Phil Lilley

I own a Black & Decker electric knife and like it but I've been told they are hard to find. Mine is 2 years old and may be on it's last filets... so I'm looking. I've had the knives that are made for cleaning fish but none are heavy enough to clean fish it seems. Does anyone have any favorites and where to buy? On the internet?

From what I've heard- both. They don't all spawn at once- there will always to those spawning and those staging. Buster said he caught 3 limits easily yesterday with clients using a jig/float 18 inches deep 3-4 feet off the bank in the Long Creek area.

Wow- you had quite a trip!! Rod & reel??!! I expected you to say trot line or jug lines! Care to share how you caught them? On what bait- what kind of rig... I'm not getting up there any time soon but there may be some that could. I commend you for releasing them but most people say they'd be good eating. Do you not think so or do you just like to practice c/r? And lastly.... pics!!!!

A very good friend of mine just bought a place in Alaska and is now booking trips for this summer. His name is Jim Johnson, former owner of the Pere Marquette River Lodge on the Pere Marquette River in Baldwin, Michigan. He and his family will be living and working out of a small "lodge" on the Naknek River, located in the Katmai National Park. Because of his recent purchase (less than 30 days ago), he doesn't have alot of his promo material done yet. He's only seen the place buried in snow so only has a few pics taken by the previous owner, who ran bear excursions out of the lodge. Jim is experienced as an Alaskan guide, taking groups to the different areas of the great state with his brother Tom. Only until now do they have a base to operate out of. He has already booked most of the weeks available this summer but has openings in June and July. This is the best part - he's only charging $1500 per person for 7 days, 6 nights which includes- - the assistance of a professional river guide - all meals - a riverfront cabin, double occupancy - use of a boat, motor and fuel - transportation to and from the King Salmon airport Fly out trips are available. Hosted bear photo safari - included. Guided trip to Brooks - included. More details? Post away. Jim is going to register here and answer any questions. I will say this- I have known Jim & Phyliss for over 20 years now and can say honestly they will provide a quality Alaskan trip well worth double the money you will pay. $1500 is unheard of (as far as I know) for a week of fishing in this great place. And no I don't get anything for helping a friend in his new business. Here are some pics from my trip to the Kenai River in 2004 with Tom Johnson, Jim's brother.

You can't change- sorry.

Scotty's Tell Rich to send his wife out to the pump

Bill fish from Tuesday -

Took my uncle Jerry out this morning early. Headed down to Roark to check out the crappie. Caught a few crappie along with some blue gill, bass, and white bass. The 2 whites we caught were big- 2 & 3 pounds and guess what they had in their bellys - a dozen sculpin in each. I caught them on swimming minnows just outside the mouth of the creek. We caught the others on swimming minnows also. Headed back to the dock and picked up Jerry's daughter Susan and her 2 kids, John and Mary. Megan and Caleb, 2 of my kids, followed in one of our jons. We anchored above Short Creek and fished air-injected night crawlers. Jerry with an 18 inch brown. This turkey (the trout) almost pulled my rod in the water the first time I hooked it- the reel on the side of the boat saved it- it broke off. The next time I landed it and it did indeed had 2 hooks in it's mouth. John with his mom and first trout. My 2 kids each with rainbows. Jerry and Mary with her first trout. How many species of fish do you see? Add a spotted bass, a largemouth and a few blue gill and that's what we caught this morning.

I've heard of some great crappie and whites coming out of Flat by bank anglers and waders. Can anyone help me with directions to such a path?

We've had several anglers come in and say they caught white bass on minnows in this area of the lake. Is this unusual? Yes and no. Yes- don't see many whites caught up here. But because of the water temp they are moving up. No- there are alot of whites in Taney.

Guys- it doesn't bode well for you to post a pic like this- esp catching it the way you stated, on a public forum like this one. Putting your hand under a fish's gill plate is a death sentence in most cases, esp with a fish this size. Better to lift the fish gently just above the water's surface and take a quick photo- a closeup would even be better. But in saying that, I wouldn't like to see a bunch of guys dog-piling on this... Lesson learned.

