Phil Lilley

Been playing with a video editor and some video from Alaska. Let me know how it plays... what you think. http://ozarkanglers.com/video/hungrybear.wmv

Yes. It's going from $35 to $40 or $42... I'd have to look. But it's $35 till the end of Feb. Daily is going from $5.50 to $7.

Well there's two characters we haven't seen in a while- very nice to have you both lurking around. It only means that walleye and white bass are around the corner. Forsythian- thanks for reminding me about the walleye.

6 lb line. Throw F or CD (I prefer F) F-7 is perfect. Gold, silver, rainbow Start and stop- hard irratic action and stop alot. Rogues are very good too, esp the suspending types. They really smack them when you stop.

Yes- Jeremy will be here as far as I know.

My dad is 72 and in good health but who knows how long any of us has to live here on earth. Cancer is such an ugly thing. So many have to deal with it or know someone, a friend or relative who does. Psalms 57:1-2 1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me. We do cry out for mercy and healing, in all things. Hear the cries of the Hurt family and meet them in their distress. In Jesus's Name- Amen Amen

Gabe Cross Sorry for my delay in reporting...been guiding the last three days and had a little trouble getting changes made. Anyway, after the really fine day on Tuesday, the weather and fishing was quite a bit tougher the next day. The wind was steadily blowing from the north and temperatures were a good 25 degrees colder. For some reason the browns were not biting like the day before, but we worked hard and probably brought 35 fish to the boat. Lots of beautiful and chunky rainbows that day. Shad patterns were still not working. Yesterday (Thursday) I had the pleasure of taking Phil Lilley of Lilleys' Landing Trout Resort in Branson, and a friend of his, Randy Waggoner of the Kansas City area out for the day on the Norfork Tailwaters. The weather was chilly, breezy and overcast. Phil loves fly fishing, but is a jig fisherman (and an awesome one for that matter) at heart. Randy was interested in fly and jig fishing. Well Phil started out HOT on white jigs, catching one nice brown after another. His friend caught three nice trout on the fly rod, but it was a special jig bite, and I wasn't going to keep him off of it. Now these guys didn't catch a 100 fish or anything like that (probably landed 50 to 60), but the quality and beauty of the fish was remarkable. Nothing over 20 inches, but two were right in that ball park. A lot of the fish were 15 to 18 inches, mostly browns with two brookies and two cutthroats. One rainbow went 19" and they caught several other nice 'bows. It was a fun day and I had a chance to witness something different. Believe me when I tell you it takes a lot of skill to catch fish like these guys were on jigs...it wasn't just casting and reeling in. They really know how to work the jig and keep it near the bottom during extremely heavy flows. It is strange that we only got three bites on my shad pattern while they were tearing up the white jig. My theory is the jig covers more water and produces better right when the shad start coming through. Perhaps because all the trout are not keyed in, so the jig finds the more aggressive fish. Last year fishing with a jig fisherman buddy, the same thing happened and he schooled me. But as the trout became more selective, dead drifting shad patterns became just as effective (if not more) than the jig. But you can't explain trout a lot of times, and every day trout fishing is truly a unique experience. My thanks to Phil and Randy for showing me a fun time and some awesome trout. Phil Started fishing at Newlands this am - all 8 units running and the water was MOVING!! But saw gulls swarming the surface and even saw shad in the water. Caught a few on white jigs but wind was very tough and we were fishing with some rookies so we pulled out and went to Norfork Dam. 2 units running full but much manageable water and no wind. Caught some extremely nice browns, rainbows, a few cuts and brooks. All fish obiously eating shad- all caught on white jigs and were FAT. Saw gulls picking p stuff on the surface a short time but didn't see any shad. More to come in an article and great pics in a few days. From http://ozarkanglers.com/reports/wr_archive05.php See other pics here - http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2005/norfork/

Two years ago I floated the upper tailwater and simply killed browns and rainbows on white jigs. There may have been shad coming thru the turbines before I was there... but I still would try jigs if you're going there. "killed" is figurative... we released everything.

Good goals... good luck with that! Welcome!!

