catfish307

Wow, that seems pretty low. Looks like we won't have to boat too far from the dock this weekend.

Thanks sms_alum, we would really like to fish it and may chance making reservations later this week while we're at Lilleys. We should be able to keep warm enough if the fishing is hot. My luck is having a foot of snow fall the day before.

I'll be down Thursday thru Monday this week as well. If I understand it right, boating should be pretty much OK from Fall Creek on down. I put in at Cooper Creek as well and will be staying at Lilley's.

Looks mighty cold in some of the pics from last year. How many of you here usually fish in this? My 10 year old son wants to do it as well as I, but I don't know about trying it. My biggest worry would be the road conditions that time of year. It's almost a 200 mile drive for us there. I've been debating on reserving a room for that weekend but am afraid the weather will turn bad and we wouldn't be able to make the drive plus be out the expense of a reserved room. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks Phil, can't wait to get down there and give the fishing a shot. The part I was kind of concerned with was near the short creek area since it seemed pretty shallow there in a couple of spots.

The family and I will be coming down and staying at Lilley's on October 27th-30th. Bringing the boat again and just wanted to know what this may mean as far as boating? We usually don't go above Fall Creek. Also, what can we expect as far as the fishing that time of year since we've never been there any other time except summer. Thanks, Chris

Could have been corn. I've seen several of the old time fishermen doing it before.

Just checking to see how the tournament went and if there were any lunkers caught. We had planned to fish in it but our school district decided to have the first day of school on the Thursday before the tournament so we had to come home. Fishing seemed a little harder this year compared to last. We didn't catch the numbers of fish but 4 of the fish I did catch were between 2 1/2 and 4 lbs. Just made reservations at Lilley's to come back down on the 27th of October and try our luck again.

I just hope no one gets hurt and property loss is at a minimum. Though it's the last thing anyone is thinking about right now, how will this affect the boating/fishing this summer?

Beautiful fish.

The family and I went down in August and I had the same dilemma. I had never taken a boat out on Taneycomo except once I rented one and didn't stray far from the marina for fear of hitting underwater obstacles. Again this time I was afraid and we reserved a rental boat for one day, just because I was too afraid to try boating there again. I later decided against it and decided to take my own boat and use the money we had paid to reserve a boat and rent a stall instead. It was the best decision made, hands down! It was wonderful to walk down to the marina and jump in the boat anytime we felt like it and we had a ball out there, even though it was a little on the hot side. We still didn't go all that far from where we were docked because we really didn't have to. We lodged just below short creek and motored up to fall creek then drifted back down below Lilleys. Most of the time we didn't even go that far, again because we caught plenty of fish right where we were at. My 9 year old son caught a beautiful 7.5 lb rainbow right at short creek. My advice is to do as I did. Go slow and watch where the other boats go and follow them if you don't hear them hitting rocks. Ha Ha. But believe me we saw and heard numerous boats hitting rocks. When the water wasn't running it was so clear the I would watch the bottom on the drift down and take notes of depth and obstructions underwater. Go ahead and take it down with you, you'll be glad you did. Good Luck, Chris

Caught one myself a couple of weeks ago. Notice one of Phil's sculpin/orange jig's brought this beast in.

Hey Phil, As soon as you know the date for next years tournament, could you contact me. I'd like to schedule a trip to Taneycomo around the same time and try to fish the tournament if school hasn't already started for the young uns. Thanks, Chris.

Conratulations to all who competed. I'd loved to have been able to fish your tournament and help support my brothers in blue.

