Phil Lilley

More rain last night... the ground is actually soft. They are running 4 units at 710!! Hasn't been that high in almost a year. Really going to clean the upper lake out a bunch. Back to normal summer generation!! It's nice to see water again. I'm not even going to comment on getting Jean drunk, Bill. Shame... Shame

I know rain hasn't been a problem, so I've heard down there, but is the development proceeding? Has there been any effort to correct the runoff problem? And how's fishing???

pdf file here - http://ozarkanglers.com/fff/nafff-7-06_newsletter.pdf

Bait shops... Bass Pro! It's right across the bridge from Hollister. Hitchin Post on 165 south of TR Dam is a very good shop. Then there's Wal Mart. Bill Babler just did a report on Table Rock. He's got some great information there. The white bass are still at Moonshine/New Spillway early in the morning... someone said there were 9 boats there this morning.

There's not a whole lot of the web on Lake Wappapello. I'm surprised.. I've heard alot of god things about their crappie fishing.

In the last 2 days we've rec'ved some great showers and this afternoon the corp blessed us with a cleansing flow of water. The chart says 708 and I think it ran that way for a couple of hours. It really moved thru here at a good clip. I got to more the moss out from behind our dock... but there's more upstream unfortunately. The cold water may slow the trout down alittle though- but we'll see. Rain- not sure what we got yesterday but it was pushing 2 inches I bet. Today all totaled may be a half inch. The ground soaked todays rain up but we got good runoff yesterday. Table Rock should more some-- hasn't yet though. Steffens are here from St Louis. They reported catching 37 this morning above Fall Creek on red #14 zebras while Bill Babler struggled to catch 19 with clients. Good for Steff and Jean- beating the guide! I think Bill thought they were goshing but Jean had her counter in hand as proof.

Steve Brigman is floating the Gasconade all this week and will write about the trip for the NewsLeader. Should be interesting.

Oh about 5-6 years ago I boated up on a guy fishing at lookout island when the water was running high who was anchored in the eddie using power bait. I asked him how he was doing- what he was using and informed him the bait was illegal in the area. He said he wasn't keeping any so it didn't hurt anything. I said it really did kill fish even though they were being released. He didn't move so I pulled out my cell. He started yelling at me to mind my own business. I couldn't get through to an agent- no answer but by that time he had pulled up his anchor and started motoring towards me. He had such a small motor my trolling motor was faster so I kept my distance. He had his paddle in hand wanting me to fight "like a man". I called the sheriff and told him what this guy was doing. They said to call the water patrol. I finally started my engine and headed down- didn't want to mess with it anymore. I did get his numbers and turned them into both MWP and MDC. Two years later he recognized me on the water. He was with his wife and young daughter. He still wanted to fight. Wanted to go to Fall Creek and get it on there. I mostly ignored him until he motored off. He had upgraded to a beat up old bass boat.

I took my first stroll Saturday evening. BPS is awesome. Can't believe they found that much old stuff. I'd love to have some of the old pics, although I know they are reproductions of the river back in the day. The flock of landing ducks is cool. The prices in the fly shop are high of course but the flies aren't... but selection is not good for Taney. They have the normal "trout flies" but few midges or scuds. But I bet they will get some soon. The mall is cool but not ultra trendy like I though. The concert area is nice. But again, you can't see the lake except at that point unless you're eating. I thought about making a bill board and mounting it on a pontoon and sitting out in front of the fountain during a concert. Don't laugh- I bet someone does it real soon. Of course my bill board will have Ozarkanglers.com on it.

Promise not to insult... but will talk fishing with you anytime. Welcome.

May be we have to go down further in the lake... I've had several people tell me they haven't done any good in MO. Elbow is in Ark. We may have to venture down there one night Vince.

I would be careful about the pic part. I pulled my cell phone out one time and got chased with a paddle.

I see it totally different. Set aside the "danger factor"- the chance of someone assaulting me over fishing/rules advice is very slim and I'm willing to take the chance IF I see the situation warrants it. I see several "opportunities" to confront people who are doing something wrong. First, it's to help them out. When I see a family on the bank at the boat ramp using power bait, 9 of 10 I won't call an agent- I'll go over and talk to them. "Can I save you some money and hassle". Nearly everytime they are thankful and leave. If they want to stay, I show them what to use- even give them flies or jigs. Second, I'm saving trout. If a family is catching trout- browns, rainbows in the slot- I could call an agent... takes him 30 minutes to arrive... they have 15 NICE rainbows on a stringer alive... they get a ticket and all the rainbows die- the agent takes them, does not release them. Why I don't know but that's what happens. So if I explain to them the rules, release the trout- we all win. If they don't- I lose the argument and we lose more trophy trout. I know you guys are passionate about this subject... but keep it civil. Everyone has their right to their opinion and not everyone is going to agree. That's ok. Just don't make the arguments personal.