North Arkansas Fly Fishers Federation April Newsletter 2006

For those who like low water conditions on Lake Taneycomo, your fishing experience this spring and possibly summer will be just what you like. For those who like the water running, well, you better do a rain dance. Our region has only seen a fraction of the normal rainfall for the past 10 months leaving area lakes and streams extremely low. And because we are entering summer months when the power administration likes to generate hydro power, the future of generation patterns is uncertain. But one thing is for sure, they will be conserving as much water in our lakes as possible. Beaver Lake is 12.5 feet below power pool, Table Rock is 9.5 feet low and Bull Shoals 6.5 feet. Generation has been nonexistent this winter which is unprecedented. SPA may generate as temperatures reach the 90's but sparingly, in my opinion, assuming we received little rain this spring. Boating on the big lakes will become dangerous due to the gravel bars and standing timber in the lake. If you are vacationing on lakes and taking a boat--even if you've been on the lake numerous times--consult a local marina for a map and/or warning advisories for dangerous areas. How will this affect Lake Taneycomo? Levels will not be dangerous to boats. Our lake is kept at power pool when not generating by virtue of a lower spillway plus turbines. Empire Electric, who owns and operates the dam (Powersite Dam), is not supposed to draw the lake down past a certain level, which is the power pool level. So our lake will not drop below power pool. But our situation could become dangerous--not for boaters but for our trout. Rainbows can survive water temperatures up into the 60's and brown trout can tolerate temps even in the 70's but neither operate well in either. With no generation and no cold water entering the lake from Table Rock Dam, our water temps will reach these temps in time, just lake other lakes in the system. In the upper reaches of the lake, such as the trophy area, these temps will be reached much sooner. Unfortunately, this is where the highest concentration of trout reside. The area directly below the dam isn't affected by this phenomenon because of the inflow of hatchery water which is kept cold. But further downstream, namely from Lookout downstream, water temps have already risen into the 60's on several occasions. If we don't see rain this spring, the Missouri Department of Conservation and SPA should have a plan in place to work together to make sure our trout fishery is kept safe from high water temps this summer. But how far downstream should this plan be considered? There are resorts and marinas as far downstream as mile 13 (1 mile below Branson) that count on trout fishing for their clients. I don't think it's fair for SPA to consider the cries of a resort owner at mile 18 and not the cries of a resort owner at mile 13... but we may not see fairness in this process--I don't know. One thing that the lake in the lower reaches has to it's advantage is deeper water. Trout can and will seek out cooler water at these deeper depths. How do warmer temps affect trout fishing? Not too bad at all really. If given a choice, I'd rather have warm water than cold water. Let me clarify. In the past, we have seen water temps below 39 degrees in May and June during heavy generation. Our trout don't bite as well at these cold temps. They get lethargic. Compare that to temps in the 60's--trout are very active and actually need more food to survive so they bite better. The problem warm water/low flow creates is we will see thinner rainbows because of the higher stocking rates in the summer and less food for the trout in the lake. I'm not a fisheries biologist so I can't say why exactly but it is my experience that during sustained low generation periods our rainbows become thin due to a lack of "bugs" in the lake. So putting two and two together I summarize low/no flow is bad for our food base. I've seen this numerous times. Will they die from starvation? In extreme times I guess so. Are we in extreme conditions? No-- not yet. But looking behind-- no real accumulative rain since June of 2005-- and looking ahead-- no real rain yet this spring and none in the foreseeable future, summer ahead of us, we could be in extreme conditions by the end of the summer and into the fall.

Thanks for posting and letting us know you're out there. If you have info about your 'home waters' post it - it'd be cool to hear about other trout waters in your area.

yes... no... That about covers it! Seriously- some will be still close to the banks I'm kinda sure.

Fishing Report - Edward Spence Monday, April 10, I got to the river below the dam at 3:00 PM. There weren't many fishermen. I like to fish with soft hackles so I started above the rebar hole with a #14 White Body Soft Hackle and caught two small rainbows with very few strikes. I changed to an olive wooley booger and moved to the end of the gravel bar and caught one 13 inch rainbow. It was still very slow so I moved back to the rebar area and caught three more small fish on a #14 pheasant tail soft hackle. I had several strikes there before quitting at 5:30. Tuesday, April 11, I was back fishing at 8:30 AM. Still very few fishermen. I started back with the pheasant tail soft hackle at the rebar area. I caught one small fish before changing to a scud under an indicator, and fished with that until near 11:00 with no luck. At that time I switched to a green body crackleback and caught one 15 inch rainbow below the gravel bar. After lunch I got back fishing at 3:00 PM in deeper water near the lower end of the gravel bar and at one location I caught 15 rainbows before quitting at 5:30. All were around 12 inches with a couple at 13 and one at 14 inches. Fishing in general was real slow except in the deeper water. Wednesday, April 12, I started fishing at 8:30 in the deep water just below the rebar and fished there all morning. There were only two other fishermen below the #2 outlet. Virtually standing in one location all morning I caught 25 rainbows on a #14 yellow body crackleback. Most were 12 inches or less, but several were 13 inches and two others were 14 and 15 inches respectively. After lunch I resumed fishing at the rebar hole at 3:30. Fishing had slowed and I caught 8 rainbows with the largest at 14 inches. I was the only person fishing in that area. I moved to the deep water below the gravel bar and caught one small fish. After returning to the rebar hole I caught 7 more before quitting at 5:30. I had one very nice fish on, but lost him without seeing him. Although the water was very low it turned out to be my most productive fishing trip with the number of fish caught. It would appear the deeper water produced the fish and with few fishermen there was little competition at those locations. A minimum flow is certainly needed. The weather could not have been better, although it got a little warm in the afternoons. Edward Spence

