Phil Lilley

March 17, 2006 Water Level--904.1--rising slowly Water Temperature--53 degrees Water Condition--stained Crappie---This has been a very good winter for crappie fishing all over Table Rock. The size of crappie has improved greatly over the previous few years. Crappie are being caught suspended in the tree lines south of the dock. Fish a jig or a live minnow 6 to 12 feet deep in 20 to 25 feet of water. Black bass are hitting crank baits on secondary points in the creeks. Look for chunk rock points to be most productive. Hard to say what this rain and more this week will do between now and this weekend. I doubt if many will be fishing down there this week because of the cold weather. The crappie won't go far though. Stop at the marina at Cricket and talk to Mark. He should be able to tell you what's going on- up to the minute. Marc- we look forward to your report when you return home!! Hope it's a good one!

If you get them- get smoke, chartruese, purple and electric blue. Then olive, pearl, motor oil and more smoke.

My parents attend first Baptist here in Branson. Do you know anything about lunch and dinner being served in Nixa for residents whos homes were destroyed or damaged? They are in charge of a couple of lunches this week. I think at the rec center? Mom said they (organizers of relief) are looking for more churches/organizations to help with meals. If anyone is interested, email me.

I just looked at the levels at Boxley today to see if the river had risen. With these rain patterns, we should start to see some normal spring flows.

Gentlemen, Everyone has done a great job helping those on the board with fishing questions on Table Rock as well as other lakes on OAF. I have encouraged guides with businesses to post on the board for just that reason- they know their stuff... all of them do. Posting information about their guide services is welcomed too--if offers a needed service. I know I'm speaking for everyone - thanks, guides and others, for caring enough and taking the time to post here.

I used to have images of them but they were on another server and I think it's gone. They come in 2.5 and 3 inch. They're shaped like a minnow with a thin curley tail. Come in dozens of colors. Made in Florida so they're not an ozarkian thing at all but they are hard to find for some reason. Not sure why others haven't tried to copy them- almost the same as a grub-curley tail but slimmer. Thread them thru the head/body on a jig head- simple.

http://intellicast.com/IcastPage/LoadPage....ts&prodnav=none Doesn't look bad at all. It really is pretty acurate.

There can be only 5 viewing the cam at once so it could be busy. However, for some reason, some people are not able to view it. I wish I knew why. You might try again and if you keep having trouble, try another computer.

We have about 20 currently registered for the seminar so because of time and space constraints, we probably can't offer personal tying lessons. We do offer smaller fly tying classes every Tuesday night- Jeremy will be there tomorrow night so possibly he can carry the patterns over to next week.

We had our first fish fry yesterday at church and although it was good, I'm tired of the same old recipe. With the crappie season almost upon us, share some good recipes with us. And spoonbill... how do you prepare and cook spoonbill?! I haven't had much luck with it. I'm trying to eat alittle more healthy... note I said "alittle more". But good healthy recipies would be nice. I can go to the bookstore and buy a book but I'd like to hear from experienced anglers if you don't mind!

Light brown antron. Mink and gray (Peppy) are the #1 and #2 dub colors in my box. Peppy is a mix of mostly gray with a little bit of black and then light gray dubbing. Ratios- Mink - 85% mink, 15% lt. brown antron Peppy - 80% medium gray Sow Scud, 15% lt. gray antron, 5% black rabbit.

There's good gravel at the bridge and more upstream. There were a bunch of waders upstream from the bridge about 1/4 mile waded most of the way accross the river and fishing the channel but I don't think you have to wade that far over to catch fish. We caught whites off the channel in the flats in 2-3 feet of water. But I do think the key to catch the bigger females is fishing the channel on the bottom.

Doing everything in triplicate, are we You can full edit and delete the extra pics... if you want. Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a great day of fishing.

A gentleman fishing below lookout caught a 20 inch rainbow Saturday. A friend told me his neighbor caught a 22 and 23 inch trout off his dock last week- located just above Short Creek on a rapala.

Coy and I drove to the dam at 10:30 pm. Started at the MDC boat ramp throwing Lucky Crafts stick baits and working them slow. The wind made it tough, blowing upstream but we still could feel the soft touches- unusually soft strikes for crank baits. We both landed a couple of browns each from 15 to 17 inches. We both lost several other trout, some much larger. We drove on up to above outlet #1 and casted for little bit, not as good. I landed a small brown and Coy landed a small rainbow. We ended the night below #2 with no strikes. It was midnight when we quit.

If you used a camera, the clarity must be fairly good. I have several camera but no monitor. I'll have to get a monitor. Were the crappie spooked by the camera. If they're like the trout, they are more curious than scared.

You're right- I keep them in the frig. I'll have to find a cool place next time I have them. Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/155821202...5Fencoding=UTF8 Dave Whitlock's Guide to Aquatic Trout Foods Excellent!

Don't get me on gambling and casinos... they destroy thousands of lives each year. They breed crime and violence. Yachts are only an inconvenience, dumber than dumb if they want to drive them up a small river but nothing campared to casinos. Plus - you think casinos will stop at Rockaway- if they get in? You'll have them at the Landing... then you'll have casinos and yachts. Think about it.

May be other trout park guys can answer this better but... 4 lb line, small hooks, small weight and patience. Don't go out and buy a bunch of new stuff. Tie on a short piece of 4 lb leader to what you have, as much weight as it takes to throw it out and a #12 bronze short #89 hooks and a night crawler should work wonders. Enject alittle air in the worm, make it float, and you'll catch trout.

I really don't like to dwell on the negative- so I won't post much on the development in Branson. I think it's unstopable- it is the way of progress. The convention center is needed if you want to bring more people here and compete with other convention venues in the country. Branson has to stay ahead of the curve to compete. I understand all that. I have a problem where they located the convention site. It's not about the lake necessarily- it's about the smartest place to put it. I think it should have gone out off Gretna/Shepherd of the Hills area- out where there's not much development- easy to get in and out to major roads/areas. Instead they spent alot of money buying up property and businesses and homes on land that's cramped and hard to get in and out of... no room for expansion unless you buy more land/buildings/businesses. Being on a lake a lake is nice but will it bring one extra person because it's on water and not on a hill? I don't think so. Condos- it does matter... to me and it should to others. If you treat people right, do the best with your property you can, people will come back to it- seek it out. It's the personal touch that matters- condo don't do that for people. They have their place- but so does B&B's and family-oriented resorts... and there are many of us left. Branson is still the best place because of it's people- very friendly for the most part... unlike other vacation places I've been to.

Illegal - 35 No change - 12

I can get them but need alittle lead time. I've tried to keep some in stock but the demand for them is so small they keep dying before I sell them.

I didn't say that Put your glasses on, Bill.

I agree. The alderman and administrators don't seem to have a lick of sense and they don't listen to anyone.