Phil Lilley

I'll bring paper goods, cups, plates, eating tools, water, ice and will smoke something. There's a/c power there now. No generator needed.

I've checked the blogs settings and don't see why the attachment option isn't showing up. I'll have to look into it further. You can add images if you can upload your images onto a server like photobucket or you can email them to me, I'll upload them to our server and send the url back to you... either way. I've been playing around with other settings on the blog... some people have started a blog but didn't know how to change the entry from draft to "live". I've disabled the draft option since so that it's not as confusing.

Well I didn't know you did internet!! Did you leave the keys to your gator??? Sure would like to see how far the tail will shoot!! RAW (Rogers Adventure Weekend) started a few years back by 2 brothers, John and Ray Rogers. It was just a bunch of guys who wanted an excuse to go someplace on a winter weekend and fish or hunt. I understand there were a couple of trips in the beginning but only their trip to Taney has stood the test of time. This may be their, what, 18 or 19th year? It's always a fun weekend for the guys and us... a grand reunion.

Have to think about this one... It's hard to put the Alaska experience into words. The vastness, wildness- it's all encompassing. The Naknek is a big river- big open water that's new to me... others I'm sure have fished big water like it here in the states. Other rivers and creeks are alot like ours in Missouri, the only difference is the species of fish and the OTHER animals namely bears, wolverines and moose. You don't have to look over your shoulder when fishing at outlet #2, thankfully. The big rainbows- all in a class their own. Even the 18 inchers just don't quit fighting. But part of 'my' issue with coming back from Alaska is I've been on Taney 25 years now. I don't fish as much as I used to here or any other place close. My desire is to get out and fish all the other waters within 100 miles of here- and there's tons- if I can carve out some time. I want to come visit all the guys who fish the 11point, the Current and the Elk- take pics- write stories and build cool sites for each on oa. If the Lord allows, Marsha and I will do just that. Taney is a great fishery- that's why we picked her back in 1983. Never looked back...

Chuck and family. They posed for a pic when we first built our condos. He was a guests of our before they moved here.

Recognize these people? The year- 1992 Sorry so small- thought I had a bigger pic. Will look for one.

Hey Terry- glad to see you. Merry Christmas

Thanks for sharing your heart. White jigs work good in the winter and spring, some in the summer and little in the fall. Not sure why they slack off but they do for me. And if you know me, I'd rather throw a jig on 2 lb line than anything else.

Jig... figures. Jerry Dudley is one, if not the best jig fishermen I know and he's a good teacher. They team up and fish one of my tournaments each winter and usually place.

Had this sent to me by Jerry Dudley, Fayetteville. It's his grandson, Colton. All I know it was caught on 12/22. Hoping for more details soon.

Drove to the dam with Tom Johnson about 11:30 am for alittle fishing. Walked down below rebar and fished the narrows till 2 pm. Water level seemed to be alittle low. Was an intermittened breeze from the west, downstream. We started with small scuds but quickly switched to #16 black or red soft hackles and had strikes on almost every cast for quite a awhile. Soft hackles were new to Tom and he was having trouble keeping them on the hook. I told him not to set the hook- just hold it and lift the rod slowly, applying pressure. He did better once he got the hang of it. All rainbows and not much size. I switched to a scud again- nothing. So went to a red san juan and had hookups immediately. Broke off a couple of reds- then went to brown and did even better. Rainbows were larger than on the soft hackle. Nice day- glad we went. Tom is Scrooge in the Christmas Carol production at SDC and has one more week before he's off for the winter. We've already decided to make it a weekly ritual... fly fishing someplace. This is what it'd look like if you had a camera on yor boot.

Sorry Greg I wasn't offended... can't do it. I identified with Trav a bit comparing Taney to Naknek which is very unfair to Taney but it makes a point. I think Trav was making a point too, unpopular as it is, but being unfair to the upper end of the lake and the trout fishing here maybe because he doesn't completely understand the fishing up here (sorry for assuming and I know what assuming will do to a person). I honestly get real frustrated with fishing below the dam cause I KNOW what it is and I know these trout at stocked and I still can't catch them alot of the times!!! So it's not as easy as many think... or it's speaks to my skill level- one or the other.

