Trav

Nice one Thom.

The last bullhead I caught on Lower Taney was a little black one caught off my dock while night fishing for trout back when I was a teenager. I have night fished several times in the past couple years and nothing in the way of cats. I do believe that if there is any left in the lake they would primarily be closer to Powersite or maybe up in Bull. I am convinced that there isnt any in the main river channel. I also believe that walleye have met the same fate. I do catch whites and crappie but I dont exactly seek them out. If I bump into some I will play around with them though. I rarely use my old ultra light rigs. Most my gear is medium wieght. I use 8 to 10 pound test. Im pretty sure that is as heavy as I need for this lake considering I have only caught 2 fish out of the Lower that went over 10 pounds. Both Brownies and Brownies tend to be lathargic fighters once they get over 6 pounds. Cant explain why, just from my experiance they tend to use thier wieght and the current more than thier strength as they get bigger. Plus I am not opposed to using my trolling motor to assist in the landing of larger fish. Now if your using 4 pound test and get into a 6+ pound brownie, you will have to be very careful for they will shake thier heads hard enough to snap the dental floss. But as far a running from you, it is rare. They will roll the surface and bolt some at the boat, but for the most part the fight is pretty uneventful. Foul hook one, and you will think you have a state record. Then they will fight like gang busters. I lost one that I was sure it was a foul hook because it fought like a ticked off tuna. I never had a chance to see it, but wouldnt be surprised if it was over ten. Because of the agressive jigging style I like to use, it is not to uncommon for me to snag one in the tail, for they swipe the bait to try to stun it before consuming. Especially if I am fishing in 40 feet of water. There has been several fish that if I didnt feel the swipe and failed to stall my bait I doubt if I would have caught them for they want it easy to catch dinner.

I guess I dont pay attention to the Banners much. Dave, I think I would almost prefer Hillary on here instead of all over the news. Her voice annoys me. I keep expecting her to tell me to take out the trash or mow the lawn. Haha

I consider the Lower lake to begin at Roark Creek but Phil has it classified as from Bull Creek down. I could get from Branson to Bull Creek in about 10 to 15 minutes. That would put you in Lower Taney. And I have a little 18 horse. Not the fastest rig ever built. Now as far as I know of, There is only 2 "public" ramps on the Lower. Rockaway Beach and Forsyth. I do know of a about a half dozen private ramps as well, but some of those could get you chewed out by some of the old codgers that think they own the communitys they serve. There are a few resorts on the Lower lake but for the most part it is pretty void as far as lodging outside of the cities of Rockaway Beach and Forsyth. I wont endorse any of them for I have zero first hand knowledge of thier services. And both communitys have ample places to eat. I do 98 percent of my shopping(gas, snacks, and the occassional bait and tackle) when on the Lower, at the Conoco station in Rockaway Beach. There is a private Marina/boat dock right behind it and nobody seems to mind if I borrow an empty stall to grab a can of gas. There are other places that offer gas but I prefer to buy mine off the water since I only buy 5 gallons at a time. As far as seeking advice.....Cant say as I ever have done that, but I have given plenty of advice while I am on the water. Mostly to whoever gets close enough to have a short conversation while fishing. Now, On the water, as well as on this forum I tend to be pretty generic with the advice I toll out. I believe you can call it a fishermans perogitive but all the same, it is valid and I wouldnt stear anyone in a wrong direction. The methods and tactics vary from species to species, from season to season and especially from angler to angler. I believe in experimentation, so some of the hair-brained methods I have used might make the funny papers if they were known. When fishing for trout I stay in the deeper river channels and always fish below 15 to 20 feet deep. Of course I do prefer to fish for bass most the time and you will most likely find me up in the creek arms. The usual Bass tactics work such as jerks or cranks, and I always tell people to put thier confidence in the colors blue or white, if not both. In fact I even carry a blue sharpie to add blue to my presentations at times. Dont ask me why, I just have found it to be the all purpose color for the Lower and I like to write expletives to induce a provocation.(just kidding) The area below Powersite Dam is refered to as upper Bull Shoals. Although it might be fun to jump the Dam in your boat, it is highly frowned upon and not reccomened. Haha Hope this clears up a little for you. And I do beg to differ, there is such a thing as a stupid question but I was always was told that even a smart man dont know the difference until it is asked. I personally believe that to not ask a question makes that question stupid for it has no answer. Wink

I have had a McCain 2008 signature since Dec.

I have 1/4 inch of ice everywhere. The cedars are all leaning over and my vehicles look like giant popcicles. Took my chainsaw to the tool hospital on thursday, Hope I dont need it.