ok- click the link and see if you can view the trout cam. Respond - 'I can' or 'I can't' Then tell me if you've been able to view in the past or not. Thanks!

Just got off the lake. Took a writer out for a short trip. We boated up to the Narrows above Fall Creek and found trout midging all the way from the dock to that point- not heavily but fair. They were feeding better above FC though. I tied a #14 black zebra midge on my fly rod with a pinch on indicator 12 inches above the fly and handed the rod to David, from Christian Outdoorsman. It didn't take long to hookup with a small rainbow- and another- and another. The lake if full of 10 inch rainbows right now but we were able to target some nicer rainbows closer to the bluff bank. I tied on a 1/32nd oz sculpin/ginger jig on my spinning rod and casted toward the bank, working it slow off the bottom and hooked several nice rainbows up to 14 inches. And one brown about 13 inches. Saw several very nice trout cruising and looking at the jig but no takers... some were well over 20 inches. Fishin's good for most... During the night there is a bunch of junk floating off the bottom making fishing alittle tough but the wind is picking up and carrying it to the sides of the lake by mid morning. It's bad right now because there's no generation to 'clean it out'.

Cut the red meat out- best advice. I was told if you boil white bass strips in shrimp boil it's excellent! I haven't tried it yet but will if I catch any whites. Soak it in a salt solution- may take some of the strong taste out but I really never have a problem with white bass tasting strong regardless.

Hi Phil- Had a great time as usual. Terrific fishing and great weather. Here's my report. Sunday. April 9- Started fishing about 3:45 at the Rebar riffle and hole. Used soft hackles and woolly buggers and several sizes/colors of scuds with no results. Moved on down the gravel bar and caught seven rainbows on olive woolly buggers and yellow cracklebacks. Quit at 5:45 to go eat. Monday. April 10- Hit the water about 9 AM below the end of the gravel bar {downstream from the rebar area} and had fast fishing for small rainbows for a while. Caught 10 to 12 on cracklebacks, then moved on down towards the waterfall and caught several more including 3 nice browns. After lunch and a nap I got back in the water about 3 PM in the same place and quickly caught 5 or 6 rainbows on olive woolly buggers, then several more on yellow cracklebacks. Tuesay. April 11- Started fishing about 9 AM between the lower end of the same gravel bar and the waterfall and caught a brown, a cuttbow, and 16 rainbows, all o n #12 yellow cracklebacks. After lunch I caught between 15 and 20 trout in the same area, all on the same crackleback. Two were nice browns - a 14 incher and an 18 incher. The rest were small rainbows. Wednesday. April 12- Got on the water a little earlier because I knew I had to drive home today. Started fishing at 8:30 between the lower end of the gravel bar and the waterfall and caught 23 rainbows and 2 browns in two and a half hours before quitting at 11 AM. Most of these fish were 11" to 13", but lots of fast action on an 8 wt. All were caught on #12 yellow cracklebacks. Four days of beautiful weather and great fishing. Thanks, Phil. Bruce Cochran

That statement may come back to haunt you! Did you get my monk-e-mail?

You gotta check this out... my son sent me a Monk-e-mail and I've sent dozens since. http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/D...-198191098-RQ-1

I'm trying something tomorrow- we're increasing our broadband as an experiment to see if we can get more people viewing at the same time- so far the limit is 5. We're increasing from 512 to 768 mb. I'll let you know when. Thanks.

Thom- I got your email and responded but it bounced. I sent it on 4/5 and got notice today (4/12) it had 'bounced'. If you're still around, please drop me another email Phil

15 inches on ALL bass on Table Rock Lake... easy to remember. Champ was talking about crappie I'm sure.