Phil Lilley

The reports I hear are either feast or famine... most are the latter but I do hear some are catching walleye and crappie. Actually the reports don't make sense. How do some do exceptionally well on walleye and others I know are good pothole walleye anglers are getting skunked. The walleye should be up there as much water as been running and the time of year.

Sorry- Curtis already fixed it. He's quick.

It's not matter of safe really... you can wade when the flood gates are open but just around the edges. From 1/2 unit to 2 units is wadeable but beyond that you're limited to the outlets.

Openings for our camp this summer - - - June 16-23 . . . . . . .Cabins #1-5 July 21-28 . . . . . . .Cabin #5 July 28-Aug 4th . . . . . . .Cabin #5 Aug 11th - 18th . . . . . . .Cabins #1-5 Aug 18-25 . . . . . . .Cabin #5 Aug 25th - Sep 1 . . . . . . .Cabin #5 Sept 22-29 . . . . . . .Cabins #1-5 Sept 29-Oct 6 . . . . . . .Cabins #1-5 Oct 6-13 . . . . . . .Cabins #1-5 Cabin #5 is my cabin. Because we added it late to the schedule, it's open for alot of the season. The weeks #5 is open, it's only open to a "fish on your own" trip. This means for a discounted rate of $1395 per person, up to 4 people can stay in the cabin, meals included, use of a boat(s) for the week, and expert guide advise on where to go and what to use. You'll get the same attention leading up to the trip as others- just not the guide service of a full service trip. And I'll say this- if 4 of you want to go one of these weeks, I'll make a better deal than $1395. Flights are running about $1100 to King Salmon so for a lot less than $3000, you can spend a week in Alaska and fish the world famous Naknek River and much more. July- rainbows excellent, sockeye and king salmon peak, dollies and grayling.

??? So where you going... Roaring River or Taneycomo? OR are you referring to Taney as the "roaring river".

Sorry- yes- that's what you tie with.

We should get behind this and get some OAF teams entered. Should be well worth giving up a Saturday to.... fish - think?