Anyplace OTHER than those listed. Wappapello - is that in the Ozarks?

I's just a matter of wise judgement- when to say something and not to- and what to say. Don't let your emotions get the best of you or you may get hurt or worse hurt someone else... landing you in jail.

Peanut Butter Fly Hook: Saltwater hook 3/0 Thread: .006 Monofilament Wing; E-P Fiber (minnow color for the belly and shad gray for the top) Gill: SLF Hank ( crimson red ) Eyes: Solid plastic eyes TYING INSTRUCTIONS Mono is a little harder to get secure around the hook shank. It tends to slip a lot easier so when you tie it in. Make sure you hold the tag end until you wrap enough turns to secure it. Once you get that done tie your thread almost to the bend. Go ahead and tie a little piece of slf for the gill. Cut the back Ok, what I am trying to show you in these pictures is how to put flash in the material. Just spread out two clumps on your leg and sandwich the flash in-between the E.P fiber. The mono should be right in front of the gill. Tie in the gray fiber on the top of the shank. Make sure you tie in the center of the fiber. Rotate to the underside and repeat the same step with the minnow color. If you notice in the picture they are still separated in the middle, you can only fold one over at a time when tying them in. When you fold them over you will need to tie in front of the material. Don’t tie on top of the material or you will not get the flare. It will be smashed down and won’t look right. If you notice that I do the bottom first. It really doesn’t matter what side you do first just as long as you don’t do them at the same time. Now do the top the same way and now your thread should me right in front of the fiber now. Now we are going to repeat the same process three more times. Just move the thread up about a ¼ inch up the shank and do the same step again. Note: One thing I try to do when measuring how much material you will need to use and how to proportion the fly correctly. Don’t go to heavy on the material or you will notice it. Another to remember when tying this fly is once you do the first step with tying the material in you are going to do the underside with only short pieces. The top will still need to be longer though and you will need to keep the tapered ness to the profile of the fly to. When tying the top sections make sure they’re getting shorter and not staying as long as the first piece you tied in. The last section you put on at the front is going to be the only thing different. When tying this on, make sure you are right at the eye of the hook. Once you have done the step with pulling the back and tying in font of them you are going to tie on the top of the material just making a nice head of mono. Look at pictures 16-18 to see what I am talking about. Whip finish the fly off and put some gloss coat on the mono. I’m sure you can see that the fly is not looking good. What you will need to do is cut it to shape. Just look at the pictures to see how it is cut to shape. Once you cut it you can also brush the hair to blend in the material. You can see the eyes glued in, but just use some marine goop and glue them in. I also put in a small dot on each side with a prisma color marker.

Lefty Kreh “Classic Popper” I don’t know if you will be able to find this exact molding. They are kind of hard to find on the market, but another way you could get away to tying this, is with the pencil poppers that have the pre-made with styrofoam that come together as a set. You can get away with coloring that foam any color you want. This is a very simple pattern that does not require any complicated steps in tying this fly. This pattern was designed for small mouth bass and you will grow to like fishing this fly in rivers, creeks and lakes like I have grown to do. Recipe: Hook: pencil popper hooks with pre-made Styrofoam heads Thread: color to match tail. I like to use red or yellow / UNI 3/0 or UTC 140 Tail: Bucktail (Yellow) Flash: Mirage Flash Body: pre-made foam glued down in-between the hook TYING INSTRUCTIONS Get the thread started behind the body. I like to use this new material called Mirage flash. It is a lot stiffer and will not twist up or around the bend of the hook when casting long distances. Go ahead and tie that in. Cut the length to what you desire. Just remember to leave it shorter when fishing for smaller warm water species. Now Pike fishing is a different story. They don’t care how long it is because they it from all directions. Measure the bucktail to about the same length as you cut the flash. I don’t like to go real bulky with the hair so make sure it looks like it fits the profile of the rest of the fly. If you don’t know what part of the hair you need then pick from the top part of the tail. The further down you go the bottom you will notice the hair is a lot stiffer and will create a flare hen you go to tie it in and cinch it with your thread. When you first start tying thread try to not tie it in with to much tension on the thread. As you get it really tied in with a smooth thread base then you can secure it tighter. That is pretty much it. Whip finish the fly and your done. NOTE: If you don’t have the pre-made hooks with the head then you will need to glue the Styrofoam style ones. Then you can paint the white with prisma color markers.