Phil requested that I do an article of the Lower Taney and so it happens I have one in my archives that I wrote for an aspiring publication called BuzzBait that never really got off the ground. It was written in 1999 so some of the data on the trout population is outdated. I also am not sure where I got my info but I am sure I read it off the internet somewhere. All the same it should make a good read and if there is any requests for me to focus on any one species on any future articles I will be glad to oblige. Lower Taneycomo "Great Trout Fishing but has a mixed bag that everyone would like" Taneycomo has rapidly turned into one of the Ozarks finest fisheries. It is stocked by both the state hatchery, "The Shepherd of The Hills Hatchery" in Branson, and the federal hatchery in Neosho Missouri, but there may no longer be anymore trout coming from Neosho. Some locals say it would be for the best since a lot of the Federal fish are stocked too small. The Feds stocked 45,000 six inch rainbows in November. Most of which has migrated to the main part of the lake. Makes it hard to catch the bigger ones due to all the little ones ravishing your bait, but they make great food for the big browns. The state hatchery only releases 10 inch rainbows. Shepherd of the Hills also released 150 rainbows between 18 and 28 inches in November. Shepherd of the Hills has been experimenting with cross breeding two different types of trout, The Missouri Arlee strain and the Crane Creek McCloud strain. Last year 30,000 of the cross strained fish were released in Missouri's rivers and streams, including Taneycomo. There for it is no mistake that Taneycomo has excellent trout fishing. The lake is divided by the MDC to even enhance the waters more. It is law that only artificial bait be used from Fall Creek to the headwaters of Table Rock Lake. Keeping the"trophy area" intact is turning out to be a great success for the lakes trout population. I personally think there should be a 12 inch size limit on the rainbows similar to the 20 inch size limit on the brown trout but that would be hard to justify due to the fragile nature of the trout. A lot of them swallow hooks and some just never recover from the stress of being caught. Having such a law would help the size of the trout but there might be a lot of dead trout floating around from fish released injured and stressed. Kind of a double edge sword. What most people don't realize is that Taneycomo has excellent populations of bass, crappie, cats , and bluegills. I for one would have never guessed that if I hadn't been raised on the lake. Most of the people who live on the lake have realized this and have started putting cedars under their docks to attract crappie and bass. For years I have been catching beautiful Bass out of Bull Creek and coves from Roark Creek all the way to Powersite Dam. I have always fancied myself a good cat fisherman and have caught bullheads and flatheads. Haven't seen any channel cats but i think they could flourish in Taneycomo if they were to be stocked. Possibly could raise state record size channel cats if given the chance. Channel cats thrive in cold water, just look at the monsters in the Red River between Minnesota and the Dakotas. Also, crappie, for years have been a mainstay on Ozark dinner tables and this lake has a modest population of them and as a kid I remember catching bluegills off the family dock by the dozens. I have also caught the stray walleye and Pickeral as well. Granted, these other species have to compete for food with the thousands of trout in the water but they manage by feeding in warmer areas of the lake. Plus the bass do feed on the little" Fed stocked" fish as do the catfish. So the big Brown trout don't reap all the rewards off the over stocking of small trout. Next time your hunting that trophy trout and they don't seem to be bighting, keep in mind that Taneycomo has an excellent mixed bag of fun for most any taste. Safe boating and may success follow your every cast. As I mentioned before, This article I wrote in 1999. Since then I havnt seen any bullheads, walleye, or pickeral. The diversity of the lower lake is definately narrowing. Some say age, others say nutrients but I am sure the increase of the Brownie population has a factor. Wich has an excellent population in the depths that the lower has to offer. It still remains a viable bass fishery and I have seen the numbers of larger bass increase as well as the curious introduction of whites. Whose population is on a serious boom. This probably wont surprise most, But the population of suckers and Carp have definatley benifited with the aging lake. In the summertime you can see them stacked by the thousands on the flats up Bull Creek. On the downside of it being an aging lake, the increase of foriegn species mainly on the vegetation side is soon to be on a critical scale. Back in 99 there was very little hydrilla and now the entire Rockaway area is choked with it. I find it very tempting as a bass fisherman but in retrospect I have had very little success while fishing it. It really should be payed more attention or navigating the shallows of the lake could represent trouble and it could hinder the warm water species success in the future. If that happens then Taneycomo will truely be nothing but a fish bowl fishery.

Solid points Thom I for one agree with the comment on staying out of political conversations. But after all, I was asked about it. Haha, Give me a stoop to stand on and I will step up. Good or bad. Wink

I back McCain because he has the most realistic plan. We all know that backing out of Iraq would be as stupid as backing out of South Korea. And we have been there for 6 decades. In Korea as well as Viet Nam we were fighting forces outside of the reasons why we were there. In both conflicts we were fighting Chinese. Not koreans or vietnamese. A force that could kick our butt and we all know that. Just in a softer context to avoid a world war against them. With Iraq, we are doing what the Democrats were to scared to face. The clintons saw 911 way before it happened and did nothing. Did we forget the USS Cole and the embassy in northern Africa? All on Bills watch. He did nothing, thinking it would go away. I for one think George W did the right thing. We needed a playground in the area to fight the war on the anti-american temper. He knocked out two birds with one stone and in the process finished what his father regretted not doing in the first place. Popular or not... It was genius. History will prove it. Given its inevitable passing. We are not fighting Iraqis. We are fighting Iranians, Syrians, Jordanians And Saudis. Not to mention that the conflict in afganistan is just starting to boil, and with the taliban reeking havok in pakistan these past months. Just because we try not to look at it as a world war, if we ignore it we will be looking at it. McCain thinks old school. Like Reagan. Carry a big stick but talk quiet. We need our boys in uniform more now than ever before and thier sacrifice can only be respected by a man that has walked the walk. He is the only canidate that believes in the over all picture. Now as a life long republican I am sure to ruffle a few liberal feathers. And as a man who survives off the ideals of FDRs legacy I firmly believe that there will be a black president before there is a woman. Heck, I wish Colin Powwell was running just to prove that Obama has zero experiance with foriegn affairs. Hillary isnt ever gonna beat Obama and McCain is the better man between the two. He has stated he is a single term president. I wouldnt be surprised if huckabee doesnt take the vice-president ticket to pick up where McCain leaves off. Bible thumper or not, I would hate to be on huckabees bad side. Just look at his tenacity. He knows Mccain has him beat and he still has a stone to grind. That is the republican plan. Trust me. I could go more indepth with my beliefs on this matter, but I think I have proven my point. Good economics or not, it is moot if we live in fear. With McCain we know we have a can of whoop butt. Isnt that all the world needs to know?

