Phil Lilley

The long boat was different that a drift boat, but kinda the same. I loved the director chairs. Never once, while standing and fishing, did I tip the boat or felt like it was going to - surprisingly stable. Kyle paddled it like a drift boat, jumped out several times when going thru runs with big rocks and led the boat thru those areas. The low sides allowed him to get in and out easily- I was facing forwards but could not hardly feel him when he did jump out and back in- had to look. The pics above are of the same rainbow. Only caught the one really nice rainbow.

Check out the flow data... it's somewhat high but "high" is a relative term. We drifted the river in a long boat, not a drift boat. Big difference. I'd think it would be floatable in a canoe almost anytime except during a low rainfall period which we are not in one.

It'll have to be really heavy to get down.

Vince told me this afternoon that the gates are not all the way off. Emailed Shane and he told me they'd slowed the flow from 20,000 cfs to 15,000, about 2100 cfs coming over the top now. He talked to COE and they said that SWPA has to get Table Rock down to 915 by December 1st (not sure why). If Table Rock gets down to 918, which it should by Thursday, they should resume "normal" generation and close the gates. Water temp is down and DO levels are staying above 4 pmm.

Marsha and I had a very nice float trip with Kyle Kosovich of http://longboatoutfitters.com yesterday. Here are some pics of the trip - http://picasaweb.google.com/Lilleyslanding...WhiteRiver2009# I'll start working on an article of the trip tomorrow along with videos. I thought the water was perfect although I guess it was little high and off color. Saw no one on the river- had it all to ourselves. Trees are in peak colors. Perfect day. And the fish bit! Caught some on a tungsten beaded nymphs Kyle had in green - sorry I didn't get the name or a pic of the flies. Of course I had to try my shooting line and did fairly well. But my jigs were the biggest hit, landing several nice rainbows, 2 browns and a trophy rainbow on any body of water. Didn't measure it but well over 20 inches. These wild trout are amazing. I told Kyle our big rainbow looked just like the ones we catch in Alaska. Told Kyle he needed a bigger net!

The gates shut down yesterday, leaving some, including me, to wonder if fishing was going to continue to be good. Reports this morning are that it is! Vince just came in and said his clients caught quite a few rainbows in the trophy area drifting both white jigs and scuds. He said there were even some rainbows midging on the shallow side of the lake. He's going back out this afternoon so I'll have more to report later. MDC, Shane Bush, was out this morning taking OD readings on the lake. He told Marsha that the levels were good.

Just remember, FISHING above the cable will get you a ticket. Not just standing. That area is CLOSED to fishing.

That's only reading turbines... it was 20,000 cfs while gates were opened, 6,000 cfs were flood gates.

That's great news. But take in account that the gates were just closed yesterday so the decent may not be as fast as it has been. Throw in any water coming in from Beaver and take away the lack of flow from other sources and hopefully the level will be down close to power pool within a couple of weeks.

According to the COE chart yesterday at noon.

Just have to wait and see how fast Table Rock's level drop from here... with only turbines, not flood gates. I would guess 24/7 flow for at least 2 weeks, depending on rain fall.

Yes- it's above the cable at outlet #3.

Sounds like another Never-Ending-Story...

I started laughing before I began to read this... I knew what was coming. Like the new avatar too...

I've heard that they were going to shut it down the day before yesterday, yesterday and today... they may or they may not. But know this... once they shut the gates down, they hopefully will stay within their restricted flow and that's 125 mw, about 2.5 turbines. They will also have to inject liquid O2 to keep the levels above 4 pmm. Right now, at least below Fall Creek, the level is well over 6-8 pmm which is fantastic for the fish- that's why it's been so good. Once they shut it down, it might not be as good because of the drop in oxygen. So don't be so quick to wish for the gates to shut down. Yes the water is high and fast but as long as you get down to the bottom, you'll catch trout, as long as their biting. Yesterday was a slow day because the trout didn't bite as aggressively as they did the day before. That's fishing (catching). I'm not trying to discourage anyone not to head down and fish... but when the gates do shut down, it will be slower and shallower, water will go back to 50 degrees and the DO will drop. The trout may not like that for a day or two. But they may like it too!

is 46 today!! Happy Birthday, Don!

Jeremy- can you give us a fishing report? How are you catching fish and on what?

Wow... I'm speechless. First, I will close this. Thought about deleting it but I like the initial post too much. It's a funny story about a guide having a bad day. Nothing wrong with it. Most everyone got a kick out of it. Again - take your personal stuff and put it in a PM. Keep it off the forum.

John and I got out at 9 am this morning and then this afternoon from 2-5 pm. We boated to the dam. 10 gates. Same conditions we've seen all week. Fishing was slow all day in general... not like yesterday at all. White 1/8th oz jigs were by far the best. If they weren't on the bottom you didn't get bit. I tried adding split shot but was about the same as a straight jig. Almost all the rainbows were good sized - up to 18 inches probably. Good fighters too. I did hook one big brown below outlet #3 about 100 yards and the hook pulled out. "> " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="360"> "> " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="360">

My thoughts exactly. And I don't have a dog!

Good read... I can identify.

Correction- I sell the jigs and jig heads, not the molds.

I sell them at the shop and online. Or you can get them from where I get them but I have more colors than http://ejigs.com. As for heads, I have them too but they aren't cheap. I can't get unpainted heads.

I don't cast in the outlets... they are limited to a small portion of water and I have the whole lake. There are more trout in the main lake than the outlets... it's a misnomer to think they are all at the outlet mouths. You experienced the same thing I did with the wind. I had to constantly move the boat downstream with the trolling motor, keeping the boat moving the same speed as the current. I threw straight upstream, which I don't like to do, and starting working the jig when I felt the bottom for the first time. I lost several jigs. I haven't seen any shad either. I have also not seen any FAT rainbows, another sign I usually look for when looking for evidence of shad. I think we've had shad come over the top but they've lived and are schooling around, as reported. The best fishing has been drifting a scud from Andy's down to Fall Creek by far. If the wind isn't bad, the dam drift with white jigs would be good too.

I don't want to start anything here guys but how can you distinguish one fish from another. There is a remote chance they are but... We always get in trouble guessing size and weight of fish - in someone's hand, in the water... wherever. I'll just say from now on... it's a big fish. No lengths, no girths, no weights. And leave it at that.