Just wetting the water... I'll have more details tomorrow but I'm pretty sure it's a 17' with a trailer. The motor lost a cylinder yesterday and we just order 2 new G-3's. This one has a small leak. Rated for a 70 hp but a 50 would do a good job. The 40 Yamaha will be sold for parts probably. Asking??? Not sure. It's seen a lot of time on the water.

http://www.lakestockton.com/read.php?34,29846

January, if they run water, is one of the best months for big walleye. Keep your eyes and ears open.

A quick word before I hurry onto church this morning... Taney has 3 parts- put-grow-take, put-take and well, lake? Not sure how to put the lower end where it's pretty much a normal lake with the exception of big brown trout. Slots are designed to protect broad stock AND designed to do what it does on Taney, give trout a chance to grow before taken because that's what anglers want. It can have 2 purposes, can't it? As for any quality fishery in Missouri, if it's "managed" by MDC, you could say it's not natural at all but an "aquarium". That's an extreme statement for some fisheries but not necessarily for others. You have different degrees of management and I'd say the trout parks and Taney is at the top of the Managed List. If I were to share my truly honest feeling about Taney after being in Alaska, I'd really miff a lot of people. Simply put, it's hard to come home and look at trout fishing in the same way. But we're talking about 2 fisheries that are on the opposite ends of the angling spectrum. I understand what you're saying about Taney and all but may be you're being a little harsh in putting it. Kinda "in your face". You are blessed to be on a fishery that isn't as well known as most in Missouri for it's warm water fishing and to get to spend the time on it as you do. I was glad to see Trav on the forum and talking about the lower lake's fishing but I have to say that the thought crossed my mind-- he's going to attract a lot more attention to the lower lake and it's going to get fished more! I think it's going to happen more and more regardless because of the Landing, Bass Pro and the area's growth. Gotta go. Be nice!

Great point- never thought about it. Everyone back in the 50's thought TR Dam would end warmwater fishing on Taney but it didn't. People are so surprised when they see or catch bass, crappie and blue gill up here.

Don't know Woods so I'm not taking up for him- but how would such a small amount of additional flow relieve cattle ranchers and poultry farmers their responsibilities under law not to pollute? Except if the state DND relaxed the rules in light of the additional flow, in which he'd have to be on their board too.

"As far as to who it will benefit it does seem a little odd that 3 million dollars was spent by Tyson Chicken lobbying for minimum flow. The Arkansas Cattlemen's association also spent 1 and 1/2 million lobbying for minimun flow." Interesting!!

I may have misspoke on the slot... didn't think about it hard enough. Raising the lower end to 14 inches doesn't make alot of sense because rainbows would have to grow 2-4 inches before being "protected" in the trophy area. 13 inches is more realistic. 13-22 would be less extreme. There is very, very little natural reproduction for trout in Taney- never will be. Can't happen. What is put in is in and that's all there will be. The trophy area was created because MDC asked anglers what they wanted and they said "less fish, bigger fish". With the slot, that's what they've created and it's worked for the most part. There was fear that the upper lake would become overcrowded and the trout might literally starve (some said) but it hasn't happened. Slower growth rates? I believe Taney's food base makes pretty big swings depending on flows and temps which fluctuates annually, not necessarily because of trout populations. I don't think there's that many legal browns caught each year and less than 50% of those are kept. I think the ratio is more like 10% kept. I think more are killed due to hooking mortality. Bottom line- I don't think much is wrong with Taney. It's a great fishery and MDC should be given much credit for it. Could the rules be tweaked? They could. And I think it could be better for it.

MDC is bringing back creel surveys which means they're going to start asking questions of anglers- not just how many fish are you catching but other questions (possibly) like may be this species question (doubtful but you get my point). They created the trophy area as a result of surveys in the past... they may tweak the system a little in the future. But if I would add anything to the list, I'd change the slot in the trophy area to 14 to 24 inches on rainbows and raise the brown limit lakewide to 24 inches. Also: Catch and release on browns from Fall Creek up from September 1 through December 1. I'd also put a 15 inch limit on bass lakewide. And a 9 inch limit on crappie, limit 15 instead of 30.

Not sure why but we've had a jump in traffic this week. Since about mid November, we've seen a steady drop in traffic which is reasonable. This time of year is normally pretty quiet because of holidays and lack of good fishing weather and conditions. In the first couple of weeks of December, we had an average of 1300 visitors per day- this week is up to about 1700 with as many as 19,000 pages per day. Thanks for spreading the word.