Polock - Ok when you guys say jerk bait I am thinking of soft plastic jerks that go all over the water when you jerk them... I fish these a lot on current river but never really used a hard jerk bait. What are some pointers on fishing them? Also are they the same is what you guys are calling stick baits. I do have a few of the stick baits.. I call ‘em minnows. I see they are starting to be productive. Are you guys catching them on a steady retrieve or do you pause? Jerk – jerk - pause type thing? Also, what’s a rogue? Wayne SW/MO - I think the ones that are most affective are those that suspend, Pointer, X Rap and Suspending Rogue come to mind. My technique is to test them first and check the rise when they are stopped. Make a short cast, reel them down hard and then stop and check the amount of time they take to rise a foot, the best ones will take a little time, between about 5 and 10. Sometimes its necessary to add a lead strip or dot to slow them down, this seems to be necessary more in Rogues then Pointers or Raps. You have to this anytime the water temps change, at least that’s my experience. After you have a handle on how they will perform, cast them out, reel them down hard and stop. You can adjust the pause based on the knowledge you have of the time it takes to rise. I don't pause more than about a foot of rise and I hope this takes close a 10 count, the longer the better in cold water. The takes on them in cold water are sometimes more visible than through feel so you must watch the line closely for "tics". I also like to use braid because the lack of stretch improves the feel and the hookups, but another advantage is the fact that hard jerks don't dive very deep, and because braid floats, you get away from the sag that mono creates when it sinks. Great cool water smallie bait. Gary Lange - Here is a Rogue and this should explain what they are. http://www.lurenet.com/catalog.aspx?catID=...atingSuperRogue SKMO – I think on Table Rock jerk baits are considered hard minnow type lures that absolutely suspend motionless and horizontal when you quit reeling. Also called stick baits, twitch baits, glide baits, whatever. Wayne made a lot of good valid points. The only one I would disagree with is using braided line. I feel naked as a jaybird using braided line in the super-clear water that stickbaits excel in. Just my opinion of course. I rarely use braid on TR in any situation, but that's just me. 8# fluorocarbon is what the big stick bass caught that Babler was party to. I throw #10 fluorocarbon on a short medium baitcasting rod. As Wayne said you often have to add a bit of weight, or flotation to the baits to get them to suspend just right according to water temperature. Weight is easy to figure out, but I add floatation when needed by using 3M closed cell foam tape, that double sided sticky stuff your kids hang pictures with that is a nightmare when you try to repaint a wall. (By the way this foam tape is the perfect stuff to get a jointed redfin to wake across the water but that is an entirely different topic). As far as presentation the real pros at this have the patience to jerk it down and let it sit there for a Long Time in one spot. Gotta have confidence in your spot I guess. 10-15 seconds max is about all I can handle but some folks claim to let it sit there a minute or more. The colder the water the longer you need to let it sit. I never proclaimed to be a stickbait expert but I will assure you I have never hit one minute without doing Something especially when it is 34 degrees air temperature. The Smithwick Rogue set the standard several years ago as a cold water presentation. Nowadays there are umpteen suspending stickbaits, most all of them excellent. Lots of Japanese ones out now. The custom ones are really slick, the local painters and modifiers put out real works of art, modifying rogues, pointers and others. One big advantage the customs offer is they seem to get them to run a little deeper, just a foot or 2 can make a difference. Colors are all over the board on the sticks. Clown was the historic go to color and still works, For some reason purples and lavenders seem to work well in the winter. Natural shads, gold, some chartreuse. Color much less important than fishing the right spots, in MY opinion. But don't let that discourage you from buying something off the shelf and tossing it. It'll work. They used to have a "Rogue Tournament" (only allowed to fish Rogues) on TR sponsored by Smithwick and although there were not a lot of boats entered I know a guy who won it at least 3 times. Maybe they still have it. He's just a stickbait predator. I pumped him as hard as I dared for info and he always said "just throw it where the fish are". How true of all of our pursuits for the bass-type fish. Bittle - I have a few questions regarding this topic. The first is what type of rod is better for this type. I have medium heavy rod with braided line on it. Just wondering some preferences for this technique. Also I know rogues and the x-raps, and