Phil Lilley

Hey- have a great time!!

Heard the TV tower in Joplin came down on their station. No one hurt. Fair Grove High School lost their roof and part of their walls. One boy broken leg. We were spared. Very little damage.

As in IF it rains? I doubt seriously if they reschedule.

Have had several fighters fly over this morning... extremely impressive!! We're going out Sunday afternoon. BTW- Branson Airport made USA Today... saw it in Hartford, CT this week.

One thing and I bet you already got 'em... if the others in the tournament now know they cheated, their tournament days are over, at least for that contest. And word gets around... they don't need to lose their check or go to jail to suffer the consequences. I believe reaping and sowing is a natural law, just like gravity and tithing... you don't have to be a believer to reap the benefits or suffer the consequences.

Gonna close this thread. It's been very helpful for the most part and want to thank those who contributed. Sorry I miss the post about Bill Beck. I would have deleted it but it wouldn't make sense now. I think Bill has been exonerated from any wrong doing. He is one of the best guides we have in this area- period. I've said it many times here... if you're going to post negatively, change your screen name to your real name and put your address and phone number on your profile. It's totally chicken to make these kind of remarks and hide behind a screen name.

Phil Lilley, ozarkanglers.com exclusive Vince Elfrink of Branson has a new personal best. And it just so happens it's a Missouri best, too! Elfrink, fieldhouse supervisor at College of the Ozarks, loves to fish -- and hunt-- for that matter. A native of southeast Missouri, he came to the tri-lakes area in the late 1970s to attend College of the Ozarks and there he has stayed and made the lakes area home with his wife, JoBeth, and their three children, Joel, Micah and Luke. Despite his faithfulness to his job and his family, Elfrink takes advantage of every opportunity to either be in the field or on the water. Three years ago he furthered his love for fishing and bought a bass boat and acquired his OUVP Coast Guard License and now moonlights as a part-time fishing guide. This past Sunday, he left church and headed straight to the bank on upper Bull Shoals. He was in search of the white bass and walleye that have been running the last few weeks. Armed with spinning rod, swimming minnows and his hand-tied buck tail jigs, he sprawled down the mud bank to the water to start his "restful" afternoon of fishing. It turned into a bit of a circus though. Hooking and landing a few decent white bass on his quarter-ounce white buck tail jig, he hooked another one – or so he thought. This fish fought about the same, but when it broke the water's surface, it had a different shape and color. It was a yellow perch. Yellow perch are not native to this part of the country. They normally are found farther north and are found primarily in the Great Lakes. But somehow they've found their way into Bull Shoals, much to the chagrin of the Missouri Department of Conservation. In another words, they were not stocked by MDC officials but rather by a third party -- without permission. But they've flourished and are now listed as an official game fish, at least on the record books. This yellow perch was a nice one. Elfrink knew he had something special. He made a call and found out the current state record was one pound, seven ounces. He thought his perch was bigger -- and he was right. He contacted the local MDC agent, Buck Nofsinger who asked him to bring the fish up to the local Country Mart in Forsyth to be officially weighed and verified. He weighed in at a whopping 1 pound, 11 ounces, several ounces bigger than the record. Vince Elfrink is now the Missouri state record holder for a yellow perch. The fish was picked up by officials from Bass Pro Shops. They will hold the perch in quarantine for 30 days and if it lives, it will be placed in their tank at Bass Pro on the Branson Landing. Vince and his prize fish.

Should work now. Phil

Great report- thanks! I'd heard about the K-Cove being hot. Glad you got on them.

Sent in a trouble ticket... should hear something shortly.

No- I don't think Empire has anything online. But as far as thru the turbines, I'd think that's 24/7 for sure. As far as over the top- that depends on if Taney is running. Level would be the level of Bull Shoals basically.

Just as I stopped typing, the rain started here. But it's just a small cell. Checked Table Rock's level and see it hasn't changed yet. Good sign. It may not jump up too bad.

Well, I knew as soon as I reported that fishing was "poor" the fishing would improve. It did. Today the guys said fishing was very good... best in weeks. They drifted night crawlers from Fall Creek to Short Creek and caught some nice rainbows- lots of them. Drifted from Lookout to Fall Creek using scuds, egg flies and san juans and caught lots of very nice rainbows. Why the change? One thing I'd say was lower water- 2 units instead of 4 units. I see the schedule says 3 units tomorrow. We'll see if the trout are still hungry with alittle more current.

