Micheal Kyle

Great I guess I had be more honest in my reports if the MDC is monitoring this site from time to time A slot might make it too I don’t think that it will take money besides creating legislation to get this done. I have a phone call into my local state rep; after I talk with him I shall report it back to this site. Maybe we could get Phil to start one of his polls asking what people think of either a 24”inch length limit or a slot length limit from 20”-30” for Browns. That might be a way to jump start this, I will also say that it might be a whole year or 2 be for we see this done however if we stick together and not let this issue die and letting it fall on deaf ears I know something will come about this.

Not sure of the year but I do know that they tried land lock salmon in Taney back in the 70's I believe. I agree with rainbows put/take and I will stand behind the just increase the length limit and you might be surprised as what would happen to the Browns. Trout grow very quick compared to other species of fish so with a decrease of competition for food plus increase length limits with create a larger number of big fish. The money is already there by the 1/8 cents sales tax on every penny spent in the state of Missouri. All we have to do is convince the MDC to commit more funding to their budget for the fishery of Taneycomo.

Here is my 2cents worth! If we are to have a world record producing fishery then it has to be managed as one and not as a put/take which it is now. I was working with the MDC the night that we shocked the big brown up that would have smashed the then world record. What a fish however she was a minority .What I saw the rest of the night and also the next 2 weeks while working on the report there were a lot of fish in the 15-20 inch range and then the larger fish were in a minority. I believe there have been a lot of changes to Taney over the past years not only in terrain but also in the food source and competing of other fish (not Trout). Take for example the food source. The scuds were virtually on the endangered species list at Taney they have made a comeback in a huge way but so have the other competitors for that food source like the hog nose sucker they eat the same stuff as trout. Now once a Brown Trout gets big they don’t eat small meals any more, not to say that they don’t do it on occasion. They eat other small fish, rodents and just about anything its wants too. IMO if we are going to see a world record fishery out of Taney then it needs to be managed as such and raise the length limits on Browns lake wide to 24” get rid of some the competition for the smaller fish to be able to forage and grow. Once this happens I give it 3-5 years and it will happen, take for example the White River in Arkansas. They increased the length limit on the browns last year and look what it has done for people catching larger fish this past summer numerous pictures of 24-28 inch Browns from all up and down the river.

Got to the water at 9:30pm, fished till 3:00am. Started down by the boat ramp and had the whole place to ourselves. Started with a blood red mohair leech and ended with the evil leperchon after the moon came up around 1:30. My brother and caught a fish nearly every cast nothing big though. We started working our way back up to the rebar hole and the fish started growing in size. Had several bows that were between 18-20 inches and a few browns in the same size class. Here is a couple of browns that fell for the mohair leech. I was just swinging and stripping the leeches in. Good numbers of fish right now to be caught at night time. Good luck and catch a big one!!!

Had an impromptu trip to Taney yesterday afternoon with a buddy of mine from Texas, we put the boat in the water around 1pm. Knowing that they were going to be cranking it up latter on I loaded up with floating lines and sinking lines. Started at the bluff and fished down to leaning tree using midges and the good old trusty miracle fly. Hooked and landed around 30 fish on the first drift down between the 2 of us. Then here came the water fished a 250grain sink tip with a 56er and caught fish till our arms were tired. We fished the sink tips up in front of Point Royale and the flat out in front of leaning tree. Nothing to big just a lot of nice quality chunky fish probably had around 65-70 fish between the 2 of us. Here is a picture of a fish that Justin caught.

NIce I really need to get down there in the next few days at night.

