Phil Lilley

4-inch trout.

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/jamie2.jpg" width="250" height="269" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">The theme of this record is like a broken record . . . wait it is a broken record. Our beatiful fall weather hasn't changed in weeks with a high blue sky, 75-85 degrees, no rain and only a little wind. Generation patterns . . . again, hardly any change. Most days, water is running any where from a half unit to two units, 25-85 megawatts, and varying during the day. Some days the generation starts at 3 p.m. and runs through the night. On others it starts at midnight and runs through the next day. The only consistent pattern is that there's no pattern at all. Little water runs on weekends, but not always, except that there is usually no generation most of the day on Sundays.</p> <p>Fishing -- if anything it has slowed a bit. That's what we're hearing from guests and guides alike. But the minute or hour you think there's no trout in the lake, they turn on, and you can catch a bunch of nice rainbows. It's still fishing. Not biting? In the fall, low oxygen in the water usually gets blamed, but the rainbows I have caught fought hard and swam off quickly, indicating they have plenty of oxygen. The other reason suggested for the slowdown was fewer rainbows in the lake, but the Missouri Department of Conservation is still stocking. Fishing pressure has actually decreased the last week, too, and will continue to decrease in the coming weeks.</p> <p>Night crawlers are still king, by far. We're carrying live minnows due to so many requests, but I don't think they're working any better than worms or Power Bait. The Gulp variety is still catching some rainbows but mostly smaller ones. And we do have some real small rainbows swimming around right now. I caught one last evening that didn't stretch to four inches. I was drifitng a san juan worm and a scud using a small split shot and felt something kind of like bumping gravel, but not quite. But not big enough to be a real fish? It was. It didn't stop bumping in a weird way, so I reeled it in and fought a fish on the hook. They are small!</p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/jamie1.jpg" width="250" height="201" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">I have a new recipe for a drift rig I want to share. I've been using it lately and I think it's a great rig. Tie the normal rig with a hook or fly on one end and a loop closer to the other end, but leave off the bell weight. Instead, make a loop, loop it through and make a small, simple knot in the line real close to the end of the line. That's it. Then pinch a split shot on the line and slide it down to the knot. What makes this better is, first, if your weight snags on the bottom, the shot will just pull loose. Tie another knot and pinch on another shot. This also allows you to change size of split shots easily. I really like this since our generation has been changing so much during the day lately. If it slows I can put on a smaller shot. If it speeds up, I can pinch on a little bigger shot. No, I don't have these in our tackle shop yet, but I'm working on getting them tied up.</p> <p>I used one of these rigs yesterday, drifitng a light brown san juan worm, medium chinelle, 6x tippet, #10 hook and a #14 dead peppy scud on the bottom and caught some real nice rainbows. I boated to the dam about 11 a.m., after water started running at 9 a.m. There was just enough water to get all the way to the cable, although I was holding my breath running through the rebar area. I threw a 1/8-ounce sculpin jig from the cable down past rebar and caught five rainbows in the 15-to 18-inch range. They hit hard and fought hard. They were hungry. No browns. I didn't do as well through the big hole area but caught a few smaller rainbows down closer to the boat ramp. I worked the KOA stretch with no results. Started drifting my worm and scud at Lookout and quickly boated an 18-inch rainbow. It jumped three times and made five hard runs. I was amazed that this fish was this full of fight this time of year, pleasantly surprised. Caught six more rainbows before heading back to the resort, all in the slot. I could see our small rainbows as I drifted down, but I guess the big ones were getting to the flies first. Same result in the evening, but I found the dinks, too.</p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/doty1.jpg" width="250" height="188" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">Night fishing below the dam has been a mixed bag. With water running so much at night, it's been tough for most who aren't used to fishing at night. There's some room at outlets #1 and #2, but tangles and trees cause most anglers to head back to a warm bed and dreams of doing better at daylight. But if you do catch the water down, there's a variety of flies to try and ways to work them. I would think the big browns would go after a larger fly but you know, we've been catching big browns at night on smaller wooly buggers for years. On moonlit nights like last night, don't be scared to try a white streamer. Check out my last report for a list of night time flies we have in the shop. Or, as I tell people when they ask about the flies in their own collection -- give them a try! They'll probably work.</p> <p>To try night fishing, first, carry a light but keep it off the water you're fishing . . . and off the water others are fishing. Light will spook fish and they will leave the area--quickly. Second, don't be in a big hurry to wade out in the water. A lot of these trout cruise the banks for sculpin. Third, don't crowd the angler who's already in the water. Remember, there's current. If you wade in just below someone who's fishing, you're probably standing where he was casting. Keep a long space between each other or don't wade out very far.</p> <p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/doty2.jpg" width="250" height="188" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">If the water isn't running, in the area above Fall Creek, micro jigs in olive, tan or black are working. Fish them four-to six-feet deep under an indicator. These are also working below Fall Creek. We've been getting a good midge hatch in the evenings, and rainbows have been taking them off the surface. Tie on a zebra midge in red or black, #14 or #16's and place an indicator 12 inches from the fly. Target these midging trout as they rise. You can throw this rig with a fly rod or spin cast rod and reel.</p> <p>Scuds imitate freshwater shrimp, which are the staple food for our trout. Shrimp live mainly in the upper end of the lake where it's shallow, but they are found throughout the lake living in gravel and dead, lying timbers. Beaded scuds can be used under an indicator, just like a micro or marabou jig, and worked close to dead trees and steeper banks and docks.</p> <p>Scuds are a great fly to use above Fall Creek just off the flats in the channel. If the water is off, you can use a tandem rig (two flies about 18 inches apart) under an indicator. Set the depth according to the water you're fishing, and make sure your flies are on the bottom. Use a weighted scud or use split shots to get them down. Move the indicator every 10 to 15 seconds to make the flies hop off the bottom. Scuds swim and do come off the bottom when swimming. You're flies should mimic these bugs as closely as possible to attract a bite. If the indicator moves in the slightest, set the hook!</p>