Jeremy- you can embed video right into the forum... I edited your post. Hope you don't mind. Great videos!

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Bill Babler. Or a number of other guides on the forum.

Sorry- been busy. I'm open to whatever you all want to do. I got these magnets for real cheap- actually a gift from a guy who sold them at cost. But they're too heavy to mail. Stickers would work. I like the cutout ones you can put inside you back window. I've seen some bright stickers put on motors to signify you're part of a group or something. A small, round one. Doesn't have to be fancy. Let me know.

Another great trip this am. Was up there by 6:15- anchored close to the eddie but in good current. Had whites on first dozen casts using 1/4 oz head and blue/pearl swimming minnows. Also caught them on a 1/8th oz white jig. Three of us had 38 whites by 8 am- all males but one and it was a small female. They're starting to bust shad.

I'm half-way seriously looking for a junker 24-foot-plus pontoon. Don't need a motor. Don't need a trailer either. Got one in your backyard you need hauled off?

I usually post this on OA proper but I'll post it both places, as well as our facebook, wordpress and other places on the web. KC Star called yesterday and caught me in the office. I usually write and email reports out on Sunday or Monday but have been too busy to do it this week. My report for the Star wasn't the best one, only rated the fishing as fair, which was really a stretch. It's almost POOR, which hasn't been in my vocabulary in along time. All us guides have had hard time this week finding rainbows for clients. Catching a limit has been the exception rather than the rule. Why? I usually blame it on the weather, the water- but I think it may just be a lack of rainbows. I'm speaking about below Fall Creek where trout are harvested. Above Fall Creek, I can't use that as an excuse cause I know they're up there and it's still tough. For once, I'm short on answers. All I know it will get better. I once gave a fishing report to a guy from the Joplin area. He called the office and asked how the fishing was. I told him real tough- poor. I think he was surprised, like the Star guy. The Star guy told me it was unusual, even refreshing, to hear someone give a bad report simply because it was an honest one. The guy on the phone didn't like it. He came on and went fishing that weekend and had a great fishing trip! He made it a point to call me the next week and tell me how I didn't know anything about the fishing on Taneycomo. The thing he didn't realize is that fishing- or CATCHING- can change in a day here. MDC stocks 15,000 rainbows and catching gets better!! We're still catching some rainbows down at the bridges and the Landing. Drifting either minnows or Gulp Eggs on the bottom. Some guys staying here found some rainbows drifting minnows in the Short Creek area. Bruce and his wife just went out as well as Rolan and his son. I'll talk to them at noon and find out how they did with the lower water and report back.

Thanks.... good info. Makes us all feel better about what we've found so far. Snakem... is that a song or did you just make it up?????

With all the water downstream, from weeks of running, it'll take along time for it to drop completely off. They've not turn it all back on this morning... nice change. Looks like 2 units.

Took Jean and Francis Steffen out last evening. Took the pontoon up below Powersite and anchored on the River Run side in hopes of getting them into a few white bass. Thought the best and easiest would be minnows hanging off the back of the boat. It was slow at first but before dark they started hitting pretty good. Caught a nice crappie and a dozen whites, a couple of decent ones. All males. Great evening to be out with good friends.

I've been going to a chiropractor, Scott Gamm, for the last 5 years regularly. He has, in addition to adjustments, suggested exercises, stretches and given me tools to help with them. He also suggests other healthy ways to eat, suppling materials on nutrition and other things like cleanses (fun, fun). What he and other chiropractors preach makes total sense. The adjustments seem like a racket to alot of people until their spinal cords start showing problems because of being out of whack for a long period of time. I've had back trouble most of my adult life. Lower back with nerve problems. My spine curves which I'm sure doesn't help. Before I went to Scott, I'd have spells where I couldn't put on my socks or bend over at all, sometimes lasting 6 to 12 months. Most of it was nerve out of my lower back extending down my right leg. Since I've been going to Scott AND working out and stretching, I've had little problems. Am I pain free? No. I'm still stiff in the mornings but I can tie my shoes!! Seriously- find a GOOD chiro that doesn't just adjust and stay with it.

I am confused too... fished too hard for just 6 and they were scattered. No pattern. I'm thinking although we're catching big ones, the numbers overall may be down OR they're just not started and will very soon. It is quiet on the forum as far as crappie. Need more people talking about it.