Any temps from the King arm yet?

Sweet topic. I for one will take any bass I can get, but smallies do have a special place in my anglers heart.

I wear CastOvers. Since I am blind without my glasses they fit really good over my specs. Takes little getting used to and I think I payed 20 bucks for them.

There has been reports that mining in west virginia as produced sediment shifts as far away as ten miles from the mine site. Not saying this is the case here. Just saying it is a plausible. More than likely it is simply erosion from under the banks itself. Wich happens to be very close to the dam cunstruction.

Haha, I cant count the number of coons, possum and even skunk(unfortunatley) that has met thier end as chew toys in my driveway. She is a fearless killer. Without a doubt. She just doesnt like to swim. Wink

If I dont have anything nice to say...WHAT? I only report on what I have experianced first hand. If it is a little too much then maybe you belong with those bunch of knowledge seekers. If any of them had any desire to be unique then they wouldnt need to confirm thier status with 50 grand boats and $500 fishing reels sold to them from the adds on the Bill Dance fishing show. Then play off like they arent competing with the Jones. I apologize for nothing when I know it is the truth. I may be a jerk, but this jerk can see the truth as obviuosly as the nose in front of your face. I may be a decade or two seperated from current members of so called local clubs. But I doubt if any of it has changed over the years. I as well learned from them, but only how to pick pecking orders and listen to the scopes of individuals who havent fished a real tourney or guided a day in thier life. They are vampires. Seeking what ever they can get from those who are stupid enough to believe that they have friends. Ealy, You really need to know that just because you think my opinion may be wrong, it doesnt mean it is without validation. Walk a mile in my tired old shoes. Then tell me I am a jerk! Only then can you ever say your opinion trumps mine. Let me add, that keeping my mouth shut, as you so put, is alot harder to do than you think. There is plenty of people who share the same admonitions as myself. And as Phil says, let the dog piles begin.

I havnt trapped since I was a teenager. Would love to tag along for the fun of it next season if you guys wouldnt object. Not interested in the bounty but do appreciate the quest. I may have some knowledge from just past observations on the Lower that might be helpful.

Other than maybe the redbud, dogwoods are the first trees to bloom. Usually in Mid March. Since we dont have ice on our lakes here, alot of the stimulus for fish to spawn has more to do with warm rainwater and warm nights than anything. The dogwood indicator was just a little rule of thumb for my Gramps, For some reason I believe he had some validation in that theory. Anyway, Its an old family measure that we like to have confidence in. I for one catch big bass year round. I do agree, other than pre spawn, Late september- early october has been historically kind to me.

Do you think that guy has had his 15 seconds of shame yet? I agree with Bittle. One of my brothers is a Iowa State Trooper. Some the stories he has will blow your mind. I for one dont think that police get enough money. Or enough back up. It is sad that some of our municipal officers get paid less per hour than alot of the guys that flip our burgers.

How about a demo on drag control when pulling in tourist eating squid? Wink

I am planning on setting up the camper at Campbell Point for a week as soon as the dogwoods bloom. I use the dogwood bloom as an indicator of when the spring bite starts. Just an old folk lore that my late Gramps passed on to me. He had a knack with with such indicators.

As Leonard stated, there probably is a number of factors, Lets not forget, that the new overflow area near moonshine loosened alot of gravel as well.

Haha, I knew what you meant, just checking if you did. I got 4200 off a pistol that I payed 2600 for 15 years ago. Wasnt a bad trade. Just sucks that it might cost me 5000 grand if I ever wanted another.

Bass Lies?

Vote Republican! Crappie is my kind of guy.

Water is the most powerful force on the planet. The Gravel isnt just appearing or being washed down stream. It is evolving and changing. Breaking down. Anyone who has a garden in these here hills will tell you, that rocks and gravel just work thier way to the suface. Believe it or not, the gravel your seeing pile up below the dam is actually coming from the foundation of the dam itself. My Great Uncle was a worker when they built the dam and he had told many a story of how dangerously and unprepared the engineers were when building it. There is alot of sediment under that dam. It has to come out somewhere. Now your seeing the same rock that built the dam move out from under it. Haha, Scary thought huh? But its true.