angler. All fish feed year round, but some become harder to find during the winter time. Blankenship believes crappie are easier to locate than other species when the water turns cold as the fish concentrate more on structure and brush. Blankenship also believes he catches bigger fish but less quantity during the winter. "The average size of the fish is generally a little better then," he says. The local angler claims the Lake of the Ozarks is one of the best wintertime lakes around. He catches crappie in all sorts of winter weather, including snowstorms, from November through January. By the end of January though, the water has dipped to its coldest point and the lake level has been drawn down which seems to affect the fish. "When that happens, the combination of both makes the fishing terrible," Blankenship admits. Crappie can be caught shallow during the winter at the Lake of the Ozarks by fishing around condominium docks at night. The lights of the docks draw baitfish to the top, and crappie follow them to the surface. Blankenship says he has actually seen some crappie hit his jig while fishing the docks at night in December and January. When fishing during the day, Blankenship concentrates on brush piles he has placed along main lake points and other areas near deep water. Some fish are taken around docks, which also have brush piles sunk nearby. The fish usually stay at least 15 feet deep. His favorite lure for wintertime crappie is a 1/16-ounce plastic tube jig. Water clarity determines which color plastic body Blankenship selects. For clear water, he prefers natural colors such as smoke or shad, while in dingier water he favors orange or chartreuse. For the dingiest water, he switches to a red/chartreuse combination. Fishing a jig in cold water requires a slow retrieve. "Just holding a jig stationary sometimes provokes a strike," Blankenship says. Since the fish are reluctant to chase anything in cold water, Blankenship keeps a lure in from of them the whole time by presenting his jig vertically rather than casting to the brush. The angler also tries to imitate the action of a dying shad darting and fluttering on its side. "I'll use that motion when I'm jigging to try to simulate what the shad are doing," he says. Blankenship works his jigs on a Bass Pro Shops Micro-Lite rod and MegaCast reel filled with 6-pound test Stren high visibility blue line. He prefers the high visibility line because he has to watch closely for strikes this time of year. "Sometimes a crappie will hit and you'll never feel it, you'll just see your line move," he says. Since he's fishing fairly deep, he doesn't believe the high visibility line spooks fish even in clearer water. Whether you fish day or night, you can catch a mess of crappie if you can find the right brush piles this winter at Lake of the Ozarks. 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.

Thanks- this is what I have: For <a href="http://www.agfc.com/fishing/Pages/FishingRegulationsbyTechnique.aspx" target="_blank">Technique-Specific Fishing Regulations</a> see Arkansas Fish and Game's Site. <hr /> <strong>Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass -- </strong>15-inch length limit. <strong>Spotted bass</strong> - 12-inch length limit. Limit - 6 daily, 12 possession on any combination of bass- largemouth, smallmouth and spotted. <em><img title="sp_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/sp_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="73" /> <img title="lg_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/lg_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="75" /> <img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/fish/sm_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="73" /></em> <hr /> <strong>White bass </strong>- no limit. <img title="w_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/w_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="92" /> <strong>Striped, hybrid bass</strong>- 3 daily, 12 possession. Striped Bass must be 20 inches or more to keep. <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-32" title="Striper" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/beaver-lake/files/2011/11/Striper1.gif" alt="" width="200" height="93" /> <hr /> <strong>Rock bass</strong> (goggleye) - no length limit, 10 daily, 20 possession. <img title="rock_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/rock_bass.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="87" /> <hr /> <strong>Crappie</strong>, white or black - 10-inch length limit, 15 daily, 30 possession. <img title="w_crappie" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/w_crappie.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="90" /> <hr /> <strong>Bluegill</strong> - 50 Daily limit. <img title="bluegill" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/bluegill.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="110" /> <hr /> <strong>Catfish</strong> - 10 daily limit, 20 possession. Channel catfish, blue catfish and flathead catfish, combined. No daily limit on bullhead catfish. <em><img title="c_catfish" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/c_catfish.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="55" /> </em> <blockquote>&nbsp;</blockquote> <strong>Walleye</strong> - 18 inch minimum length, 4 daily, 8 possession. <strong><img title="walleye" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/walleye.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="74" /> </strong> <hr /> &nbsp; Legal to take game fish (except largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass) with spear guns during season. Handicapped-accessible fishing piers are available at Hickory Creek and Prairie Creek. Game fish may be snagged from the bank below Beaver Dam, from the Corps of Engineers “No fishing beyond this point” sign, downstream to the first Corps of Engineers boat ramp on the left descending bank from April 15-June 15. &nbsp; <strong>Fishing Licenses</strong> <strong>Residents</strong> - those fishing of the ages of 16 and older and 65 are required to have on their person a valid Arkansas fishing license. Those 65 and older do not need a fishing license. <strong>Proof of residency </strong>- Valid Arkansas Drivers License. Non-residents - those fishing of the ages of 16 and older are required to have on their person a valid Arkansas fishing license. <strong>Cost of Fishing License </strong> Resident - $10.50 annual (from the time of purchase) Border Permit - $10 Resident 3-day - $6.50 Non-resident - $40 annual (from the time of purchase) Non-resident 3-day - $11.00 Non-resident 7-day - $17.00 Non-resident - $22.00

