Phil Lilley

Fishing finally turned on today. Not a lot of big ones but numbers were good. Couple of keeper browns.

Can't make it... have fun!

Did you guys set a date? I'm not seeing it.

Flow is down to <2 units this morning. I knew as soon as I wrote a report, the Corps would outdate it.

We got current! I didn't realize the area had gotten that much rain last week but all the lakes jumped up to the point the Corps felt the need to open up the turbines at least at Table Rock Dam full blast. Table Rock's level is only at 916.3 feet and Beaver is right at 1121 feet. How long will they run this? Hard to say. But I'd think they would back off as soon as Table Rock is below 916 feet. Power pool is 915 feet. I always have theories as to why the trout don't bite. So at first I said it was because the fish hadn't seen this kind of generation since last summer. Give them a day or two and they'll get use to it and start eating again. Then I said the water was getting colder... rainbows don't like it real cold. We're on day 4 and I'm running out of ideas. It's not like they quit biting altogether. Duane caught this nice 23 inch brown the other day on one of his jerk baits. I got out this evening and drifted a gray scud just up above Fall Creek and caught a few rainbows in short succession. May be we're starting to figure them out. May be they're starting to get hungry. Regardless, here's what to do if they're running 4 units of water. Get your bait, lure or fly on the bottom or over in some slower water. For the most part, our trout are seeking out slower water -- eddies, slack water, even down close to the bottom of the lake the water will be slower and that's where they'll be probably looking for food passing by. That's why my scud got hit -- because I was rolling it across the gravel bottom like one had been dislodged out of the rocks. I was using a regular drift rig with 4-pound line and an 1/8th ounce bell weight and a #14 gray scud. But I would suggest using a larger scud, like a #10 or even a #8. An egg fly should work too. Below Fall Creek, that scud will work too. I'd stay on the inside of a bend where the current is... yes slower. I've suggested this in the past when they're running this kind of water, even flood gates, but you have to be very careful because if done wrong you could swamp your boat. That is anchoring on the side in slower water and fishing tight line with a minnow below the boat. You don't want it to go to the bottom, just down 3-4 feet deep and holding up in the current. Hook the minnow up through the lower jaw in to the upper. They'll eventually start eating again -- probably tomorrow! But it still applies... keep you bait on the bottom.

First contest of the year... tough fishing. The guys who came in early in the week were greeted with generation. This week's heavy flows are the first our trout have seen in months and I guess that's the reason they're not biting very well. Can't think of another reason. They're there... big fish stories are abundant. But they all got away this time.

We are well into our winter season here on Lake Taneycomo, and things are looking very positive. We're not flooding for starters!! It's cold but not too cold. Lakes in our White River Chain of Lakes are all in good shape -- all are at or near normal levels. Taneycomo's water has cooled down from 52 (the high this fall) to 46 presently. What we haven't seen until the last couple of days is heavy generation flows which have moved a lot of old water out of the upper lake and replaced it with clearer, colder water from Table Rock. When Table Rock turns over in December, the water coming in to our lake has a lot of silt in it. It's dark and dingy, and our trout don't seem to like it. Fishing is good but not as good as it is after the silt moves out and the water clears up. That's what we're seeing now. Fishing off our dock and in boats using bait has been spotty. Some days we hear of people catching big numbers of rainbows, mainly on night crawlers and homemade dough bait, and then there are days when it's tough catching a limit of four. Berkley's Powerbait hasn't been the food of choice for our trout lately , and I'm not sure why. Now the pink Powerworm is still a good way to catch a lot of rainbows, on a small jig head under a float, but the Gulp Eggs and nuggets just haven't been producing, especially if the water is off with no generation. Jig fishing has been somewhat the same. We've been throwing a variety of colors and sizes of jigs, which have produced some high yields on some trips and slower on others. We've had some pretty calm days with very little wind when throwing smaller jigs on two-pound line has been pretty effective. Black/yellow, black/chartreuse and black/olive combinations have made a comeback lately. We didn't do very well in the summer or fall using black, but the trout are hitting it pretty well now. We've also started using white and white/grey to pick up bigger rainbows and a few browns. And our mainstay colors that we use all the time are doing well, too -- sculpin, sculpin/ginger, sculpin/peach, brown/burnt orange and brown/black. We are excited to see more generation with the anticipation of using our crank baits and jerk baits for bigger trout. Duane Doty has been taking a lot of guide trips this winter throwing jerk baits in the trophy area. When the water was not running much, his clients have mainly only seen chasers and not takers. The heavier the flow the better these baits do, plus, we're still seeing a lot of big browns up and down from Fall Creek. Hopefully we'll see more of them tagged here in the coming months. Fly fishing has been very good this winter so far, especially with periods of no generation lately. Scuds and sow bugs are still the top flies to use -- from big ones to small ones, #12's to #18's in gray, brown, tan and olive, with gray the best color. The Mega Worm or Mop Worm, as some call it, has caught some bigger trout lately in the trophy area. Used mainly under a float, this is a white yarn fly tied on a small jig head and fished a lot like a Powerworm. There still seems to be a lot of trophy browns and rainbows below the dam around the outlets and places where there's moving water. View full article

