mwfischer

That is an excellent jig. Reading this stuff makes it harder realizing I won't be able to make it back this year. March 2012 can't come soon enough!

Amazing. Honestly why I think I like Taney so much (Grew up a bass fisherman at LOZ). It's a different lake every time we visit. To think below the dam looked like this just 6 weeks ago.

I would imagine that if you hug the bluff really close you'd be OK.. may only be about 3' of water over there now, but I think it's passable. Probably can't get much farther than the island at that level though for sure.

Wow, very interesting. I wondered if the terrain on the bottom would change during that fast water and it sounds like it did. Going to have to be extra careful if we bring the new boat down any time soon. Thanks for the info.

Yep we were out there in one of your bass boats running with Bill and a few others. It was definitely slow. I actually was trying just some basic split shot a few inches up the line and that was what produced the one 18" bow. Still a fun day.

Also got out this afternoon w/ a boat from Lilley's. We ran up from Fall Creek to the dam a few times, the bite was slow, but I think we weren't able to keep the 1/8 oz jigs on the bottom enough (White) I did get one very nice Rainbow about mid way around 3pm. Thanks to the folks at Lilley's, everyone was great. First boat rental this weekend, very fun. Glad the dock was back in business.

That's some skill by the builders delivering that new ramp. It's hard enough to control your drift fishing w/ regular current, let alone what is flowing plus holding still enough with that ramp attached. The Dock builders are amazing to say the least. Good to see some sunshine for a few days down there.

Nice to know that color combo is still doing good. Fished a sculpin/blond(Could have been ginger) from Lilley's back in March. I'm by no means an expert. 1/8 oz but definitely caught some nice rainbows. Hope the pattern sticks for a few more weeks, we're making a quick stop down on May 7th to fish the morning, so hopefully the bite is still good!

Ditto to what Phil said. "Learn to fish with jigs" This was the first year I committed to using a 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig on our yearly trip to Taney in March and when the fishing was good, I would consistently catch bigger (15-18") and one very nice 23" rainbow on a sculpin 1/8oz, while the rest of our group fished spoons and others and stayed in the 10-12" range of rainbows. Very true about the 2# flouro or mono as well. Caught that 23" on 2# Berkeley Vanish (Best line I've ever used)

One of the guys in our group talked briefly to someone at the Cooper Creek launch w/ a White River Outfitters logo on his truck, he mentioned doing very well today with pink jigs under a float. I wonder if that was him.

Our group made our annual trip to Taney this Friday thru Sunday. We usually spin fish with spoons and small cast/retrieve baits but this year I wanted to try to commit to jig fishing. Surprisingly even with Tablerock being low it seemed that water was moving most of the day Friday - Sunday so we threw 1/8 oz jigs in the trophy area. Of course my office couldn't do without me on Friday so I spent far too much time on the phone during our first drift, but I was able to catch this rainbow, definitely the best of my life, on a 1/8 oz Sculpin/tan jig just up from Fall Creek. We regularly caught fish on most drifts on Gold/Red spoons and the sculpin/tan as well as pink and white jigs. Others in the group fished down from the creek and also did well on the spoons and jigs. Our group really had a great time again and as always, just when I get back to St. Louis, I can't wait to get back down there. On a side note, what is the standard rig for a jig/float up in the trophy area? I never seem to get it right and I know this is a very reliable way of catching fish in the area.

Sorry about that, didn't read the bottom capacity numbers on the schedule. I think I have it figured out now. Anyway, thanks for the reports and tips/tricks. I will post a report on our trip as soon as possible. Hoping for another great trip!

Hey guys, I'm planning our weekly trip to upper Taney for Fri-Sun Mar 11-13. We usually stay in town and boat from the Landing up to the dam (Or at least as far as possible) Does anyone have any info on recent generation? I checked the Generation reports, but how does the MW generated # relate to # of units running at TRD? Looks like we might get a decent amount of rain and some cooler weather following a front late next week, which I assume may bump the lake level and make navigation by boat a little easier, but I'm sure that depends a lot on the level at Table Rock. I'm trying to jig fish much more this year.. definitely yielded some bigger fish compared to throwing the cleos and lil jakes. Thanks for any info, Mike F St. Louis, MO

I can do nothing but agree with Bill on this entire report. Got home from a Thurs-Sun trip to Taney today and followed this spin pattern almost to a T. Fished the upper lake on Gold/Red spoons in the flats and caught/released a good number of stocker bows and a few nice ones in the 14-17" range. Threw the 1/8oz Sculpin and white jig on the drops along the channel in the upper lake and caught a few nice fish on them as well. Fished down by Scotty's and a little in between. Seemed slower but most of this time was in the PM, and still did great on the 1/8oz jigs and spoons as well. All and all fishing was great for us and thanks to Lamar down at Scotty's for the jig fishing tips. I finally committed to throwing it while others were having fun catching on the spoons and still managed to boat just as many if not more fish throughout both days. Great times at Taney! Hope to be back soon. Mike - St. Charles, MO

HERE!

Could also launch at Scotty's at the upper area of the landing. Just up from BPS.

A question for Nitro and Tracker owners. I am in the market for a smaller boat (Garage size constraints) and I have always looked at the Pro Team 175 from Tracker. It is about the right length, and everything was looking like I would be getting one, but I recently looked at the Nitro X5. It looks like for just a small amount more, (When the Tracker is maxed out at its 75HP Motor) I could have a Fiberglass boat w/ a 115HP that looks to have a lot more options/features. Does anybody have any thoughts? Thanks!

Did anybody report what the bite was on?

Did this tournament happen? If so, do you have results?

Hey guys, Does anybody know of some patters/techniques that would benefit me for a tournement on April 4th taking off at Bass Point Resort (Gravois Arm area 8mm) I grew up with a weekend place on the lake around the 36-45mm, so I don't know much about this area. Thanks!

A group of guys and I were down last weekend fishing with light spinning gear drifting from boats, and we did the best on white jigs. Depending on the depth and the wind, anywhere between a 1/80th oz and a 1/16th. Some of the guys did good on spoons, Gold and Red little cleos.

Ahh, I'll have to remember that for our next trip. Most of the people I talked to (though they were a ways away from the trophy area) said 1/32 was as small as you can use successfully. Thanks for the info.

Hey Guys, Just got back from our annual trip to Taney, and we had a great time as usual. We docked at Scotty's and drift fished from a boat all weekend. The weather was fantastic aside from the windy conditions and about a five minute downpour Sunday morning, but all and all it was a successful trip. The fishing was slower than the past couple springs that we've come down, but it gave me an appreciation for the jig fisherman of the lake and this forum. Because the bite was slow on the spoon and rapala method, we all threw jigs most of the day, sometimes under an indicator and sometimes not, but the wind made it difficult to feel strikes and even control where the jig was drifting, but we still landed a few decent rainbows. As Phil said on the tournament results, if it wasn't on the bottom, you didn't get a bite. I had the best luck when the jig had a chance to sit on the bottom for a second before drifting farther down the lake. I did OK on a 1/80th oz white jig under a float, and a 1/32 white one without the float. Was anybody else down this weekend? How was the fishing?

Hey Guys, we're headed down to Taneycomo for a weekend trip this coming weekend. The weather reports are scattered right now, some say fair weather and nice temps, but some say rain moving in. How has generation been going? Provided we don't get any rain do you think they'll be some low times? We drift fish from a boat but it's nice to be able to fish it slow. I'm guessing white jigs and spoons are still OK in the upper lake? Thanks Mike

Ahh, understood. I guess I was just thinking about when the rivers above flood stage here in STL.