Some of these limits and dates are from Missouri so.... don't shoot me, just give me the right data.

I like some aspects of Arkansas Fish and Game's website but it's REALLY tough to tell what fish limits are on a particular lake. Please help me with limits and lengths cause I'm pretty sure I've got some wrong. Couldn't find anything on catfish or seasons on spoonbill. Do the limits change if you're up in one of the feeder rivers like the White? But this is what I gather from it what the limits are on Beaver - For <a href="http://www.agfc.com/fishing/Pages/FishingRegulationsbyTechnique.aspx" target="_blank">Technique-Specific Fishing Regulations</a> see Arkansas Fish and Game's Site. <hr /> <strong>Smallmouth Bass -- </strong>12-inch length limit, 4 daily, 8 possession. <strong>Largemouth and spotted bass</strong> - no length limit, 10 daily, 20 possession. <em><img title="sp_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/sp_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="73" /> <img title="lg_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/lg_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="75" /> <img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/fish/sm_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="73" /></em> <hr /> <strong>White bass </strong>- 25 total daily, 50 possession. <img title="w_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/w_bass.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="92" /> <strong>Striper, hybrid bass</strong>- 6 total daily, 12 possession. <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-32" title="Striper" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/beaver-lake/files/2011/11/Striper1.gif" alt="" width="200" height="93" /> <hr /> <strong>Rock bass</strong> (goggleye) - no length limit, 10 daily, 20 possession. <img title="rock_bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/rock_bass.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="87" /> <hr /> <strong>Crappie</strong>, white or black - 10-inch length limit, 20 daily, 40 possession. <img title="w_crappie" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/w_crappie.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="90" /> <hr /> <strong>Bluegill</strong> - no limit <img title="bluegill" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/bluegill.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="110" /> <hr /> <strong>Catfish</strong> - no length limit, 10 daily (only 5 can be flatheads in a daily limit), 20 possession. <em><img title="c_catfish" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/c_catfish.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="55" /> </em> <blockquote>&nbsp;</blockquote> <strong>Walleye</strong> - 18 inch minimum length, 6 daily, 12 possession. <strong><img title="walleye" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/walleye.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="74" /> </strong> <hr /> <strong>Spoonbill</strong> - 2 daily between March 15 and April 30. Length - 34 inches between the eye to the fork of the tail minimum. <img title="paddle" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/09/paddle.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="44" /> <hr /> &nbsp; <strong>Fishing Licenses</strong> <strong>Residents</strong> - those fishing of the ages of 16 and older and 65 are required to have on their person a valid Arkansas fishing license. Those 65 and older do not need a fishing license. <strong>Proof of residency </strong>- Valid Arkansas Drivers License. Non-residents - those fishing of the ages of 16 and older are required to have on their person a valid Arkansas fishing license. <strong>Cost of Fishing License </strong> Resident - $10.50 annual (from the time of purchase) Border Permit - $10 Resident 3-day - $6.50 Non-resident - $40 annual (from the time of purchase) Non-resident 3-day - $11.00 Non-resident 7-day - $17.00 Non-resident - $22.00

Couple of changes for this upcoming winter tournament schedule for Lake Taneycomo. Masters Trout Tournament has been moved up a week to January 21. The Team Trout Tournament's name is changing to the Vince Elfrink Memorial Trout Tournament and the date will stay the same- the last Saturday in February, February 25th. Tournament Flyer and Entry Link

Yes everything is back to normal.