Bill- you're not crazy... I edited the day in after your post.

yes

I'm creating a map for my talk in St Louis and need some help. Can't seem to get my brain in geer today. Here's what I have so far- Fly Selection: ~Scud (freshwater shrimp, Gammarus); sizes 12 to 24 in a variety of styles and colors, gray being the basic color along with tan, olive, purple, white, black and brown. Add little orange for a ‘dead’ look. ~Sow Bug (Isopod); sizes 16 to 24 in basic earth colors- gray, brown, olive. ~Midge (Diptera); sizes 14 to 28... no way to cover all midge patterns on record. Larva: thread midge, miracle, zebra. WD40, RS2, brassie. Emerging: soft hackle, emerger, serendipity. Adult: adams, griffith’s gnat, crackleback ~Forage (sculpin, minnows); sizes 4 to 16, wooly bugger, clouser, sculpin, mo-hair leech Any additions?

Read this on http://flyflinger.com's site - New regulations effective January 1 are: Greers Ferry Tailwater Slot limit: From 100 yards below Greers Ferry Dam to the Hwy 305 Bridge. Daily limit of five trout. Trout from 16 to 24 inches must be released immediately and may not be in possession in this area. Only one trout exceeding 24 inches may be kept. Greers Ferry Tailwater Special Regulation Areas: In the following areas, only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used (natural or scented baits are not allowed). Chumming is not allowed. The same slot limit harvest restrictions for Greers Ferry Tailwater apply in these areas unless otherwise noted. JFK Special Regulation Area: 100 yards below Greers Ferry Dam downstream to the last hatchery outlet pipe in Kennedy Park. Mossy Shoals Special Regulation Area: Upstream end of Dunham Shoals to downstream end of Mossy Shoals. Cow Shoals Seasonal Catch-and-Release Area: October 1 through December 31. Head of Cow Shoals to mouth of Canoe Creek. All trout must be released immediately. Closed to night fishing (one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.

Sent an email to Dave Mayers, MDC. Hopefully we'll get someone on it soon. Thanks for posting it.

http://ozarkanglers.com/masters_07.html If you haven't tried fishing a tournament, they're alot of fun. Great people show every year... good competition. Let me know if you have any questions.

Just a reminder- FREE Saturday, January 13 Rod Building Class will be held from 11 am to 2 pm in unit #1 at Lilleys' Landing. No materials required. Rolan will go over the basics- how to choose the right blank, hardware and materials, and what to look for when starting. He may add a comment or two to this topic. Of course, one can't build a rod in a day so we won't be actually building any rods. The Fly Tying Class will be held from 7 to 9 pm that evening in unit #1. Rolan will tie his favorite - the Peppy Scud. I can personally attest to the hundreds if not thousands of trout he's caught on this fly over the years. It's not a fly-by-night pattern. We still have room.

Since last Wednesday, the water has run pretty much non-stop during the day everyday. Why? My guess is FINALLY SPA can use hydro and they're taking advantage of it. It's been so long- the fossile feul plants have had to do all the work. They actually have to shut them down for cleaning and/or repairs at times so this may be one of those times. Hard to say... but we may see generation for quite sometime now. I know it's not good for waders but it is VERY good for the health of the lake. The years that we see more generation than no generation is when we see great bug population and great trout growth and health.

Not sure if SirChristopherAlanGreenEsquire is coming back... he posted and hasn't been back?!??

Don't blink. Cherish each moment.

Boswell is over for another year. Great weather but tough fishing for the third day. Minnows and chartreuse power paste proved to be the best bait. Brown caught on minnows. 21 inches- released.

Sculpin jigs 1/8th oz working the opposite bank from BP. Bass will go all the way to the dam, just not in big numbers.

Guys are catching browns drifting minnows on the bottom from Riverlake thru Cooper Creek area. Measured one 21-inch brown just now- pic later after weighin.

Drove to the Landing and walked the walk. Threw a white and then a sculpin jig straight with no results. Worked down to the Crab Shack- caught one bass on a sculpin jig under an indicator right along the gravel dropoff- about 2 lbs- too big to lift up the wall- broke off. Caught a small rainbow same rig. That's it.

Near Bass Pro, of course.

Boswell Memorial, a private tournament, left the dock for the 25th time this morning at 7:30. 31 boats which may be the most ever to fish. I did a shotgun start, which I regretted very much- thank you. But no one got hurt thankfully. In the past, a shotgun hasn't been a problem because half the field was still in bed at the 7:30 start but this morning everyone was ready to go at 7:15... No one is allowed above Fall Creek in this contest. They are running 2 units at 705.9 early so fishing should be very good today- I think. I may have to get out and chase those crappie I heard about- thinking about fishing off the boardwalk in front of the Crab Shack- that's where they caught the crappie yesterday. Lunch anyone!?