Phil Lilley

Brother... I'm not into titles. I have enough drama I don't need to be compared to a crab boat captain

Mr Babler and I guided a father and 3 sons this morning. We started and ended up below the dam, drifting white 3/32 or 1/8th oz jigs almost the whole time. Babler's guys figured out the bite earlier than we did and thus ended up with more trout. They counted 32 and we caught 20-something. I'm not a clicker like Bill. But the rainbows we caught were porkers, to borrow rainbow's term. Most were over 16 up to 19 inches and thick- fought hard too. They had a great time. Bill was drifting his jigs behind the boat and not reeling, just jigging them. He said he'd make 3-4 casts per drift from the cable to the KOA, letting it drift. I like throwing it to the side and working it but that's me. But I had my clients doing that and one couldn't get the feel. The dad was wacking them pretty good and giving it to his oldest son. Later in the morning, the tide turned and the son caught up using Bill's technique- and his were bigger. Did try some other colors- sculpin/ginger did pretty good too.

Yes it's that high. Not sure about the weekend. If it stayed hot like this I'd say yes but it's supposed to cool down. I'd say a big maybe.

You're so right........ it's permanently moved to the Taneycomo Hall of Fame where it belongs. Glad you're doing ok.

I guess I could upload it to YouTube but it's not half the quality as flash. Not sure why it won't work. I'll ask my geek friends.

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/do...=shockwaveflash

Not really- just stay in the middle and you'll be fine. That's if the water is running of course.

http://ozarkanglers.com/index.php?option=c...&Itemid=103 Just so everyone knows there's more than one now. Have another tp post later this am.

Me and Bill have put together a package trip for a couple of weeks in September. First week is booked- only one week left. Here's the skinny- September 7-14 4 clients only $2295 per person Lodging at King Salmon Inn (hot meals, hot showers, flush toilets (yea), even sat TV and WIFI- but who has time for all that!!?? Fly out and camping at the Ugashik Narrows for 2 nights, 3 days fishing for giant Char. Rest of the time fishing for world class rainbows on the Naknek River. Rate includes lodging, food, guiding and flyout. Does not included fishing license, special foods or drinks or flight to King Salmon. You are expected to supply your own equipment and gear. We will supply the beads (flies). Goes without saying... first to get us a deposit gets the spots.

I've been to Sarasota lots of times but don't know any guides. I'd start with the fly shop in town- I know there's one close to one of the keys there- not sure of the name. Let us know how you do.

Well- got out and did some Missouri fishin' this evening with the kids. Jimmy, Megan and I took a pontoon up to the cable- started about 7 pm. The fog was already rolling in, chilling the air down to in the 50's. Felt just like... Alaska! Well not really. But you know the rainbows almost felt like the Naknek rainbows. We caught I bet 15 all together on 2 drifts from the dam, half were well over 16 inches and all were big and fat and fought like champs. Back before I left a month ago, I drifted up at the dam using flies and jigs and they just weren't biting. I was worried- why weren't they eating at least some of the time? Did they all leave!?!? Nope- and they have grown to be big ones just like I thought they would back when this high water started in April. We used white jigs- mainly 1/8th oz. I did try a sculpin/ginger jig and did almost as well. Had to have them close to the bottom and they were just tapping them softly. Meg and Jimmy got the handle on it pretty quick. Bill was right- they are all over a white jig up there. Lots of fun to come!

I'll let you know when I'm ready to go. If I'm going to start taking in $$$ I should set a few things up first like a bank account and keep it separated. I'll do a mailing to all members soon. If you want to, go ahead and email me banner ads and scripts so I'll have an idea what I need to do design-wise. lilley at lilleyslanding.com

Already had 37 successful views of the bear video. If you can't view it, you may want to download the latest version of flash or your firewall may be blocking it. I've uploaded a total of 4 videos so far.

I've emailed Web - hopefully he can address the issue. I've posted another "spinning wheel". I can see it fine from here. Could be the version of flash you're using.

I'm playing around with flash and it looks really good so far. Take a look and see if you have any problems with it. http://ozarkanglers.com/index.php?option=c...&Itemid=103

How about $10 per month. He's something I threw together - http://ozarkanglers.com/index.php?option=c...49&Itemid=1 Or I could start something on the forum itself and manage it. Limit to one or two images and 1000 words of text.

I am back. I have hats and bumper stickers but I'm almost out of stickers. Hats are $10 and stickers are free when I get more. Same design unless I can work something out before I have them printed. Idea- and this is off the top of my head. I may offer a place, a page on oa where members can advertise their businesses for a nominal fee. I like to kick it around and see what happens.

Am looking to print some more ozarkanglers bumper stickers and thought I should use someone from this place to do it. Not looking for a great deal... just a fair one and to give someone some business.