Sculpins Sculpins Sculpins My favorite is the Brad Wright Sculpin you can pick them up at Phil's Fish them on a floating line striping it in quick small strips and pause it and do it again. you can pretty much sight fish them to cast just above the fish and swing and strip it in. that is for the day time. For night time I like using a mouse for the big browns fish them on a floating line as well my favorite is a Mercers Lemming Mouse, these can also be purchased at Phil's I tie them for his shop. he might be out not for sure though. Good luck

Here is an article that I wrote back in 2010 on my night fishing experience, even though I don’t get down there at night as often as I want to any more, between my girls growing up and all the great school activities that they have now and working for American Family Insurance. However when I do get there I want to be prepared and I also want to make sure it is prime time, hopes of a big fish as this one keeps me going back at night all year around enjoy the article again. I just notice that this time of year the night fishing picks up for a lot of people and people start asking questions so thats why I have reposted this. This brown was caught using Michael Schmidt’s Meal Ticket on an 7wt TCX in 2011 with my good buddy standing by and manning the net with 1 unit on just down from the MDC boat ramp up by the darn I have been night fishing down at Taneycomo for well over 15 years maybe longer. And have seen people come and go, and people who go always will find their way back to the night time is the right time. One thing that I have noticed over the years is that the fishing is always about the same it is ether on or off. On the night that it is on you will catch 40-60 fish depending on how long you’re down there. On the nights that it is off you will catch maybe half that amount and have to work at getting them. My dad and I have night fished back in the day when night fishing Taney wasn’t cool where we would catch 120 -150 fish between the two of us. With the night fishing growing in popularity it is tough to have those nights because some of the prime spots are taken. That is why I have done the home work and knows spots and fish spots that no one will even consider to fish at night. Now I’m not trying to be big headed, but the night fishing takes a little time and a little work to master. I usually will avg about 150 nights a year on Taney, with everything that happen this year I will not make the avg. There was one year that my dad and I were down there over 250 nights and what a year. I am pretty sure that I have cast everything including the kitchen sink at them to try and see if it would catch a fish. I used to try and keep mental notes and that got too hard for me to remember everything. So now I keep a journal and keep everything from the weather to moon phase wind direction, who was with me, to how many fish we caught and what we caught them on. I have been going over all of this and it seems that the conclusion that I have come up is just about everything that I have tried has caught a least one fish on. OK maybe the kitchen sink didn’t catch any fish but it was fun trying to cast that thing on my 3’2 wt(LOL). We all have our favorite spots and will seldom move but in my own experience I will start at one end and work down to the spot that I want to end at and by doing this I have found some awesome spots between point A & B. I have had people watch us get ready in the parking lot and actually have people ask me where are going with all that gear. I try to always keep a sinking line like a type 2 or 3 on hand just because they are not running water does not mean you can use one. I have been known to cast a floating line in the shallows then put a sinking line in the deeper water , and when I say deeper water any water that’s is over 4 ft in depth. And then there are all my boxes way too many flies to go over right now. When you see my fly box you might think that I’m crazy OK I’m sure that some of you already think that. Back to the main point I have top water flies all the way to the huge sculpins. Now the time of year will dictate what size flies that I will have on hand. For the general purpose of this summer time will yield the size to be 10-6 and the fall will yield the size of the fly to be 6-1/0. Two reasons for the dramatic size change, for the most part in the summer time there are a lot of fish in the area that are 15-18 inches there are a few over 18-24 about but they are few and far between. I will use the month of July as a feeler to see how I think the fall will be. In my years of fishing down there if you start catching a lot of Browns at night in July the fall we be good as in last year I had 8 fish that were over 10lbs and one that pushed the 15lb mark. So to sum up summer time fishing and you want numbers fish small flies if you want to go after some bigger fish some bigger flies and you might need to move down stream. A lot of people do not know this but Taney is stocked the heaviest during the summer because of the all the added people down there. Now to the fall and the big stick time, I will have big flies and a big stick to be able to cast the flies. I will generally have in hand a 9’8wt. For two reasons the ease of casting bigger flies not to say you can’t cast them on a 6wt and for the ease of getting big fish in. When you catch these big fish as in 24-28+ inch fish you want to get them as quickly as you can so that you do not harm them. Remember the reason that the big fish are coming up is to spawn. Now the MDC says that the fish do not spawn in Taney that can be a whole other topic. However the MDC does come down and get the big fish and milk them so that they can continue to produce the fish in the hatchery. I will use a lot of articulated patterns with stinger hooks in them. Two reasons for the articulated patterns is I can get a larger fly and not have to have a huge hook in the fly.; I will tie a bunch of articulated leech’s that will have a number 4 octopus hook in it and the fly is 4″ long the hook is only about 1″ long. I only through streamers and only fish when the water is off, that is how I have done it for years I have had some people try and get me into nymphing at night no offense it’s not me. I like the action of streamer fishing. I also believe that it is the most productive way to fish because you can cover more water at night whipping and stripping streamers. Starting to get busy must get to work now. See you all down there tonight. I hope that this was not too long.

