Phil Lilley

August 2009 Newsletter from the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery Conservation Center CONTENTS [1] Scouting for Badges, August 14th [2] Walk & Talk: Henning Conservation Area, August 15th [3] Fly Tying with Jeremy Hunt, August [No Class August 8th] [4] Hunter Education Class, September 21, 22, & 24 @ Dewey Short VC [5] Dewey Short Visitor Center is closed for Renovations for remainder of August. [6] Ask a Naturalist “What kind of spiders are making the huge webs in the trees along the highway?” Special Note about programs at the Fish Hatchery: Unless specified for scouts, all programs are intended for families. Scouts may come as a family, but they must make their own individual reservations. We do not take multiple family reservations. Each family must make their own reservation by phone. Multiple families may make a single reservation for scout programs. Reservations are taken by phone and not by email. 1. SCOUTING FOR BADGES Friday, August 14th 10am - Noon SCOUTS The Hatchery will have a 2-hour scout event where cub scouts and girl scouts can complete several requirements for their badges. Stations and a hike will be available for scouts such as bear cubs, webelos, brownies, and junior girl scouts to earn at least one badge and in some cases requirements for other badges. Come to the front desk of the Visitor Center to find out how your scouts can take part in this fun event. Reservations are required. Call (417) 334-4865 ext 0 for reservations and more details. 2. HENNING WALK & TALK Saturday, August 15th 10-11:30am - FAMILIES The Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery is kicking off a new program series called “Walk & Talk”. On the 3rd Saturday of each month, staff and volunteers will take you on a different hike in the greater Branson area. Our first hike will be the Dewey Bald Trail at the Ruth & Paul Henning Conservation Area. The Henning Area is located on Hwy 76 just west of the Butterfly Palace. The 0.6 mile hike will be on a paved trail with slight inclines. In addition to learning about the plants and animals of the area, we have a very good chance of meeting up with a Baldknobber to learn the ‘real’ history of the area. This program does require reservations and space is limited. Call (417) 334-4865 ext 0 for reservations and directions where to meet. 3. FLY TYING AT THE HATCHERY Saturday, August 22nd 2-4pm – ALL AGES Join Jeremy Hunt, local fishing guide to learn more about the art and fun of tying flies. This session will focus on streamers that can be used on Taneycomo. This class is designed for both the beginner as well as the experienced fly tier. If you have a fly tying vice bring it, if not, you can share one at the class. There will NOT be a class on August 8th due to scheduling conflicts. 4. Hunter Education Class will be held at the Dewey Short Visitor Center September 21, 22, & 23 (must attend all three nights to get certification) 6:00 pm to 9:30pm (Monday & Tuesday) and 6:00 to 8:00pm (Thursday) Ages 11 and up Here is your chance to take the 10-hour MDC certified Hunter Education Class for free. This class is required for anyone born after January 1, 1967 who would like to buy a hunting permit. This class covers a variety of topics including: hunter ethics, how to handle firearms safely, types of firearms and archery gear used for hunting, knowing your game, knowing the outdoor conditions, hunting preparedness, and much more. A short exam must be passed to be certified. Reservations are required by calling (417) 334-4865 ext 0. 5. Dewey Short Visitor Center closed for renovations. The US Army Corps of Engineers has closed the Dewey Short Visitor Center for the remainder of August for renovations. The grounds and trails around the visitor center will remain open. The difficulty with this closure is that renewing COE permits will be difficult until their alternate office is open. Currently you can get more information about renewing permits and shoreline management online at: '>http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/parks/tabler...e.htm If you need to reserve a campsite at one of the COE areas go to Recreation.gov at '>http://www.recreation.gov/ We will keep you informed if the Dewey Short Visitor Center reopens before the end of August. 6. Ask a Naturalist: What kind of spiders are making the huge webs in the trees along the highway? Mandy in Hollister asks, "I have noticed as we drive that there are more and more large webs in the trees. What kind of spiders are making the huge webs in the trees along the highway?: I found a huge wasp flying around my yard. It was over 2 inches long and was black with yellow stripes. Is this some kind of monster wasp and do I have anything to worry about?" Mandy, believe it or not, those webs are not being made by spiders. They are actually being made by caterpillars. The webs we see in the Spring and Summer are being made by Tent Caterpillars and the webs we see in the Fall are being made by Fall Webworms. These caterpillars will eventually turn into rather ordinary moths. What these caterpillars are doing is actually an effective way to feed on the tree leaves without being eaten by predators like birds. There may be several dozen caterpillars who work together to spin a dense web around the leaves they want to eat. As they eat all the leaves in their ‘tent’ they spin more webbing around more leaves and feed with little disruption. These webbed ‘tents’ can look unsightly at time and several can be in one tree. A healthy tree will survive this caterpillar attack, but trees already weak from disease or ice storms may die. One saving grace is that there is one local bird that finds these caterpillars quite tasty. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (yes we have cuckoos in Missouri) has a strong curved beak which it uses to tear open the webbing. This exposes the caterpillars to being eaten quite easily. You too can pull these ‘tents’ open and pull out the caterpillars. If you pull them out and toss them to the ground, you will find that other birds will show up to have a free meal. You can also put a few of these fuzzy caterpillars on a hook and catch all kinds of sunfish. If you have a question that you would like to have a Naturalist answer, send your question to John.Miller@mdc.mo.gov . We will then answer your question in a future newsletter. Hope everyone is enjoying the last half of summer. Cheers! John Miller Naturalist Program Supervisor Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center 483 Hatchery Road Branson MO 65616 (417) 334 4865 ext 0 John.Miller@mdc.mo.gov

