DaddyO

I wish I lived in the KC area. I'd be there in a flash!

Currently not reading anything other than technical manuals. (Boring) When I read for pleasure, I generally like Sci-Fi and Fantasy stuff. I've read most of R.A. Salvatore's stuff, All of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and waiting on the last book, which Brandon Sanderson is writing since Jordan died. I've read almost all of David Dalglish's books and most of George R. R. Martin's books. I'm also waiting on Martin's next book in his series. I picked up "The River Why" to read while I wait on the next WOT and Martin books.

Amen, Thom!

This is a great example of what I love about this forum. We have lots of guys on here, like F&F, that share their knowledge which helps other people experience something that they might not otherwise been able to do. Thank you Phil for hosting this forum. Thank you to all of you that participate.

During the day, go by one of the fly shops and see if they will rent you a rod and reel. Buy some hibernators, Lighted indicators and UV Scuds. Wait until she falls asleep in the evening and then do some night fishing. Oh, get a head lamp too. Good Luck!

Wow. I liked that video. Looking forward to the others. Keep up the good work!!

Well, that's hard to say. During the drought we didn't have enough water in the lake, so, they did minimal generation. With all of the rain that we've had, they are able to do more generation. So, they used to run until the lake dropped back down to 632. My guess is that they will keep doing that until a change gets put in place. I use this link to check the lake levels: http://www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/webdata/gagedata/TENO2.current.html

Jim, Just checking in to see if your Water Release Plan was approved. I was able to get out on Friday and fish the Lower Illinois. I got a late start and got to the River about 9am. I parked in the grassy parking lot below the dam. The generation schedule on SWPA website showed that there would be no generation until 2pm. I’m learning to call this the “Web of Deceit” . As soon as I got out of my truck, the siren went off. However, the water did not come up as expected. I began putting my waders on to prepare to fish. The sirens went off about 6 times while I was gearing up. I was able to fish for about an hour before the water, finally, came up enough to prevent me from wading. I was able to fish again about 30 minutes later as the water receded. Another 30 minutes passed and the blew the sirens and the water came up REALLY fast and I knew that fishing was done for the day. All in All, I was able to fish for about an hour and a half. I was OK with that as I really just wanted to get down there and check out the river conditions and see if there were any fish to be caught. The water looks 10 times better. It is not the Coffee and Creamer tan color that it was a couple of months ago. It is now a murky green color with about 12 to 18 inches of visibility. I was able to land 12 fish in the 1 ½ hours that I fished. For the most part, they were all 10 to 12 inches in length. They were healthy and hard fighters and were all released to, hopefully, grow some more. Thank you for your efforts to bring this fishery back to life for us. Phil Curtis -------------------------------------- Phil, Glad to hear the angling is good! Yes, tentatively approved. We are supposed to meet with the COE next week to discuss possible release options to better use and conserve the water we have to use. Below is the current release schedule that we have requested. The sluice gates are operable again so “our” water will come from the sluice tube instead of through the turbines. Our release request is outside the generation schedule as we have no control over that at all. You should be able to count on the 75cfs we requested during the hours outlined but generation schedules will continue to be inconsistent as always. Thanks for your support. I am stressing to everyone that although things are better now that unless water is specifically designated for the stream we will be back to where we were this fall, but likely much earlier in 2012, depending on rainfall. Please continue your urging of elected officials as well as the COE and SWPA to find a permanent solution to the problem. Thanks again for your support. Our current release schedule (subject to change as we try different releases to conserve our resources while meeting the needs of the stream) Tuesday - Thursday 0700-1600 hrs 75 cfs through the sluice gate. Friday 0700 through Monday 1600 hrs 75 cfs through the sluice gate. These releases continue regardless of generation. Jim Burroughs

OK. Thanks Cliff. I'm kidding. It was interesting. I'd like to be able to catch the Stripers like you can.

Nothing of any size. They were all 10 to 12 inch stockers.

JC, which river did you get that sampling from?

YF, I talked to a gentleman from Texas, on Friday, who was staying at Marval. He had a little black dog with him. Was that your Dad?

I went out Friday Morning. I got to the grassy parking lot below the dam about 9am. As soon as I started gearing up, the sirens went off. The weren't supposed to start generating until about 2pm or 3pm. I stood there in disbelief for about 5 minutes while the siren went off another 4 or 5 times. The water never came up. I don't know what was going on but I went ahead and put the waders on and head down below the kiddie pool to the downed trees. I pulled 10 out in about 45 minutes and then the water started coming up. I headed back to the truck. Visited with a couple of guys and told them about the forum. When they left I checked the water and noticed that it was dropping out again. So, I walked back out, caught a couple of more fish and then the water really started coming up. Most of the fish were caught on my Hair and Copper fly and a few were caught on the BobWhite. As was mentioned above, the water was a little green and murky with about 1 foot of visibility. However, I'll say that it was 10 times better than it was a couple of months ago. We've only had 2 stockings and another is scheduled for the 30th. Get out and enjoy the fishing again. You should be able to catch them on the same patterns that you are used to using.

I was at Taney a couple of weeks ago. We were unable to catch the water down at night, but we fished every night with a lot of success. I caught so many fish that I got tired of fishing. DD offered good advice if the water is down. However, if the water is up and you still want to night fish then my suggestion is that you use the same setup that we did. You can purchase a few lighted indicators from Lilleys Landing fly shop. Buy a half dozen or so of Jeremy Hunts Miracle Fly Egg and a dozen of the UV Scuds in a size #18 or #16. Tie the Egg as the first fly and the Scud as a dropper. You can get all of that at Lilleys Fly Shop. We fished around Outlet #2 using this rig with a 5x tapered leader and 5x tippet. We usually had the area to ourselves. I normally don't fish the outlets, but when the water is up, it's about the only place to fish unless you have a boat. Have a good trip!