John- there no reproduction going on in Taney but you're right on the food part.

Not weekly but only monthly numbers. I remember ball park numbers off the top of my head. jan 25k feb 35k mar 55k apr 60k may 80k jun-aug 90k sep 80k oct 65k nov 45k dec 25k Location- if by boat they load downtown and head up or down. Very seldom above our place (Lilleys). Sometimes Rockaway and below when the water temp is ok.

Can't believe you all are still catching eyes below the dam. In the past when we caught, say, whites or crappie below the dam during flood gates, they'd disappear as quickly as they appeared. I'm beginning to wonder... Jet skies- I wouldn't worry about them Rich... cold water is pretty hard on the engines. Don't think anyone would run one for any length of period without problems. Never know.

Am in Anchorage- 4 hour layover. Time to catch up on news, sports and the forum. It was alittle hard leaving- just alittle. They found tons of silvers moving up the river today- only reason I slightly wanted to stay. Otherwise, I'm ready to be home.

Well... Sid was the brunt of most of the conversation. Seems he's quite a character on and off stage. Boated to Brooks and Margot today- great last day here in Alaska. I tried to get away from the crowd and take in the quiteness and absolute awesomeness of the landscape and the rivers and countryside. What a blessed man I am and how I wish I could take everyone up to experience this. The ride over was marvelous- very smooth. Temps in the low 40's on the lake but the covered boat wasn't too bad. It's always fun to see the new clients at the first sighting on a bear. This time there was one on the beach about 4 miles from Brooks. We pulled up along side him and followed him along the shore. He was of course looking for a snack and not paying much attention to us even though we were making alot of noise with the motor and cameras clicking. But then our waves hit the shore behind him and you should have seen him jump ahead like something bit him in the butt. On to Brooks- mom and 3 very small spring cubs on the beach greeted us. Bear school and we were on to the falls. No bears at the bridge so we breezed by. Lots of BIG males at the falls this time and a few sockeye caught. Couple of fights over fish. BB is THE big bear of the park and showed it, taking a freshly red away from an equally big bear but in the pecking order, BB had already secured his place over all. Pretty cool. Lots of chasing going on- large bears chasing off younger bears trying to get to the best spots. We walked in off the walkway thru the woods to the river- no bears this time. Fished down to the ox bow- clients hooking sockeye and Duane and I targeting bows. I hooked 2 bows that were as big or bigger than the sockeye that quickly blew downstream and broke me off. Sometimes you just don't have a chance. Landed a couple of smaller 20 inch bows and a couple of sockeye between having to move to one side or the other for a passing bear. Duane and I both heard what sounded like horses running just inside the woods on the bank up from where Duane was fishing and immediately a bear bolted out and right at Duane- but with another bear on his heals. Didn't know Duane could move that fast, esp in waste deep, moving water. Said his adrenalin was flowing for an hour afterwards. When the group headed up and on the trail to the lodge, I stayed behind and walked the river down for a while, taking in everything. No one else was fishing the river and the bears I could see were harasing the people near the bridge- again. So I had the river to myself. Pretty incredible 15 minutes of solitude. Then I heard a ranger lady screaming at something or someone. I looked up and saw a bear around the cabins- a place where they are not welcomed. Our group was just getting to the cabins and I guess she was screaming at them! Daune and John said she was out of control- yelling for them to go back down to the swamp and come up another way. They were practically to the top of the hill and out of the woods so no way were they going to take the clients back down because of just one bear... so they acted dumb and walked on thru. Then I approached- I saw the bear and started to go right and find a path thru the trees. She yelled at me 3 times to go right and find another path... and I was already there. I'm surprised- she's a veteran ranger but she handled the situation very poorly. But I scared some tourist to dead when I came up the hill- and very thick brush- to the overlook, yea I was kinda ducking and shaking the bushes alittle more than I should have but what the heck- they're there for a "bear" experience. I gave them one. I didn't say or even look up at them when I came out of the tall grass. One lady plopped on the ground when she saw me come thru- I think she almost fainted. Margot- 2 float planes at the mouth- not good. But we dropped off a few at the mouth to fish and Ryan and I took Mike and Marta (couple from Traverse City, MI) up 3 bends to a place where Ryan has slayed the rainbows yesterday. They weren't biting. Marta had trouble with the current and fell one but only to her knees and didn't get wet. I, though, went in face first while trying to "power walk" upstream in knee deep current. Yes got my video camera wet AGAIN but I think it still may work- we'll see when I get home. We finished there and wanted to head back down. The problem was we'd come thru some really, really thick grass and trees to get there and a bear came off the same trail after we'd been up there- and back in the same patch of woods so Marta didn't want to go back that way. The only other way was the other side of the river which I wasn't as versed in but Ryan said he'd taken it the day before so we started. About 200 yds up we saw another bear in the distance on our trail so we darted off the trail and to the east into what I thought was a meadow. But beavers had built a series of small dams- and big dams- and flooded the whole area. There was ankle deep water and neck high water and it all looked the same. We got deeper and deeper- it was really beautiful- the fir trees, the tall grasses, the mountains in the distance- incedible- and I kept telling Marta to take it in but she was more concerned about BEING lost and bears. Then Mike fell into one of those holes. He went down pretty hard and deep. Well, he had ribbed Marta when she fell to her knees but she crucified him for his fall. She wasn't worried about being lost anymore- it was payback time. It lasted the rest of the walk, rest of fishing time, rest of the boat ride home and even back at camp. Fishing- they caught a few char and sockeye but fishing wasn't very good. We headed back on another glassy lake- very enjoyable. Going to spend tomorrow getting all my stuff in order. Leaving all my clothes and carrying only fish home. Going to leave Duane to the bears... silvers are in the river now so they'll have a great time with them for 3 weeks or so. Weather has really straightened out... just as I'm leaving. But I'm ready- to go home to my wife who I've missed very very much. Kinda cool pic at Margot. Ryan with a red male- really big sockeye and beautiful. Be home Tuesday-