I bet what you saw in 08 was MDC putting in Christmas trees. They do that every year, not part of this project. I thought putting in trees was supposed to attract or give shelter to minnows and other small fry as protection, esp right after spawn. I'm not sure... I'm NOT an authority on the big lake or bass fishing at all. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Got to ask... is putting a pile of rocks on a bank in one place going to ruin the whole stretch of bank. The sm banks I fish are from 100-1000 yards long. Plus, all of the banks I fish for sm on in the dam area don't yellow dots. I can see where putting a pile on a point would affect that point but to say a whole area - bank- stretch- is damaged, even if it was true that it's bad for the sm, by a pile of rocks.

You should see where they are dumping before posting. See the map on MDC's site. It's not just where this map shows. They are dumping all over the lake.

From Mike Allen, biologist MDC Table Rock Lake Habitat Enhancement near Clevenger Cove Michael Allen Fisheries Biologist Missouri Department of Conservation During the months of October and November 2010, MDC staff, along with contractors, will be placing fish habitat structures in Table Rock Lake near Clevenger Branch. These structures will be composed of large, rip-rap (rocks; 12-24” diameter) and large hardwood stumps. Structures will be placed in areas currently devoid of physical habitat, such as gravel flats and points. To minimize boating hazards, structures will be placed in water no shallower than 15 feet (elev. 900 feet msl) in any area, and no shallower than 20 feet (elev. 895 feet msl) in areas heavily travelled by boaters. Structures composed of rock will be concentrated in a single pile, building the structures taller off of the bottom and minimizing the distance covered on the lake bed. SCUBA surveys have shown that “rock piles” that were built up taller in the water column (3 -– 5 feet) were much more effective at holding fish than “piles” that were scattered out along the lake bed. Structure size along the lake bed will be minimized as much as possible and will be no more than 30 feet long. Structures composed of stumps will be distributed in a relatively straight line parallel to the shoreline within the specified depth. The hardwood stumps being used are very large and stand up to 5 feet individually. Therefore, spreading the structures into “stump fields” will minimize safety concerns and be very effective at holding fish. Structures placed shall be no closer than 300 feet from any other artificial structure. With this in mind, the structures will cover no more than 10% of the bottom in any area. This will create more diverse habitat locations for fish and anglers to utilize. These structures will attract more baitfish and crayfish to the areas where placed, therefore attracting more game fish. All three species of black bass (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted) were found using the structures placed in similar areas during recent surveys. In the areas surveyed near Table Rock Dam, smallmouth and spotted bass were the primary bass species observed on the structures.

Pretty much the same two tournaments on the same weekends. Both are artificial only, 2-man tournaments out of Lilleys' Landing Resort. Both usually have about 25-40 teams entered, depending on weather. Come out and have a great time! Here's the flyers and entry forms. http://ozarkanglers.com/taneycomo/tournaments/2011_tournaments.pdf You can call the office at 1-800-284-2196 and ask for an entry to be mailed out to you.

Why don't you all ask them yourselves... 417-895-6880 is the Springfield office's number. Call them for contact information on Shane Bush and Mike Allen. Call, email go talk them in person. Why keep asking questions on a forum that MDC won't/can't post on? It's like asking questions knowing you're not going to get an answer, at least here.

