Phil Lilley

Ran to the dam today from 4-5:15. Running 2 units it looked like. We drifted from the cable to KOA 3 times and caught may be a dz rainbows. Nothing very big at all. Caught an equal amount in sculpin/orange head, white, brown and sculpin. Nothing on black. 1/8th oz jigs worked slow on the bottom. Slow compared to most trips. Love to see the water running. Babler reported fishing early today was extremely slow- even pb and night crawlers below fc. Later in the morning it did pick up for them though... as soon as the wind showed up.

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=783 There's a great thread already on the Current Forum. You may get some other responses for late spring patterns.

He said there were 50 boats in the tournament last year... I didn't think the Current was that big. Insane would be putting mild I'd say.

Talked to Bill today- he emphasized DEEP- he caught some of his fish yesterday 40 feet deep. He said they did the same thing last year after spawn- went deep. Read his report- good info.

Well... she may have to register and post to find that out!!

I know there's a fair numbers of locals who frequent the forum that fish below the dam (wade) almost every day. Haven't heard from you all lately? Sure would like to hear what's going on up there. Don't make me come up there and find out myself!!

Growin' up quick buddy! Proverbs - Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don't despise your mother's exerience when she is old. Get truth and don't ever sell it; also get wisdom, discipline and discernment.

That's a pretty short rod... esp if you're fishing open areas. I've started people on shorter rods in the past and they usually want to, or I think they should go to a longer rod. I'd start him with at least an 8 foot rod... unless you're fishing Swan or Beaver Creeks. Then shorter is better. I know- buy him one of each!

Martin - you shouldn't be so modest... tell us how you really feel! And what you caught. I think it's awesome!

He said they would put in at Van Buran?

Bill- you ROCK! Nice camera.

Getting alittle testy... let's cool the waters... so to speak. OAF is a fishing forum but this is general discussion- anything goes. Opps I just looked- this is in the Table Rock forum. I'll close this and if anyone wants to continue- start a topic in general discussions.

Argument - The fact is there are those who will take the place of the persons who don't come back because of the crowds. I think that's short-sighted. It's been true up to now. Go back east and ask about Branson. the vast majority will say- 'isn't that the place where there's a little road going in, stopped up with traffic, traffic jams all the time'. I heard that personally and from many others who travel. Traffic has been bad since 1983 at least when we came and it hasn't gotten better- only for those who know the back roads and when to travel them. So with that said, traffic will sink the landing- my opinion. Tram system- they've been talking about/studying that since 1993. I don't think it will help even if they do it. Branson will never be the sleepy little town it was when we came in 1983. But one thing it still has- friendly people. Hopefully we'll hold on to that. It may be all we have that makes us different than the big tourist venues.

Jeremy Rasnick is heading to the Current this weekend to fish a small mouth tournament- anyone know about this? Supposed to be a big thing.

Corp Site - http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/....cfm?Id=M418030

Ooch! Get involved in community action groups and actually spend our own money and our time helping people, missions, non-profits?!?!? That just may quiet the crowd a bit.

This is the issue, not hand fishing. Hand fishing is just an innocent bystander in this issue which is unfortunate. We don't want lawmakers creating fish and game rules.

In my limited fishing experiences on streams, I've found fish in both pools and riffles but bave been surprised just how many fish hold in riffles. I know the pools just below the riffles are great places to drift a jig or a crawfish pattern into but what are some of the better techniques for fishing rivers like the Buffalo? What do you look for? I'd like to put together a journal of sorts with diagrams for fishing streams. I think anyone who has had some experience with river fishing- either fly or spin can contribute with his or her experiences.

