Phil Lilley

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.

Zinc Dam downstream PSO Bill landing 13 pounder in the "honey hole" fly in mouth- barbless thankfully Fishing just above the "berm" Bill with his 8 pounder

Bill Butts, Vince and myself made the drive over to Tulsa Tuesday to check out the great fishing, reported by Michael, Bill and others over the past month or so. I know Bill will post his own report along with pics I took of him with fish but I thought I'd begin by posting my own report, lacking as is it. The short of it - windy! Not wind gusts but sustaining winds of 30-40 all day from the south. It beat us to death. But I usually don't mind the wind as long as the fish bite.... they didn't. Not for Vince and I. I landed my first fish, a small 3/4 lb white about 5:30 pm. Vince caught a dozen whites and a drum thoughout the day but no stripers. I'll let Bill share what he caught and I'll post my pics alittle later this morning. My impressions of the fishery- different, very rugged, unforgiving. It has the potiential to be great... but with any river system, the key is being where the fish are at the right time. I believe 2 events worked against us yesterday- they brought the water up during the night, cooling the water temp from the day before and the water dropped Tuesday but not as much as it did the day before. When water patterns aren't consistant on Taney, our trout are tentitive--it may be the same on a river like the Arkansas. Plus- fishing is fishing... some days they just don't bite. Walking/wading this river is very tough. The flat, uneven rocks and sand make wading treacherous at best. When Bill told us to bring a wading staff he wasn't kidding. I got by fine with felt bottom boots but metal cleats would have helped. The Arkansas is not a pretty river. Lots of old disgarded pieces of concrete laying all over along with metal and other trash. They need to do a river clean-up in a bad way. But as for having a striper/hybrid fishery in your backyard like the Arkansas- it's pretty cool, one that alot of Tulsans obviously don't know about. We saw one other wader on the river along with some bank fishermen later in the day. I'll go home here in alittle bit and download the pics I took and post them.

Can't get away from the "ethical" question when asking about bed fishing for big female bass. If you're looking to kill a nesting female bass on a bed, you may not find anyone who'd answer your question. I'm not a bass fisherperson per say and don't fish for bass during their spawn so I can't speak to the catch question but as for killing them, well it seems counterproductive to the angler to kill off their future sport, whatever the species. I have spoken to that issue on other posts, ie. crappie, and will continue to remind those who will listen- release sows with eggs when possible... at least a few for "seed".

Don't get in a hurry- we need rain- a good soaking rain- before they start coming up again. Yes they have been up in some places but these places are isolated because of ground conditions and rainfall amounts. Even if we do get rain, it depends on the condition and makeup of the soil. If the rain goes right thru the topsoil (rocky soil), the mushrooms won't do well. They like lots of moisture.

Do you drive a black Toyota pickup? Park at the 31/Riverside parking lot close to the light? If so I saw you park and walk across the street yesterday. You didn't mention the WIND!

Hey guys- We just had Cox replace some bad cable feeding our modem so we may be able to accommodate more people on the Trout Cam. Check it out. Water is very cloudy. Been seeing some big blue gill, crappie and bass in the brush but not yet in the camera. Take it back- just saw a largemouth bass.

They should be in full stride... most everywhere. But haven't heard any stories personally. Blair, Cricket and Long should have whites in the back of and in the upper reaches of each.

I was on the water a lot this week and really have caught a variety of fish. We started the week white bass fishing up above Twin Bridges and caught a lot of whites with some being big ones. The size went down as we fished later in the week. I think the white bass run is about over in the rivers. We looked back in our records for last year and saw that we started catching white bass above Sailboat Bridge on the 14th of April. I think the fishing is better once they move to the main lake than in the spawn. You have to know where to look for them though. We have done well on crappie this week on or close to the bank. Where are all the small crappie? All we are catching are good keepers up to 14 inches. It worries me a little that we are not catching more small ones which will grow up to be big ones. We black bass fished a couple of days and did fairly well. We caught our fish on jigs and spinnerbaits. We saw a few beds also with a few small males on the nest. Wont be long till the bass are bedding big time. Everytime I fish uplake at Twin Bridges the spoonbill snaggers are cleaning limits at the ramp area. We saw one that might have gone 70 lbs. The catfishing is good around the flats at Sailboat Bridge. The fishermen are fishing very shallow on windy days that the wind is blowing out of the south. There are some good ones being caught up to 30 lbs.

Just glanced at the weather forecast for next week. Starting in the 70's and climbing into the 80's all week with some rain. That just means one thing... crappie are going to move one step closer to spawn. Reports from most areas on the lake are basically the same this weekend- males are off the banks 4-8 feet and varied on depth. Females are off the banks further and holding. They've been moving closer if not on the banks early and late in the day. With the warmer temps, look for pairs to be on the banks spawning this week. Bridgeport seems to have the bigger crappie, unlike last year when you had to catch 10 short to one keeper. I would strongly suggest a couple of things. Releasing part of the females you catch for seed. And releasing crappie under 11 inches, not 10. If enough anglers practice these two things, we should have great crappie seasons for years to come. From what I've heard there are plenty of 11 inch crappie at least on the James Arm. Once last thing- if you get your reports/information off this forum, please give back part of what you've received. Write a report, tell how you caught your fish. Share a picture. If you don't know how- email it to me and I'll post it for you. Thanks - Phil

These are great for tailgate parties- I think they are selling a ton of them. I've riden them- they are a blast.

Going to Tulsa Tuesday to fish the Ark. but will be here tomorrow. Phil