DaddyO

Well, it looks like the generation schedule is cooperating. If the weatherman is wrong, which they usually are, I'm going to go wet a line Saturday morning. I just talked to my favorite fishing buddy (My Dad) and he says he might go with me. Maybe I'll see some of you other guys down there. I'm taking the rain jacket just in case.

Welcome to the forum!

Definitely!! Call me when you're going. OTF6 - Sorry you had the wader problem. I gotta tell you. My waders didn't leak, but by the time I got out of the water, I was pretty cold. That's the first time that I've fished that my toes got cold. I can only imagine what it felt like in the nether regions!! That will turn a BASS to a TENOR, musically speaking, in a hurry.

BobWhite, 1/80 oz lead Jig Head painted white. White thread, white un-waxed dental floss tied in above the hook point and wrapped to the head creating a tapered body. Whip finish and coat all of the dental floss with head cement.

OTF6, What time did you get to the river? Were you driving a black car? I met wanabeflyer and his son in the gravel parking lot at about 2:30pm yesterday. We fished the other side of the island and caught a few on the Hair and Copper. They had to leave around 4ish and I stayed until about 5:30pm. I switched to the BobWhite and caught them on just about every drift until a red headed kid walked through the run I was fishing. I moved upstream to the tree stumps below the kiddie pool and switched to an Olive micro jig tied with red thread. They hit the jig as soon as it hit the water or within the first 3 feet of the drift. I lost count of the fish that I caught but I'm estimating 30+ within the 3 hours that I fished. I enjoyed fishing with WBF and his son. Fishing with new friends and catching lots of fish equals a great day!!

Dude, You've really been getting into some pigs, lately! Good job and good pics. Thanks for posting the pic of the fly. I'll have to add a few of those to the arsenal. Phil

We had another post about that earlier. It seems that some think that there were so much shad in the system that the Trout were tired of it and were looking for anything different.

Jeremy, Here are a couple of links to fly tying videos that I like watching. I tie these same patterns but I use the copper beads to tie them. Again, they work well on the Lower Illinois. #16 is about as small as I tie for the Lower Illinois, but the water isn't as clear here as it is at Taney. http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=176 http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=86 http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=202 http://www.castersflyshop.com/Video%20Footage/heterogenius.wmv

I agree. Spanking works, when done in conjunction with love, caring and involvment in our childrens lives. My parents spanked me when I was a kid and I turned out fine. I used to wake up in the mornings knowing that I was gonna get a spanking. Sometimes it took me all day to figure out what I was gonna do to deserve it. Needless to say, my brothers and I did a good job of finding trouble.

I tie a black zebra midge with copper bead and copper wire and have had a lot of success with it. However this little fly that I call a Hair and Copper in size 14, for me, is always tied with a copper bead and copper wire with brown dubbing. It is one of my goto flies. It is really productive on the Lower Illinois and I have caught fish on it at Taney, Roaring River and the Norfork. It works well around structure and in cloudy water. Here is a picture.

Gregg, Those are pigs! Good Job. Were you fishing the Watts area?

Phil, I just gotta say that I am really enjoying this new forum format. I also participate in the forum at flytyingingforum.com which has the same format as the old ozarkanglers did. I catch myself wishing that they would convert to this new format. Thank you for making the decision to convert and taking the time to work through the bugs. Your work and dedication to this forum is much appreciated. DaddyO a.k.a. Phil Curtis

Gregg, Too many Phil's in this forum, better stick with DaddyO. I didn't get a chance to come to Branson to fish the low water. Too many obligation here in Tulsa. Give me a yell the next time you go chasing Stripers on the Arkansas. I am in need of your instruction. DaddyO a.k.a. Phil Curtis

Wow. What's up with the Generation Schedule? It shows zero Generation for Sat, Sun and Mon. Is that to be believed?

Gregg, It looks like you and your Dad had a great time. Thanks for posting the pics. I was about a week away from going there earlier in the year and had to cancel because of work.

It's been kinda hit or miss. They ususally do a pretty good job of keeping to the schedule. However the schedule, in my opinion, has not been such that I would make a trip just to fish it. You'd probably only have a couple of hours, at most, of fishable water. Here's the link if you don't have it already. http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx

I'm leaving now to mail off my Schminnows!!

Gregg, Are you fishing in front of PSO or are you fishing below the Low Water Dam? What would you consider the best time of the day to fish the area? I haven't broken in my new rod by landing a Striper or Hybrid yet and I am dying to give it a try. Thanks, Phil

Dangit!! I wondered if anybody would go down there this weekend. The schedule showed the water to be right. I almost decided to go but went to the Lower Illinois for their "One Fly" tournament instead. I'm glad the fish turned on for you guys. Were you throwing Clousers and Deceivers? What colors worked best for you?

If the water and weather are right on Saturday, I'll be down there for the One Fly Tournament. I'll be in a Blue Ford Sportrac.

"Namaste"? Isn't that Hindi?

"Sastipe and welcome, stranger." "SASTIPE." Those who are not children of the blessed Sainte Sara might ponder upon the significance...but it is merely an ancient gypsy greeting which means "Good Luck and Good Health."

I got up Saturday morning and drove down to the river. I pulled in to the grassy parking lot across from the island. I couldn't believe it. I was the only person there. I fished for a couple of hours before I saw anyone else. It was a great day. I lost count of the number of fish that I caught. Nothing huge but the biggest two were about 14 inches and had a little weight to them. One was a male the other one female. I started off with the hair and copper and caught several fish on that. After my tippet broke, I switched to the BobWhite and caught several fish on that. I switched to a dark olive micro jig that had a green head and red thread body with a small amount of Marabou. At that point it was game on. I literally caught a fish on every drift. They tore that jig to shreads before I lost it and I only had one more. I tied on the second one and fished it until it fell apart. Again, it was one fish on every drift. I fished from the top of the island all the way down to the end of the island. I lost complet track of time and finally got off the river at about 3:30pm. I was worn out but I had a blast!!

Here is a picture of the Lower Illinois map. This fishery is about an hour away from my house. It is an OK fishery but it doesn't hold a candle to Taney, White or Norfork. It does, however, satisfy the need to wet a line. The challenge is that you have to catch the fish before the striper can get to them. As Chance mentioned in one of his posts, sometimes you even have to keep them away from the stripers when you have them on your hook. This is a mostly Rainbow stocked fishery with a few Browns. It is recovering from the last big summer rainy season, that we had a few years ago, that resulted in killing all of the Trout in the fishery. Phil Curtis aka DaddyO

I have it on my Calendar to be there!!