My biggest fish is a 35 inch rainbow on 4 pound line. My biggest bass is a 7.5 pound LM on 10 pound line.

Pinned. Please provide good information for future inquirers. Thanks

Looks like 34 and sunny Tuesday but starting off at 22 in the morning. If the winds doesn't blow, should be a nice day. I'm open to whatever... can meet here at the resort too - at the pavilion. May have a super special on jon boat rentals if the water is running that day for forum guys and gals. I'll probably have leftover chili and other goodies.

So @duckydoty and I fished the last 30 minutes of the day today. Boated above the dock a ways throwing 1/16 oz jigs, I spotted who we think was Frankie just off the boat cruising slowly along... I got 2 tries at him and DD once. He ignored our offerings. Ten minutes later and 100 yards up lake, a huge brown flashed off the boat about 15 feet. Was it Frankie following us or another monster brown?? We threw and both of us got hit but no hookups. We both stomped our feet... exciting!! kicker... we both were using 2 pound line.

Just to clarify... Rio 6x tippet is .005 and Trilene XL 2-pound is .005 inch.

Mitch - Generation and wind play a huge part. Wind will push heavier line around more than light line. The other consideration is lure profile. I use a smaller jig for its size, not necessarily for its weight. If the water isn't running or just barely, I use a smaller profile jig rather than a big bulky jig, although you can make a good argument for bouncing a big jig off the bottom too.

My fishing buddy John Johnson is selling his boat. 2016 G3 210 SX 150 4 stroke Yamaha He says it only has 31 hours on the motor. It’s only been on Taneycomo. Asking $42,000 PM me if interested.

I need to take you jig fishing, Mitch. I'll show you why we use 2-pound line. I got a bag of your craws - seconds I was told - all colors. They look awesome... need to try them on our browns. Wish I could use them up past Fall Creek, namely below the dam where there's a ton of bass right now. Bet they'd eat them!

Was fishing yesterday afternoon down by the Landing and hooked something that didn't cooperate at all. Had 2-pound line on throwing a 1/32nd ounce jig. I knew immediately it was big and heavy. It didn't shake or bolt, just bulldogged me, came towards the boat and then made a bee-line away. I was on my trolling motor trying to follow it when my line went limp. I bet he ran into some steel structure that dots the bottom of the lake in that area. It was as if he cut it with a knife - clean cut. I would have liked to just see it... but I have a feeling it was a big carp. I'll never know!

I don't really set goals. But I do think about what I'd like to do in the coming year. I'd like to get over and fish the south central Missouri Rivers with OAF guys. I'd like to take another Alaska trip with my fishing buddy before he gets too old. @Bill Babler I want to fish the Naknek River (Alaska) in late October for big rainbows. I've never been that late in the season. I need to fish Table Rock and Bull Shoals more.... great fisheries in my backyard. We want to teach more people to fish a jig... We all been given a certain numbers of days in this life... I never want to assume tomorrow will come. So I try to live each day as if it was the last although I fail to accomplish that most days.

Table Rock Lake Top Flood Pool: 931.0 feet Top Power Pool: Jan 01 to Apr 30 915 Apr 30 to May 01 915 to 916 May 01 to Jun 01 916 to 917 Jun 01 to Nov 30 917 Nov 30 to Dec 01 917 to 915 Dec 01 to Dec 31 915 (TRZM7) Bottom Power Pool: 881.0 feet Real time generation Beaver (417)336-5083 Table Rock (417)336-5083 Bull Shoals (870)431-5311 Norfork (870)431-5311 Greers Ferry (501)362-5150 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corps Table Rock Water Gauge Link http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx Link for estimated generation Historic Table Rock Lake Levels ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kings River at Berryville, Ark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James River at Galena, MO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USGS River Gauges Long Creek at Denver Yocum Creek near Oak Grove, AR James River near Springfield, MO James River near Boaz, MO James River at Galena, MO Kings River near Berryville, AR

Sounds fun.