HOUSTON, Mo.-Missouri trappers seem to be getting a handle on river otter numbers in the Ozarks, according to a report from the Missouri Department of Conservation. With a little help from world fur markets and knowledge gained through studies and field experiments, the agency hopes to find an acceptable balance between the needs of river otters, anglers and property owners. The river otter was all but extirpated from Missouri by the early 20th century as a result of habitat loss and unregulated trapping. In 1982 the Conservation Department launched an otter restoration effort, eventually releasing 825 otters from Louisiana in 34 counties. To say that the otters thrived is an understatement. Their population growth and spread outstripped all expectations. The sleek predators took advantage of habitat from national wildlife refuges to farm ponds and small streams, quickly populating areas where they were released and spreading across watersheds into new territory. “Nothing in other states’ experience prepared us for the level of success our otter restoration program had,” said Private Land Field Programs Supervisor Rex Martensen. “We didn’t realize how adaptable they were or how much of the state had suitable habitat for them.” Missouri’s success at otter restoration had a downside. As otters went in search of food - crayfish in the warm months supplemented with finned fish during the winter - they came into more frequent conflict with people. Some otters cleaned fish out of farm ponds. Others visited headwater streams in the Ozarks, where fish in small pools were easy prey. A few found the ultimate otter buffets - rearing ponds at fish hatcheries. Faced with too much of a good thing, the Conservation Department set about documenting otter problems. Then the agency turned to the only people with the know-how, the numbers and the incentive to reduce otter numbers - fur trappers. River otter pelts are among the most luxurious and sought-after in the world. In years when demand is high, exceptional pelts might bring $140. With that kind of reward, trappers were motivated to help reduce their numbers. To further encourage trappers, and to focus their efforts where they were needed most, the Conservation Department divided the states into five otter trapping zones. It based the length of otter trapping season in each zone on the number of otters and the frequency of otter problems. The response was encouraging. The otter harvest increased every year from the 1999-2000 season through the 2005-2006 season, peaking at 3,274. The otter harvest took a significant dive during the 2006-2007 season, plunging from 3,274 to 1,929 (70 percent) in a year. Part of the reason was that the average price that otter pelts commanded fell from $125 to less than $40 during the same period. Weather also was a factor. Extreme cold, ice, snow and rain kept trappers indoors during part of the 2006-2007 season, further depressing harvest. Nevertheless, Conservation Department resource scientists have found evidence that five years of concerted effort to increase otter trapping is reducing otter numbers in target areas without impairing the population’s ability to sustain itself. To better understand the effect of trapping on otter populations, the Conservation Department has been conducting a population dynamics study in two areas - north-central Missouri and in the central Ozarks on the Gasconade and Big Piney rivers and the Osage Fork of the Gasconade River. Conservation Department workers captured and tagged 262 otters with radio transmitters, then kept track of how many died and how. Seventy-nine percent of the otters that died were taken by trappers. Based on population estimates, biologists calculate that trappers are taking between 16 and 40 percent of the otters annually in the north study area and 30 to 50 percent in the Ozark study area. Otter numbers seem to be declining slowly in some Ozark streams as a result of trapping. In another experiment, the Conservation Department sought to reduce otter numbers in Roubidoux Creek in Texas and Pulaski counties. Otter numbers declined dramatically in the study area, and fish populations showed a significant increase. “Fish in small Ozark streams face other problems, such as gravel burying their habitat, low stream flows and pollution,” said Martensen. “Yes, otters do impact fish populations, especially in smaller headwater streams. However, in larger streams with sufficient habitat, otters’ effect seems to be minimal. We still have a lot to learn about how the presence of otters, and other factors, such as gravelling in, water quality and changes in seasonal stream flows, interact to affect fish.” He said the Conservation Department will continue to work toward management strategies that allow river otters to coexist with people. “Otters are here to stay,” he said, “but there is no reason we can’t have otters while protecting fishing resources and private property. It’s a matter of finding a balance.” -Jim Low- http://mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/news/news_search...198259591,27850,