pointers come in different profiles. Is it true that the bass will hit a larger profile in warmer water or what is the determination of the size of the bait. Bill Babler - Xnay on the line and for the most part most of us are fish medium light on the rod action. I use the same rod that I work a zara spook with. 6ft. fast tip, spongy middle and good backbone at the handle. Reason for the Rod. The quick tip allows you to move or twitch the bait while maintaining it in the same location and not moving it toward the boat, just altering the head position of the bait in a back and forth movement. Soft middle section is always what you want when using trebles as on the lift or hook set it will keep you from tearing the small hooks out. Same reason a lot of the pro's are still fishing glass rods on cranks. The butt section is self explanatory. I an most of use stickbait freaks like the long handle. Everyone except Buster and he is a master. He uses a 5 1/2 glass rod with a pistol grip handle. He has two and if you tried to buy one it would cost your house. He just flicks his wrist to alter the bait movement. Line is pretty much set a huge secret is most stickbait fools, use 8 lb. either Max. or 8 lb. P. A few guys like SKMO use fluorocarbon, I will if I want the bait to sink slightly as the fluorocarbon will sink the bait. Most guys use mono because it will stay in the same position as the bait. I have had the flora. sink at a greater rate than a neutrally boyant stickbait, if I'm letting it set for long periods, and this is ok, unless I'm fishing cedar, where I don't want the bait to get hung-up. It's all good with the line, but try and stay in the 8 to 10 lb. range if possible. If that bait is attached to a well rope you just won't get the action. RSBreth - I remember reading my brothers copy of In-Fisherman back in the old days (late 80's) and seeing an article about "custom weighted" Rapalas for use in winter at Ozark lakes. My brother tinkered with a few and being recently married, didn't get the chance to fish them, so little brother (me) got them. I tried them out on several local lakes where I caught bass crappie fishing in the winter. Man did they work! So for several winters, I went out and caught fish all winter on these strange lures. When production models came out on the market, I was first in line. The doctored Rapalas were light so I used a 6'6" spinning rod and 8 lb. maxima. These days I throw light jerks on a 7' fast action med/light spinning rod with 10 lb. test power pro or fireline. I tie a 8-10 ft. of Orvis Mirage or Rio fluorocarbon leader, 3x( about 9 lb. test) to the end of the superline. These fly tippet fluorocarbon are far stronger per diameter than Vanish or other brands meant for regular tackle. A 7' rod is too long for most guys, but I'm 6' tall and from the front deck of my boat this rod is just an inch or so front the water when I point in down where I like to work it. I like spinning tackle because I'm a puss and wear gloves, but I can also throw a Rogue a long way with this setup. By the way, my favorite new bait, works like a Rogue, casts like an X-Rap: http://www.xcaliburtackle.com/stick.asp Ham - I've been interested in this technique for quite awhile. It really doesn't get cold enough or rather stay cold enough for me to have a TR like situation occur. I have some questions regarding how weather relates to trying the suspended jerk bait. . Do ya'll prefer cloudy days over a bluebird day ? Do ya'll want some wind more than no wind? What weather conditions would make ya'll forget about even trying it if water temp and time of year were right? Bill Babler - For the most part we are wanting wind and most differently sunshine. Water temp is not really a factor and the fish will eat the bait in extremely cold water as long as it tries to increase a few degrees throughout the day. For example SK and I threw the bait for 6 hrs. today and only had one fish on a very cloudy flat smooth day. During this past week in the sun and wind, everyone was having them eat the bait. When we started today the air was 27 and the water 43.7. When we stopped the misery, the air was 38 and the water 42.1 flat on breeze. We had a horrible day. Hope others did better. We did devote about 90minutes to walleye, but they didn't like us either. If we would have had the least amount of wind and a slightly warming surface temp. they would have bit, regardless of the water temperature. SKMO - When the water is cold (below 50) I like sun. And I always like some wind, anytime on this lake unless it gets so windy I cannot fish deep (35'+) spots when that is what I am wanting to do. Seems like cloudy days would be good but if it is flat calm it can be a bugger. I would definitely disagree with Bill on our fishing foray today. He indicated we had little to no success. I would have to disagree with him on this, and I would have said: "All the bites I had were very light. So light as to be undetectable". I must have had 20-30 bites today but I never felt a one of them!