There are 10 soldiers participating in next month's event here on Lake Taneycomo. We're putting together a fly box for each soldier with trout flies. Not asking for many from each person... it's not going to take much... but if you can, send me 10 or 20 or 30 trout flies - you've tied or not. Be sure to give me your name and at least city so each soldier will know who has donated the flies. Send them to: 367 River Ln Branson, MO 65616 attn: Healing Waters Thanks!

See how you like it. I think we've got all the bugs worked out. http://lilleyslanding.com

I tried to find one Dance falling in the water off a boat but couldn't - this will do.

Didn't get out till 2 pm and loaded up at 6. Headed down toward Mincy first and trolled the flats then the channel side using jigs and a hot-n-tot. Had a few bumps plus a big blue gill. There was some surface action but they didn't come up for more than 10 seconds. Headed back up to Snap and trolled around. One stick up and caught 3 crappie, 2 keepers. Blue gill were coming up and ripping little minnows on the surface- kinda cute. Headed back toward the ramp and saw 3 bunches of whites on the surface. They stayed up long enough for me to get 2 out of each school on a white 1/8th oz jig. They were about a pound. Little wind, 85 degrees and hazy to cloudy. Great evening to be on the water - but had to come in. I think it was just getting started.

Happy Birthday!!

Reel Aid 2009 is a concert benefitting Reel Recovery, Casting for Recovery and Project Healing Waters. It is to be held on Friday August 7, 2009 at Minglewood Hall in Memphis, Tennessee. The doors open at 5:00 PM and the concert begins at 6:00 PM. It is scheduled to continue until 11:00 PM. Tickets are $15.00 in advance or $18.00 at the door. You can obtain your tickets at http://www.minglewoodhall.com . The organizations that the concert benefit all use fly fishing to heal the body and the soul. I am much more familiar with two of them, Casting for Recovery and Project Healing Waters. Casting for Recovery is an organization dedicated to rehabilitating breast cancer survivors by introducing them to fly fishing. My wife, Lori, and I have been volunteer guides for their annual outing at the Bull Shoals Catch and Release area. We have seen first hand how it can have a positive impact on these ladies lives. As a Viet Nam veteran, the program that touches me deeply is Project Healing Waters. This is designed to rehabilitate soldiers that have been injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was never wounded but I spent two months in Camp Zama Army Hospital in Japan recuperating from a bout of hepatitis, so I have a lot of empathy for these guys. My brother, Dan, has spent a lot of time teaching them to cast a fly rod and tie flies. I spent several days with them last year guiding them on the White River and Dry Run Creek. I have seen first hand how much this program means to them. I have no direct contact with Reel Recovery, a project that uses fly fishing to rehabilitate male cancer survivors. I do know guys that have participated in the program and others that assisted in it either from fund raising or actually assisting participants in the program. Every one of them felt like they gained a lot from it. The goal of Reel Aid is to raise money to help people in the Mid-South attend Reel Recovery, Casting for Recovery & Project Healing Waters' fly fishing retreats for cancer patients and rehabilitating military. This means that the proceeds of this concert will directly benefit people in this area. My former home town, Memphis, is a hot bed of music. After all, this is where Elvis got started. They have lined up a stellar list of local bands to provide the entertainment. The bands are Inner 61, the Dirt Brothers, The Jeff Scheetz Band and Gabby Johnson. Inner 61 is a combination of powerful vocals, great bass, dual guitars and powerful drums. Their first album, Nothing Personal, has garnered critical acclaim and the band toured the United States from Key West to Los Angeles to support it. Their new single, This Time, is getting some play time and promises things to come. They are working on a new album and preparing to hit the road again. Catch them at this concert. The Dirt Brothers are a cross between southern rock and country. They are a high energy southern country band that must be seen and heard to be believed. Their CD, Rocking ur Country has been