John submitted this to me for the newsletter and it did go out as part of the publication but I thought it would be nice to post it here and get you guys to comment-add to the list. I have heard the term “trout bum” bandied about quite a bit. Heck on occasion, I have even been called one. However, I am not sure that I know exactly what one is. I took it upon myself to investigate this term. I read the very insightful book by John Gierach on the subject. I traveled to the various places where trout bums congregate. I went fishing on the Madison, the Deschutes, the Henry’s Fork, the Green, the San Juan, the Yellow Stone and every other trout stream where I thought I might learn something useful on the subject. I attended National Conclaves, Southern Conclaves, Sow Bug Roundups, and the “Home Waters” Expo. I visited lodges, fly shops, bars and fishing cabins. I have talked to countless anglers. Sadly, I am unable to find a succinct definition. What I was able to identify from all of this learned research is that there are certain indicative behaviors that can predict whether you are a trout bum. The more of these that you exhibit the more likely it is that you are one. I have listed a few of these indicators below. If your cat is named Winston and your dog is called Lefty, you might be a trout bum. If your family had to eat Christmas dinner on TV trays because your dining room table is set aside for fly tying, you might be a trout bum. If you missed the birth of your first child because it coincided with the start of the sulphur fly hatch, you might be a trout bum. If your fly tying vise cost more than your automobile, you might be a trout bum. If one or more of your children were conceived on the back seat of a drift boat during a lull in the salmon fly hatch, you might be a trout bum. If your wedding reception was held in a fly shop, you might be a trout bum. If your wife wants to do something romantic on your anniversary and you take her night fishing, you might be a trout bum. If she thinks you finally hit a home run with that idea, she might be a trout bum. If you have ever worn a fishing shirt to a funeral, you might be a trout bum. If Wapsi or Orvis makes more than three deliveries a week to your home, you might be a trout bum. If you can identify every insect you encounter on the river with its complete scientific name (in Latin) but can’t remember your children’s names, you might be a trout bum. If the only time anyone has seen you cry was when you broke the tip on your bamboo rod, you may be a trout bum. If your greatest fear in life is that when you die your wife will sell your fishing tackle for what you told her you paid for it, you may be a trout bum. This list is by no means complete. I would not be concerned unless I exhibited more than five indicators.

Got an email from Scott Totten of DNR answering my inquiree on this situation and here's the answer I got. He said they have a 'sand and gravel fact sheet' on their site that explains their authority in these cases and what to do when we see violations. Here's the link- http://www.dnr.mo.gov/forms/lawsregs.htm

How do you fish for the walleyes? Troll points? Drift? Cast? Never been on or seen Greer's Ferry.

I doubt seriously if Ark would have anything to do with TR - that's MO's baby.

Got out this evening at 6:30 and fished till 8 pm. Boated up to the top of KOA- they were running one unit- great for jig fishing and that's what I did. I took my 5.5 ft spin rod with 2 lb vanish line and threw 1/8th oz brown jigs. The wind was alittle stiff blowing upstream AND my trolling motor didn't work so I tried to stay in the middle and threw at an angle downstream and worked it slow. Needless to say, I missed a bunch of strikes but did hook alot too. When the wind died down I could work the jig anyplace I wanted which normally was to the side towards the banks. The KOA side held the bigger trout- around the logs. I hooked and lost a nice 5 lb brown- it jumped and let me look at him before he spit the hook. I had bent the barb down because of the number of fish I was releasing. I hooked another nice rainbow- 3 pounds maybe- and the hook pulled out on that one too. What I did boat were nice trout- only a handful under 12 inches which is just the opposite of what we've been seeing on flies below Lookout. I tied on a white jig later in the day after the wind stopped- I love to work something I can see and watch the trout actually take it. I caught a few- one nice rainbow- but it was noticably slower than the brown. As the water slowed, so did the bites- hard ones anyhow. But what a fantastic evening. I can't wait till they start running water more... I'm ready for a switch- and so are the trout I think.

What space? These aren't on my server. But if you knew what kind of space OA takes up.... I just hope the owners don't notice.

Drive down to our place and use one of 3 stations on our dock, if you're close. We don't mind at all. You might stop in the office, if we're open, and let us know you're down there.