Oh I may have deleted the topic by accident... will have to rebuild it.

Thanks Ryan for the write up. I'm looking forward to trying spey casting here on Taneycomo... but I need a lot of practice!!

Thanks for your comments... it was a fun-filled weekend with great people. it was nice to meet you and your wife, and I hope you all come back soon!

Court sentencings finalize one of state’s largest-ever poaching investigations Southwest Missouri family has violations in multiple states and Canada SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Greene County man’s court sentencings in December in Barton and Lawrence Counties are the most recent events in what is one of Missouri’s largest conservation cases involving the illegal taking of deer. On Dec. 13, David Berry Jr. of Brookline, received a 120-day sentence in Barton County Circuit Court for a felony firearms probation violation. On Dec. 6, he received a one-year jail sentence in Lawrence County Associate Court after pleading guilty to taking wildlife illegally on Oct. 11. The 120-day sentence Berry Jr. received in Barton County Circuit Court will be served in addition to the one-year sentence he received in Lawrence County. These convictions were made with information obtained from Operation Game Thief, a hotline sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Conservation Federation of Missouri. Berry Jr.’s convictions are the tip of a long list of illegal fish and game activity by him and other members of his family. “It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years,” Lawrence County Conservation Agent Andy Barnes said. “It would be safe to say that several hundred deer were taken illegally.” Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter agreed. “Conservation investigators estimated that the group was responsible for killing hundreds of deer over a three-year period,” he said. “The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste.” What Barnes and Trotter were referring to were facts uncovered by several years of investigative work. On July 11, 2016, approximately 100 state, federal and Canadian wildlife officers simultaneously interviewed multiple suspects and other persons of interest in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Canada. Information gained from these and earlier interviews tied 14 Missouri residents to over 230 charges that occurred in 11 Missouri counties. Three suspects were tied to additional wildlife violations in Kansas, Nebraska and Canada. Two suspects were tied to Federal Lacey Act Wildlife violations that occurred in Kansas, Nebraska, and Canada. As part of this effort, MDC agents concluded an 8½ month investigation by serving arrest warrants on David Berry, Jr., David Berry, Sr., currently residing in Springfield, and Kyle Berry, Everton, on Aug. 31, 2016. Other individuals in Missouri also received summonses to appear in court on charges stemming from this investigation. Charges were filed in Lawrence, Linn, Shannon, Dade, Greene, Putnam, Harrison, DeKalb, Barton, Vernon and Benton Counties. Most of the Missouri violations were related to the illegal taking of deer. Most of the deer were trophy-class animals. In many instances, only the heads and antlers were removed. More than 300 charges were filed on this group in state, federal and international jurisdictions. Prior to the July, 2016 interviews, David Berry, Sr. and Eric Berry, 20, Everton, were convicted of taking gamefish by hand in Dade County. During the 2017 firearms deer season, while awaiting his court appearance for violations from the 2016 investigation, Eric Berry and an accomplice were caught spotlighting in Lawrence County. To date, this group of poachers has paid $151,000 in bonds and $51,000 in fines and court costs and collectively served 33 days in jail. David Berry Sr. and David Berry Jr. had hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for life by the Missouri Conservation Commission. Eric Berry and Kyle Berry had hunting and fishing privileges revoked for 18 years and 8 years respectively. Jerimiah Cline, Republic, who took wildlife illegally and assisted the Berrys, had hunting privileges revoked for five years. Information received this fall through Operation Game Thief led to the arrests of David Berry Sr. and David Berry Jr. for violating terms of their probation. David Berry Sr. has posted bond and is awaiting a probation revocation. People observing wildlife violations can report them through the Operation Game Thief Hotline, 1-800-392-1111 or call the local conservation agent. Southwest Missouri family faces many conservation violations in multiple states and Canada. Francis Skalicky Media Specialist 417-895-6881 x1641 Francis.Skalicky@mdc.mo.gov

Very good, thanks!