well received and is like attending a live show. They consider themselves a bunch of country rebels with a heart of Rock and Roll. The Jeff Scheetz consists of Jeff Scheetz, Matt Waddill and Kent Burnham. Jeff Scheetz is a guitarist and song writer. He is known internationally for his many instrumental CDs. Mat Waddill is the lead vocalist, bass player and co writer for the band. Kent Burnham is the talented drummer. Together the have a bluesy rock sound with a bit of funk that is not to be missed. Gabby Johnson is a band made up of four long time friends that have been playing rock music for over ten years. They have put out four CDs, Walking Out, 129, Been So Long and Life. They have quite a following and have toured extensively. In addition to music there will be a raffle and silent auction. There is a wide variety of quality merchandise available. There is a Winston nine foot four weight Boron rod and a Ross limited edition pink “Reel in a Cure” fly fishing outfit. There are two sporting prints donated by the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation and signed by former governor, Mike Huckabee. If you are interested in a guided fishing trip there are several that have been donated by local guides. I also noticed several other fly rods, a vest and a fly line. If you are not interested in fishing tackle, there is some hand made jewelry and pottery and other items too numerous to mention here. If you want to look at the complete list or just get some additional information on the concert, go to http://www.reelaid.com . I am also going to be involved. They asked me to emcee the concert. I have no experience at it but I believe in the project and want to do something to help. This whole thing was put together by Robin Lambert with a bunch of assistance from her husband Barry and a solid cadre of volunteers. Kudos are well deserved for Robin and Barry. If you want to see a great concert and help some worthy fly fishing organizations in this area please check out Reel Aid 2009. I will be there. Stop by and say hello! John Berry (870) 435-2169 berrybrothers@infodash.com http://berrybrothersguides.com

I changed your skin- that may help.

I've had a mac for almost a year, using safari, and never had this experience. It worked fine "out of the box". It's got to be a setting in your browser. As for the lake cam, I use a windows based program to encode the video so only explorer see it. I am looking into using something else for other browsers.

BINGO!

On July 17, Kansas angler Joe Atchison reeled in what may be a world-record king salmon. Though we'll never know for sure because this brute was released back into Alaska's Kenai River to fight another day. Atchison was guided to the beast by veteran salmon hunter John Whitlatch, who estimates that the fish weighed between 85 and 92 pounds. That weight is based on a measurement of one of the more slender parts of the salmon's girth (it was kicking too much to get it around the thickest part), so 91 pounds is a bare minimum. Whitlatch claims this was a very fresh fish, about seven miles up the river from the salt and still heading higher to spawn, so by not killing it, there is no telling how much giant genetic material was left in the river. The world-record king weighed 97 pounds and was also taken in the Kenai back in 1985. Visit out Field Notes blog for more coverage, and keep clicking to see more shots of this monster salmon.

Gotcha covered. Just copy and paste the embed code. There's a drop down menu below that says "HTML off"; change that to HTML on - Auto Linebreak Mode and it will show up like this. BTY - we picked the perfect weeks to go to camp. They've had 5 days of the last 2 weeks with 60-70 mph winds straight - ALL day and night out of the east. Can't take boats out... can't fly. Stay in cabin and play cards!!

I think I'll go Tuesday. See what all the "fuss" is about

You didn't mention it just had all the seats reupholstered and new carpet and the body was touched up to perfection. It is just like a new boat.

How about on line shows... I'm wanting to do something on line. Just getting ideas. Thanks.

I'm watching North to Alaska. Scenery good of course but all you're watching is someone catch fish. "Look I caught another fish!" Talk about where you're fishing... why you're fishing there... what's going on with the run... how you're fishing and why... be more creative with the camera.