3 days and I'll be HOME! The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the heat. It got up to 64 yesterday and we thought we all were going to roast. Two sunny days after 3 weeks of clouds and rain- not the summer we wanted here. Locals say that was summer and now fall starts. Weird. On Thursday, I got a treat. Sean Guffy, known as waterman here on the forum, is from Rolla but fishes commercially here in Bristol Bay. He finished his sockeye stint the other day and called me to ask if I wanted to go out and try for halibut. Sure!! Just to get out on a fishing boat was a blast. We elft Naknek about 7 am and headed north towards the Kvijak River area and dropped the nets for salmon- both bait and take home... Sean and crew wanted to take some sockeye home. We caught sockeye, dogs (chum), pinks and silvers. Then we went out 30 miles to some holes and ledges another fisherman told Sean about. No luck. Tried a few other places with the same result. Oh well. Headed for home, stopped and caught a few more salmon in the mouth of the Naknek. Pulling into the river, we passed a crab boat called the Provider. Sean said it was one of the original boats on the Deadliest Catch. We had to drop off our dogs (for bait) so Sean gave me a tour of the boat. Cool stuff!!!! Also got some inside stuff on some of the captains on the show... Sean will be in Kodiak for a couple of weeks and then home. Looking forward to seeing him here on the forum again. Sean looked for "jumpers" to signal a school of reds (sockeye) but they were few and far between. The red season was winding down, the pinks were in mid-stream as far as moving into the rivers and the silvers were jsut starting. They left their nets out for 30 to 60 minutes. You could see splashes above the net when a salmon would hit the net. Sean and Eric both break the gills and bleed each salmon- the cannery they sell to require it. The headless salmon was caused by a seal. There are thousands that hang around the mouths of the rivers waiting on the fishing boats and they food line nets. They place havoc, taking fish from the nets and tearing them up pretty bad (the nets). Not sure how much Sean said he had but his permits allow for 3 sections of nets which I bet is more than 300 yards lone. Kitchen. Pilot's room. Sorry I didn't get a good pics of Sean or his crew, Lewis and Eric. These are all canneries, located all along the river banks in Naknek. Duane and others went to Margot Creek today and I guess they really did well on char and rainbows using beads. I guess it's in full swing now. I love fishing beads, esp at Margot. He said they got rainbows and char up to 29 inches out of that little creek. Bears weren't that bad either. I worked on the shower house- plumbing and electrical. They'll have showers at the lodge real soon. For my last day tomorrow I'm hoping they decide to go over the lake. Just checked the weather and LIGHT WINDS!!! Yea. I'll push for Margot too. We have some very good anglers in camp this week so we'll probably do both. Hopefully won't get stuck at the bridge like last time. We'll wade across! Or may be we won't go to the falls at all. Anyhow- will take lots of pics for my last day. Here's a pic of us fishing the other day. We kept having bears walk in in on us but all they wanted to do is look in the river. Here a bar walked right up to the point to go up the river in search of fish and Dave was in the way. So he just stood there till John (guide) saw the bear and yelled at it and it moved on. Dave hardly knew it was there- was tying on a fly at the time. Crazy!! All in all, this has been a good trip, despite having to work most of the time and the weather being so cold and wet. Never got on the rainbows here at naknek very well. But they should explode when the sockeye go on the reds which will be very soon.

Got to remember guys, there are new people active and inactive coming on the the forum all the time and have not had the chance to offer an opinion on the subject of Catch and Release. So keep that in mind when you think a subject has been hashed over and over on the forum. It's ok by me. How'd we swing into politics and oil? Not that I object.