Phil Lilley

Wasn't clear on the trout thing... I did say from '58 on but... oh well. Browns catch and release... problem is I don't think we'd see much of an increase in number of size of browns even if it was c&r. Ask Trav- they are hard to catch for 10 months of the year and fairly hard the other 2 months when they're below the dam. I don't see that many browns being caught out of here. Would I like to see it- sure. I do know there was pressure within MDC to widen the trophy area and/or add more restrictions on keeping trout in other parts of the lake- by even biologists- but it didn't fly. Even the director at that time was for it but... it didn't get done. We may see changes in the regs within the next 5 years... but I wouldn't hold my breath.

You know- these issues are fun to discuss but none of us are fisheries biologist with all the facts that really matter when it comes to managing a fishery. I for one can't argue intelligently about the subject, nor can anyone else unless he has all the facts, knowledge and training to decipher these facts.. we're all guessing here... so if we have any fishery biologists in the crowd, please speak up. Unfortunately, the ones I know won't step foot on forums. Taneycomo is and always will be a trout lake. I believe that's set in stone and will never change unless TR dam is removed and it becomes a river again. Trout receives first consideration from MDC- again something that won't change. Why? Because in 1958 Taneycomo became a coldwater lake and the feds promised to stock trout to replace smallmouth bass. The state, thankfully, decided to pitch in. Don't think we'd have much of a trout fishery if all we got were federal fish. As for offending... not. Opinions are good here.

I've seen that sign... welcome.

That's a nice rainbow! I guess you won't divulge your secret spot- huh?!? Yea- this rain is getting old. I was out Saturday afternoon- back down to Rockaway for more gills when we got rained. Of course we left when it was sunny and hot and took no jackets. My son-in-law is skinny as a rail and almost froze on the way back in the fog. Did manage a few nice blue gills in Bull and Roark (on the way back) and this a nice crappie. We waited out the storm under the dock at Rockaway. There is no way to dock at Rockaway now and walk up to town which is sad. We beached the boat after the rain and walked up to the convenient store for coffee. And yes- you found Trav's dock.

I think you guys are simplifying this a bit. To say it's ALL about the $$ is like saying "always" all the time (one of my pet peeves). Using the word all means there's no room for any other reason- period. I think that's alittle narrow minded. I tend to consider the thinking of a fisheries biologist. Mixing certain species of fish isn't smart. You don't stock stripers and rainbows in the same pond. You don't overstock a pond- every pond, lake or river has a carrying capacity- a balance that nature tends to take care of herself. When man tries to interject something that does work, you have trouble... stunted and/or deceased fish. And I might have said this earlier in this thread- can't remember- but I know from talking to MDC biologists in the past, their stance in these kinds of issues is, "if it's not broke, don't mess with it". And I know they don't think Taney is broke. As a matter of fact, they are pretty proud of what they've done here and I don't blame them. Fisheries management is about fish, water, food, structure and fishermen- and in the end, it should make a profit.

I didn't watch but a few minutes but this guy is saying that there's enough oil on the Northern Slopes of AK to last US 200 years. One source is an inside guy at BP.

What REALLY burns me, when I hear Gov. Richardson the other day say, no way are we going to let anyone drill in north AK!! Pebble Mine - google it. It's a huge gold and copper mine near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark which is the headwaters of THE largest salmon spawning rivers in the world. They are allowed to move ahead on this mine which puts these fisheries in danger. Mines are dirty and very toxic. Controlling runnoff is virtually impossible. Why then will people like Richardson not say a word about Pebble Mine but scream about ANWR!! There has to be more to it than what the public is seeing...

Front Page! Great work- thanks!

I think I see mostly smallmouth bass on the stringer- I'm sure there are more than 6 there. Not sure if there's a length limit there. MDC can still use this pic with your testimony or at least they can be aware of this guys activities, esp if he's a local. MDC does watch this board but I'll make sure an agent is alerted.

Coy and I only had a few hours to fish this afternoon after shopping and such and a chamber dinner at 7 but really wanted to go down and fish with Trav below I left for Alaska next week. Got to his dock (thanks to our new map) at 3:30. Because of the rain yesterday afternoon, all the major creeks were muddy. The system that drove Trav in his closet dumped an inch of rain north of Branson but not a drop on us south of town. So we headed downstream. Fished Duck Cove (see map). It's a cove I had fished I bet 15 years ago and caught crappie there. Trav said we should fish shallow water - 1 to 2 feet deep. We wanted to see bottom and we could at 2-3 feet. First cast Trav caught a 14-15 inch largemouth. I kiddingly said that's a bad sign... how many times had I done that esp white bass fishing and not caught another fish. Did we catch another fish in that cove? I think Coy caught another bass on a sinko and Trav had another blow-up on his blue/silver rebel. He was working it like a top water plug- twitching it real slow. We headed to another cove- Sunken Forest Cove (Had to look at the map). Tons on blue gill here- nice ones too. Coy caught another bass on his sinko and missed a couple others. Trav caught another bass (pic) but as he pointed out, the first one was bigger. I ended up resorting to my fly rod and a red humpy- yes I caught 3 blue gill. It wasn't as easy as you'd think... those buggers were spooky and hard to fool. Would love to go back and fish all day for them. It was fun. Great time for just 2 hours of fishing. As Trav says- we'll have to do it again.

The laptop just arrived donated by Patfish - Pat Nelms from St Louis. Many thanks!!

Sockeye aren't picky... I bought thousands of wooly buggers years ago from Kenya for $3.00 per dz. That's what we took up there- nothing fancy at all and they LOVED them. It's terrible they all got burned up. They were great CHEAP flies.

We are pretty much set on flies and even equipment. I'm to my limit in baggage weight for the flight and mailing anything to King Salmon is slow and expensive. Hopefully when I get back I'll have a bunch of salmon and we'll have a big salmon grill party. Thanks to all!!!!!

Maps above now have pdf links at the bottom of each map. This will make it easier to print maps.

You'll have it take it up with invision ip board... they are the ones who designed this forum. Most used the "View New Posts" to see what new posts are made since the last time they were on. You can clear them by clicking the "Mark all forums as read and return to index".

I think I got it.

No way. 703-4 feet.

OK- should be correct.

I see... BUT we have the end of catch and release at the swim area- is this right or does it continue down to the end of zone #2?

yes

Can always use them but don't knock yourself out... people here have been very generous. Hard to say how much is enough. If you want an excuse to tie- go for it. But I think we'll be fine with what we have coming in.

Coy and I got out early this am- at the cable at 6:30 am. Fished the eddie above #1 using sculpin 1/8th oz jigs and caught 7 nice rainbows between 14 and 18 inches. One Coy hooked jumped 8 times. We worked the hatchery bank down past #3 outlet and caught a couple more rainbows. Down at what used to be #4 outlet, there water coming from the pipe again, we started hooking more rainbows in the eddie water against the bank. Made 3 passes and caught 10--12 more rainbows and one small smalley. Some of the rainbows were smaller but none under 12 inches. Drifted down to Lookout and fishing the eddie there. Caught 10-12 more rainbows on straight jig and we tried a jig and float and caught a few that way. All sculpin jigs. Great morning and lots of trout. Built up my confidence on fishing again. I wouldn't call it easy fishing- we had to work for them. Missed alot of strikes- had to pay attention. The fish we caught were all very healthy with pooching stomachs.

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/roaring-river/maps/