laker67

Next time you go fish in any missouri trout water, pick up a handful of living moss. I would venture to say that the 10 to 1 majority will be sowbugs above all else. I have fished most of misssour's trout water and I have caught some of the biggest fish that each body of water is capable of producing. Sowbugs and scuds are the only flies that I tie. If I fish a bigger fly it is only because someone has given it to me. If you have confidence in a particular style of fly, then I say fish it. My confidence factor is in a sowbug. All of my ten pound and bigger fish have come on a sowbug or scud. 26 of those bigger fish have come from "non" tailwaters. So you can see that I am not biased to tailwater. Although I will admit that tailwaters are my favorite place to fish due to the difficultity factor.

Good report Bman. You are about due to land one of those bigger fish. The average is about one in four hookups, so the odds are getting in your favor. As far as wishing for a good brown run this year at taney, last year was the end of the 3 year cycle and the banner year. But of course the flood gates put that to a grinding halt. If missouri and arkansas are spared the high water this fall, I predict that arkansas will have their best brown run since 06. Right now arkansas has more fish over 20 pounds, per river mile, than any other place in the continental U.S. Thanks again for the report !

Hey Murdoc! I was down in your local water last thursday. I spent most of the day looking for a giant rainbow that was rumored to be there. I'm not sure that the fish exists. I spent the better part of 4 hours walking the bank and looking in the area that it was supposed to be in. The light conditions were good but no giant fish that I could find. I did fish for a 7 pounder and a 5 pounder with no success. I tried my best flys and they sent me home talking to myself. On wednesday this week I was at bssp and was fortunate enough to land a nice 8.5 rainbow. A beautiful fish that was a great fighter. It went "full body" air born 3 times and put on a good show for the onlookers. It was released unharmed to fight another day. We need to meet up and fish some night at Taney. Good to hear from you again Murdoc.

There was a discussion on this topic several months ago. I think It was in the general angling topic. Several people expressed an opinion.

And the other response would be, Congratulations Bland! A very nice fish indeed.

I saw it as well, except I was 125 miles north of Branson, near Truman Lake. I was on 7 hwy near Tightwad, Mo. It was traveling from east to west.

Congrats to MIchael. An honor well deserved.

You for sure need to try out those new patterns, especially the hopper. Since I never fish on top, I never think to suggest patterns such as the hopper. It is the right time of year for sure. I hope you and your buddy get into some good fish.

Zach, I'm glad to hear that you are getting out. I gave a report on nolucks topic "7-18th and 19th" on bssp. If you fish the wing dikes, fish deep and dark. The same sowbugs and scuds that you use at Taney will work good in size 14 and 16. You will see from my report that I spent most of the day chasing some big fish, but I had little fish taking and spitting out the dark sowbugs all day long. Something on the order of a dark hares ear. I had several smaller fish take a 41 tan earlier in the day. Give us a report and let us know how you do. Take care Zach.

Went to the park Saturday afternoon and ran into my good friend Jeff Tiefenauer and his wife Susie. Susie was busy catching several fish and Jeff was camped out on five lunker fish located in a deep hole. Now that the water is down and summer clear, those fish are starting to show up in about 7 to 8 foot of water. Over the course of the afternoon, Jeff hooked up with 3 of the five. The largest being about 9 pounds. Some really great fish for bssp in recent years. I was wet wading yesterday and the fish were alot deeper than I cared to venture out. So this morning I packed up the waders and headed back to bssp. Two of the five fish were all that I could locate today. One was a brown about 6 pounds, and the other a rainbow around 5 pounds. I fished for the brown with no success but later in the day I hooked and landed the rainbow. It weighed in a little over 5 pounds. All fish were released unharmed and allowed to return to their deep water hideout. With all of the high water that bssp has had this summer, these fish in the deeper water have seen very little pressure and are fairly easy to decieve at this point. As the water continues to drop out and clear, these same fish will wise up in a hurry. Go deep and go with dark colored sowbugs and scuds. I was fishing a 15 foot leader with two #6 split shot.

Now I am the one who is humbled. Thank you Bman! Give me a shout next time you go down for a day/night wade trip. I would be honored as well.