Boy- can't help you with accessing docks by land since all are private. Even if you had a canoe, you could catch crappie by accessing the lake at Bridgeport and fish the bank up there. May someone else can help.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-451" title="Babler and Babler" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/11/Babler-and-Babler-500.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /> Bill Babler, his son Stephen and I headed out from Aunt's Creek this morning about 10:30 a.m. in search of pan fish - white bass or crappie. Bill said some of his comrades had been catching some white on flats in 30-40 feet of water on the bottom. Heading up in the creek arm, we boated about 4 miles and stopped in an area Bill called School House. We thought we found some whites on the depth finder and they may have been whites but they weren't interested in our spoons. Big needle nose gar were popping on the surface all around us and I snagged one with my spoon. Bill hooked and landed one largemouth but that was it. We moved. <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-450" title="Babler Table Rock Bass" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/11/Babler-Table-Rock-Bass.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="241" /> We hit a few more flats and again saw big schools of shad and what looked to be game fish but no bites. Then we turned our attention to crappies and the docks. I knew of one dock I'd caught crappie on last winter so we went over and tried it. It was on the bluff bank and the dock had 60 feet of water under it. We tossed our white/chartreuse grubs in the stall and dropping no more than 6 feet we got bit. Crappie! Didn't have to measure these beauties, they were slabs! We landed a half dozen and moved on down the bluff bank thinking we'd find more around some trees but didn't. We headed back towards Aunts to try a few more docks we'd eyed on the way there. We hit 2 more docks and caught crappie in both. Again, they were less than 10 feet deep--some were as shallow as 3 feet. Bill actually saw one crappie take his jig. We'd switched to white 1/8th oz chrome dome jigs- they dropped slower in the water then the larger jig heads and grubs. We ended up with 20 keepers, back at the ramp by 12:45 p.m. and on the road to the lodge to catch the start of the Arkansas/LSU football game. But had to take time to filet, fry and eat some fresh crappies for lunch -- good start to the crappie winter season!! <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-454" title="Table Rock Crappie" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/11/Table-Rock-Crappie.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="295" /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-453" title="Table Rock Crappie Frying" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/11/Table-Rock-Crappie-Frying.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="255" /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-452" title="Table Rock Crappie Fryer" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/11/Table-Rock-Crappie-Fryer.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="246" /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-455" title="Table Rock Fried Crappie" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com.php5-24.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/table-rock/files/2011/11/Table-Rock-Fried-Crappie.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="237" /> &nbsp;

I can contact Art Heinz if no one else knows him.

A guest said he boated up with his daughter this morning and threw brown style Boyant spoons at the Riverpoint boat ramp. He was casting toward the bluff bank and caught a bunch of trout before the water started moving.