Thats a big Spoonbill!!! Friday Night August 2 I was down there with a buddy, we put the boat in around 10 pm and motored up to PR. On our way back down around 2 am when we got to the leaning tree there was a spoonbill it was about half that size. It looked like it was in very bad shape, fins not good and skin coming apart. Looked like it was making the death swim. I have really been itching to get out during this high water but my new venture has me very busy during the day. Oh well you know what they say "NO MON NO FUN" Have a great day!!

Hey all I just wanted to say Thanks to all that contacted me and bought the rods. ALL RODS ARE SOLD:) THANK YOU!!!

I found mine on Craigs list 2010 top water witha 25 hp and trolling motor. you might check there if the other boat does not work out. Search Arkansas river boats.

Well I thank you for that, tell all your freinds because my wife says it needs to leave soon:)

Hey all, I am selling this motor I used to run it on the back of my drift boat sold the drift boat and bought a long boat and have no need for the motor now. 2004 model, long shaft, 5hp 4stroke comes with stand and tank I have not ran it for 3 years but had no issues with it be for it always started on the first pull. I am asking $600.00 or best offer. Let me know if you are intrested.

Good article and great video! Fishing scuds can be very rewarding at times, even though I mostly fish streamers and dry flies I will on occasion sight fish a scud. I use a number 12 or a number 10 grey or tan scud. I use the mustad caddis hook can’t remember the number right now but have no problems seeing the fish eat it with no indicator and I have caught some very healthy fish. It does seem like there are more scuds right now than there has been in the past few years.

Ronnie just investing in my new venture:) Lancer you can never have to many:) Pass it along to your freinds if you dont mind.

Hey everyone I have a few Sage and a couple of Winston fly rods that I would like to sale. You can PM me or email at mbkwrh@gmail.com if you are intrested. All Reasonable Offers Will Be Considered! Theses are all Sage Rods Zaxis 9100 10" 9wt New in Tube $550.00 TCX 690 9' 6wt New in Tube Demo $550.00 XP 586 8'6" 5wt Used $375.00 XP 9100 10' 9wt New In Tube $550.00 XP 790 9' 7wt New in Tube $550.00 RPLXI 1090 9' 10wt New in Tube $550.00 XI2 1190 9' 11wt Fore Grip New In Tube $550.00 These next 2 are Winston LT 7'9" 3wt 5pc rod Used $375.00 BIIX 690 9' 6wt Used $375.00 See you all on the water, Have a great Day!!! Michael

Have been away for a while from night fishing. Had a trip last night fishing was so so, fishing mohair leeches Blood red was the best color. We did not put the boat on the water till 10:30 and fished till 3:00am. Fished the bluff down by lookout all the way down to leaning tree. Fishing did not get good till we got down to flats down by the tennis courts. I fished a Leming mouse for a while and no takers. Mike and Marcus were fishing the leech:) it was a decent bite Mike had around 30-35 fish by himself slow stripping the leech. I had around 20-25 fish once I started fishing the leech and Marcus fished for a whole 20 min and had a 3-4 fish. All fish were the same size stockers Mike did have one Bow that was around 19 inches and one Brown that was 22 inches. Blood Red was the right color last night. Remember you can buy all my Mohair Leech dubbing colors at Phil's shop. Here is a pic of Mike and his Brown. See you next weekend. Michael