Remember what I said in an earlier post? It's all about the fair chase and how we play the game. You play the game correctly Bman. Even though you lost the huge smallmouth, you are still the winner. Taney, on a mid-summer night, is good for the soul. No bells and whistles, and no hustle and bustle of the crowds of the day. If you catch some nice fish, well that's a bonus. I have night fished since the late 70's, and every night is a different experience. Sometimes I catch big fish at night, but most times it's just the average size day fish. My very first "limit of lunkers" came from a night trip at taney in the late 70's. You have certainly had a great week of fishing Bman. I'm envious to say the least.

That was quite the marathon trip, Bman. If you are like me, it would take me at least one day to recover. Then I would be ready to do it again. Sounds like you got into some good fish and had the opportunity to experience the peace and the tranquility of a taneycomo night trip. Thanks for the report.

John, you have done everything but catch the fish for us. Thank you again for that informative report.

Glad to hear that Bman. Boat or no boat?

This is more of an observation than a suggestion. Over the years, prior to trout park dredging, mother nature and her flood waters created better structure than anything that I have ever seen with the dredging operations. Also, prior to dredging, I don't recall moss being a problem like it is now. And I don't recall "moss cutting" ever being done prior to dredging of the channels. Wing dikes that run with the flow of water at a slight angle can be a good thing. Those old wing dikes from bennett have been replaced with the ones you see now. Add some dredging around those new wing dikes, and you have created a moss pit instead of a natural gravel run. Up until the mid 80's, bssp was as good of a natural stream that you would find anywhere. I would compare it to what the Current River looks like now. They have ruined bennett with their dredging. I would be totally against any structure or stream improvements done by Dnr or Mdc. This of course is only my personal opinion based on my observations of the past.

Thanks "TF" !! And a happy and safe July 4 to you! As we celebrate this great day of our independence, remember our armed services people, past and present. And a happy b-day to several forum members.

Congrats Zach! Best of luck and success on your upcoming competition. I have viewed the video and read the story. You have done well Zach, and your mother deserves a big hug. Keep us posted.

I agree with your math fw. I also agree with your suspicions. What I see is a steadily declining population over the past 6 weeks.

Amen to that statement Bob!

Congrats! A very impressive fish! Have you completed work on the big female brown from last year? I bet it will knock your eyes out.

Thanks guys, for all the comments and the kind words. I have enjoyed your pictures and stories as well. I hope the others will get on board and post their pics and stories. Catching lunker trout is a thrill--the excitement does not diminish with the size of the fish. It's all about the fair chase and how we play the game.

Well, I guess Bman and Michael are forcing my hand. Like Bman said, give us a chance to brag, and we will do it. I caught this fish in 05 just above the rebar hole. I was using a 5 weight sage, 5x tippet, and a size 14 sowbug that I call the x-factor. Four other fishermen and myself were fishing the same run of water. When I hooked the fish, they immediately got out of the water and gave me the green light to fight the fish. I would like to say "thanks" to those four fishermen. It took about 30 minutes to land the fish and it was one of those situations where everything worked in my favor. It's hard to beat just plain old good luck. As I was attempting to net the fish, he actually turned and swam head first into the net. The fish was 38.5 inches long and had a girth of 23 inches. It weighed in at 27 pounds 10 ounces on the hatchery scale. The fish was put into the hatchery raceway in an attempt to keep it alive. Unfortunately it died 4 hours later. The hatchery biologist estimated it to be 12 years of age. According to him, 13 years is about the maximum age of missouri browns. Knock on wood, it is the current missouri state record, and the current IGFA fly rod, line class, world record. Being fortunate enough to trout fish at taney for the last 34 years, this is the ultimate of my good fortune. I have tried to research the previous missouri brown trout records, and as far as I am aware, this is the first to be landed on fly rod. I hope that each and every one of you out there, have the pleasure to catch a missouri brown of this proportion. I am still as excited about it now as the day I caught it. A reproduction copy, is on display at BCO. A special thanks to Michael Kyle. My wonderful wife has allowed me to pursue my trout fishing addiction and for this I am grateful. Rick Osborn

My condolences to all family and friends.

You are absolutely right about the cutthroats. Keep suggesting it. Anywhere that rainbows do well, cutthroats will thrive and grow big. As far as the triploids in taney, don't buy no wimpy rod. It would put arkansas in the back seat wearing" cheap sunglasses".