My daughter and son-in-law have a great choc female lab they want to breed next spring. I told them I'd post to see if someone knew of a pointing lab male that would be a good mate for "Darby". Thanks

got it

Brad Wright also brought in a bunch of his sculpins. We're adding some colors and he's tying the same line in a smaller version. I think we're up to 8 different colors. Leonard is restocking his hybernators and sculpins too. He's tying his hybernators in #6 and #8's now.

It was suggested to me that I should consider adding some new flies to my shop... namely some big ugly streamers. So I did. So now I have to let everyone know they are here and ready to be fished. Rainy's Deer Hair Mottled Sculpin - WTD Mike's Olive Organ Donor Mike's Pec's - Olive Mike's Pec's - Brown Mike's Pec's - Grizzly Galloup's Olive Zoo Cougar Galloup's Tan Zoo Cougar Galloup's Black Wooly Sculpin Galloup's Rusty Brown Monkey Galloup's Rusty Olive Monkey Galloup's Rusty Articulated Monkey Galloup's Olive Articulated Monkey Galloup's Mottled Articulated Monkey Galloup's Black Dungeon Galloup's White Dungeon Galloup's Yellow Dungeon Galloup's Olive Dungeon Galloup's Natural Dungeon Galloup's Black Bottom's-Up Galloup's White Bottom's-Up Galloup's Tan Bottom's-Up Galloup's Olive Bottom's-Up Galloup's Black Articulated Fathead - TH Galloup's White Articulated Fathead - TH Galloup's Olive Articulated Fathead - TH Galloup's Tan Articulated Fathead - TH Galloup's Tricker

May be they should make all drivers take a OUPV Captain's test before driving. They cover these issues specifically in their manuals. That way everyone plays, or boats, by the same rules. I know... more gov't/regulations are bad, but . . .

Nice gills.

There's alot of people who are not on facebook. Facebook is nice for some but is restrictive due to the fact that you have to sign up and learn how to use it. This forum you only have to look at it.

I love the face pics...

I thought this would be kinda fun... with all the great fish being caught this fall, I thought this would draw some attention and a little competition between the various fisheries like the White, Norfork, Taney and even some of the rivers in south-central Missouri. What I'd like to see is some great fish images, old and new but preferably recent fish posted. We'll see who has the best fish in the Ozarks. Let's see them!

Yes- educate us on your neck of the woods. What was the forum? Give us a link back to it and I'll repay the favor. And we always love fish pics!

I've actually tied on flies in the dark... just to see if I could. Not bragging... may be a little strange to try. I put the fly in my mouth and then thread the line using my fingers and tongue. It does take a while. Tying the knot is easy- I don't do a complicated knot. I could write out an article in on night fishing- or use one I have already- and add the light thing along with other etiquette issues and put it on the windshield of each vehicle on a weekend night. Don't hold me to it... but don't be surprised to find something on your truck. I could use the OAF dots to make sure they stick.

<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFalv8XmgKA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFalv8XmgKA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFalv8XmgKA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object> <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2twMznJHc3E?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2twMznJHc3E?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2twMznJHc3E?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object> <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e3rU41ju4M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e3rU41ju4M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e3rU41ju4M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object> Chonda was the best!

I missed it. I'll read it later today.

You're exactly right. Didn't mean to single out anyone.

I saw that. And you're right- I don't have any say what's advertised thru outsidehub.com. Surprised they'd spend the money to advertise in the lower 48. It's not that politics are looked down here... it's just that you guys can't have a civil conversation about it. We'd have to change the name of the forum to OAF Beatdown.