I don't watch alot of TV... but I've seen my share of fishing shows over the years and there are few I'd consider good. Camera angles... effects... I like education. I love education. If you're educating your viewer, all you're doing is bragging. Any ideas?

1ST_Annual_Guns_and_Hoses_Fishing_Tournament_Flyer.pdf This is a pdf file of the tournament flyer with entry form. Here's the rules: Tournament Start Time: 8 a.m. We will send each team out in the order that the team registered for the tournament. Flights will be used with 25 boats per flight on 10-minute intervals. Tournament Weigh-in: Beginning at 4 p.m. Each person weighs in four trout, meaning eight trout per team. Flights will be required to return at their allotted time. If you leave at 8:10 a.m., in the second flight, you will be due back at 4:10 p.m. Other: Boats will be limited to two anglers on one team. No more than two people to one boat. Dock fishing will not be allowed, but you may, of course, leave your boat for a restroom or lunch breaks. Trailering of your boat before weigh-in is prohibited. Absolutely no wading is allowed. All Teams: Will be required to DECLARE where they will fish, either above or below Fall Creek. Those declaring above Fall Creek in the trophy area will not be allowed to weigh in any rainbows “in the slot” – between 12 and 20 inches. Those declaring below Fall Creek are not to FISH above the mouth of Fall Creek at any time during the tournament. No bait restrictions except in the trophy area - follow MDC rules.

I have no idea. Couple of weeks? Depends on how fast they draw it. I got out for the first time this evening for an hour. Started at Dry Wash above Fall Creek and drifted down past the flats working the middle to deep channel. Threw nothing but 3/32nd oz jigs straight - worked off the bottom. They wanted it jigged sharply, not slow. Caught 8 rainbows, mostly at or below the flat. Lots of suckers... not many trout that I could see. Missed more than I landed. My second trout was a very nice rainbow- 19 inches and fat. Started with a sculpin, then tried a white which they ran from, then a sculpin/peach. I wanted to see the jig- see the strike. Great to get back on the water again. Took a while to get my touch back.

A mix-bag for sure. hard to say but I'm sure some generation most afternoons and some mornings.

Nice to know there are rainbows of that size there!! Very nice.

Haven't written a fishing report in almost a month. May be a record... not a good one I guess. But being gone plus not fishing since being back has made is hard to write one. Been real busy with home improvements this past week... but you really don't want to hear all that. This was quite a July, wasn't it? Sure love this global cooling. Fish do too. Generation has been different almost everyday. We check the charts every afternoon to see what they will do the next day - alot of our guests come in and check. It's been pretty accurate. Most mornings it's off and running in the afternoon - up to 4 units. I've heard the same thing everyone has heard about Beaver being dropped resulting in more generation here but we haven't seen it yet. Fly fishing below the dam has been fair to good- depends on the day and time of day. Still catching rainbows on dries - beetles and ants, some midges. With all the rain we're having, San Juan worms in brown and tan are working good in the swifter moving water and with the water running. Scuds in #18's and #20's in tan, olive and brown have been good but have to use 7x tippet to do any good, especially in sunny weather. From a boat, they're using either micro jigs or small 1/125th oz jigs under a float when the water is off both above Fall Creek and below. No wind, the bite has been REAL slight, barely moving the float so you really have to pay attention. And again, 2 lb line a must. Change colors if you're not getting bit. Vince reported NOT catching fish on olive but changed to sculpin and did good. There's not much difference in those colors... but it made a difference yesterday. If they stop hitting one color, don't keep fishing it, change. Change depths too. Below Fall Creek, Bill's been catching some REAL nice rainbows on night crawlers, water running or not. Also, I'd think you'd do well working 1/8th oz jigs along the bluff bank while the water is running. Water off, they've been catching rainbow on gulp power bait, anchoring on the shallow side and throwing to the middle from Short Creek up to Fall Creek. Anchor off the channel and you won't have boats running over you all day. More later... when I get and to fish. And I will.

If it's the guy from Lazy Valley, I've been told he's taking 3-4 limits of trout each day this week. Sure wish someone would check him!

Careful... you can catch trout on a yarn egg fly, no scent, on the bottom, still, and catch fish just like, but not as affective as, power bait. Yarn is legal... presently.

" Not looking for anything fancy, just want a clean room, nice folks and a stall for my boat." Wanda does a great job. You'll be happy with OTR.