I liked the video. Looking forward to the Galloup flies series.

Yes to both questions.

I didn't get a chance to go to the river this weekend. Was anyone else able to get down to the Lower Illinois? If so, how was the water conditions/clarity and were there any fish to be caught?

This supports what JCW and JWP reported: -------------------------------------- Jim, I just noticed that the lake elevation hit 632 today. It also looks like we could have a couple of rain events between now and the end of the week. However, without water release, I noticed that the water temps were up in the 60’s over the weekend. I like seeing the DO levels up, but with those high temps, I don’t know how the Trout would fare. What is reasonable temps for the trout that are stocked in this tailwater? If you do begin stocking again, will you be doing them two times per week, as in the past? How long do you estimate that it will take to get the levels and numbers of fish back to pre-drought conditions? Will you be stocking both Brown and Rainbow trout and if so what will be the mix/percentages? Thanks, Phil --------------------------------------- Mr. Curtis, Temps are often in the 60’s and we seem to get by with that. Low 60’s are much better than upper for sure. We are resuming stocking this week on the 16th and an extra stocking on the 18th. We typically do not and have not regularly stocked twice a week. We will be going to our normal schedule the 16th and adding the extra on the 18th. We will then continue with the next regularly scheduled stocking on the 30th. There should be plenty of fish available by the weekend. We do not get a regular stocking of brown trout. The only browns we ever get our surplus that are offered to us as extra fish. All of the regular fish are rainbows. Below you will see what I have requested as a water release plan. IT HAS NOT YET BEEN APPROVED but I think it will be. **No water requested during generation. **Tuesday-Thursday…. 75cfs through the sluice tube from 0700 through 1600. (As soon as personnel report to work and until employees leave in the afternoon) **Friday-Monday….. 75cfs through the sluice tube from 0700 Friday through 1600 Monday. **Again, No water is requested during periods of generation Thanks for your interest and good fishing. Jim Burroughs

I just noticed that the lake levels are at 632 as of today. I've sent another inquiry to Jim Burroughs. I'll post the response as soon as I receive it.

FYI here is a thread between me and the E.C. Region Fisheries Supervisor regarding the Lower Illinois: -------------------------- Jim, I noticed that the DO level is up to about 8.5 ppm. Any thoughts on when the water quality will be good enough to begin stocking again? Or are you guys any closer to a solution? Thanks, Phil Curtis -------------------------- Phil, we are glad to see oxygen levels are up. This is directly related to the reservoir turning over. Unfortunately we are still subject to SWPA's generation schedule. Good water is what we need. The quality is back but the quantity still remains a potential problem. If swpa decides to not generate for days then the fish could be subject to stranding. We are currently discussing the issue and hope to be able to resume stocking very soon. If the lake reaches 632 elevation we will once again have water to use until we run out once again. A long term permanent solution would sure be a great thing. Thanks for your concerns. Jim Burroughs ---------------------------- Jim, So, the elevation is at 630 now. In the past, when it was above 632, there was around the clock release until it was drawn down. Will this still be the case, or will they allow a few more feet for habitat health? Thanks, Phil Curtis -------------------------- Phil, 632 is the top of the conservation pool. Once the elevation reaches that our "borrowed" water clock will be reset. Outside swpa generation the water that ran before was at our request and schedule and deducted from us. If it reaches 632 I will likely modify our old request since the water and air temps are cooler and there is more oxygen in the water. The hope would be to extend the available water out over a longer period. It's difficult to do that in the summer with high temps and poor water. The coe is not likely to hold the lake high as their protocol doesn't allow for them to do so. I wish it did and that is one option we are pushing for as a temporary solution. We are asking for a seasonal pool change in the summer which would do just that. It has to be approved by the coe and will be temporary. We still need the long term solution of water allocated to odwc for management of the stream.

Yes. I use the pink chenille wrapped jig on the LIR also. I left my fly tying station at home, so, I made a trip to Lilley's fly shop and bought the Miracle Flies and UV Scuds.

Just got back from the trip yesterday. We spent most of our time on Taney fishing day and night. We made one run over to Arkansas thinking that we would fish the Norfork. They turned the water on as soon as we got there, so, we went to the White and fished until dark. We caught a few fish on the white, all on a Pink Chenille wrappped 1/80th jig head hook. Taney fishing was great. We fished during the day when they weren't generating and fished at night when they were. Several nights we fished until 3am using lighted indicators and Jeremy's Miracle Fly with a UV Scud dropper. After 3 days of fishing and catching 100's of fish, I finally reached a point where I was done and didn't want to catch another fish. Taney filled my fishing meter, however, I'd go again tomorrow. All in all, it was a very good trip.

I thought about that too. I don't know that area very well except for the city park area. I don't know what's private property and what isn't. But I'll keep that in mind as a possibility. Thanks DD.

I'll be in the Branson area Nov. 2nd through the 6th with my Dad, Brother and a few friends. Hopefully, the water will cooperate with us and give us some good wading opportunities. We plan on fishing Taney (night and day), White River and Norfork River. I'm open to other recommendations, also. This is an annual trip for us. I have a few more sets of flies to tie up and I should be ready to go. I'm hoping a few of the browns may still be around but I'll be happy just to be in the river fishing. I'm leaving Tulsa around 2pm on Wednesday. It already feels like this week is dragging by.

Brian, I noticed that your video made the "Friday Film Festival" on the Orvis website. Congrats and great cinematography!