I have always used Great Fish Reproductions out of Bolivar Missouri, not sure if he is still in business but he does some amazing work. His name is Gary Fisher. If you can’t find him call Rick Lowery in Bolivar Missouri and ask for Ronnie Mcginnis 417-326-6556 he was the head guy for Great Fish. I personally have had him do 12 fish mounts for me. I have attached the photos of my 4 favorites IMO he is the best you can go see a lot of his work on display at Bass Pro in the Museum and displayed throughout the store here in Springfield. Good luck with getting the fish done with whoever you choose. Oh and you might ask Rick Ozborn about him as well he did his IGFA Line Class World Record Brown and State Record Brown for him. Which you can see that fish displayed in Plateau Fly Shop here in Springfield. Michael

After being very lucky with the first Line class record that made me want another one. It only took me 5 years and a lot of research and a lot of missed opportunities but hey that’s why they call it fishing and not catching. I got a call on Easter weekend that is was on and big Sows were where we needed them to be to enable us to catch them on the fly rod. So we loaded the boat and headed south to the James River at Blunk Hole. We fished that Saturday, Sunday and Monday night trying to complete the Line class record world record. I knew that I needed to land a fish that was 2.9 lbs or heavier. Had several fish that came close and then we started catching a bunch of little males I figured I was a day late and dollar short. I decided to go upstream to fish Wilson creek area and still a bunch of males up there not good for what I am trying to do. At about dark on Monday 4-1-2013 I told Eric lets go back down to fish right across from the boat ramp at Blunk when we pulled up there was a guy there spin fishing and I asked him any good fish or just little males. He responded by showing me the stringer of huge sows, he and I stood there and talked for a while watching all the boats take out. If you have never watched that show at Blunks it can be interesting and funny at times. He stated that he was done and if I wanted to fish the hump that he had been out fishing it was all mine. I took him up on his offer and on the 9 fish that I had caught I knew it was the one when I set the hook. When I got him to the net I knew for sure that it was the one only one problem my scale I use on the water is not a certified scale, now came the fun part finding a store and keeping the fish alive long enough that we can weigh it alive. I told Eric lets go to Food for Less in Springfield. The Manager of Food for Less said yes bring the fish up and I will weigh it for you. You will need to be here by 10pm because I am leaving and I am the only one here that can weigh the fish for you. So we empty all the other fish out of the cooler since we have no live well in the Clackacraft we put all the other fish under the back seat filled the cooler up with water and headed to Springfield. Now not only is my fishing partner a old buddy that worked for me in the fly shop but he now guides in Montana does he bother to set his clock right in his truck no!! So while Eric and I figure that we Have an hour and half to make it Springfield we really only have 30 minutes. I figure this out while I am talking with my wife and I said wow you got the kids to bed early tonight and she said no I didn’t it is 9:45 do what oh crap Eric’s clock is still on Mountain time. We were now “North bound and down loaded up and trucking” just glad we did not get pulled over. Needless to say we made it and the fished weighed in at 2.13lbs and now you know how the cookie crumbles. I was fishing a 9’ 5wt Sage One fly rod with a WF Floating 5 weight fly line using a 1kg tippet with a chartreuse and white #12 clouser. Again thanks to all the well wishers I hope to get number 3 sooner than later. This can be a very rewarding way to get world records because not only does it require a weight of the fish but it also requires tippet classes (Line class), and of course a little luck. They have them for spinning and fly rods and some of them can also be classified as the state record line class as well. Michael

Thanks Rick and everyone else.

Thanks for the info I will have to check Mozingo out. Nothing any finer than catching a big bucket mouth on the fly rod!! I have a bunch of mice and frogs ready to rock and roll!

Thanks for the info I will have to take a look at them.

And these are sands of times known as fishing forum = code name, key board and I am 10 foot tall and bullet proof:) I like the idea of having people come out behind the code name, I am sure the drama would be gone but then what fun would that be. Keep up the good work Phil and all the other contributers great site you just have to learn how to weed through all the drama. With that said any body know of any good fishing opps around St. Joe besides Smithville lake? Going to be up there for 6 weeks:)

Great fish!!

Great fish!!! I would be interested in that sage z-axis I can add it to my collection of Sage rods. I also be interested in knowing what line you are casting and roll casting on it. In my own opinion and casting a lot of rods I feel there is no better casting rod out there in the fast action category.