The Norfork Special Recipe Hook: 2457 TMC size 12 Thread: UTC 70 Black Bead: Tungsten Bead 7/64 Tail: Pine squirrel (olive) Abdomen: SLF Original Blends # 14 Thorax: SLF Original Blends # 15 Legs: Sili legs in the barred style (olive/green) TYING INSTRUCTIONS I’m tying this on a size twelve, but it is really up to you on what size you want it to be tied in. I usually tie mine from size twelve when I’m fishing in lakes and creeks and for trout I tie from sizes fourteen down to twenty. I already sled my bead on and got my thread started and now I am ready to tie in the pine squirrel for the tail. Before tying this in, I like to only tie in the hide part with no hair on it until it gets to the bend of the hook. I like to tie in the piece at the front of the hook to make sure it is tied securely. Once you are at the bend you are ready to dub the body. I like to start the dubbing small at the start and then taper it up to the hook. You need to leave room for the legs and the collar of the other dubbing so remember not to tie all the way to the bead. Now cut about two strands of sili legs about an inch in length. Fold them around your thread and tie them down. You will notice that there not laying back at an angle. What you will want to do is tie back on the legs that are standing straight up just a little and that will give them that angle look. Now dub the collar with the other color dubbing. That will also give the legs a pushed back look. Whip the fly and glue it and you got a great pattern for all kinds of fish.

Mackie Bug Recipe Hook: 3769 TMC Size 10 Thread: UTC 140 Fl. Chartreuse Weight: .025 Abdomen: Super Bright Dubbing (black) Thorax: Super Bright Dubbing (Fl. Chartreuse) Rib: Copper wire (BR size) TYING INSTRUCTIONS This pattern was originated by Ed and Bob story. This is one of the best blue gill patterns ever. If you give this fly a shot I can guarantee you will not leave home without this!! Go ahead and wrap about six to eight turns of lead wire. After you do that you will want to start your thread and secure the lead wire from shifting so tie in front of the wire and behind it making several wraps of thread to lock it in place. This is called a thread dam. Tie in your wire right behind the lead and wind the thread until you almost to the bend. You still have to tie the legs so make sure you have a little of the straight part of the shank to work with. You should have a little room to work with at the bend. Grab the sili leg tie it in at the bend. I will talk more about this step in picture 8 and 9. Cut the legs evenly to the desired length you want. Tie the dubbing until you get just past the lead in the front. Wind your wire about six turns until you get to the front of the lead also. I am winding this the opposite direction. That will make the segmentations stand out more. This part might be a little tricky. I have notice people having trouble with getting the legs to look right. What you want to accomplish in this step is making the legs look like a “V on each side of the hook. You will have a total of four legs, two on the top and one on each side of the hook shank. How to do this correctly is by wrapping the legs around the thread and when you lay them down on the hook shank you will notice one going the right direction and the other one going forward. The key is to only do about two turns of thread and then fold the other one over and secure it. You will have to tie back on the leg a little to get it to fold back. Do the same thing to the other side. Now tie the other dubbing to finish the head and whip the fly. Glue it and your good to go.

You know where I stand.

It was the very last of the trip for them and fishing hadn't been as good as I wanted (no nice fat pretty rainbows for the show). Lots of fish but nothing of any size. They hooped up all the trout like they were good fish but I knew... and we'd been catching some very nice rainbows. We were drifting out of the hot area and past the KOA, a drift I had not made with them. We were talking and winding up the trip when I threw into the clay bank below the rock bank with a sculpin jig and wham- he hit. Kinda like the fish I caught with Steve Brigman last month- I was shocked and they were too. They had to turn the camera back on and got most of the fight on tape. I honestly don't remember how big it was- didn't measure or weigh it- sent it back to the water quickly cause I didn't want to hurt it, esp on camera. Six or seven pounds? It was a very beautiful rainbow and fought hard. They're getting alot of mileage out of that show.

You didn't vote

OK Bobber... then pick your favorite. Example- my home water would be Taney but that may not be my favorite. I'm looking for home but if it's too hard to figure out home then go to favorite.

It's really going to be cool when this poll gets going. It's worth it even for those who haven't to register just to tell us which forum you watch most (hint, hint). Come on- it's easy- vote!

What places do you fish besides Capps?