Drop Shot: Technology SKMO - I think It's good to be able to see your drop-shot rig (or spoon) for a few reasons: I'll often dropshot in 80-90' of water trying to keep the rig just above treetops that may be 30-40' below the surface. If you can't see your bait it's pretty hard to stay in the sweet spot and pretty easy to get hung up constantly. I also fish the rig right on the bottom in 30-50' of water. It's pretty common to go over a couple suspended fish that may be 10-15' above the bottom. When you notice this you can raise your rod or give your reel a couple cranks and get your bait on the same general level as the fish or slightly above them. With the way a bass's eyes are positioned I think fish see what's above them a lot better than what's below them. It is surprising how far above them they are looking and will respond. Many times when I am watching my rig drop to the bottom a fish will shoot up from the bottom and intercept it on the way down, often coming up 15' or more. Sometimes they eat it, sometimes they follow it back to the bottom and eat it, more often than not they do nothing but sniff it and leave it alone. Anyway it's pretty cool to watch, makes you realize how many fish see and inspect your offering with no bite. i.e. they are watching, they are simply not cooperating. Another one of my Grande Theories relates to competition. If I am seeing a single fish here, and a single fish there there, it is probably a mediocre bite and I'll have to do some serious "begging". If I am seeing 2-4 bass-type returns on the screen at once and get my bait in proximity chances are they will rush it and one will suck it in pronto. It's just like feeding my two dogs. If we are in the food bowl area I can throw down a sock soaked in kerosene and if they are both nearby, they will fight over it assuming it just might be prime rib, they can always spit it out. If only one of them is there they always approach the offering as if it WAS a kerosene soaked sock. One thing for sure is that a transducer with a wide cone angle is a lot easier for me to "video fish" with than one with a narrow cone angle. My last depthfinder had a narrow (17 degree I think) cone angle and although it was a real quality unit (X-15) it was almost impossible to keep my bait in the zone of coverage in deeper water. The boat had to be pretty much stationary. My current depthfinder has a 30 or 35 degree cone angle and it is a night and day difference in how much easier it is to keep my rig in sight. That said, keep in mind that just because your display shows your rig and a fish or two in proximity on your display, they (fish and rig) may actually be 10-15 or 20' apart horizontally, depending again on the cone angle and depth of the water. Your display will show everything at once that is within the cone and the processor does some averaging to give you the display picture. In any case when you see a display return that looks like bass it's a pretty encouraging thing, since the most important factor in deep fishing to receive a tug on the end of the line is fishing where fish are at. Sounds like a trite remark but it was not meant to be that, after some time you will know if you are fishing around fish. I think most mid-priced or better depthfinders have the capability to see your bait so if I was shopping for one I'd for sure be taking into consideration the cone angle of the transducer. Some units have more than one transducer angle available also. I think getting the highest quality depthfinder you can afford and spending the time to learn how to use it and INTERPRET what you are seeing is a really important part of making the most out of the deep fishing thing. With a good unit and some experience you can get a pretty good picture of what's down there and be able to tell what you are looking at. Hardwood trees, cedar trees, brush piles, logs/stumps, boulders, underwater bluffs, shad schools, broken up (harassed) shad schools, and different species of fish all have a unique "signature" you can learn to interpret not with 100% certainty but with some degree of confidence. I'm sure some will roll their eyes when I suggest you can tell species but I am certain when I am over something that might be bass. They have a distinct concise thickness to the line that they give on my screen. Not to say that it might not be another species but I know what bass look like. Just as importantly I know what they do not look like. Big thick arches never bite and I would assume they are carp, gar, paddlefish, catfish...whatever. Smaller numerous arches and a blotchy return are usually panfish. (I know this because I chase bluegill on occasion). A nice solid black line just off the bottom, preferably 2 or 3 at once going up and down, those are usually active bass and when I see that I go on point for the bite. So to answer your question "Are my electronics good enough for dropshotting ?" it looks to me like your Eagle Fishmark 480 is a real good quality Lowrance/Eagle unit with plenty of capability to pick up on your rig at any depth. So the ball is in your court on learning how to fine tune the settings and interpret what you are seeing on the display. Getting a good depthfinder is not the solution or answer to all the questions of what's beneath the boat, but it is the visual display of where all your questions begin. There will still be plenty of times you see something weird and say "what the heck was THAT" ? but over time you will say that less often. bobby b. - Regarding the 35 degree transducer discussed by SKMO, the Eagle Fish Mark 480 unit as well as many other Eagle units come standard with a 20 degree transducer yet they claim a 60 degree capability by making some adjustments to the unit. Does anyone know how and if this 60 degree thing works? Increasing the sensitivity gives a wider cone angle: http://www.lowrance.com/Tutorials/Sonar/so...tutorial_06.asp Transducer Cone Angles: The transducer concentrates the sound into a beam. When a pulse of sound is transmitted from the transducer, it covers a wider area the deeper it travels. If you were to plot this on a piece of graph paper, you would find that it creates a cone shaped pattern, hence the term "cone angle." The sound is strongest along the center line or axis of the cone and gradually diminishes as you move away from the center. In order to measure the transducer's cone angle, the power is first measured at the center or axis of the cone and then compared to the power as you move away from the center. When the power drops to half (or -3db[decibels] in electronic terms), the angle from that center axis is measured. The total angle from the -3db point on one side of the axis to the -3db point on the other side of the axis is called the cone angle. This half power point (-3db) is a standard for the electronics industry and most manufacturers measure cone angle in this way, but a few use the -10db point where the power is 1/10 of the center axis power. This gives a greater angle, as you are measuring a point further away from the center axis. Nothing is different in transducer performance; only the system of measurement has changed. For example, a transducer that has an 8 degree cone angle at -3db would have a 16 degree cone angle at -10db. - - - - - - - - - 20-degree cone angle - - - - - - - - - - - 8 degree cone angle Lowrance offers transducers with a variety of cone angles. Wide cone angles will show you more of the underwater world, at the expense of depth capability, since it spreads the transmitter's power out. Narrow cone angle transducers won't show you as much of what's around you, but will penetrate deeper than the wide cone. The narrow cone transducer concentrates the transmitter's power into a smaller area. A bottom signal on the sonar unit's display will be wider on a wide cone angle transducer than on a narrow one because you are seeing more of the bottom. The wide cone's area is much larger than the narrow cone. High frequency (192 - 200 kHz) transducers come in either a narrow or wide cone angle. The wide cone angle should be used for most freshwater applications and the narrow cone angle should be used for all saltwater applications. Low frequency (50 kHz) sonar transducers are typically in the 30 to 45 degree range. Although a transducer is most sensitive inside its specified cone angle, you can also see echoes outside this cone; they just aren't as strong. The effective cone angle is the area within the specified cone where you can see echoes on the display. If a fish is suspended inside the transducer's cone, but the sensitivity is not turned up high enough to see it, then you have a narrow effective cone angle. You can vary the effective cone angle of the transducer by varying the receiver's sensitivity. With low sensitivity settings, the effective cone angle is narrow, showing only targets immediately beneath the transducer and a shallow bottom. Turning the sensitivity control up increases the effective cone angle, letting you see targets farther out to the sides.