That fish is all he has talked about since he caught it and he's so proud of it. I also agree that the larger fish should be released for the most part. If we do ever catch a trophy such as this again, it will be released and a replica will be used for the wall. I was so unprepared for any of us to actually catch a fish like this that I was just in shock when he got it into the boat. I'll post this picture of it but I can't get it any bigger for some reason. Chris

Well, we made it down there and back and I still have all the paint left on the prop and lower unit of my motor. I bet the boat mechanics down there are kept busy all the time. I saw and heard several boats run into the shallows at what I think was called short creek. We mainly stayed in that area between Trout Hollow Lodge and Fall Creek. The current was a lot more swift than I thought it would be but I guess that's what happens when they run all 4 generators. That pretty much left me out of the fishing since I spent all my time tying rigs, baiting, unhooking fish, etc. for the wife and son. We did manage to catch quite a few rainbows and I caught one Brown that went about 2lbs. Went to Phils and bought some of his jigs and I hooked one after another along the bluff there on the orange head sculpin jig. For about 2 hours every 2nd or 3rd cast would get a hit. My 9 year old son did the best though. I had told him before we took the trip that there were some big fish in the lake and he said he wanted to catch about an 8 pounder. He asked if he could keep a big one and get it mounted if he caught one and I said "sure", because what are the odds of him first hooking a big one on his zebco #11 and 4lb test and then actually getting it into the boat? Well, they were a lot better than I thought. Sunday afternoon he hooked and landed a 7.5lb 23 inch Rainbow near Short Creek. I was dumbfounded after we got it into the boat. I asked him if he wanted to turn it loose so it could grow bigger and he reminded me that I told him he could keep a big one if he caught it. So unfortunately I had to keep my word. He also reminded me that he had been throwing a lot of smaller trout back so he could keep fishing for a big one. I'd have loved to have seen him let it go but I seen how much it meant to him and was willing to take any criticism handed out for keeping it. I just wanted to let everyone know that I appreciated the tips everyone gave that helped us have a safe and successful fishing trip. We can't wait to go back next year. Thanks again, Chris

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll pick her up some of the circle hooks when we get there and she can try them. I've not had much luck with the circle hooks on catfish though. I just can't get the hang of not setting the hook. It's just a natural reaction to jerk the heck out of it when the rod starts bouncing. Does anyone know if Lilley's sells the cirlce hooks? Thanks, Chris

Hi everyone, The wife, son and I will be down next week for a few days to fish. She wants to use Powerbait, which I know works quite well from experience several years back. When I used it with a small treble hook it was just about a guarantee that the fish would swallow it which meant of course I had to keep it and it made for a short day of fishing. Is there a setup to use Powerbait and live bait where they don't swallow it? Hopefully I can get her to jig fish and have success but in case she still wants to use bait, I'd like her to be able to release them if possible. Thanks, Chris

Thanks Gatorjet, I'll be sure to give that area a try. Can't wait to get down there. It's been a lot of years since I was down there last and I've never been there with my own boat. As long as I can motor up the lake and not hit anything I'll be happy.

Hi Thom, We will be there the 10th thru the 15th.

Thanks Thom, just the kind of info I was looking for. Is it pretty safe then below Fall Creek even when the water is off? Definitely will be going to Lilley's for supplies and tips. I actually was going to stay there but we waited too late to plan this trip and they were all booked up for when we were going to go down there. We'll definitely make plans sooner next time and stay there. Phil has great advice and videos that I've been reading and watching the last several days. Thanks again. Chris By the way Thom I've got some relatives there in O'Fallon.

Hi all, I'm new here as far as posting but I've been reading a lot of the older posts for a little while. My names Chris and I live in Lexington, MO.I've been to Taneycomo fishing a few times in my life and have wonderful memories of going there several times with my grandparents when I was a kid (30+ years ago). The last time I was there was in the mid 1990's, which is way too long between trips and I'm going to change that now. Got a brand new motor for my boat and want to bring it down with the family for a lot of fishing the week after next. I just want to keep my boat and motor in one piece so I can continue using it there on Taneycomo. Where would be the best place to put it in the lake at? Is there an area on the upper lake that I should avoid going past so as to not chance hitting bottom or large rocks. I'll be taking it pretty slow on the whole river just to be on the safe side. If someone has a rundown of where to go and not to go when the water is flowing and off, that would be great. I've been reading older posts and trying to take notes as well. I'm wanting to mostly jig fish for the larger rainbows which is why I'm wanting to go up stream as far as safely possible. Thanks for any and all of your help. Chris