This fishing report will be much like the last one. Not much has changed except our generation schedule is much more unpredictible. SWA posts a schedule on their internet site each day but that's beginning to be unreliable to some degree. Then when they run water, it's up and down all during the day and night. Each hour, the numbers run from 25 to 70 mw which translates to 3 to 5 feet of water in the upper end. Of course, downstream that's not as much water flow but when they pick up flow, it knocks lose moss from the bottom and for the following 30 minutes or so, it's hard to keep it off your line, fly, hook or lure. No real big deal... the upside is our trout usually start feeding when they increase flows. Saying that, fishing has been pretty good this past week but those pesky little rainbows are still showing up on our lines. Some rainbows we're seeing are as small as 5 inches long! They're kinda cute but . . . that's not what most of us are after. I'm sure they make good brown trout bait! May be that's what we should be using for big trout- rainbow colored flies and lures. Wait . . . that's what we use! In the mornings, there's quite a few rainbows midging the surface especially around floating leaves. In the fall when the leaves start dropping, leaves form a line towards the middle of the lake. Rainbows are draw to these leaves and feed on midges and other tiny insects on the surface. I target these trout with either my fly rod or spin cast equipment and throw a small spinner or a jig and float. When fly fishing, I use a zibra midge under an indicator, black or red in size #14. The point is to keep whatever you're using close to the surface where the trout are holding and feeding. Look for midging rainbows from the Landing clear up past Lookout. The most popular live bait has been Gulp and night crawlers. We're still using one white egg plus another color like pink, orange or yellow. Still using air injected night crawlers and worms are catching larger rainbows on average. Four-pound line is still ok to use. If they're running water, use just enough weight to get to the bottom and that's all. Too much weight and you won't be able to feel the bite from bouncing on the bottom. In the trophy area, there's a bunch of rainbows but again, lots of them are smaller than 10 inches. It's fun, non-stop action at times with an occasional larger rainbow being caugh and releasedt. You can see quite a few trophy rainbows swimming around but it seems they've gotten an education this summer. Steve Dicky has been guiding later in the day and reports when they run water, he's catching bigger trout on scuds drifting them on the bottom from Lookout down through the flats. So it seems these larger rainbows are waiting for generation to eat. Stands to reason, scuds are shaken from the gravel when the water starts and are easy pickin's. Gray, tan or brown have been the colors of choice and with water running, #12 and #14's are working but then it's off, go smaller - #14 and #16's. Number 16 black zebra midges are also working under an indicator. Target midging rainbows on the shallow flats and set the indicator shallow (6 inches) or fish them in the channel and set the indicator deeper (3-5 feet deep). Micro jigs are also working. We're using 6x tippet or 2-pound test, setting the float 4-5 feet deep and using tan, olive or black 1/2 micros. They've been taking the jigs gently (is that a fishing term?!), barely moving the float so watch closely and be quick on the set. And the most important thing---look for chop on the water! We chased riffled water most of the day the other day cause that's where we could get bit. Fish always feed better under a choppy surface verses a smooth, slick surface. That goes for almost all game fish. Below the dam, we're seeing more and more brown trout show up for the dance. No huge browns yet but quite a few good trophies at or over 20 inches. There are also some equally large rainbows up there too and some of our guys are catching them. Bruce Omans of High Ridge spent a week fly fishing for trophies and struck gold several times. He told me he loves to sight fish and it looks like he's successful at it! Now what exact fly(s) he's using I'm not sure of but I do see a large, dark streamer hanging out of at least one fish's mouth. These trout see allot of small scuds and midges but not as many bigger streamers in comparison. Something to think about. Night fly fishing is picking up. With the arrival of the brown trout, also arriving are higher numbers of anglers. I went last night with two good friends and were not surprised when we arrived to see a dozen cars in the parking lot. Walking down to the water, we were greeted by a line of guys wading all along the area between outlets #1 and #2. We found a place alittle bit aways from the crowds and started fishing about 10:30 pm. I tied on a #6 brown hibernator, Duane had on 2 flies in tandem--a white bunny leech and a white cone head leech and Mona Cheri has on . . . well I'm not sure to tell you the truth. But we all caught fish- all rainbows and all less than 19 inches. We were startled (understatement!!) by the horn at midnight which pretty much ended our night. The fly I was using, the hibernator, had a small bead for weight but even with the bead, the fly didn't sink that fast. There's always a bit of slow current up there so when I made my cast either staight across the current or angled downstream at a 45 degree angle, I let it set for a count of 10 or more before starting my retreive. About half my strikes came before I started stripping and they were hard takes. The other strikes came within the first 3-5 strips. My strips were slow and I paused inbetween each one. I did touch bottom but not very often. Hope this detail helps. One other thing I will mention. I couldn't help but notice that anglers last night were shining their lights in the water looking for trout. Also when they had to adjust or tiw on a new fly, they weren't careful where their light was pointing. Fish are spooked of night at night. When leaving at time and no one is around, I take my light and look around in the shallow water below the dam just to see what's out there. Fish, in particular big fish, always dart around when I hit them with my light. Some completely leave the area. These night hallogen lights are very bright and throw out a beam that can be seen for many yards around and throw in a little fog and you're lighting up the whole area around you even if you're not pointing it in the water. My advice--turn your back to the lake and keep your light close to you when you're tying a new fly on. Be observant where your light is pointing when walking around and don't shine it over the lake and especially don't point it out over the lake at other anglers. There's enough ambiant light down there you can see bodies in the dark and usually when you're walking close to someone in the dark, they will click their light on for a second to give you a heads up where they are.

There was a fly reel in the middle of the road leaving the hatchery lot last night. It's not an expensive reel but I'm sure someone needs it for today's fishing. If you lost one, shoot me a email and identify it and I'll leave it in the resort office for you to PICK up.