Anglers spoke decisively, and the Conservation Department listened. JEFFERSON CITY-Responding to an overwhelming majority of anglers’ preference, the Missouri Department of Conservation has decided not to test special restrictions on catfishing in central Missouri. The agency held four public meetings in July and August to gauge anglers’ attitudes toward a possible trial of more restrictive flathead and blue catfish regulations. “We often find that public opinion is very closely divided on questions like this,” said Conservation Department Assistant Director Dave Erickson. “That was not the case this time. Eight out of 10 anglers who commented on the proposed regulations said they did not want the change.” Erickson said the response was in contrast to the results of a catfish angler survey the Conservation Department conducted in 2002. In that statewide survey, 55 percent of Missouri River catfish anglers who responded expressed support for some form of harvest restrictions on flathead and blue catfish if it increased their chances of catching a trophy-sized catfish. The agency was considering restrictions on an 82-mile reach of the Missouri River from Glasgow to Jefferson City and part of the Lamine and lower Blackwater rivers. The changes were designed to increase the number of large flathead and blue catfish. A mail-in survey form was included in brochures handed out to people who attended meetings in Boonville, Columbia, Glasgow and Marshall. The brochures explained several regulations options that were being considered. The options would have restricted harvest with reduced daily limits, minimum length limits or slot length limits. “Many anglers have told us in past surveys that they would like to have a greater chance of catching big catfish,” said Erickson. “The strategies we presented were aimed at meeting that demand. However, the majority of anglers in the area where we wanted to test those strategies didn’t like the idea.” Erickson said the Conservation Department will continue studying catfish and the availability of Big River forage in the next couple years, and may come back to anglers with other approaches to catfish management in the future. The Conservation Department is seeking anglers and business people to join a catfish-management stakeholder group. The group will meet to discuss catfish management with Conservation Department biologists. For more information about this advisory group or to ask questions or submit comments about catfish management, contact Resource Scientist Kevin Sullivan, P.O. Box 368, Clinton, MO 64735, phone (660) 885-6981, e-mail Kevin.Sullivan@mdc.mo.gov. -Jim Low- http://mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/news/news_search...198259547,71941,

Even with an 8 percent decline in the number of deer taken during the December antlerless hunt, the 2007 firearms deer harvest was the third-largest of all time. JEFFERSON CITY-Weather, the perennial wild card in the deer-harvest game, dealt a lousy hand to hunters in the Antlerless Portion of Missouri’s firearms deer season. In spite of this tough break, they went on to shoot enough deer during the December antlerless hunt to push the 2007 firearms deer harvest to the third-largest level in history. Hunters checked 19,472 deer during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season Dec. 8 through 16. That is down 8 percent from last year, and the smallest number since the antlerless season went from four to nine days in 2003. Hunters shot more than 25,000 deer the first year of the nine-day antlerless hunt, a figure that has never been topped in the antlerless season’s 12-year history. High counties during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season were Macon with 608 deer checked, Pike with 601 and Callaway with 593. Going into the nine-day Antlerless Portion, the 2007 firearms deer harvest was on pace to be the third- or fourth-largest on record. Then a slow-moving winter storm blanketed most of the state in ice. Trees by the thousands collapsed in many areas, bringing down power lines and blocking roads. Many hunters were more concerned about keeping their homes and families safe than they were in putting venison in the freezer. Those who did hunt, found they could not move through the woods without making so much noise that deer could hear them coming. On the other hand, the severe weather caused deer to stay close to available food sources, making their behavior more predictable. Snow that fell across much of the state on the last Saturday of the antlerless hunt gave hunters a last-minute break by making deer more visible. At the end of the first week of the Antlerless Portion, hunters had checked a little more than 10,000 deer. They nearly doubled that figure in the last two days of the antlerless hunt. When added to the harvests during the Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Season (554), the Youth Portion (12,267), the November Portion (214,494) and the Muzzleloader Portion (13,372), the Antlerless Portion harvest brings the 2007 firearms deer harvest to 260,162. Missouri’s sole remaining deer hunting season is the archery season, which runs until Jan. 15. Archers have killed between 35,000 and 43,000 deer in recent years. The Missouri Department of Conservation recorded no firearms-related hunting accidents during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season. It recorded four during the preceding segments. Three involved self-inflicted injuries. None was fatal. -Jim Low- http://mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/news/news_search...198259568,18942,