I usually use strung marabou for jigs but you can use the larger feathers with bigger quills. Peel the soft, lower plumes off and cut the ends off. As far as body, keep adding more and more till you have the look you want. But don't make them too big... it's better to have a low profile jig than a bulky one- I think.

Bass is on Friday... Trout is on Saturday. We had a bass contest on Friday last year for the fun of it- had several fish it and weighed in some nice bass. Saturday is the REAL tournament.

http://ozarkanglers.com/team_07.html There will be a informal bass tournament on Friday, March 2 starting at 1 p.m. and weigh in at 5 p.m. It will be an individual contest, each person will weigh in up to 6 bass, artificial baits only. Entry - $10 each... winner take all. Big bass wins a Lilleys' Landing sweatshirt.

May have to go fishin'..

That's what I have- Optio W20.

My hands are still stiff from the cold... what happened to 58 degrees today? Boated to the dam this morning at 7:30 am- didn't get to the cable all morning but started just above the rebar area and fished the spot where Jeremy saw the big brown. Didn't see him but caught several off that bank on 1/8th oz white jig. I anchored or tied in several eddies I usually don't hit- just trying something different. Caught several and missed more than I hooked. Did the best at Lookout Island in the little cut at the bottom side of the island- there's usually a bunch of rainbows holding there and I got them using a 1/32 oz white jig under a float about 3 feet drifting it above and thru the cut. I caught 10 nice rainbows there alone. Boated about 25 altogether. Johnson crew still out this am. It was definitely slower than last evening- colder and less wind but what there was - it was cold. Four units on hard backing off most of the morning. Should be a great afternoon and evening fishing... if you can get out. Sorry- no pics. My hands were too cold to mess with it.

Any word on your dad? We prayed for him last night. Trusting the Lord He had his hand on him and your family through this event.

Using fluorocarbon. Didn't notice. Cool.

Cousin Bill was using a closed face rig this afternoon and wore construction gloves to keep his hands warm... do I have to say more? In saying that, we kept the boat moving slower than the current and I tied a two-jig rig for him, the last jig smaller than the first. He casted behind the boat and the current held the jig off the bottom- most of the time the jig was no more than 3 feet below the surface. He caught 12 and missed a ton of bites. John and I chuckled several times cause his rod would be bending with a fish and he never felt it. You can fish a fly rig the same way. Slow the boat and cast downstream, either swing or dead drift a bunny shad or another shad pattern, keeping a tight line. Strip slowly. Generation... one unit at least at 704 feet. Can get to rebar at this level but be careful to get higher.

Boated to the dam with John Johnson and 'Cousin Bill' for an evening of fellowship and fishing. The wind was tough for the first 2 hours but we managed quite a few trout- all on white jigs, mostly 1/8 oz. I tied a trailer on Bill's rig with a 1/32 oz white jig which he caught most of his fish on. The wind died down about 5 pm and fishing was great... too bad the sun has to go down on a day like today. Pics... hope you enjoy. The following pics- is me playing around with my underwater camera. Kinda cool.

This time of year typically you're in a boat. If you get to wade, it's a bonus, if that's what you like to do. With the lake levels and spring approaching, I'd say we're going to see generation for several weeks, if not most of this spring, depending on rain of course. I'd say 20,000 cfs-you're boating. If there any generation at all, you can't wade and fish rebar or any waters on that wide of the lake unless you wade from the south side and then it's not feasible... tough at best. Sorry for the negative report... but fishing is really good out of a boat.

http://www.ozarkflyfishers.org/pages/newsl...2/nl_y07m02.pdf

It fell on the building and crushed rafters/wall supports- then rolled to the ground where it busted the sidewalk concrete in 3 places. Just glad no one was walking outside when it happened. It's already cleaned up... but the cabin will need some serious work.

Must be your first fish... you're not even sweating.

I betcha we wake up in the morning and hear of wind damage in the area from tonights front. We had a sycamore tree snap in half- 12 feet off the ground- and fall on a unit tonight (#6). It didn't penetrate the roof but did crush the rafters. The guys inside got a rush... put them in another unit just in case. Missed all the power lines thankfully. Pics in the morning.