Only in the state trout parks do you have to stop fishing after you've caught your limit of trout, not in any other lake or stream in Missouri. You're assuming they took their fish caught below Fall Creek into the trophy area and also you're assuming they were in the slot. Or you're assuming they kept fish in the slot or kept any fish after keeping their limit below Fall Creek. it's comments like this that keep people from posting fishing reports. They get hammered by the least little thing.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1845" title="Nice Brown on Taneycomo - OzarkAnglers.Com" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2011/11/Nice-Brown-on-Taneycomo-OzarkAnglers.Com_.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="233" /> It's Thanksgiving Day and are the fish biting? No, they're taking a holiday. No, fish don't take holidays, especially from eating. And they will probably eat today. They do most days. Question is what are they interested in and where the best place to find hungry trout? Generation: Pattern changed yesterday (Wednesday) from running 24/7 to periods of no generation. <a href="http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx" target="_blank">SPA's schedule</a> says water will be off Thanksgiving morning till mid day and one unit will run in the afternoon. Friday's says it will run a little in the morning and off in the afternoon. I expect this pattern will continue for the foreseeable future. So you'll have some opportunity to drift and still fish; wade below the dam if you like. Water quality is poor when the water is off though. Dissolved oxygen levels plummet to near zero according to the <a href="http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17240" target="_blank">Corps chart</a>. When the water is running, the Corp injects liquid oxygen into the turbine and keeps the levels high. When the water is off, the only oxygen that is released is through the hatchery outlets, which is very significant. It's enough to keep trout alive. As I've mentioned before, this is an every year occurrence and this will continue till Table Rock turns over which should happen sometime after the first of December, depending on temperatures. What this means for fishing--trout may be sluggish and not fight very hard. They may not take the bait very aggressively. It may cause them to not feed at all. Water clarity is fair, not clear, so you can use 4-pound line for about anything when using lures and bait. For fly fishing, you should be able to get away with using 5x tippet for most flies. Water temperature is 57 degrees. Bait fishing below Fall Creek has been very good lately with the water running. Our guides are finding lots of rainbows when drifting power bait from just above Trout Hollow down to Lilleys Landing. Gulp eggs in orange or yellow are working best. Also night crawlers are working good too. When the water is off, air injected night crawlers are going to work best when still fishing. Move the bait every once in a while to keep the fish interested. When the water is running, we've been drifting and using a jig and float rig, using a 1/16th oz white, sculpin, olive, olive/sculpin, sculpin/peach jig under a float any where from 4 to 6 feet deep. Also throwing a 3/32nd ounce sculpin or white jig and working it off the bottom. We're still catching warmwater species up below the dam on jigs--smallmouth bass, blue gill, walleye and white bass. Also seeing some crappie being caught down in our part of the lake around brush on white swim baits and jigs. Small to medium sized crank baits are catching some nice browns lately too. Work them along bluff banks and around brush and trees. Rapala F-7 in the gold/black and rainbow style are best. Darin submitted this fly fishing report yesterday: Today was a great day for fishing. I only fished about two hours but it was very productive. Most of the fish were small but a couple were around 17-19 inches. There was only 1 generator going and the water was perfect for streamers. <img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1844" title="Gallup's Zoo Cougar" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2011/11/S1007small.jpeg" alt="" width="100" height="100" />I fished a white #4 Galloups Zoo Cougar on my 5 wt with 150 grain, 24 foot sink tip line. I was casting as close to the bank, below lookout on the south side, as I could keeping the boat about 50 feet from it, stripping long and fast. I had many fish chase it all the way to the boat. Most of the takes were between strips, on the pause. <img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1843" title="Hunt's Miracle Fly" src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2011/11/480_miracle_pattern_as.jpeg" alt="" width="100" height="100" />I also fished a yellow 1/100^th oz miracle fly below a palsa. I fished the same area as I did with the streamer but just about 4 to 5 foot deep and about 10 foot or less out from the bank. Most of the fish came from the areas that had a good current break, behind rocks and trees, but still on the moving water side of the break.

We started fishing Sunday at the dam around 3pm. I was just using a spin casting rod and reel. Tried a rooster tail, and a black wooly jig no luck. My buddy was fly fishing caught two rainbows. Sorry not sure what he was using. Rented a boat for monday and Tuesday. Caught our limit both days, using yellow and pink salomn eggs, once we caught our limit we headed up past fall creek to lookout point. Caught plenty of rainbows with minnow like crank baits. Fished off the dock at night with not much luck maybe 3 fish. We will be back, and we will tell everyone what a great place lilley's landing is! Thanks again yours truly Jim Foster

Any moon- just go fish.

One thing- you can watch it more than once or back it up if you missed something. Brian- you might play around with editing it to normal speed when you want to show something that's detailed or showing material. But the overall idea is great. You're the perfect person to discover it.

Ryan and I went up and cut the big sycamore tree that was laying over and blocking the channel at the Narrows this afternoon. But BEWARE!!! It's lying on the bottom of the lake about 30 inches under the surface when the water is off. It sunk like a rock when it was cut. The current should move it but I believe it's going to have to be some serious, 4 unit flow to move it down stream. Until then, it's going to cause some issues. We cut all the branches off of it but you can see the stump on the east bank as well as some small stickup on the shallow side. We cut it in the middle too so it will break apart when it rolls. I bet it holds trout but drifting over it- you'll lose some "junk" as Babler says.

Water just shut down. The schedule says it's supposed to run all day. I bet it will be off most of the afternoon. We're heading up to cut the tree out of the channel at the Narrows!!

On second thought... I think this topic has made as many points as it's going to without going to the gutter. I do remind everyone, new and old, to keep personal comments out of your posts. You can make your points without them. it degrades your points when you have to add them. It's getting harder and harder to keep from these types of topics simply because so many of us are affected by today's political and economic situations. That's why I try to get some leeway to topics like this. But when it gets personal, can't allow it. So this one is closed, with the last 3 comments deleted.

ditto

Thanks for the report. Greg was the only "Lilley" at home the last few days. My mom's brother passed last week and most of us made the trip to Denison, TX for his service so we were all gone except for Greg who held the fort down. Glad you had a god time.

Welcome

Not that I know of.

The info given was from data collected from 1993-1995. Don't know about any other clip study doing on. Does seem like they've done some since but not sure.

Good. He's very smart which helps. Spends the most time with my dad which is good. Thanks